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AF may be associated with reduced frontal lobe brain volumes
Recent findings published in Heart Rhythm suggest that atrial fibrillation is associated with smaller frontal lobe volumes, but researchers wrote that due to small sample size, more research is needed on the association between AF and brain morphology.
Using data from 2,144 participants of the Framingham Offspring cohort of the Framingham Heart Study (mean age, 61 years; 54% women), the researchers investigated the associations between AF and measures of structural brain anomalies on MRI.
Based on MRI, 73 participants had prevalent AF and were more likely to be older men with greater vascular risk factors than those without AF, the researchers wrote.
According to the results, AF was inversely associated with total cerebral volume (P < .001), frontal brain volume (P = .001) and temporal brain volume (P = .002). After adjustment for vascular risk factors and the APOE4 allele associated with smaller brain volume, only the association between AF and frontal brain volume remained significant (P = .03).
The researchers wrote that their findings might be explained by hypertension and diabetes being causes for both AF and brain atrophy.
“Hypertension has been associated with smaller total brain and hippocampal volumes where diabetes has been linked to reduced total brain and grey matter volumes,” the researchers wrote.
“Given the small prevalence of AF in the study population, further exploration of the association between AF and brain morphology, particularly MRI metrics of vascular brain aging, and its subsequent effect on cognition, is warranted to substantiate these results,” they wrote.
Rhoda Au
“We believe that good heart health also contributes to good brain health and given that the incidence of AF is expected to more than double in the next 3 decades, we are interested in understanding the association between AF and brain anatomy,” Rhoda Au, PhD, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, neurology and epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and director of neuropsychology for the Framingham Heart Study, said in a press release. – by Tracey Romero
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.