title: Cognitive Aging and the Hippocampus in Older Adults.
abstract: The hippocampus is one of the most well studied structures in the human brain. While age-related decline in hippocampal volume is well documented, most of our knowledge about hippocampal structure-function relationships was discovered in the context of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The relationship between cognitive aging and hippocampal structure in the absence of disease remains relatively understudied. Furthermore, the few studies that have investigated the role of the hippocampus in cognitive aging have produced contradictory results. To address these issues, we assessed 93 older adults from the general community (mean age = 71.9 ± 9.3 years) on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a brief cognitive screening measure for dementia, and the NIH Toolbox-Cognitive Battery (NIHTB-CB), a computerized neurocognitive battery. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to estimate hippocampal volume. Lower MoCA Total (p= 0.01) and NIHTB-CB Fluid Cognition (p< 0.001) scores were associated with decreased hippocampal volume, even while controlling for sex and years of education. Decreased hippocampal volume was significantly associated with decline in multiple NIHTB-CB subdomains, including episodic memory, working memory, processing speed and executive function. This study provides important insight into the multifaceted role of the hippocampus in cognitive aging.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Porges
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of FloridaGainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of FloridaGainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Nissim
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of FloridaGainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of FloridaGainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Woods
keywords: MoCA; NIH toolbox; cognitive aging; hippocampus; structural magnetic resonance imaging