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Linking Modifiable Risk Factors to Vascular and Neurodegenerative Brain Changes
Khudair T, Raeesi S, Kamal F, Dadar M, Morrison C.. GeroScience, 2026-03-02
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
INTRODUCTION Dementia reflects vascular and neurodegenerative processes in late life, yet studies often examine risks and outcomes individually. This study tested whether the cumulative burden of risks relates to structural brain pathology and cognition, and whether brain markers mediate these associations. METHODS Cross-sectional data were drawn from 38,414 older adults in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center database. A composite score summed ten binary risk factors: hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, alcohol misuse, smoking, depression, obesity, hearing loss, vision loss, and low education. Outcomes included white matter hyperintensities (WMH), infarcts, hippocampal atrophy, global cognition, cognitive status, delayed recall, and semantic fluency. RESULTS Higher burden was associated with poorer global cognition, greater clinical severity, worse memory and fluency, and higher odds of WMHs, infarcts, and hippocampal atrophy. Structural equation models identified hippocampal atrophy as the primary mediator, with smaller effects for WMHs and infarcts. DISCUSSION Findingss: upport multidomain prevention strategies targeting clustered modifiable risks.
Key findings
- RESULTS Higher burden was associated with poorer global cognition, greater clinical severity, worse memory and fluency, and higher odds of WMHs, infarcts, and hippocampal atrophy.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 28 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 48 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (GeroScience) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 28 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 28 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 48 out of 100. |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Khudair, T., Raeesi, S., Kamal, F., Dadar, M., & Morrison, C. (2026). Linking Modifiable Risk Factors to Vascular and Neurodegenerative Brain Changes. GeroScience. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.28.26347178
Vancouver
Khudair T, Raeesi S, Kamal F, Dadar M, Morrison C. Linking Modifiable Risk Factors to Vascular and Neurodegenerative Brain Changes. GeroScience. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.02.28.26347178.
BibTeX
@article{khudair2026-0bacb0b1,
author = {Khudair, T. and Raeesi, S. and Kamal, F. and Dadar, M. and Morrison, C.},
title = {{Linking Modifiable Risk Factors to Vascular and Neurodegenerative Brain Changes}},
journal = {GeroScience},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.02.28.26347178},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.28.26347178}
}
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