Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study

Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases the risk of dementia and neuronal dysfunction may occur years before perceptible cognitive decline. We aimed to study the impact of type 2 diabetes on brain activation during memory encoding in middle-aged people, controlling for age, sex, genes, and early-shared e...

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Main Authors: Amanda G. Wood, Jian Chen, Christopher Moran, Thanh Phan, Richard Beare, Kimberley Cooper, Stacey Litras, Velandai Srikanth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:Journal of Diabetes Research
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3978428
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author Amanda G. Wood
Jian Chen
Christopher Moran
Thanh Phan
Richard Beare
Kimberley Cooper
Stacey Litras
Velandai Srikanth
author_facet Amanda G. Wood
Jian Chen
Christopher Moran
Thanh Phan
Richard Beare
Kimberley Cooper
Stacey Litras
Velandai Srikanth
author_sort Amanda G. Wood
collection DOAJ
description Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases the risk of dementia and neuronal dysfunction may occur years before perceptible cognitive decline. We aimed to study the impact of type 2 diabetes on brain activation during memory encoding in middle-aged people, controlling for age, sex, genes, and early-shared environment. Twenty-two twin pairs discordant for type 2 diabetes mellitus (mean age 60.9 years) without neurological disease were recruited from the Australian Twin Registry (ATR) and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a memory encoding task, cognitive tests, and structural MRI. Type 2 diabetes was associated with significantly reduced activation in left hemisphere temporoparietal regions including angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus and significantly increased activation in bilateral posteriorly distributed regions. These findings were present in the absence of within-pair differences in standard cognitive test scores, brain volumes, or vascular lesion load. Differences in activation were more pronounced among monozygotic (MZ) pairs, with MZ individuals with diabetes also displaying greater frontal activation. These results provide evidence for preclinical memory-related neuronal dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. They support the search for modifiable later-life environmental factors or epigenetic mechanisms linking type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline.
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spelling doaj-art-85aa2a87bbb14745b3a71ee46ea4457e2025-08-20T03:37:47ZengWileyJournal of Diabetes Research2314-67452314-67532016-01-01201610.1155/2016/39784283978428Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair StudyAmanda G. Wood0Jian Chen1Christopher Moran2Thanh Phan3Richard Beare4Kimberley Cooper5Stacey Litras6Velandai Srikanth7Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaStroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaType 2 diabetes mellitus increases the risk of dementia and neuronal dysfunction may occur years before perceptible cognitive decline. We aimed to study the impact of type 2 diabetes on brain activation during memory encoding in middle-aged people, controlling for age, sex, genes, and early-shared environment. Twenty-two twin pairs discordant for type 2 diabetes mellitus (mean age 60.9 years) without neurological disease were recruited from the Australian Twin Registry (ATR) and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a memory encoding task, cognitive tests, and structural MRI. Type 2 diabetes was associated with significantly reduced activation in left hemisphere temporoparietal regions including angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus and significantly increased activation in bilateral posteriorly distributed regions. These findings were present in the absence of within-pair differences in standard cognitive test scores, brain volumes, or vascular lesion load. Differences in activation were more pronounced among monozygotic (MZ) pairs, with MZ individuals with diabetes also displaying greater frontal activation. These results provide evidence for preclinical memory-related neuronal dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. They support the search for modifiable later-life environmental factors or epigenetic mechanisms linking type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3978428
spellingShingle Amanda G. Wood
Jian Chen
Christopher Moran
Thanh Phan
Richard Beare
Kimberley Cooper
Stacey Litras
Velandai Srikanth
Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
Journal of Diabetes Research
title Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
title_full Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
title_fullStr Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
title_full_unstemmed Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
title_short Brain Activation during Memory Encoding in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Discordant Twin Pair Study
title_sort brain activation during memory encoding in type 2 diabetes mellitus a discordant twin pair study
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3978428
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