title: Vascular function, cerebral cortical thickness, and cognitive performance in middle-aged Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasian adults.
abstract: Hispanics are at increased risk for acquiring cardiovascular risk factors that contribute to cognitive dysfunction. To compare indices of vascular health with measures of cerebral gray matter integrity, 60 middle-aged Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasian participants were matched across age, sex, years of education, and mental status. Arterial stiffness was characterized by β-stiffness index and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, and magnetic resonance imaging estimated cortical thickness in a priori regions of interest known to be susceptible to vascular risk factors. Measures of arterial stiffness were significantly higher in Hispanics than in non-Hispanic Caucasians. Hispanics exhibited thinner left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) cortical thickness (P=.04) with concurrently lower language (P=.02), memory (P=.03), and attention-executive functioning (P=.02). These results suggest that compromised vascular health may occur simultaneously with cortical thinning of the LIFG as an early neuropathological alteration in Hispanics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
authors.forename: Evan P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Pasha
authors.forename: Sonya S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Mitzi M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Machin
authors.forename: Kennon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasischke
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Andreana P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Haley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D044465:White People