1 Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital and Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre of Excellence on Longevity, McGill integrated University Health Network, Quebec, Canada; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Electronic address: olivier.beauchet@mcgill.ca.
2 Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada; Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
3 Neuromechanical Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
4 Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
5 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
6 Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
7 Andrew and Marjorie McCain Human Performance Laboratory, Richard J. Currie Center, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
8 Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
9 Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
10 Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA.

Brain gray matter volume associations with gait speed and related structural covariance networks in cognitively healthy individuals and in patients with mild cognitive impairment: A cross-sectional study.

Exp Gerontol. 2019 Jul 15;122:116-122

Authors: Beauchet O, Montembeault M, Barden JM, Szturm T, Bherer L, Liu-Ambrose T, Chester VL, Li K, Helbostad JL, Allali G, Canadian Gait Consortium

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Gait speed is slower in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to cognitively healthy individuals (CHI). We examined the patterns of brain gray matter (GM) volume association and covariance with gait speed in CHI and in patients with MCI.

METHODS: A total of 96 CHI and 99 patients with MCI were recruited in this cross-sectional study. Brain GM volumes measured with voxel-based morphometry and self-paced gait speed were used as outcomes.

RESULTS: The right middle frontal and precentral gyri volumes were positively associated with gait speed in CHI and covariated with frontal cortex. Striatum (i.e. left putamen and bilateral caudate nuclei) volumes were positively associated with gait speed in patients with MCI and covariated with striatal structures.

CONCLUSIONS: Two different patterns of brain GM volume association and covariance with gait speed were found and involving frontal cortex in CHI and the striatum in patients with MCI.

PMID: 31075383 [PubMed - in process]