Innovators in
Cognitive Neuroscience

Indira Turney

Columbia University

May 5, 2021, 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Charitable cause:
Black Women PhDs

Title:
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RACE/ETHNICITY AND NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS IN MIDDLE- AND OLDER-AGED ADULTS

Abstract:
Background: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic older adults. Previous studies report racial/ethnic differences in markers of aging and neurodegeneration, but results are inconsistent due to small, non-representative samples. We hypothesized that accelerated aging would manifest as a stronger negative relationship between age and MRI biomarkers among community-dwelling racial/ethnic minorities compared with non-Hispanic Whites.

Methods: We assessed neuroimaging measures of cortical thickness (CT) in AD signature regions and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume in White (n=274), Black (n=451), and Hispanic (n=663) participants from community-based, intergenerational studies of cognitive aging and dementia. WHICAP participants are Medicare-eligible participants aged 65 and older. The Offspring cohort includes middle-aged children of the WHICAP study. We examined the association of cohort age and race/ethnicity with each imaging marker, after adjusting for sex/gender and family relatedness, and tested interactions between cohort age and race/ethnicity in separate models.

Result: WHICAP participants were 75±6.5 years old and Offspring participants were 55±10.5 years old at the time of MRI. As expected, WHICAP participants had lower CT in AD signature regions than Offspring. Compared with Whites, Blacks and Hispanics had lower CT. Offspring participants had lower WMH volume than WHICAP participants. Blacks had more WMH burden overall, and this disparity was apparent in both WHICAP and already in the Offspring cohort.

Conclusion: Among diverse, community-based participants, we observe racial/ethnic disparities in markers of cerebrovascular disease and neurodegeneration. Disparities in small vessel cerebrovascular disease are also apparent in middle-age and late-life, but this effect was even wider in the offspring cohort. These differences may be due to accelerated aging secondary to sociocultural factors and experiences.

American Sign language (ASL) interpretation and
closed captioning will be provided.