Treating Insomnia with High Risk of Depression Using Therapist-Guided Digital Cognitive, Behavioral, and Circadian Rhythm Support Interventions to Prevent Worsening of Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: The global disease burden of major depressive disorder urgently requires prevention in high-risk individuals, such as recently discovered insomnia subtypes. Previous studies targeting insomnia with fully automated eHealth interventions to prevent depression are inconclusive: dropout was high and likely biased, and depressive symptoms in untreated participants on average improved rather than worsened. OBJECTIVE: This randomized controlled trial aimed to efficiently prevent the worsening of depressive symptoms by selecting insomnia subtypes at high risk of depression for internet-based circadian rhythm support (CRS), cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), or their combination (CBT-I+CRS), with online therapist guidance to promote adherence. METHODS: Participants with an insomnia disorder subtype conveying an increased risk of depression (n = 132) were randomized to no treatment (NT), CRS, CBT-I, or CBT-I+CRS. The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self Report (IDS-SR) was self-administered at baseline and at four follow-ups spanning 1 year. RESULTS: Without treatment, depressive symptoms indeed worsened (d = 0.28, p = 0.041) in high-risk insomnia, but not in a reference group with low-risk insomnia. Therapist-guided CBT-I and CBT-I+CRS reduced IDS-SR ratings across all follow-up assessments (respectively, d = -0.80, p = 0.001; d = -0.95, p < 0.001). Only CBT-I+CRS reduced the 1-year incidence of clinically meaningful worsening (p = 0.002). Dropout during therapist-guided interventions was very low (8%) compared to previous automated interventions (57-62%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings tentatively suggest that the efficiency of population-wide preventive strategies could benefit from the possibility to select insomnia subtypes at high risk of developing depression for therapist-guided digital CBT-I+CRS. This treatment may provide effective long-term prevention of worsening of depressive symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: the Netherlands Trial Register (NL7359).

ENIGMA-Sleep: Challenges, opportunities, and the road map.

Neuroimaging and genetics studies have advanced our understanding of the neurobiology of sleep and its disorders. However, individual studies usually have limitations to identifying consistent and reproducible effects, including modest sample sizes, heterogeneous clinical characteristics and varied methodologies. These issues call for a large-scale multi-centre effort in sleep research, in order to increase the number of samples, and harmonize the methods of data collection, preprocessing and analysis using pre-registered well-established protocols. The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) consortium provides a powerful collaborative framework for combining datasets across individual sites. Recently, we have launched the ENIGMA-Sleep working group with the collaboration of several institutes from 15 countries to perform large-scale worldwide neuroimaging and genetics studies for better understanding the neurobiology of impaired sleep quality in population-based healthy individuals, the neural consequences of sleep deprivation, pathophysiology of sleep disorders, as well as neural correlates of sleep disturbances across various neuropsychiatric disorders. In this introductory review, we describe the details of our currently available datasets and our ongoing projects in the ENIGMA-Sleep group, and discuss both the potential challenges and opportunities of a collaborative initiative in sleep medicine.

Internet-guided cognitive, behavioral and chronobiological interventions in depression-prone insomnia subtypes: protocol of a randomized controlled prevention trial.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is among the most burdening and costly chronic health hazards. Since its prognosis is poor and treatment effectiveness is moderate at best, prevention would be the strategy of first choice. Insomnia may be the best modifiable risk factor. Insomnia is highly prevalent (4-10%) and meta-analysis estimates ±13% of people with insomnia to develop depression within a year. Among people with insomnia, recent work identified three subtypes with a particularly high lifetime risk of depression. The current randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluates the effects of internet-guided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), Chronobiological Therapy (CT), and their combination on insomnia and the development of depressive symptoms. METHODS: We aim to include 120 participants with Insomnia Disorder (ID) of one of the three subtypes that are more prone to develop depression. In a two by two factorial repeated measures design, participants will be randomized to CBT-I, CT, CBT-I + CT or treatment as usual, and followed up for one year. The primary outcome is the change, relative to baseline, of the severity of depressive symptoms integrated over four follow-ups spanning one year. Secondary outcome measures include a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, insomnia severity, sleep diaries, actigraphy, cost-effectiveness, and brain structure and function. DISCUSSION: Pre-selection of three high-risk insomnia subtypes allows for a sensitive assessment of the possibility to prevent the development and worsening of depressive symptoms through interventions targeting insomnia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register (NL7359). Registered on 19 October 2018.

