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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Structural brain correlates of sustained attention in healthy ageing: Cross-sectional findings from the LEISURE study
Neurobiology of Aging, Vol.144, pp.93-103
2024
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Sustained attention is important for maintaining cognitive function and autonomy during ageing, yet older people often show reductions in this domain. The role of the underlying neurobiology is not yet well understood, with most neuroimaging studies primarily focused on fMRI. Here, we utilise sMRI to investigate the relationships between age, structural brain volumes and sustained attention performance. Eighty-nine healthy older adults (50–84 years, Mage 65.5 (SD=8.4) years, 74 f) underwent MRI brain scanning and completed two sustained attention tasks: a rapid visual information processing (RVP) task and sustained attention to response task (SART). Independent hierarchical linear regressions demonstrated that greater volumes of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) were associated with worse RVP_A’ performance, whereas greater grey matter volumes were associated with better RVP_A’ performance. Further, greater cerebral white matter volumes were associated with better SART_d’ performance. Importantly, mediation analyses revealed that both grey and white matter volumes completely mediated the relationship between ageing and sustained attention. These results explain disparate attentional findings in older adults, highlighting the intervening role of brain structure.
Details
- Title
- Structural brain correlates of sustained attention in healthy ageing: Cross-sectional findings from the LEISURE study
- Authors
- Ciara Treacy (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteAlicia J. Campbell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteToomas Erik Anijärv (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJim Lagopoulos (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteDaniel F. Hermens (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteSophie C. Andrews (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJacob M. Levenstein (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
- Publication details
- Neurobiology of Aging, Vol.144, pp.93-103
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc.
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.09.010
- ISSN
- 1558-1497; 0197-4580
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Grant note
- We acknowledge the Wilson Foundation, who provided generous funding support for the LEISURE study.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991065235302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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