Examining the association between lung functioning and cognitive performance in African American adults

Examining cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between multidomain physical fitness metrics, education, and cognition in Black older adults

A limited number of studies examine cognitive aging in Black or African American older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between health-related fitness metrics, education, and cognition at baseline and over a 4-year follow-up in a sample of 321 Black or African American older adults in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Physical fitness was assessed with measures of gait speed, peak expiratory flow, grip strength, and body mass index. Global cognition was assessed with an adapted version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS). Analyses of relative importance and hierarchical multiple regression were used to examine baseline cross-sectional relationships. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine prospective relationships with longitudinal cognitive status. Education was the strongest predictor of global cognition at baseline and follow-up. More years of education significantly increased the odds of maintaining cognitive status at 4-year follow-up. After accounting for education, gait speed was independently associated with baseline cognitive performance and accounted for additional variance. Grip strength, peak expiratory flow, and body mass index were not significantly associated with cognition. The results indicated that modifiable variables, including years of educational attainment and gait speed, were more strongly associated with global cognition than other modifiable variables including body mass index, grip strength, and peak expiratory flow. The lack of observed associations between other fitness variables and cognition may be attributable to the brief assessment methods implemented, which was necessitated by the large-scale, epidemiological approach of the HRS.

Association between physical activity, peak expiratory flow, and cognitive function in aging: a cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND

The aging global population is experiencing escalating challenges related to cognitive deficits and dementia. This study explored the interplay between pulmonary function, physical activity, and cognitive function in older U.S. adults to identify modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline.

METHODS

Utilizing NHANES 2011-2012 data, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 729 participants aged ≥ 60 years. Cognitive function, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and physical activity were assessed. Weighted logistic regression and mediation analyses were employed to examine associations.

RESULTS

The sample size was 729 (weighted mean [SD] age, 67.1 [5.3] years; 53.6% female participants). Preliminary correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the global cognitive score and physical activity (β = 0.16; p < 0.001), recreational activity (β = 0.22; p < 0.001), and PEF in percent predicted (PEF%) (β = 0.18; p < 0.001). Compared to those with a PEF% >100%, the PEF% (80-100%) group (OR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.34-5.29; p = 0.005) and PEF% <80% group (OR, 3.36; 95% CI, 1.67-6.76; p = 0.001) were significantly associated with higher cognitive deficits risk. Recreational activity meeting guidelines was linked to a lower risk of cognitive deficits (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.10-0.57; p = 0.001). Mediation analysis demonstrated that PEF mediates the relationship between physical activity and cognitive function.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed significant associations between lower PEF, diminished physical activity, and increased cognitive deficits in elderly individuals. The results supported the hypothesis that pulmonary function may mediate the connection between activity and cognitive health, emphasizing the importance of respiratory health in cognitive aging. Recognizing these associations is crucial for clinical care and public health policy aiming to mitigate cognitive decline in aging populations. While these findings are intriguing, validation through longitudinal design studies is deemed necessary.

Effects of verbal tasks with varying difficulty on real-time respiratory airflow during speech generation in healthy young adults

Objective

Respiratory function is linked to sensory, affective, and cognitive processes and it is affected by environmental constraints such as cognitive demands. It is suggested that specific cognitive processes, such as working memory or executive functioning, may impact breathing. In turn, various lines of research have suggested a link between peak expiratory airflow (PEF) and cognitive function. However, there is scarce experimental support to the above assertions, especially regarding spoken language. Therefore, the present investigation aims to evaluate whether breathing varies as a function of performing verbal naming tasks with different difficulty levels.

Methods

Thirty healthy young adults, (age M = 25.37 years), participated in the study. Participants were required to perform aloud five verbal tasks ranged in order of difficulty: Reading single words, reading a text passage, object naming, semantic and phonemic fluency. A pneumotachograph mask was employed to acquire simultaneously the verbal responses, and three airflow parameters: Duration, peak, and volume at both stages of the respiratory cycle (i.e., inspiration/expiration). Data were analyzed with one-way repeated measures MANOVA.

Results

No significant differences were found between reading single words and object naming. In comparison, distinctive airflow requirements were found for reading a text passage, which were proportionally related to number of pronounced words. Though, the main finding of the study concerns the data on verbal fluency tasks, which not only entailed higher inhaled airflow resources but also a significant PEF.

Conclusion

Our data demonstrated that the most difficult tasks, namely semantic and phonemic verbal fluencies, relying on semantic search, executive function, and fast lexical retrieval of words were those requiring important amount of inhaled airflow and displaying a high peak expiratory airflow. The present findings demonstrated for the first time a direct association between complex verbal tasks and PEF. Inconclusive data related to object naming and reading single words are discussed in light of the methodological challenges inherent to the assessment of speech breathing and cognition in this line of investigation.

