ArticleCirculation2018
Higher Aortic Stiffness Is Related to Lower Cerebral Blood Flow and Preserved Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Older Adults.
Article in Circulation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 129 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
129 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 198 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cumulative blood pressure and risk of dementia and cognitive decline: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Pooled it
- Imaging-validated correlates and implications of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of ageing-related cerebral large artery and small vessel diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2025Pooled it
- Use of Antihypertensives, Blood Pressure, and Estimated Risk of Dementia in Late Life: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Treatment of hypertension reduces cognitive decline in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Arterial stiffness moderates the link between NfL and cognition: The IGNITE study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Trial
- Associations of Brain Structure and Neuropsychological Function With Artificial Intelligence Estimates of Biological Vascular Age.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026Article
- Food-Derived Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Cognitive Aging: Integrating Nutritional Neuroscience and Geroscience.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Cerebral perfusion features linking subclinical cardiac and aortic dysfunction to vascular brain injury.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Article
- STIM1-dependent treg dysfunction promotes cardiometabolic HFpEF: insights from patients and animal studies.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2026Article
- Posterior communicating artery variation is linked to compromised cerebral hemodynamics in middle-aged and older adults.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026Article
- Unravelling the genetic architecture of cerebral small vessel disease in the context of stroke.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026Review
- High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- WSB.APP/PS1 mice develop age-dependent cerebral amyloid angiopathy, cerebrovascular dysfunction, and white matter deficits.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Plasma von Willebrand Factor and ADAMTS13 Interact WithJournal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Long-Term Consequences of Preterm Birth: A Lifespan Perspective.Developmental neuroscience · 2026Review
- The Relationship Between Hippocampal Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Brain Structure in Older Age.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Lower cerebral blood flow but not cerebrovascular response in elastin haploinsufficient mice.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Intracranial arterial calcification and cerebrovascular function in the general aging population - A 7T MRI Study.Cerebral circulation - cognition and behavior · 2026Article
- The impact of age and sex on cerebral and large artery stiffness and the response to pulse pressure.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025Article
69 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMechanisms underlying the association between age-related arterial stiffening and poor brain health remain elusive. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) homeostasis may be implicated. This study evaluates how aortic stiffening relates to resting CBF and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) in older adults.
methodsVanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants free of clinical dementia, stroke, and heart failure were studied, including older adults with normal cognition (n=155; age, 72±7 years; 59% male) or mild cognitive impairment (n=115; age, 73±7 years; 57% male). Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV; meters per second) was quantified from cardiac magnetic resonance. Resting CBF (milliliters per 100 g per minute) and CVR (CBF response to hypercapnic normoxia stimulus) were quantified from pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging. Linear regression models related aortic PWV to regional CBF, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, education, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile (diabetes mellitus, smoking, left ventricular hypertrophy, prevalent cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation), hypertension, body mass index, apolipoprotein E4 ( APOE ε4) status, and regional tissue volume. Models were repeated testing PWV× APOE ε4 interactions. Sensitivity analyses excluded participants with prevalent cardiovascular disease and atrial fibrillation.
resultsAmong participants with normal cognition, higher aortic PWV related to lower frontal lobe CBF (β=-0.43; P=0.04) and higher CVR in the whole brain (β=0.11; P=0.02), frontal lobes (β=0.12; P<0.05), temporal lobes (β=0.11; P=0.02), and occipital lobes (β=0.14; P=0.01). Among APOE ε4 carriers with normal cognition, findings were more pronounced with higher PWV relating to lower whole-brain CBF (β=-1.16; P=0.047), lower temporal lobe CBF (β=-1.81; P=0.004), and higher temporal lobe CVR (β=0.26; P=0.08), although the last result did not meet the a priori significance threshold. Results were similar in sensitivity models. Among participants with mild cognitive impairment, higher aortic PWV related to lower CBF in the occipital lobe (β=-0.70; P=0.02), but this finding was attenuated when participants with prevalent cardiovascular disease and atrial fibrillation were excluded. Among APOE ε4 carriers with mild cognitive impairment, findings were more pronounced with higher PWV relating to lower temporal lobe CBF (β=-1.20; P=0.02).
conclusionsGreater aortic stiffening relates to lower regional CBF and higher CVR in cognitively normal older adults, especially among individuals with increased genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's disease. Central arterial stiffening may contribute to reductions in regional CBF despite preserved cerebrovascular reserve capacity.
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