Increased hippocampal-prefrontal functional connectivity in insomnia.

Insomnia Disorder (ID) is the second-most common mental disorder and has a far-reaching impact on daytime functioning. A meta-analysis indicates that, of all cognitive domains, declarative memory involving the hippocampus is most affected in insomnia. Hippocampal functioning has consistently been shown to be sensitive to experimental sleep deprivation. Insomnia however differs from sleep deprivation in many aspects, and findings on hippocampal structure and function have been equivocal. The present study used both structural and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a larger sample than previously reported to evaluate hippocampal volume and functional connectivity in ID. Included were 65 ID patients (mean age = 48.3 y ±â€¯14.0, 17 males) and 65 good sleepers (mean age = 44.1 y ±â€¯15.2, 23 males). Insomnia severity was assessed with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), subjective sleep with the Consensus Sleep Diary (CSD) and objective sleep by two nights of polysomnography (PSG). Seed-based analysis showed a significantly stronger connectivity of the bilateral hippocampus with the left middle frontal gyrus in ID than in controls (p = .035, cluster based correction for multiple comparisons). Further analyses across all participants moreover showed that individual differences in the strength of this connectivity were associated with insomnia severity (ISI, r = 0.371, p = 9.3e-5) and with subjective sleep quality (CSD sleep efficiency, r = -0.307, p = .009) (all p FDR-corrected). Hippocampal volume did not differ between ID and controls. The findings indicate more severe insomnia and worse sleep quality in people with a stronger functional connectivity between the bilateral hippocampus and the left middle frontal gyrus, part of a circuit that characteristically activates with maladaptive rumination and deactivates with sleep.

Validity of the three apathy items of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-3A) in measuring apathy in older persons.

OBJECTIVE: The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)-3A, a three-item subset of the GDS-15, is increasingly used as a measure for apathy in research settings to assess factors associating with this neuropsychiatric syndrome. We aimed to assess how accurately the GDS-3A discriminates between presence and absence of apathy in two populations of community-dwelling older persons, using the Apathy Scale as reference standard. METHODS: Baseline data were used from 427 participants of the Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Treatment in Elderly people (DANTE) Study Leiden and 1118 participants of the PROactive Management Of Depression in the Elderly (PROMODE) Study, all ≥75 years and with available GDS-3A and Apathy Scale measurements. A cut-off score of ≥14 was used for presence of apathy according to the Apathy Scale. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated. Based on the likelihood ratios for GDS-3A scores, a cut-off of ≥2 was used for presence of apathy according to the GDS-3A to calculate test characteristics. RESULTS: The AUC was 0.68 (95% confidence interval 0.62-0.73) in the DANTE Study and 0.72 (0.67-0.77) in the PROMODE Study. In the DANTE Study sensitivity was 29.3% (21.4-38.1) and specificity was 88.5% (84.4-91.8), whereas in the PROMODE Study sensitivity was 32.8% (24.5-41.1) and specificity 92.6% (90.9-94.2). Stratification on population characteristics did not yield more favourable test characteristics. CONCLUSION: The GDS-3A has low sensitivity and high specificity as a measure of apathy in two populations of older persons. Using the GDS-3A in research might yield estimates biassed towards the null in case of non-differential misclassification. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effect of discontinuation of antihypertensive medication on orthostatic hypotension in older persons with mild cognitive impairment: the DANTE Study Leiden.

BACKGROUND: the relationship between antihypertensive medication and orthostatic hypotension in older persons remains ambiguous, due to conflicting observational evidence and lack of data of clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: to assess the effect of discontinuation of antihypertensive medication on orthostatic hypotension in older persons with mild cognitive impairment. METHODS: a total of 162 participants with orthostatic hypotension were selected from the Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Treatment in Elderly people (DANTE) Study. This randomised clinical trial included community-dwelling participants aged ≥75 years, with mild cognitive impairment, using antihypertensive medication and without serious cardiovascular disease. Participants were randomised to discontinuation or continuation of antihypertensive treatment (ratio 1:1). Orthostatic hypotension was defined as a drop of at least 20 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and/or 10 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure on standing from a seated position. Outcome was the absence of orthostatic hypotension at 4-month follow-up. Relative risks (RR) were calculated by intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. RESULTS: at follow-up, according to intention-to-treat analyses, of the 86 persons assigned to discontinuation of antihypertensive medication, 43 (50%) were free from orthostatic hypotension, compared with 29 (38%) of the 76 persons assigned to continuation of medication [RR 1.31 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92-1.87); P = 0.13]. Per-protocol analysis showed that recovery from orthostatic hypotension was significantly higher in persons who completely discontinued all antihypertensive medication (61%) compared with the continuation group (38%) [RR 1.60 (95% CI 1.10-2.31); P = 0.01]. CONCLUSION: in older persons with mild cognitive impairment and orthostatic hypotension receiving antihypertensive medication, discontinuation of antihypertensive medication may increase the probability of recovery from orthostatic hypotension.

