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Effects of Metabolic Syndrome on Language Functions in Aging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2015

Dalia Cahana-Amitay ,
Avron Spiro III ,
Jason A. Cohen ,
Abigail C. Oveis ,
Emmanuel A. Ojo ,
Jesse T. Sayers ,
Loraine K. Obler  and
Martin L. Albert
Dalia Cahana-Amitay*
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Avron Spiro III
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Massachusetts
Jason A. Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York
Abigail C. Oveis
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Emmanuel A. Ojo
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Jesse T. Sayers
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Loraine K. Obler
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York
Martin L. Albert
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Dalia Cahana-Amitay, Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center & Language in the Aging Brain, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue (12A), Boston, MA 02130. E-mail: dcamitay@bu.edu
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Abstract

This study explored effects of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) on language in aging. MetS is a constellation of five vascular and metabolic risk factors associated with the development of chronic diseases and increased risk of mortality, as well as brain and cognitive impairments. We tested 281 English-speaking older adults aged 55–84, free of stroke and dementia. Presence of MetS was based on the harmonized criteria (Alberti et al., 2009). Language performance was assessed by measures of accuracy and reaction time on two tasks of lexical retrieval and two tasks of sentence processing. Regression analyses, adjusted for age, education, gender, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, demonstrated that participants with MetS had significantly lower accuracy on measures of lexical retrieval (action naming) and sentence processing (embedded sentences, both subject and object relative clauses). Reaction time was slightly faster on the test of embedded sentences among those with MetS. MetS adversely affects the language performance of older adults, impairing accuracy of both lexical retrieval and sentence processing. This finding reinforces and extends results of earlier research documenting the negative influence of potentially treatable medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension) on language performance in aging. The unanticipated finding that persons with MetS were faster in processing embedded sentences may represent an impairment of timing functions among older individuals with MetS. (JINS, 2015, 21, 116–125)

Keywords

HealthRisk factorsLexical retrievalSentence processingCerebrovascularAccuracyReaction time
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , February 2015 , pp. 116 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2015 

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