INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 08 Program Schedule 02/16/2024 01:45 pm - 03:00 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 08: Cognition \| Cognitive Reserve Variables Final Abstract #55 Exploring the Impact of Poor Metabolic Health and Sleep Time On Verbal Learning and Memory in Midlife Adults Caroline Painter, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States Cherry Youn, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States Andreana Haley, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States Category: Aging Keyword 1: cognitive functioning Keyword 2: sleep Objective: Metabolic syndrome, prevalent among middle-aged and older adults, has been associated with decreased verbal learning and memory function.^1–3 Additionally, inadequate sleep duration, known to compromise verbal and cognitive abilities, is linked to an elevated risk of metabolic syndrome.^4,5 Existing research presents conflicting outcomes concerning the detrimental effects of either short or long sleep duration.^4,6 This raises the inquiry of how individuals with metabolic syndrome and shortened sleep duration manifest cognitive functioning. Given the intricate relationship between metabolic syndrome, sleep duration, and cognitive function, we aim to elucidate the combined effects of metabolic syndrome and inadequate sleep duration on cognitive performance. Our study intends to address a significant gap in current research by narrowing our focus to the midlife population, a crucial demographic underrepresented in today’s scientific literature. Participants and Methods: A group of 116 midlife adults from ages 40-61 years participated in this cross-sectional study conducted at the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. We employed the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) to assess participants’ verbal memory and learning aptitudes.⁷ Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a cluster of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including central adiposity, elevated triglyceride levels, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, elevated blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose levels.⁸ These criteria determined the number of metabolic syndrome components each participant met. One-way ANOVA analyses were used to assess the impact of various combinations of metabolic syndrome and sleep duration on CVLT-II performance. All statistical analyses were performed using R, a programming language for statistical computation.⁹ Results: Intercorrelations indicate that the presence of metabolic syndrome is significantly and negatively correlated with scores on the Long Delay Free Recall (r = -.18, p < .05) and Yes/No Recognition (r = -.18, p < .05) CVLT-II subtests. Cognitive assessments reveal notable performance disparities between individuals without metabolic syndrome who obtained more than the sample-based average sleep (6.96 hours), and individuals with metabolic syndrome experiencing below-average sleep. The latter group exhibited significantly poorer performance, particularly evident in the Long Delay Cued Recall subtest (p = .049). The latter group also performed worse on the Short Delay Cued Recall and Yes/No Recognition subtests, with a marginally significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the significance of the combined effects of metabolic syndrome and insufficient sleep in contributing to a decline in verbal learning and memory performance among midlife adults. Recognizing the multifaceted factors influencing cognitive decline is integral for preventing deterioration and fostering enhanced well-being in aging adults. Future longitudinal studies examining the impact of metabolic syndrome and insufficient sleep on cognition are necessary to discover how these variables affect cognition over time. Further research could provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the combined effects of these factors more broadly influence cognition by focusing on additional domains of cognitive functioning.

Poster

02/16/2024
01:45 pm - 03:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 08: Cognition | Cognitive Reserve Variables

Final Abstract #55

Exploring the Impact of Poor Metabolic Health and Sleep Time On Verbal Learning and Memory in Midlife Adults

Caroline Painter, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
Cherry Youn, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
Andreana Haley, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Category: Aging

Keyword 1: cognitive functioning
Keyword 2: sleep

Objective:

Metabolic syndrome, prevalent among middle-aged and older adults, has been associated with decreased verbal learning and memory function.^1–3 Additionally, inadequate sleep duration, known to compromise verbal and cognitive abilities, is linked to an elevated risk of metabolic syndrome.^4,5 Existing research presents conflicting outcomes concerning the detrimental effects of either short or long sleep duration.^4,6 This raises the inquiry of how individuals with metabolic syndrome and shortened sleep duration manifest cognitive functioning. Given the intricate relationship between metabolic syndrome, sleep duration, and cognitive function, we aim to elucidate the combined effects of metabolic syndrome and inadequate sleep duration on cognitive performance. Our study intends to address a significant gap in current research by narrowing our focus to the midlife population, a crucial demographic underrepresented in today’s scientific literature.

Participants and Methods:

A group of 116 midlife adults from ages 40-61 years participated in this cross-sectional study conducted at the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. We employed the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) to assess participants’ verbal memory and learning aptitudes.⁷ Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a cluster of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including central adiposity, elevated triglyceride levels, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, elevated blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose levels.⁸ These criteria determined the number of metabolic syndrome components each participant met. One-way ANOVA analyses were used to assess the impact of various combinations of metabolic syndrome and sleep duration on CVLT-II performance. All statistical analyses were performed using R, a programming language for statistical computation.⁹

Results:

Intercorrelations indicate that the presence of metabolic syndrome is significantly and negatively correlated with scores on the Long Delay Free Recall (r = -.18, p < .05) and Yes/No Recognition (r = -.18, p < .05) CVLT-II subtests. Cognitive assessments reveal notable performance disparities between individuals without metabolic syndrome who obtained more than the sample-based average sleep (6.96 hours), and individuals with metabolic syndrome experiencing below-average sleep. The latter group exhibited significantly poorer performance, particularly evident in the Long Delay Cued Recall subtest (p = .049). The latter group also performed worse on the Short Delay Cued Recall and Yes/No Recognition subtests, with a marginally significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusions:

Our findings underscore the significance of the combined effects of metabolic syndrome and insufficient sleep in contributing to a decline in verbal learning and memory performance among midlife adults. Recognizing the multifaceted factors influencing cognitive decline is integral for preventing deterioration and fostering enhanced well-being in aging adults. Future longitudinal studies examining the impact of metabolic syndrome and insufficient sleep on cognition are necessary to discover how these variables affect cognition over time. Further research could provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the combined effects of these factors more broadly influence cognition by focusing on additional domains of cognitive functioning.