Biological and environmental predictors of heterogeneity in neurocognitive ageing: Evidence from Betula and other longitudinal studies

Lars Nyberg; Carl-Johan Boraxbekk; Daniel Eriksson Sörman; Patrik Hansson; Agneta Herlitz; Karolina Kauppi; Jessica K Ljungberg; Hugo Lövheim; Anders Lundquist; Annelie Nordin Adolfsson; Anna Oudin; Sara Pudas; Michael Rönnlund; Mikael Stiernstedt; Anna Sundström; Rolf Adolfsson

doi:10.1016/j.arr.2020.101184

Biological and environmental predictors of heterogeneity in neurocognitive ageing: Evidence from Betula and other longitudinal studies

Ageing Res Rev. 2020 Dec:64:101184. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101184. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Authors

Lars Nyberg¹, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk², Daniel Eriksson Sörman³, Patrik Hansson⁴, Agneta Herlitz⁵, Karolina Kauppi⁶, Jessica K Ljungberg³, Hugo Lövheim⁷, Anders Lundquist⁸, Annelie Nordin Adolfsson⁹, Anna Oudin¹⁰, Sara Pudas¹¹, Michael Rönnlund⁴, Mikael Stiernstedt¹¹, Anna Sundström¹², Rolf Adolfsson⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: lars.nyberg@umu.se.
² Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR), Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Denmark; Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen (ISMC), Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Department of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁷ Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Geriatric Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
⁸ Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Statistics, USBE, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Clinical Sciences, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Environment Society and Health, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University.
¹¹ Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
¹² Department of Psychology, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University, Umeå, S-90187, Sweden.

PMID: 32992046
DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101184

Abstract

Individual differences in cognitive performance increase with advancing age, reflecting marked cognitive changes in some individuals along with little or no change in others. Genetic and lifestyle factors are assumed to influence cognitive performance in ageing by affecting the magnitude and extent of age-related brain changes (i.e., brain maintenance or atrophy), as well as the ability to recruit compensatory processes. The purpose of this review is to present findings from the Betula study and other longitudinal studies, with a focus on clarifying the role of key biological and environmental factors assumed to underlie individual differences in brain and cognitive ageing. We discuss the vital importance of sampling, analytic methods, consideration of non-ignorable dropout, and related issues for valid conclusions on factors that influence healthy neurocognitive ageing.

Keywords: ageing; brain; brain maintenance, cognitive reserve; genetics; lifestyle; longitudinal; memory.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Aging
Betula*
Brain
Cognitive Aging*
Humans
Longitudinal Studies