Cognitive, Behavioral, and Circadian Rhythm Interventions for Insomnia Alter Emotional Brain Responses.

BACKGROUND: The highest risk of depression is conveyed by insomnia. This risk can be mitigated by sleep interventions. Understanding brain mechanisms underlying increased emotional stability following insomnia treatment could provide insight relevant to the prevention of depression. Here, we investigated how different sleep interventions alter emotion-related brain activity in people with insomnia at high risk of developing depression. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess how the amygdala response to emotional stimuli (negative facial expression) in 122 people with insomnia disorder differed from 36 control subjects and how the amygdala response changed after 6 weeks of either no treatment or internet-based circadian rhythm support (CRS), cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), or their combination (CBT-I+CRS). Effects on depression, insomnia and anxiety severity were followed up for 1 year. RESULTS: Only combined treatment (CBT-I+CRS) significantly increased the amygdala response, compared with no treatment, CBT-I, and CRS. Individual differences in the degree of response enhancement were associated with improvement of insomnia symptoms directly after treatment (r = -0.41, p = .021). Moreover, exclusively CBT-I+CRS enhanced responsiveness of the left insula, which occurred in proportion to the reduction in depressive symptom severity (r = -0.37, p = .042). CONCLUSIONS: This functional magnetic resonance imaging study on insomnia treatment, the largest to date, shows that a combined cognitive, behavioral, and circadian intervention enhances emotional brain responsiveness and might improve resilience in patients with insomnia who are at high risk of developing depression.

A Novel Radiology Communication Tool to Reduce Workflow Interruptions: Clinical Evaluation of RadConnect.

Despite the importance of communication, radiology departments often depend on communication tools that were not created for the unique needs of imaging workflows, leading to frequent radiologist interruptions. The objective of this study was test the hypothesis that a novel asynchronous communication tool for the imaging workflow (RadConnect) reduces the daily average number of synchronous (in-person, telephone) communication requests for radiologists. We conducted a before-after study. Before adoption of RadConnect, technologists used three conventional communication methods to consult radiologists (in-person, telephone, general-purpose enterprise chat (GPEC)). After adoption, participants used RadConnect as a fourth method. Technologists manually recorded every radiologist consult request related to neuro and thorax CT scans in the 40 days before and 40 days after RadConnect adoption. Telephone traffic volume to section beepers was obtained from the hospital telephone system for the same period. The value and usability experiences were collected through an electronic survey and structured interviews. RadConnect adoption resulted in 53% reduction of synchronous (in-person, telephone) consult requests: from 6.1 ± 4.2 per day to 2.9 ± 2.9 (P < 0.001). There was 77% decrease (P < 0.001) in telephone volume to the neuro and thorax beepers, while no significant volume change was noted to the abdomen beeper (control group). Survey responses (46% response rate) and interviews confirmed the positive impact of RadConnect on interruptions. RadConnect significantly reduced radiologists' telephone interruptions. Study participants valued the role-based interaction and prioritized worklist overview in the survey and interviews. Findings from this study will contribute to a more focused work environment.

Insomnia Subtypes Have Differentiating Deviations in Brain Structural Connectivity.

