Lower gray matter integrity is associated with greater lap time variation in high-functioning older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lower integrity of cerebral gray matter is associated with higher gait variability. It is not known whether gray matter integrity is associated with higher lap time variation (LTV), a clinically accessible measure of gait variability, high levels of which have been associated with mortality. This study examines the cross-sectional association between gray matter mean diffusivity (MD) and LTV in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

Study participants consisted of 449 high-functioning adults aged 50 and older (56.8% female) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, free of overt neurological disease. The magnitude of MD in the gray matter, a measure of impaired tissue integrity, was assessed by diffusion tensor imaging in 16 regions of interest (ROIs) involv

SUBMITTER: Tian Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4808385 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature