Hippocampal asymmetry is associated with cognitive decline in Type 2 diabetes
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1
The University of Western Australia, School of Psychology, Australia
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2
The University of Western Australia, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, Australia
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3
The University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Australia
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4
The University of Western Australia, Australia
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5
University of Iowa, United States
Background: Older adults with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are at increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, at least partly mediated by hippocampal atrophy. This study examined the relationship between hippocampal (HC) measures, cognitive performance, and a clinical measure of cognitive impairment, the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, in adults with T2DM.
Methods: Cognitive testing (n=132) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; n=120) was undertaken by dementia-free adults (CDR 0 or 0.5), 62-91 years (65.9% male), with T2DM. The cognitive battery and CDR were administered on 2 occasions, 17.9±2.9 months apart (n=117). BRAINS-2 AutoWorkup function was used to extract intracranial and HC volumes, and an HC asymmetry score was calculated for each participant. Partial correlations between cognitive performance, CDR scores and HC measures controlled for age, sex, estimated IQ and time interval. Group comparisons of HC measures were conducted between participants who declined (CDR-d; n=11, 9.4%), improved (CDR-i; n=14, 12%), or remained stable (CDR-s; n=92, 78.6%) on the CDR.
Results: At baseline, HC volumes and asymmetry correlated with attention speed, episodic memory, executive function, and semantic fluency, but not with CDR score. Greater magnitude of HC asymmetry at baseline was associated with decline in CDR score 18 months later, r=-.30, p=.002, 95%CI [-.48, -.07]. CDR groups differed in right HC volume, F(2,105)=7.57, p=.001, ?2= 0.14, and magnitude of HC asymmetry, F(2,105)=13.73, p<.001, ?2=0.27. The CDR-d group had smaller right HC volume and greater HC asymmetry than CDR-i and CDR-s. Left HC volume was not related to any CDR measures and no HC measures were associated with cognitive factor change scores.
Conclusions: In older adults with T2DM, right hippocampal pathology and an increase in hippocampal asymmetry may be present up to 18 months prior to signs of clinically-rated cognitive decline.
Keywords:
Aging,
Dementia,
Hippocampus,
asymmetry,
diabetes
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Cognition and Executive Processes
Citation:
Milne
N,
Bruce
D,
Starkstein
S,
Nelson
M,
Davis
W,
Pierson
R and
Bucks
R
(2015). Hippocampal asymmetry is associated with cognitive decline in Type 2 diabetes.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00292
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Romola Bucks, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, romola.bucks@uwa.edu.au