Executive functioning and diabetes: The role of anxious arousal and inflammation.
Individuals who perform poorly on measures of the executive function of inhibition have higher anxious arousal in comparison to those with better performance. High anxious arousal is associated with a pro-inflammatory response. Chronically high anxious arousal and inflammation increase one's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. We sought to evaluate anxious arousal and inflammation as underlying mechanisms linking inhibition with diabetes incidence. Participants (N=835) completed measures of cognitive abilities, a self-report measure of anxious arousal, and donated blood to assess interleukin-6 (IL-6) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Individuals with low inhibition were more likely to have diabetes than those with high inhibition due to the serial pathway from high anxious arousal to IL-6. Findings remained when entering other indicators of cognitive abilities as covariates, suggesting that inhibition is a unique cognitive ability associated with diabetes incidence. On the basis of our results, we propose several avenues to explore for improved prevention and treatment efforts for type 2 diabetes.
Department of Psychology, Rice University, Bioscience Research Collaborative Room 773, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, United States.
Kyle W
KW
Murdock
Department of Psychology, Rice University, Bioscience Research Collaborative Room 773, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 3695 Cullen Boulevard Room 126, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
Angie S
AS
LeRoy
Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1450, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Tamara E
TE
Lacourt
Division of Psychology, Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, 707 SW Gaines Street, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
Danny C
DC
Duke
Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1450, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Cobi J
CJ
Heijnen
Department of Psychology, Rice University, Bioscience Research Collaborative Room 773, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, United States; Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1450, Houston, TX 77030, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza - BCM350, Houston, TX 77030, United States. Electronic address: cpfagundes@mdanderson.org.
Christopher P
CP
Fagundes
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000276:immunology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D015850:Interleukin-6; C508600:IL6 protein, human; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
Anxious arousal; Diabetes; Executive functioning; Inflammation; Inhibition