title: Retinal vessel caliber and lifelong neuropsychological functioning: retinal imaging as an investigative tool for cognitive epidemiology.
abstract: Why do more intelligent people live healthier and longer lives? One possibility is that intelligence tests assess health of the brain, but psychological science has lacked technology to evaluate this hypothesis. Digital retinal imaging, a new, noninvasive method to visualize microcirculation in the eye, may reflect vascular conditions in the brain. We studied the association between retinal vessel caliber and neuropsychological functioning in the representative Dunedin birth cohort. Wider venular caliber was associated with poorer neuropsychological functioning at midlife, independently of potentially confounding factors. This association was not limited to any specific test domain and extended to informants' reports of cohort members' cognitive difficulties in everyday life. Moreover, wider venular caliber was associated with lower childhood IQ tested 25 years earlier. The findings indicate that retinal venular caliber may be an indicator of neuropsychological health years before the onset of dementing diseases and suggest that digital retinal imaging may be a useful investigative tool for psychological science.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, 2020 West Main St., Suite 201, Grey Building, Durham, NC 27708, USA. idan.shalev@duke.edu
authors.forename: Idan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shalev
authors.forename: Terrie E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Moffitt
authors.forename: Tien Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Madeline H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Renate M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Houts
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Carol Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: M Kamran
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Ikram
authors.forename: Avshalom
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caspi
authors.forename: Richie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poulton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001160:Arterioles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007360:Intelligence; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010781:Photography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014699:Venules / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014888:Wechsler Scales
keywords: brain; cognitive ability; cognitive neuroscience; intelligence; retinal imaging; venular caliber