ArticleJournal of neurology2026
The association between neurofilament light chain and cognitive function: a UK Biobank cohort study.
Article in Journal of neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionBlood neurofilament light chain reflects axonal injury, but its association with cognitive subdomains remains inconsistent across non-dementia populations.
methodsData were drawn from two waves of the UK Biobank. Participants completed tests in reaction time, fluid intelligence, prospective memory, and incorrect matches. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) were used to examine associations between NfL levels and cognitive function, and subgroup analyses were conducted to explore these associations within specific population subgroups.
resultsOne thousand one hundred seventy-nine participants with plasma NfL measurements were evaluated at baseline. The cross-sectional results show that high NfL levels were associated with poor prospective memory in females, while no significant associations were observed in males. In participants with low education, NfL levels exhibited a non-linear relationship with fluid intelligence. The longitudinal results show that the annual change rate of reaction time increased with the annual change rate of NfL levels among participants < 60 and in females. Additionally, non-linear associations were observed between the annual change rate of NfL levels and the annual change rate of fluid intelligence in participants < 60 and in the low-education group. DISCUSSION: This study examined the relationships between NfL levels and cognitive functions in non-dementia individuals from the UK Biobank. Overall, NfL showed linear and non-linear associations with cognitive performance, reflecting complex and variable links between neural integrity and cognition. These findings highlight that the relationships between NfL and cognition are complex and vary across populations, underscoring the need for further research to clarify the underlying mechanisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42053837What OpenQuestion holds
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.