title: Neck muscle cross-sectional area, brain volume and cognition in healthy older men: a cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Two important consequences of the normal ageing process are sarcopenia (the age-related loss of muscle mass and function) and age-related cognitive decline. Existing data support positive relationships between muscle function, cognition and brain structure. However, studies investigating these relationships at older ages are lacking and rarely include a measure of muscle size. Here we test whether neck muscle size is positively associated with cognition and brain structure in older men.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 51 healthy older men with mean age 73.8 (sd 1.5) years. Neck muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) was measured from T1-weighted MR-brain scans using a validated technique. We measured multiple cognitive domains including verbal and visuospatial memory, executive functioning and estimated prior cognitive ability. Whole brain, ventricular, hippocampal and cerebellar volumes were measured with MRI. General linear models (ANCOVA) were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Larger neck muscle CSA was associated with less whole brain atrophy (t = 2.86, p = 0.01, partial eta squared 17%). Neck muscle CSA was not associated with other neuroimaging variables or current cognitive ability. Smaller neck muscle CSA was unexpectedly associated with higher prior cognition (t = -2.12, p < 0.05, partial eta squared 10%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In healthy older men, preservation of whole brain volume (i.e. less atrophy) is associated with larger muscle size. Longitudinal ageing studies are now required to investigate these relationships further.
authors: Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, The University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK. a.kilgour@ed.ac.uk
authors: Alixe H M
authors: AH
authors: Kilgour
authors: Karen J
authors: KJ
authors: Ferguson
authors: Calum D
authors: CD
authors: Gray
authors: Ian J
authors: IJ
authors: Deary
authors: Joanna M
authors: JM
authors: Wardlaw
authors: Alasdair M J
authors: AM
authors: MacLullich
authors: John M
authors: JM
authors: Starr
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size