Cerebellar Vermis Size and Cognitive Ability in Community-Dwelling Elderly Men

The cerebellum participates in multiple cognitive functions, including those that are sensitive to decline with aging, and is also vulnerable to atrophy with aging. However, few studies have examined structure–function relationships in older adults. We measured the cross-sectional area of four areas...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cerebellum (London, England) England), 2013-02, Vol.12 (1), p.68-73
Main Authors: Miller, Thomas D., Ferguson, Karen J., Reid, Louise M., Wardlaw, Joanna M., Starr, John M., Seckl, Jonathan R., Deary, Ian J., MacLullich, Alasdair M. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging
Aging - pathology
Aging - physiology
Atrophy
Atrophy - pathology
Atrophy - physiopathology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - pathology
Cerebellum - physiology
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Geriatrics
Humans
Male
Memory - physiology
Neurobiology
Neurology
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Principal components analysis
Residence Characteristics
Structure-function relationships
Verbal Behavior - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The cerebellum participates in multiple cognitive functions, including those that are sensitive to decline with aging, and is also vulnerable to atrophy with aging. However, few studies have examined structure–function relationships in older adults. We measured the cross-sectional area of four areas of the cerebellar vermis in 45 community-dwelling men aged 71–76, and correlated this with individual cognitive test scores and two cognitive factors derived from principal components analysis. Two out of the four areas showed positive correlations; vermis area 4 (lobules VIII–X) correlated at r  = 0.47 ( p  = 0.001) with a general cognitive factor accounting for almost half of the cognitive test variance. These findings support the hypothesis that variations in cerebellar structure are associated with cognitive ability in older adults.
ISSN:1473-4222
1473-4230
DOI:10.1007/s12311-012-0397-z