Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;43(2):271-5.
doi: 10.1093/ageing/aft210. Epub 2014 Jan 15.

Macular pigment optical density is related to cognitive function in older people

Rohini Vishwanathan  1 , Alessandro Iannaccone, Tammy M Scott, Stephen B Kritchevsky, Barbara J Jennings, Giovannella Carboni, Gina Forma, Suzanne Satterfield, Tamara Harris, Karen C Johnson, Wolfgang Schalch, Lisa M Renzi, Caterina Rosano, Elizabeth J Johnson
Affiliations

Macular pigment optical density is related to cognitive function in older people

Rohini Vishwanathan et al. Age Ageing. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Background: the xanthophylls lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) exist in relatively high concentration in multiple central nervous tissues (e.g. cortex and neural retina). L + Z in macula (i.e. macular pigment, MP) are thought to serve multiple functions, including protection and improvement of visual performance. Also, L + Z in the macula are related to L + Z in the cortex.

Objective: to determine whether macular pigment optical density (MPOD, L + Z in the macula) is related to cognitive function in older adults.

Methods: participants were older adults (n = 108, 77.6 ± 2.7 years) sampled from the age-related maculopathy ancillary study of the Health Aging and Body Composition Study (Memphis, TN, USA). Serum carotenoids were measured using high performance liquid chromatography. MPOD was assessed using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Eight cognitive tests designed to evaluate several cognitive domains including memory and processing speed were administered. Partial correlation coefficients were computed to determine whether cognitive measures were related to serum L + Z and MPOD.

Results: MPOD levels were significantly associated with better global cognition, verbal learning and fluency, recall, processing speed and perceptual speed, whereas serum L + Z was significantly related to only verbal fluency.

Conclusion: MPOD is related to cognitive function in older people. Its role as a potential biomarker of cognitive function deserves further study.

Keywords: ageing; cognition; lutein; macular pigment; older people; zeaxanthin.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bone RA, Landrum JT, Fernandez L, Tarsis SL. Analysis of the macular pigment by HPLC: retinal distribution and age study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1988;29:843–9. - PubMed
    1. Bone RA, Landrum JT, Hime GW, Cains A, Zamor J. Stereochemistry of the human macular carotenoids. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1993;34:2033–40. - PubMed
    1. Junghans A, Sies H, Stahl W. Macular pigments lutein and zeaxanthin as blue light filters studied in liposomes. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2001;391:160–4. - PubMed
    1. Barker FM, 2nd, Snodderly DM, Johnson EJ, et al. Nutritional manipulation of primate retinas, V: effects of lutein, zeaxanthin, and n-3 fatty acids on retinal sensitivity to blue-light-induced damage. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:3934–42. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hammond BR, Wooten BR. CFF thresholds: relation to macular pigment optical density. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2005;25:315–9. - PubMed

Publication types