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Association Between Falls and Brain Subvolumes: Results from a Cross-Sectional Analysis in Healthy Older Adults

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Abstract

Falls are a consequence of gait instability. Cortical and subcortical abnormalities have been associated with gait instability but not yet with falls. This study aims to compare the global and regional brain subvolumes between healthy older fallers and non-fallers. A total of 77 healthy older individuals (23 fallers and 54 non-fallers, 69.8 ± 3.5 years; 45.5 % female) were included in this study using a cross-sectional design. Based on an a priori hypothesis, the following brain subvolumes were quantified from three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI using FreeSurfer software: total white matter abnormalities, total white matter, total cortical and subcortical gray matter, hippocampus, motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex volumes. Gait performances were also recorded. Age, sex, body mass index, comorbidities, use of psychoactive drugs, far-distance visual acuity, lower-limb proprioception, depressive symptoms and cognitive scores (Mini-Mental State Examination, Frontal Assessment Battery) were used as covariates. Fallers have more frequently depressive symptoms (P = 0.048), a lower far distance visual acuity (P = 0.026) and a higher coefficient of variation of stride time (P = 0.008) compared to non-fallers. There was a trend to greater subvolumes for the somatosensory cortex (P = 0.093) and the hippocampus (P = 0.060) in the falls group. Multiple logistic regressions showed that subvolumes of the somatosensory cortex and the hippocampus (P < 0.042) were increased in fallers compared to non-fallers, even after adjustment for clinical and brain characteristics. The greater subvolumes of the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus reported in fallers compared to non-fallers suggests a possible brain compensatory mechanism involving spatial navigation and integration of sensory information.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge all participants included in the present study.

Funding

The study was financially supported by the French Ministry of Health (Projet Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique national no 2009-A00533-54).

Author contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: OB and GA. Performed the experiments: OB and CA. Analysed the data: OB and GA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: OB, CA and GA. Wrote the paper: OB, JB, TLA, VLC, TS, LB, SG, JH, JV, GL and GA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital and Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Olivier Beauchet

  2. Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Olivier Beauchet

  3. Centre of Excellence on Aging and Chronic Diseases of McGill Integrated University Health Network, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Olivier Beauchet

  4. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, Angers University Hospital, Angers, France

    Cyrille P. Launay & Cédric Annweiler

  5. University Memory Clinic of Angers, Angers, France

    Cyrille P. Launay & Cédric Annweiler

  6. UPRES EA 4638, University of Angers, UNAM, Angers, France

    Cyrille P. Launay & Cédric Annweiler

  7. Neuromechanical Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    John Barden

  8. Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Teresa Liu-Ambrose

  9. Andrew and Marjorie McCain Human Performance Laboratory, Richard J. Currie Center, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada

    Victoria L. Chester

  10. Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Tony Szturm

  11. Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), Montréal, QUÉBEC, Canada

    Sébastien Grenier & Louis Bherer

  12. Research Center on Aging, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke (IUGS), Sherbrooke, QUÉBEC, Canada

    Guillaume Léonard

  13. PERFORM Centre and Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Louis Bherer

  14. Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Jorunn L. Helbostad

  15. Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging, Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Joe Verghese

  16. Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Gilles Allali

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  1. Olivier Beauchet
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  2. Cyrille P. Launay
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  3. John Barden
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  4. Teresa Liu-Ambrose
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  5. Victoria L. Chester
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  6. Tony Szturm
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  7. Sébastien Grenier
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  8. Guillaume Léonard
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  9. Louis Bherer
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  10. Cédric Annweiler
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  11. Jorunn L. Helbostad
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  12. Joe Verghese
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  13. Gilles Allali
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Consortia

Biomathics and Canadian Gait Consortium

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Correspondence to Olivier Beauchet.

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Beauchet, O., Launay, C.P., Barden, J. et al. Association Between Falls and Brain Subvolumes: Results from a Cross-Sectional Analysis in Healthy Older Adults. Brain Topogr 30, 272–280 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-016-0533-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-016-0533-z

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