BACKGROUND: Insomnia disorder is the most common sleep disorder. A better understanding of insomnia-related deviations in the brain could inspire better treatment. Insufficiently recognized heterogeneity within the insomnia population could obscure detection of involved brain circuits. In the current study, we investigated whether structural brain connectivity deviations differed between recently discovered and validated insomnia subtypes. METHODS: Structural and diffusion-weighted 3T magnetic resonance imaging data from 4 independent studies were harmonized. The sample consisted of 73 control participants without sleep complaints and 204 participants with insomnia who were grouped into 5 insomnia subtypes based on their fingerprint of mood and personality traits assessed with the Insomnia Type Questionnaire. Linear regression correcting for age and sex was used to evaluate group differences in structural connectivity strength, indicated by fractional anisotropy, streamline volume density, and mean diffusivity and evaluated within 3 different atlases. RESULTS: Insomnia subtypes showed differentiating profiles of deviating structural connectivity that were concentrated in different functional networks. Permutation testing against randomly drawn heterogeneous subsamples indicated significant specificity of deviation profiles in 4 of the 5 subtypes: highly distressed, moderately distressed reward sensitive, slightly distressed low reactive, and slightly distressed high reactive. Connectivity deviation profile significance ranged from p = .001 to p = .049 for different resolutions of brain parcellation and connectivity weight. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide an initial indication that different insomnia subtypes exhibit distinct profiles of deviations in structural brain connectivity. Subtyping insomnia may be essential for a better understanding of brain mechanisms that contribute to insomnia vulnerability.

Distinct functional subnetworks of cognitive domains in older adults with minor cognitive deficits.

Although past research has established a relationship between functional connectivity and cognitive function, less is known about which cognitive domains are associated with which specific functional networks. This study investigated associations between functional connectivity and global cognitive function and performance in the domains of memory, executive function and psychomotor speed in 166 older adults aged 75-91 years (mean = 80.3 ± 3.8) with minor cognitive deficits (Mini-Mental State Examination scores between 21 and 27). Functional connectivity was assessed within 10 standard large-scale resting-state networks and on a finer spatial resolution between 300 nodes in a functional connectivity matrix. No domain-specific associations with mean functional connectivity within large-scale resting-state networks were found. Node-level analysis revealed that associations between functional connectivity and cognitive performance differed across cognitive functions in strength, location and direction. Specific subnetworks of functional connections were found for each cognitive domain in which higher connectivity between some nodes but lower connectivity between other nodes were related to better cognitive performance. Our findings add to a growing body of literature showing differential sensitivity of functional connections to specific cognitive functions and may be a valuable resource for hypothesis generation of future studies aiming to investigate specific cognitive dysfunction with resting-state functional connectivity in people with beginning cognitive deficits.

The role of brain white matter in depression resilience and response to sleep interventions.

Insomnia poses a high risk for depression. Brain mechanisms of sleep and mood improvement following cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia remain elusive. This longitudinal study evaluated whether (i) individual differences in baseline brain white matter microstructure predict improvements and (ii) intervention affects brain white matter microstructure. People meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 criteria for Insomnia Disorder (n = 117) participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing 6 weeks of no treatment with therapist-guided digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, circadian rhythm support or their combination (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia + circadian rhythm support). Insomnia Severity Index and Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report were assessed at baseline and followed up at Weeks 7, 26, 39 and 52. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired at baseline and Week 7. Skeletonized white matter tracts, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were quantified both tract-wise and voxel-wise using tract-based spatial statistics. Analyses used linear and mixed effect models while correcting for multiple testing using false discovery rate and Bonferroni for correlated endpoint measures. Our results show the following: (i) tract-wise lower fractional anisotropy in the left retrolenticular part of the internal capsule at baseline predicted both worse progression of depressive symptoms in untreated participants and more improvement in treated participants (fractional anisotropy × any intervention, PFDR = 0.053, Pcorr = 0.045). (ii) Only the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia + circadian rhythm support intervention induced a trend-level mean diffusivity decrease in the right superior corona radiata (PFDR = 0.128, Pcorr = 0.108), and individuals with a stronger mean diffusivity decrease showed a stronger alleviation of insomnia (R = 0.20, P = 0.035). In summary, individual differences in risk and treatment-supported resilience of depression involve white matter microstructure. Future studies could target the role of the left retrolenticular part of the internal capsule and right superior corona radiata and the brain areas they connect.

Functional connectivity in older adults-the effect of cerebral small vessel disease.

