Association of Cognition and Brain Reserve in Aging and Glymphatic Function Using Diffusion Tensor Image-along the Perivascular Space (DTI-ALPS)

Wen-Chiu Hsiao; Hsin-I Chang; Shih-Wei Hsu; Chen-Chang Lee; Shu-Hua Huang; Chia-Hsiung Cheng; Chi-Wei Huang; Chiung-Chih Chang

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.04.004

Association of Cognition and Brain Reserve in Aging and Glymphatic Function Using Diffusion Tensor Image-along the Perivascular Space (DTI-ALPS)

Neuroscience. 2023 Aug 1:524:11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.04.004. Epub 2023 Apr 6.

Authors

Wen-Chiu Hsiao¹, Hsin-I Chang¹, Shih-Wei Hsu², Chen-Chang Lee², Shu-Hua Huang³, Chia-Hsiung Cheng⁴, Chi-Wei Huang⁵, Chiung-Chih Chang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Cognition and Aging Center, Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
² Department of Radiology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics (BIND Lab), Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Cognition and Aging Center, Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: justin1124@cloud.cgmh.org.tw.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Cognition and Aging Center, Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: neur099@cgmh.org.tw.

PMID: 37030632
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.04.004

Abstract

The glymphatic system is a fluid-clearance pathway that clears cerebral waste products, and its dysfunction has been associated with protein aggregation diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. To understand how the glymphatic system changes with aging, we enrolled 433 cognitive unimpaired participants (236 women and 197 men, 13-88 years) and evaluated the glymphatic function by calculating diffusion tensor imaging analysis along the perivascular space (ALPS) index and explored how the ALPS index is associated with cortical atrophy and cognitive decline in older people. We found a significant inverse correlation between ALPS index and age (ρ = -0.45, p < 0.001), with a peak value in people in their thirties. A higher ALPS index indicated a better cortical reserve in regions coincided with the default mode network. Declines in mental manipulation and short-term memory performance in the older participants were associated with a lower ALPS index and cortical atrophy in the amygdala, anterior and posterior cingulate, thalamus and middle frontal regions. Our findings highlight that the ALPS index could be used to evaluate brain reserve and cognitive reserve in older people.

Keywords: DTI-ALPS; brain reserve; cognitive reserve; cognitively unimpaired aging; glymphatic system.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Aged
Aging
Cognition
Cognitive Reserve*
Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods
Female
Glymphatic System*
Humans
Male