Abstract

Alterations in 24-hour movement patterns, or circadian rest/activity rhythms (RARs), commonly occur with aging. Using linear mixed effects (LME) modeling, we examined associations of baseline RARs with longitudinal change in cognition. Participants (N=424; 47% male, baseline age 72.8±10.1 years) were from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and completed 5.6±0.8 nights of wrist actigraphy at baseline. Tests of memory, executive function, attention, language, and visuospatial ability were administered at baseline and subsequent visits (3.7±1.7 years of follow-up in those with >1 visit (n=295)). In unadjusted random intercept and slope LME models, greater RAR stability predicted slower memory decline, and higher activity during participants’ least active 5 hours (L5) predicted slower decline in visuospatial ability. After covariate adjustment, higher activity in participants’ most active 10 hours (M10) and higher L5 predicted slower decline in visuospatial ability (p<.05). Further research is needed on RARs as risk factors for later-life cognitive decline.

Details

Title
Circadian Rest and Activity Rhythms and Cognitive Change in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Author
Rabinowitz, Jill 1 ; Yang, An 2 ; Wanigatunga, Sarah 3 ; Zipunnikov, Vadim 4 ; Wu, Mark 5 ; Simonsick, Eleanor 6 ; Resnick, Susan 7 ; Spira, Adam 1 

 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 NIA, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 National Instute on Aging/NIH, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
 National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 
Pages
444-444
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
23995300
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3223115357
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.