Ageing is associated with functional reorganization that is mainly characterized by declining functional connectivity due to general neurodegeneration and increasing incidence of disease. Functional connectivity has been studied across the lifespan; however, there is a paucity of research within the older groups (≥75 years) where neurodegeneration and disease prevalence are at its highest. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated associations between age and functional connectivity and the influence of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD)-a common age-related morbidity-in 167 community-dwelling older adults aged 75-91 years (mean = 80.3 ± 3.8). Resting-state functional MRI was used to determine functional connectivity within ten standard networks and calculate the whole-brain graph theoretical measures global efficiency and clustering coefficient. CSVD features included white matter hyperintensities, lacunar infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, and atrophy that were assessed in each individual and a composite score was calculated. Both main and interaction effects (age*CSVD features) on functional connectivity were studied. We found stable levels of functional connectivity across the age range. CSVD was not associated with functional connectivity measures. To conclude, our data show that the functional architecture of the brain is relatively unchanged after 75 years of age and not differentially affected by individual levels of vascular pathology.

Longitudinal imaging of Alzheimer pathology using [11C]PIB, [18F]FDDNP and [18F]FDG PET.

PURPOSE: [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDDNP are PET tracers for in vivo detection of the neuropathology underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). [(18)F]FDG is a glucose analogue and its uptake reflects metabolic activity. The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in these tracers in patients with AD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in healthy controls. METHODS: Longitudinal, paired, dynamic [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDDNP (90 min each) and static [(18)F]FDG (15 min) PET scans were obtained in 11 controls, 12 MCI patients and 8 AD patients. The mean interval between baseline and follow-up was 2.5 years (range 2.0-4.0 years). Parametric [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDDNP images of binding potential (BP(ND)) and [(18)F]FDG standardized uptake value ratio (SUVr) images were generated. RESULTS: A significant increase in global cortical [(11)C]PIB BP(ND) was found in MCI patients, but no changes were observed in AD patients or controls. Subsequent regional analysis revealed that this increase in [(11)C]PIB BP(ND) in MCI patients was most prominent in the lateral temporal lobe (p < 0.05). For [(18)F]FDDNP, no changes in global BP(ND) were found. [(18)F]FDG uptake was reduced at follow-up in the AD group only, especially in frontal, parietal and lateral temporal lobes (all p < 0.01). Changes in global [(11)C]PIB binding (ρ = -0.42, p < 0.05) and posterior cingulate [(18)F]FDG uptake (ρ = 0.54, p < 0.01) were correlated with changes in Mini-Mental-State Examination score over time across groups, whilst changes in [(18)F]FDDNP binding (ρ = -0.18, p = 0.35) were not. CONCLUSION: [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDG track molecular changes in different stages of AD. We found increased amyloid load in MCI patients and progressive metabolic impairment in AD patients. [(18)F]FDDNP seems to be less useful for examining disease progression.

Combining cardiac monitoring with actigraphy aids nocturnal arousal detection during ambulatory sleep assessment in insomnia.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objective assessment of insomnia has remained difficult. Multisensory devices collecting heart rate (HR) and motion are regarded as the future of ambulatory sleep monitoring. Unfortunately, reports on altered average HR or heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep in insomnia are equivocal. Here, we evaluated whether the objective quantification of insomnia improves by assessing state-related changes in cardiac measures. METHODS: We recorded electrocardiography, posture, and actigraphy in 33 people without sleep complaints and 158 patients with mild to severe insomnia over 4 d in their home environment. At the microscale, we investigated whether HR changed with proximity to gross (body) and small (wrist) movements at nighttime. At the macroscale, we calculated day-night differences in HR and HRV measures. For both timescales, we tested whether outcome measures were related to insomnia diagnosis and severity. RESULTS: At the microscale, an increase in HR was often detectable already 60 s prior to as well as following a nocturnal chest, but not wrist, movement. This increase was slightly steeper in insomnia and was associated with insomnia severity, but future EEG recordings are necessary to elucidate whether these changes occur prior to or simultaneously with PSG-indicators of wakefulness. At the macroscale, we found an attenuated cardiac response to sleep in insomnia: patients consistently showed smaller day-night differences in HR and HRV. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating state-related changes in cardiac features in the ambulatory monitoring of sleep might provide a more sensitive biomarker of insomnia than the use of cardiac activity averages or actigraphy alone.

