Deficits in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) may indicate vulnerability to vascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment. Prior findings on age-related change in CVR are mixed, and no studies to date have investigated age group differences in spontaneous CVR (sCVR) at rest. The present study compared whole brain and regional sCVR at rest between 24 healthy younger adults (ages 18–34) and 163 cogni...

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) deficits, cognitive decline, and brain structural changes have been reported in older adults with and without apolipoprotein E-e4 ( APOE4 )-related risk for dementia. However, it remains unclear whether brain structural changes mediate the effects of hypoperfusion on cognitive impairment in APOE4 carriers and non-carriers. We studied 166 (60–89 years) APOE4 carriers (ε3/ε4 or ε4/ε4) and APOE3 homozygo...

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) is an angiogenic signaling protein involved in the maintenance of the cerebral vasculature. No prior study has explored whether plasma VEGF-A levels may be associated with brain functional connectivity changes, such as disruption of the default mode network (DMN), which often precedes the development of cognitive changes in aging. Seventy-six independently living older adults (mean...

Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) predicts age-related hippocampal atrophy, neurodegeneration, and memory decline in older adults. Beat-to-beat BPV may represent a more reliable and efficient tool for prospective risk assessment, but it is unknown whether beat-to-beat BPV is similarly associated with hippocampal neurodegeneration, or with plasma markers of neuroaxonal/neuroglial injury. Independently living older...