Skip to Main Content
School of Public Health

​
  • Admissions
  • Research
  • Education
  • Practice
​
Search
  • Newsroom
    • School News
    • SPH This Week Newsletter
    • SPH in the Media
    • SPH This Year Magazine
    • News Categories
    • Contact Us
  • Research
    • Centers and Groups
  • Academic Departments
    • Biostatistics
    • Community Health Sciences
    • Environmental Health
    • Epidemiology
    • Global Health
    • Health Law, Policy & Management
  • Education
    • Degrees & Programs
    • Public Health Writing
    • Workforce Development Training Centers
    • Partnerships
    • Apply Now
  • Admissions
    • Applying to BUSPH
    • Request Information
    • Degrees and Programs
    • Why Study at BUSPH?
    • Tuition and Funding
    • SPH by the Numbers
    • Events and Campus Visits
    • Admissions Team
    • Student Ambassadors
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Events
    • Public Health Conversations
    • Full Events Calendar
    • Alumni and Friends Events
    • Commencement Ceremony
    • SPH Awards
  • Practice
    • Activist Lab
  • Careers & Practicum
    • For Students
    • For Employers
    • For Faculty & Staff
    • For Alumni
    • Graduate Employment & Practicum Data
  • Public Health Post
    • Public Health Post Fellowship
  • About
    • SPH at a Glance
    • Advisory Committees
    • Strategy Map
    • Senior Leadership
    • Accreditation
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
    • Directory
    • Contact SPH
  • Support SPH
    • Big Ideas: Strategic Directions
    • Faculty Research and Development
    • Future of Public Health Fund
    • Generation Health
    • idea hub
    • Public Health Conversations
    • Public Health Post
    • Student Scholarship
    • How to Give
    • Contact Development and Alumni Relations
  • Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Directory
Read More News
Headshot of Sanjiv Gupta
healthcare management

Clinic to Classroom and Back: Alum Returns to Nepal to Re-envision Healthcare

public health matters

Public Health and the Postal Service

Association Found Between Atrial Fibrillation and Reduced Brain Volume.

July 18, 2016
Twitter Facebook

brainPeople who experience atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart arrhythmia, may also have a smaller brain—specifically, reduced frontal lobe volume—according to Framingham Heart Study research led by School of Medicine and School of  Public Health faculty.

AF is a serious cardiovascular condition that is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and death, as well as cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia. But little is known about the impact of AF on brain structure in people whose cognition is intact.

The new study, which appears in the journal Heart Rhythm, looks at the relationship between AF and brain volume, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers examined total cerebral volume, frontal lobe volume, temporal lobe volume, hippocampal volume and white matter hyper-intensity volume in patients without prior stroke or dementia.

Their results showed that AF was associated with smaller frontal lobe volumes, even after adjusting for age, gender, vascular risk factors, and APOE4 (a gene independently linked to smaller brain volumes).

“We believe that good heart health also contributes to good brain health, and given that the incidence of AF is expected to more than double in the next three decades, we are interested in understanding the association between AF and brain anatomy,” said corresponding author Rhoda Au, professor of epidemiology and neurology at SPH and MED and director of neuropsychology for the Framingham Heart Study.

Au said further research will focus on determining whether these brain-structure findings translate into an impact on cognitive skills, such as problem solving, memory, and language.

Researchers on the study are from: The Departments of Neurology and Medicine at MED; the SPH Department of Biostatistics; the Framingham Heart Study; the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; and the Department of Neurology, University of California.

Funding for the study came from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

—Lisa Chedekel

Explore Related Topics:

  • atrial fibrillation
  • brain volume
  • framingham heart study
  • Share this story

Share

Association Found Between Atrial Fibrillation and Reduced Brain Volume

  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter

More about SPH

Sign up for our newsletter

Get the latest from Boston University School of Public Health

Subscribe

Also See

  • About
  • Newsroom
  • Contact
  • Support SPH

Resources

  • Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Directory
  • Boston University School of Public Health
  • 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118
  • © 2021 Trustees of Boston University
  • DMCA
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.