Increased cerebral (R)-[(11)C]PK11195 uptake and glutamate release in a rat model of traumatic brain injury: a longitudinal pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate microglia activation over time following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to relate these findings to glutamate release. PROCEDURES: Sequential dynamic (R)-[(11)C]PK11195 PET scans were performed in rats 24 hours before (baseline), and one and ten days after TBI using controlled cortical impact, or a sham procedure. Extracellular fluid (ECF) glutamate concentrations were measured using cerebral microdialysis. Brains were processed for histopathology and (immuno)-histochemistry. RESULTS: Ten days after TBI, (R)-[(11)C]PK11195 binding was significantly increased in TBI rats compared with both baseline values and sham controls (p < 0.05). ECF glutamate values were increased immediately after TBI (27.6 ± 14.0 µmol·L(-1)) as compared with the sham procedure (6.4 ± 3.6 µmol·L(-1)). Significant differences were found between TBI and sham for ED-1, OX-6, GFAP, Perl's, and Fluoro-Jade B. CONCLUSIONS: Increased cerebral uptake of (R)-[(11)C]PK11195 ten days after TBI points to prolonged and ongoing activation of microglia. This activation followed a significant acute posttraumatic increase in ECF glutamate levels.

Consistent altered internal capsule white matter microstructure in insomnia disorder.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Suggested neural correlates of insomnia disorder have been hard to replicate. Even the most consistent finding, altered white matter microstructure in the anterior limb of the internal capsule, is based on handful studies. The urge for replicable targets to understand the underlying mechanisms of insomnia made us study white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) across three samples of cases and controls. METHODS: 3-Tesla MRI diffusion tensor imaging data of three independent samples were combined for analysis, resulting in n = 137 participants, of whom 73 were diagnosed with insomnia disorder and 64 were matched controls without sleep complaints. Insomnia severity was measured with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). White matter microstructure was assessed with FA. White matter tracts were skeletonized and analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics. We performed a region-of-interest analysis using linear mixed-effect models to evaluate case-control differences in internal capsule FA as well as associations between internal capsule FA and insomnia severity. RESULTS: FA in the right limb of the anterior internal capsule was lower in insomnia disorder than in controls (ß = -9.76e-3; SE = 4.17e-3, p = .034). In the entire sample, a higher ISI score was associated with a lower FA value of the right internal capsule (ß = -8.05e- 4 FA/ISI point, SE = 2.60e- 4, p = .008). Ancillary whole brain voxel-wise analyses showed no significant group difference or association with insomnia severity after correction for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: The internal capsule shows small but consistent insomnia-related alterations. The findings support a circuit-based approach to underlying mechanisms since this tract connects many brain areas previously implicated in insomnia.

Lower Blood Pressure, Small-Vessel Disease, and Apathy in Older Persons With Mild Cognitive Deficits.

BACKGROUND: In older persons, both high and low blood pressure (BP) levels are associated with symptoms of apathy. Population characteristics, such as burden of cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD), may underlie these apparently contradictory findings. We aimed to explore, in older persons, whether the burden of CSVD affects the association between BP and apathy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Primary care setting, the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older persons (mean age = 80.7 years; SD = 4.1 years) with mild cognitive deficits and using antihypertensive treatment, participating in the baseline measurement of the magnetic resonance imaging substudy (n = 210) of the Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Treatment in the Elderly Study Leiden. MEASUREMENTS: During home visits, BP was measured in a standardized way and apathy was assessed with the Apathy Scale (range = 0-42). Stratified linear regression analyses were performed according to the burden of CSVD. A higher burden of CSVD was defined as 2 or more points on a compound CSVD score (range = 0-3 points), defined as presence of white matter hyperintensities (greater than median), any lacunar infarct, and/or two or more microbleeds. RESULTS: In the entire population, those with a lower systolic and those with a lower diastolic BP had more symptoms of apathy (ß = -.35 [P = .01] and ß = -.66 [P = .02], respectively). In older persons with a higher burden of CSVD (n = 50 [24%]), both lower systolic BP (ß = -.64, P = .02) and lower diastolic BP (ß = -1.6, P = .01) were associated with more symptoms of apathy, whereas no significant association was found between BP and symptoms of apathy in older persons with a lower burden of CSVD (n = 160). CONCLUSIONS: Particularly in older persons with a higher burden of CSVD, lower BP was associated with more symptoms of apathy. Adequate BP levels for optimal psychological functioning may vary across older populations with a different burden of CSVD. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1811-1817, 2020.

