School of Medicine Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-25-2025
Abstract
The quality of life (QoL) perception has been studied in neurological diseases; however, there is limited information linking brain morphological characteristics, QoL, and cognition. Human behavior and perception are associated with specific brain areas that interact through diffuse electrochemical networking. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to analyze the brain region volume (BRV) correlation with the scores of Rand’s 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and cognitive domains (memory and dementia status). We analyzed data from 420 adult participants in the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS). Principal component analysis with oblimin axis rotation was used to gather redundant information from brain parcels and SF-36 domains. Canonical correlation was used to analyze the relationships between SF-36 domains and BRV (adjusted for intracranial cavity), as well as sex, age, education, obesity, and hypertension. The average age (±SD) of subjects was 56 ± 11.5 years; 71% were female; 39% were obese; 12% had diabetes, 52% hypertension, and 7% dementia. No sex-related differences were found in memory and orientation scores, but women had lower QoL scores. The 1st and 2nd canonical correlation roots support the association of SF-36 domains (except social functioning and role emotional) and total brain volume, frontal lobe volume, frontal pole, lateral orbital lobe, cerebellar, and entorhinal areas. Other variables, including age, dementia, memory score, and systolic blood pressure, had a significant influence. The results of this study demonstrate significant correlations between BRV and SF-36 components, adjusted for covariates. The frontal lobe and insula were associated with the mental health component; the lateral-orbital frontal lobe and entorhinal area were correlated with the physical component.
Recommended Citation
Lopez-Alvarenga, J. C., Melgarejo, J. D., Rivera-Sanchez, J., Velazquez-Alvarez, L., Omaña-Guzmán, I., Curtis-Lopez, C., Pirela, R. V., Mena, L. J., Blangero, J., Cavazos, J. E., Mahaney, M. C., Terwilliger, J. D., Lee, J. H., & Maestre, G. E. (2025). Perception of Quality of Life, Brain Regions, and Cognitive Performance in Hispanic Adults: A Canonical Correlation Approach. Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, 9(3), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/ctn9030033
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Clinical and Translational Neuroscience
DOI
10.3390/ctn9030033
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Population Health and Biostatistics
Comments
© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Swiss Federation of Clinical Neuro-Societies. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).