Greater Disease Burden, Greater Risk? Exploring Cognitive Change and Health Status Among Older Blacks

Objective: The objective of study is to examine the relationships between health status and changes in cognition over time among middle to older aged Blacks. Method: Data come from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging-Patterns of Cognitive Aging. At baseline, 602 Black participants, ranging from ages 48 to 95 years, were enrolled. At follow-up, approximately 3 years later, 450 participants were re-interviewed. Results: After accounting for baseline cognition, age, sex, and education, a greater number of health conditions was associated with slower perceptual speed (b = -5.099, p = .022). Average peak expiratory flow was also associated with improvements in working memory (b = 0.029, p = .019) and perceptual speed (b = 0.026, p = .026), controlling for model covariates. Discussion: Study findings demonstrate that greater disease burden is associated with declines in specific fluid cognitive abilities in middle to later life among Blacks. This finding highlights the importance of reducing health disparities that disproportionately affect Blacks.

Associations of Pulmonary Function with Dementia and Depression in an Older Korean Population

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies reported an association between pulmonary function and cognitive function. However, not much has been investigated in this regard concerning dementia in a community population, taking depression into account. We aimed to examine the associations of pulmonary function with dementia and depression in a community-dwelling elderly population.

METHODS

A total of 1,038 participants were evaluated for dementia and depression using the Korean version of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule B3 (GMS B3-K), the Community Screening Interview for Dementia-Korean version (CSID-K) and a modified 10-item Word List Learning from the Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Pulmonary function was measured as forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) from a forced expiratory maneuver.

RESULTS

Prevalence rates of dementia and depression were 11.0% and 10.4%, respectively. Individuals who were diagnosed with dementia manifested a lower mean FEV1, as compared to those without dementia after adjusting for potential confounders, including disability and depression [OR=1.34 (1.05-1.72)]. Following gender-stratified analysis, the association was only statistically significant in women [OR=1.40 (1.04-1.89)]. The association between depression and mean FEV1 was less significant compared to dementia [OR=1.32 (1.10-1.58)]. However, the association was no longer significant after adjusting for age and years of education. No association was significant in the gender-stratified analysis.

CONCLUSION

Decreased pulmonary function was associated with dementia status only in an older female Korean population. Pulmonary function and depression were not significantly associated in either gender.

Cognition and health in African American men

OBJECTIVE

Despite high rates of poor health outcomes, little attention has been focused on associations between prominent health factors and cognitive function in African American men, exclusively. The objective was to examine relationships between cardiovascular and pulmonary health, and cognitive function in African American men.

METHOD

Data from 257 men were pooled from two studies of African American aging. The mean age of participants was 58.15 and mean educational attainment was 11.78 years. Participants provided self-reported health and demographic information, completed cognitive measures, and had their blood pressure and peak expiratory flow assessed.

RESULTS

After adjustment, significant relationships were found between average peak expiratory flow rate (APEFR) and cognitive performance measures.

DISCUSSION

Results suggest that lung function is important to consider when examining cognitive function in African American men. Understanding the role of health in cognition and implications for quality of life in this population will be critical as life expectancies increase.

Pulmonary function impairment may be an early risk factor for late-life cognitive impairment

OBJECTIVES

To determine the association between change in pulmonary function (PF) and mid- and late-life cognitive function.

DESIGN

Prospective population-based cohort study that included measures of pulmonary function in midlife and brain magnetic resonance imaging data acquired in late life.

SETTING

The Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.

PARTICIPANTS

Three thousand six hundred sixty-five subjects who had at least one measure of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) and were cognitively tested on average 23 years later. A subset of 1,281 subjects had two or three measures of FEV(1) acquired over a 7.8-year period.

MEASUREMENTS

Pulmonary function was estimated as FEV(1)/height(2). Rate of PF decline was estimated as the slope of decline over time. Cognitive status was measured with continuous scores of memory, speed of processing, and executive function and as the outcome of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

RESULTS

Lower PF measured in midlife predicted poorer memory, slower speed of processing, poorer executive function, and greater likelihood of MCI and dementia 23 years later. Decrease in PF over a 7.8-year period in midlife was not associated with MCI or dementia.

CONCLUSION

Low PF measured in midlife may be an early marker of later cognitive problems. Additional studies characterizing early and late PF changes are needed.

The Relationship Between Reported Problems Falling Asleep and Cognition Among African American Elderly

This study examined the relationship between elders' cognitive performance and self-reported trouble falling asleep. Analyses were conducted on 174 older independently living, community dwelling African Americans ( M age = 72.74; range = 65 to 90). Cognitive performance was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Forward Digit Span task, Backward Digit Span task, Alpha Span task, and California Verbal Learning Test. Results suggested that individuals who reported trouble falling asleep tended to perform significantly worse than individuals who did not report trouble falling asleep on measures tapping short-term memory and working memory after controlling for age, education, gender, depression, and current health. These results demonstrate that a self-report of sleep difficulty may be a unique predictor of cognitive performance.