Cerebrovascular Reactivity Deficits in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults: Vasodilatory Versus Vasoconstrictive Responses

Overview

Journal Neurobiol Aging

Publisher Elsevier

Specialties Geriatrics
Neurology
Physiology

Date 2022 Mar 24

PMID 35325813

Authors

Belinda Yew

Jung Yun Jang

Shubir Dutt

Yanrong Li

Isabel J Sible

Aimee Gaubert

Jean K Ho

Anna E Blanken

Anisa Marshall

Xingfeng Shao

Danny J J Wang

Daniel A Nation

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) deficits may index vulnerability to vascular brain injury and cognitive impairment, but findings on age-related changes in CVR have been mixed, and no studies to date have directly compared age-related changes in CVR to hypercapnia versus hypocapnia. The present study compared CVR in 31 cognitively unimpaired older adults (ages 55-87) and 30 healthy younger adults (ages 18-28). Breath control tasks induced CVR to hypocapnia (0.1 Hz paced breathing) and hypercapnia (15s breath holds) during pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling MRI. Relative to younger adults, cognitively unimpaired older adults displayed lower levels of global CVR under both hypocapnia and hypercapnia. In region-of-interest analyses, older adults exhibited attenuated CVR to hypocapnia in select frontal and temporal regions, and lower CVR to hypercapnia in all cortical, limbic, and subcortical regions examined, relative to younger adults. Results indicate age-related deficits in CVR are detectible even in cognitively unimpaired older adults and are disproportionately related to vasodilatory (hypercapnia) responses relative to vasoconstrictive (hypocapnia) responses. Findings may offer means for early detection of cerebrovascular dysfunction.

Citing Articles

Association of Medial Temporal Lobe Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Memory Function in Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment.

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PMID: 39787444 PMC: 11720098. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000210210.

Locus coeruleus MRI contrast, cerebral perfusion, and plasma Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in older adults.

Dutt S, Bachman S, Dahl M, Li Y, Yew B, Jang J Neurobiol Aging. 2024; 147:12-21.

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Spontaneous cerebrovascular reactivity at rest in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment and memory deficits.

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PMID: 39555916 PMC: 11772704. DOI: 10.1002/alz.14396.

Spontaneous cerebrovascular reactivity at rest in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment and memory deficits.

Engstrom A, Alitin J, Kapoor A, Dutt S, Lohman T, Sible I medRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 38946941 PMC: 11213117. DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.18.24309109.

Short-term blood pressure variability and brain functional network connectivity in older adults.

Sible I, Jang J, Blanken A, Alitin J, Engstrom A, Dutt S Neuroimage Rep. 2024; 4(1).

PMID: 38699510 PMC: 11064972. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2024.100198.

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