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. 2024 Dec;20(12):8566-8575.
doi: 10.1002/alz.14294. Epub 2024 Oct 23.

Associations between AHA's Life's Essential 8 and cognition in midlife and older adults

Lindsay Master  1 , Yuqi Shen  1 , Alexa C Allan  2 , May A Beydoun  3 , Alan B Zonderman  3 , Michele K Evans  3 , Orfeu M Buxton  1 , Alyssa A Gamaldo  4
Affiliations

Associations between AHA's Life's Essential 8 and cognition in midlife and older adults

Lindsay Master et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: This study evaluated the associations between Life's Essential 8 (LE8) and cognitive performance, and compared the strength of the relationships of Life's Simple 7 (LS7) and LE8 to cognition in midlife and older adults.

Methods: Participants (N = 1539) were from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. Cross-sectional multivariable regression examined the associations between LE8 and cognition. Secondary analyses compared model performance between LE8 and LS7 measures on cognition from the same available sample.

Results: Higher LE8 scores were associated with better global cognitive performance, working memory, and attention. The LS7 model outperformed the LE8 model on global cognitive performance, but the LE8 model outperformed the LS7 model for the working memory domain.

Discussion: Better cardiovascular health (CVH) was associated with better cognitive performance among US middle-aged and older adults. However, the association between CVH and specific cognitive domains varies when using LE8 versus LS7.

Highlights: Cardiovascular health (CVH) is associated with cognitive performance. Life's Essential 8 (LE8) is a new construct to quantify CVH. Associations between LE8 and cognition were assessed. Higher LE8 was associated with better global cognitive performance. Higher LE8 was also associated with better working memory and attention.

Keywords: Life's Essential 8; aging; cardiovascular disease; cognition; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

Outside of the current work, Orfeu M. Buxton discloses that he received subcontract grants to Penn State from Proactive Life (formerly Mobile Sleep Technologies), doing business as SleepSpace (National Science Foundation grant #1622766 and NIH/National Institute on Aging Small Business Innovation Research Program R43AG056250, R44 AG056250); received honoraria/travel support for lectures from Tufts School of Dental Medicine, New York University, University of Miami, University of South Florida, University of Utah, University of Arizona, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Eric H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, Georgia State University, National Institute on Aging, and Allstate; consulting fees for SleepNumber; and receives an honorarium for his role as the editor in chief of the journal Sleep Health. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Analytic sample consort diagram (Aim 1; LE8). HANDLS, Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span; LE8, Life's Essential 8; WRAT‐3, Wide Range Achievement Test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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