INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 04 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 12:00 pm - 01:15 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 04: Neuroimaging \| Neurostimulation/Neuromodulation \| Teleneuropsychology/Technology Final Abstract #48 Default Mode Connectivity and Cognition in an Ethnically Diverse Cohort of Individuals At-Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease Amritha Harikumar, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Maria Misiura, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States William Hu, Cognitive Neurology, Rutgers University, Rutgers, United States Danielle Verble, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, United States Vince Calhoun, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Whitney Wharton, Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, United States Category: Aging Keyword 1: neuroimaging: functional connectivity Keyword 2: cognitive screening Keyword 3: minority issues Objective: Identifying predictors of cognitive decline in individuals at risk for dementia is of paramount importance to develop thoughtful interventions to reduce health disparities. Neuroimaging studies show that women experiencing cognitive complaints are more likely to exhibit changes in a network known as the default mode network (DMN), particularly in the precuneus, and previous research has identified racial differences in precuneus connectivity in individuals with dementia. African American women face a greater risk for dementia than any other sex and racial group. Little research has investigated the relationship between connectivity and cognition in minority at-risk populations with a focus on sex differences. This study examined the relationships among sex, cognition, and DMN connectivity in a cohort of racially diverse, middle-age individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participants and Methods: Data included 56 cognitively normal, ethnically diverse (African American = 19; Non-Hispanic White = 37) middle-aged individuals (21 males, 35 females) aged 45-74 (M= 57.98, SD = 6.81) from the Association Between Cardiovascular Risk and Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Pathology (ASCEND) Study. Individuals completed a 1-hr neuropsychological battery, including verbal memory (Buschke selective reminding test), and we used performance on each Buschke trial as our cognitive measure of interest (1-6). Scanning protocol included a T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE sequence and a 4.25-minute eyes-open resting state functional MRI scan. We calculated DMN functional connectivity between the precuneus and the following regions: parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), temporal pole, retrosplenial cortex, hippocampus, and lateral temporal cortex. We constructed 5 linear models with DMN measures as our sex, race, and verbal performance as independent variables, with mean framewise displacement (MFWD) and age as covariates. We included a sex X verbal trials interaction term. Results: Verbal memory was related to connectivity between the PCC and the retrosplenial cortex (B = 0.35 , t (1, 43) = 2.94, p < 0.01) and parahippocampal cortex (B = 0.68, t (1,43) = 2.58, p = 0.01), such that better performance was related to increased connectivity. There was a significant interaction of sex X verbal memory for connectivity between the dmPFC and the PCC (B = 1.82, t (1,43) = 2.25, p = 0.03) such that better verbal performance was related to decreased connectivity in women and increased connectivity in men. There was not a significant main effect on race on DMN connectivity. Conclusions: Better verbal memory, as measured by the Buschke, was related to increased DMN connectivity. In women, better performance was related to lower medial prefrontal to precuneus connectivity. While sex differences in DMN connectivity have been reported in prefrontal regions, none specifically have identified the dmPFC as a locus of sex differences. We did not identify any differences according to self reported race, in contrast to other studies. In this study, because of our small sample, we only included the main effect of race, with no interaction terms. Future studies will investigate the sex x race interaction, and the longitudinal trajectory of brain and cognition relationships we identified.

Poster

02/15/2024
12:00 pm - 01:15 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 04: Neuroimaging | Neurostimulation/Neuromodulation | Teleneuropsychology/Technology

Final Abstract #48

Default Mode Connectivity and Cognition in an Ethnically Diverse Cohort of Individuals At-Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Amritha Harikumar, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Maria Misiura, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
William Hu, Cognitive Neurology, Rutgers University, Rutgers, United States
Danielle Verble, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, United States
Vince Calhoun, TReNDS Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Whitney Wharton, Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, United States

Category: Aging

Keyword 1: neuroimaging: functional connectivity
Keyword 2: cognitive screening
Keyword 3: minority issues

Objective:

Identifying predictors of cognitive decline in individuals at risk for dementia is of paramount importance to develop thoughtful interventions to reduce health disparities. Neuroimaging studies show that women experiencing cognitive complaints are more likely to exhibit changes in a network known as the default mode network (DMN), particularly in the precuneus, and previous research has identified racial differences in precuneus connectivity in individuals with dementia. African American women face a greater risk for dementia than any other sex and racial group. Little research has investigated the relationship between connectivity and cognition in minority at-risk populations with a focus on sex differences. This study examined the relationships among sex, cognition, and DMN connectivity in a cohort of racially diverse, middle-age individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Participants and Methods:

Data included 56 cognitively normal, ethnically diverse (African American = 19; Non-Hispanic White = 37) middle-aged individuals (21 males, 35 females) aged 45-74 (M= 57.98, SD = 6.81) from the Association Between Cardiovascular Risk and Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Pathology (ASCEND) Study. Individuals completed a 1-hr neuropsychological battery, including verbal memory (Buschke selective reminding test), and we used performance on each Buschke trial as our cognitive measure of interest (1-6). Scanning protocol included a T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE sequence and a 4.25-minute eyes-open resting state functional MRI scan. We calculated DMN functional connectivity between the precuneus and the following regions: parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), temporal pole, retrosplenial cortex, hippocampus, and lateral temporal cortex. We constructed 5 linear models with DMN measures as our sex, race, and verbal performance as independent variables, with mean framewise displacement (MFWD) and age as covariates. We included a sex X verbal trials interaction term.

Results:

Verbal memory was related to connectivity between the PCC and the retrosplenial cortex (B = 0.35 , t (1, 43) = 2.94, p < 0.01) and parahippocampal cortex (B = 0.68, t (1,43) = 2.58, p = 0.01), such that better performance was related to increased connectivity. There was a significant interaction of sex X verbal memory for connectivity between the dmPFC and the PCC (B = 1.82, t (1,43) = 2.25, p = 0.03) such that better verbal performance was related to decreased connectivity in women and increased connectivity in men. There was not a significant main effect on race on DMN connectivity.

Conclusions:

Better verbal memory, as measured by the Buschke, was related to increased DMN connectivity. In women, better performance was related to lower medial prefrontal to precuneus connectivity. While sex differences in DMN connectivity have been reported in prefrontal regions, none specifically have identified the dmPFC as a locus of sex differences. We did not identify any differences according to self reported race, in contrast to other studies. In this study, because of our small sample, we only included the main effect of race, with no interaction terms. Future studies will investigate the sex x race interaction, and the longitudinal trajectory of brain and cognition relationships we identified.