TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Cerebellar Volume in Cognition in the General Elderly Population
AU - Hoogendam, Jory
AU - van der Geest, Jos
AU - Niessen, Wiro
AU - van der Lugt, Aad
AU - Hofman, Bert
AU - Vernooij, Meike
AU - Ikram, Arfan
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Background: It is unknown whether the cerebellum affects cognitive function in an aging community-dwelling population. In a population-based study on 3745 nondemented individuals aged 45 years and above, we investigated the relationship between cerebellar volume and cognitive function. Methods: Brain volumes were obtained using automatic tissue segmentation of magnetic resonance imaging scans. Cognitive functioning was assessed using MMSE and cognitive compound scores of global cognition, executive function, information processing speed, memory, and motor speed. Linear regression modeling was used to study the associations between cerebellar volumes and cognitive measures, independent of cerebral volumes. Results: We found a relationship between larger cerebellar volume and better global cognition, executive function, information processing speed, and motor speed. After adjustment for cerebral volume, only cerebellar gray matter volume remained borderline significantly associated with global cognition and information processing speed. After Bonferroni correction, the few associations found between cerebellar volume and cognition disappeared. Conclusions: We only found a minor relationship between larger cerebellar volume and better cognition in healthy older adults, which further attenuated after correcting for cerebral volume. Our findings support the notion that cerebellar volume has an influence on cognition in aging, but that it is not the major leading structure.
AB - Background: It is unknown whether the cerebellum affects cognitive function in an aging community-dwelling population. In a population-based study on 3745 nondemented individuals aged 45 years and above, we investigated the relationship between cerebellar volume and cognitive function. Methods: Brain volumes were obtained using automatic tissue segmentation of magnetic resonance imaging scans. Cognitive functioning was assessed using MMSE and cognitive compound scores of global cognition, executive function, information processing speed, memory, and motor speed. Linear regression modeling was used to study the associations between cerebellar volumes and cognitive measures, independent of cerebral volumes. Results: We found a relationship between larger cerebellar volume and better global cognition, executive function, information processing speed, and motor speed. After adjustment for cerebral volume, only cerebellar gray matter volume remained borderline significantly associated with global cognition and information processing speed. After Bonferroni correction, the few associations found between cerebellar volume and cognition disappeared. Conclusions: We only found a minor relationship between larger cerebellar volume and better cognition in healthy older adults, which further attenuated after correcting for cerebral volume. Our findings support the notion that cerebellar volume has an influence on cognition in aging, but that it is not the major leading structure.
M3 - Article
SN - 0893-0341
VL - 28
SP - 352
EP - 357
JO - Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders
JF - Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders
IS - 4
ER -