ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2016
Increased attrition of leukocyte telomere length in young adults is associated with poorer cognitive function in midlife.
Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of telomere length with general cognitive trajectories: a meta-analysis of four prospective cohort studies.Neurobiology of aging · 2018Pooled it
- Short telomere length is associated with impaired cognitive performance in European ancestry cohorts.Translational psychiatry · 2017Pooled it
- Unsuppressed Viremia and Lower CD4 Count Associated With Faster Telomere Attrition in African Children With Perinatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus on Long-term Antiretroviral Therapy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Trial
- Combined physical and cognitive training enhances telomere length in mild cognitive impairment patients.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- Baseline Telomere Length and Effects of a Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention on Cognition: The FINGER Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2017Trial
- Cognitive-Enhancing Effects of Bioactive Compounds and Traditional Herbal Medicines in Elderly Patients with Metabolic Syndrome.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Epigenetic age acceleration, telomere length, and neurocognitive function in long-term survivors of childhood cancer.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Immunosenescence and cancer: molecular hallmarks, tumor microenvironment remodeling, and age-specific immunotherapy challenges.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Leukocyte telomere length and memory circuitry and cognition in early aging: Impact of sex and menopausal status.Hormones and behavior · 2024Article
- Associations between telomere length, glucocorticoid receptor gene DNA methylation, volume of stress-related brain structures, and academic performance in middle-school-age children.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Telomere length in early childhood and its association with attention: a study in 4-6 year old children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- The relationship between longer leukocyte telomeres and dNCR in non-cardiac surgery patients: a retrospective analysis.BMC anesthesiology · 2023Article
- Work-Related Psychosocial Factors and Global Cognitive Function: Are Telomere Length and Low-Grade Inflammation Potential Mediators of This Association?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Longitudinal telomere length profile does not reflect HIV and childhood trauma impacts on cognitive function in South African women.Journal of neurovirology · 2021Article
- Short Leukocyte Telomeres, But Not Telomere Attrition Rates, Predict Memory Decline in the 20-Year Longitudinal Betula Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2021Article
- Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Unrelated to Cognitive Performance Among Non-Demented and Demented Persons: An Examination of Long Life Family Study Participants.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2020Article
- Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Related to Brain Parenchymal Fraction and Attention/Speed in the Elderly: Results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- The Rotterdam Study: 2018 update on objectives, design and main results.European journal of epidemiology · 2017Article
- Cognitive Change during the Life Course and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Late Middle-Aged Men.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2016Article
- Associations of Telomere Length and Change With Cognitive Decline Were Modified by Sex and Race: The REGARDS Study.American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementiasArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Evidence for an association of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with cognitive function, predominantly in older adults, is inconsistent. No report has examined the association of LTL dynamics (age-specific LTL and its attrition rate) with cognitive function. We aimed to examine the association of LTL dynamics over 13 years in young adulthood with cognitive function in midlife. 497 individuals who had LTL measured at ages 28-32 and 41-46 years were assessed at ages 48-52 for global cognitive function and its five specific component domains with a NeuroTrax computerized test battery. Multivariable regression and logistic models were applied for cognition treated as a continuous and categorical variable, respectively. We found that LTL attrition (adjusted for sex, baseline LTL and potential confounders including socioeconomic variables) was inversely associated with global cognition (standardized β = -.119, p = .004) and its component domains: information processing speed (β = -.102, p = .024), visual-spatial function (β = -.102, p = .017) and memory (β = -.093, p = .045), but less so for the attention and executive domains. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for low global cognition comparing the upper versus lower thirds of LTL attrition was 2.12 (95 % CI 1.11-4.08, p for trend = .023). There was no association of baseline or follow-up LTL with cognition. No effect modification was evident for sex, smoking or inflammatory markers. In conclusion, faster LTL attrition in young adulthood was associated with poorer global and domain-specific cognitive function in midlife, suggesting that more rapid LTL attrition may be predictive of cognitive aging in healthy young adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.