Childhood Disadvantage Moderates Late Midlife Default Mode Network Cortical Microstructure and Visual Memory Association

Rongxiang Tang; Jeremy A Elman; Anders M Dale; Stephen M Dorros; Lisa T Eyler; Christine Fennema-Notestine; Daniel E Gustavson; Donald J Hagler Jr; Michael J Lyons; Matthew S Panizzon; Olivia K Puckett; Chandra A Reynolds; Carol E Franz; William S Kremen

doi:10.1093/gerona/glad114

Childhood Disadvantage Moderates Late Midlife Default Mode Network Cortical Microstructure and Visual Memory Association

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Jan 1;79(1):glad114. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glad114.

Authors

Rongxiang Tang^{1

2}, Jeremy A Elman^{1

2}, Anders M Dale^{3

4}, Stephen M Dorros³, Lisa T Eyler^{1

5}, Christine Fennema-Notestine^{1

3}, Daniel E Gustavson⁶, Donald J Hagler Jr³, Michael J Lyons⁷, Matthew S Panizzon^{1

2}, Olivia K Puckett^{1

2}, Chandra A Reynolds⁸, Carol E Franz^{1

2}, William S Kremen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
² Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
³ Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
⁵ Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California, USA.
⁶ Institute for Behavior Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, USA.

PMID: 37096346
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glad114

Abstract

Background: Childhood disadvantage is a prominent risk factor for cognitive and brain aging. Childhood disadvantage is associated with poorer episodic memory in late midlife and functional and structural brain abnormalities in the default mode network (DMN). Although age-related changes in DMN are associated with episodic memory declines in older adults, it remains unclear if childhood disadvantage has an enduring impact on this later-life brain-cognition relationship earlier in the aging process. Here, within the DMN, we examined whether its cortical microstructural integrity-an early marker of structural vulnerability that increases the risk for future cognitive decline and neurodegeneration-is associated with episodic memory in adults at ages 56-66, and whether childhood disadvantage moderates this association.

Methods: Cortical mean diffusivity (MD) obtained from diffusion magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure microstructural integrity in 350 community-dwelling men. We examined both visual and verbal episodic memory in relation to DMN MD and divided participants into disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged groups based on parental education and occupation.

Results: Higher DMN MD was associated with poorer visual memory but not verbal memory (β = -0.11, p = .040 vs β = -0.04, p = .535). This association was moderated by childhood disadvantage and was significant only in the disadvantaged group (β = -0.26, p = .002 vs β = -0.00, p = .957).

Conclusions: Lower DMN cortical microstructural integrity may reflect visual memory vulnerability in cognitively normal adults earlier in the aging process. Individuals who experienced childhood disadvantage manifested greater vulnerability to cortical microstructure-related visual memory dysfunction than their nondisadvantaged counterparts who exhibited resilience in the face of low cortical microstructural integrity.

Keywords: Episodic memory; Mean diffusivity; Neurodegeneration; Socioeconomic status.

MeSH terms

Aged
Aging / psychology
Brain
Child
Default Mode Network*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory, Episodic*

Abstract

MeSH terms

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