1. Elevated CRP and TNF-α levels are associated with blunted neural oscillations serving fluid intelligence.
- Author
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Dietz, Sarah M., Schantell, Mikki, Spooner, Rachel K., Sandal, Megan E., Mansouri, Amirsalar, Arif, Yasra, Okelberry, Hannah J., John, Jason A., Glesinger, Ryan, May, Pamela E., Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth, Case, Adam J., Zimmerman, Matthew C., and Wilson, Tony W.
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FLUID intelligence , *C-reactive protein , *PREFRONTAL cortex , *TUMOR necrosis factors , *PARIETAL lobe - Abstract
• Persistently high inflammatory levels are known to lead to major health problems. • CRP and TNF-α in particular have been linked to cognitive impairment and decline. • Neural oscillations serving abstract reasoning were linked to CRP and TNF-α. • Elevations in CRP and TNF-α scaled with weaker oscillations during task performance. • CRP and TNF-α levels may be pre-clinical markers of future cognitive decline. Inflammatory processes help protect the body from potential threats such as bacterial or viral invasions. However, when such inflammatory processes become chronically engaged, synaptic impairments and neuronal cell death may occur. In particular, persistently high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) have been linked to deficits in cognition and several psychiatric disorders. Higher-order cognitive processes such as fluid intelligence (G f) are thought to be particularly vulnerable to persistent inflammation. Herein, we investigated the relationship between elevated CRP and TNF-α and the neural oscillatory dynamics serving G f. Seventy adults between the ages of 20–66 years (Mean = 45.17 years, SD = 16.29, 21.4% female) completed an abstract reasoning task that probes G f during magnetoencephalography (MEG) and provided a blood sample for inflammatory marker analysis. MEG data were imaged in the time–frequency domain, and whole-brain regressions were conducted using each individual's plasma CRP and TNF-α concentrations per oscillatory response, controlling for age, BMI, and education. CRP and TNF-α levels were significantly associated with region-specific neural oscillatory responses. In particular, elevated CRP concentrations were associated with altered gamma activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus and right cerebellum. In contrast, elevated TNF-α levels scaled with alpha/beta oscillations in the left anterior cingulate and left middle temporal, and gamma activity in the left intraparietal sulcus. Elevated inflammatory markers such as CRP and TNF-α were associated with aberrant neural oscillations in regions important for G f. Linking inflammatory markers with regional neural oscillations may hold promise in identifying mechanisms of cognitive and psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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