MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College London, Department of Population Science and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Cardiovascular Science, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom.
Department of Cardiac Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, 2835 King Faisal Street, Damman, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Neuroimage. 2022 Aug 15;257:119302. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119302. Epub 2022 May 18.
There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that vascular disease could contribute to cognitive decline and overt dementia. Of particular interest is atherosclerosis, as it is not only associated with dementia, but could be a potential mechanism through which cardiovascular disease directly impacts brain health. In this work, we evaluated the differences in functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based measures of brain activation, task performance, and the change in central hemodynamics (mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR)) during a Stroop color-word task in individuals with atherosclerosis, defined as bilateral carotid plaques (n = 33) and healthy age-matched controls (n = 33). In the healthy control group, the left prefrontal cortex (LPFC) was the only region showing evidence of activation when comparing the incongruous with the nominal Stroop test. A smaller extent of brain activation was observed in the Plaque group compared with the healthy controls (1) globally, as measured by oxygenated hemoglobin (p = 0.036) and (2) in the LPFC (p = 0.02) and left sensorimotor cortices (LMC)(p = 0.008) as measured by deoxygenated hemoglobin. There were no significant differences in HR, MAP, or task performance (both in terms of the time required to complete the task and number of errors made) between Plaque and control groups. These results suggest that carotid atherosclerosis is associated with altered functional brain activation patterns despite no evidence of impaired performance of the Stroop task or central hemodynamic changes.
越来越多的证据表明，血管疾病可能导致认知能力下降和明显的痴呆。特别引人关注的是动脉粥样硬化，因为它不仅与痴呆有关，而且可能是心血管疾病直接影响大脑健康的潜在机制。在这项工作中，我们评估了在斯特鲁普颜色-单词任务中，基于功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）的大脑激活、任务表现以及中心血液动力学（平均动脉压（MAP）和心率（HR））变化在动脉粥样硬化患者（定义为双侧颈动脉斑块（n = 33）和健康年龄匹配的对照组（n = 33）之间的差异。在健康对照组中，当比较不一致和名义斯特鲁普测试时，只有左侧前额叶皮层（LPFC）显示出激活的证据。与健康对照组相比，斑块组观察到大脑激活范围较小（1）整体上，以氧合血红蛋白（p = 0.036）衡量，（2）在 LPFC（p = 0.02）和左侧感觉运动皮层（LMC）（p = 0.008）以脱氧血红蛋白衡量。斑块组和对照组之间的心率（HR）、MAP 或任务表现（完成任务所需的时间和犯错的数量）均无显著差异。这些结果表明，尽管在斯特鲁普任务表现或中心血液动力学变化方面没有证据表明受损，但颈动脉粥样硬化与改变的功能性大脑激活模式有关。