Brain structural connectivity network alterations in insomnia disorder reveal a central role of the right angular gyrus.

Insomnia Disorder (ID) is a prevalent and persistent condition, yet its neural substrate is not well understood. The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics of ID suggest that vulnerability involves distributed brain networks rather than a single brain area or connection. The present study utilized probabilistic diffusion tractography to compare the whole-brain structural connectivity networks of people with ID and those of matched controls without sleep complaints. Diffusion-weighted images and T1-weighed images were acquired in 51 people diagnosed with ID (21-69 years of age, 37 female) and 48 matched controls without sleep complaints (22-70 years of age, 31 female). Probabilistic tractography was performed to construct the whole-brain structural connectivity network of each participant. Case-control differences in connectivity strength and network efficiency were evaluated with permutation tests. People with ID showed structural hyperconnectivity within a subnetwork that spread over frontal, parietal, temporal, and subcortical regions and was anchored at the right angular gyrus. The result was robust across different edge-weighting strategies. Moreover, converging support was given by the finding of heightened right angular gyrus nodal efficiency (harmonic centrality) across varying graph density in people with ID. Follow-up correlation analyses revealed that subnetwork connectivity was associated with self-reported reactive hyperarousal. The findings demonstrate that the right angular gyrus is a hub of enhanced structural connectivity in ID. Hyperconnectivity within the identified subnetwork may contribute to increased reactivity to stimuli and may signify vulnerability to ID.

Orthostatic hypotension in older persons is not associated with cognitive functioning, features of cerebral damage or cerebral blood flow.

OBJECTIVE: Particularly in old age, orthostatic hypotension has been related to worse cognitive functioning, possibly caused by reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF). This study investigates whether orthostatic hypotension in older people is associated with cognitive dysfunction and, if so, whether this association is mediated by cerebral vascular damage and/or decreased CBF. METHODS: Four hundred and twenty participants of the Discontinuation of ANtihypertensive Treatment in Elderly People (DANTE) Study Leiden (mean age 81 years, all using antihypertensive medication and with mild cognitive deficits), and MRI data from 214 participants of the nested DANTE MRI sub-study. Orthostatic hypotension was defined as either a SBP decrease at least 20 mmHg and/or a DBP decrease of at least 10 mmHg within 3 min of standing up. Cognitive functioning was assessed using a battery of six cognitive tests covering global cognition, memory function, executive function and psychomotor speed. Cerebral vascular damage and CBF were assessed using MRI. RESULTS: The prevalence of orthostatic hypotension was 47% (n = 199). Compared with the group without orthostatic hypotension, participants with orthostatic hypotension showed no differences in any of the cognitive functions, features of cerebral small vessel disease, microstructural integrity or CBF. CONCLUSION: In this population of older persons, the presence of orthostatic hypotension was not associated with decreased cognition. In addition, no differences were found in the supposedly underlying cerebral vascular mechanisms.

Unilateral fetal-type circle of Willis anatomy causes right-left asymmetry in cerebral blood flow with pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling: A limitation of arterial spin labeling-based cerebral blood flow measurements?

The accuracy of cerebral blood flow measurements using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling can be affected by vascular factors other than cerebral blood flow, such as flow velocity and arterial transit time. We aimed to elucidate the effects of common variations in vascular anatomy of the circle of Willis on pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling signal. In addition, we investigated whether possible differences in pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling signal could be mediated by differences in flow velocities. Two hundred and three elderly participants underwent magnetic resonance angiography of the circle of Willis and pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling scans. Mean pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling-cerebral blood flow signal was calculated for the gray matter of the main cerebral flow territories. Mean cerebellar gray matter pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling-cerebral blood flow was significantly lower in subjects having a posterior fetal circle of Willis variant with an absent P1 segment. The posterior fetal circle of Willis variants also showed a significantly higher pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling-cerebral blood flow signal in the ipsilateral flow territory of the posterior cerebral artery. Flow velocity in the basilar artery was significantly lower in these posterior fetal circle of Willis variants. This study indicates that pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling measurements underestimate cerebral blood flow in the posterior flow territories and cerebellum of subjects with a highly prevalent variation in circle of Willis morphology. Additionally, our data suggest that this effect is mediated by concomitant differences in flow velocity between the supplying arteries.