Education moderates the effects of large central artery aging on cognitive performance in middle‐aged and older adults

Abstract

Central artery aging, including elevated aortic stiffness, central blood pressure (BP), and pulse pressure (PP), is a novel risk factor for the development of age‐associated cognitive dysfunction. Individuals with higher educational attainment may develop greater brain pathology prior to the onset of cognitive decline. However, whether education moderates relations between central artery aging and cognitive performance is unknown. We hypothesized that years of formal education would moderate the relation between central artery aging and cognitive performance in middle‐aged/older (MA/O) adults (n = 113, age 67.3 ± 0.7 years). Significant interactions between education*central systolic BP (β = .21, p = .02) and education*central PP (β = .22, p = .01) demonstrated weaker associations between central BP and PP with processing speed performance in those with higher education. Similarly, education moderated the relation between aortic stiffness (carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity, cfPWV) and executive function performance (β = .21, p = .02). To test if the relation between central arterial aging and cognitive performance was captured by a predetermined education threshold, MA/O adults were secondarily categorized as ≤high school (HS) (i.e., ≤12 years, n = 36) or >HS (≥13 years, n = 77). Higher central systolic BP was associated with slower processing speed (≤HS: r = −.59, p < .001 vs. >HS: r = −.25, p = .03) and weaker executive function (r = −.39, p = .03 vs. r = −.32, p = .006). Higher cfPWV was selectively correlated with weaker executive function performance (r = −.39, p = .03) in ≤HS only and this association significantly differed between education groups. Educational attainment appears to moderate the adverse effects of central artery aging on cognitive performance among MA/O adults.