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@ARTICLE{Blchl:911398,
      author       = {Blöchl, Maria and Schaare, Lina and Kumral, Deniz and
                      Gaebler, Michael and Nestler, Steffen and Villringer, Arno},
      title        = {{V}ascular risk factors, white matter microstructure, and
                      depressive symptoms: {A} longitudinal analysis in the {UK}
                      {B}iobank},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2022-04681},
      year         = {2022},
      abstract     = {Cumulative burden from vascular risk factors (VRFs) has
                      been associated with an increased risk of depressive
                      symptoms in mid- and later life, but the mechanisms
                      underlying this link are still unclear. One hypothesis is
                      that VRFs disconnect fronto-subcortical white matter tracts
                      that underlie mood and emotion regulation, which in turn
                      puts older adults at higher risk of developing depressive
                      symptoms. However, evidence for the hypothesis that
                      disconnection of white matter tracts underlies the
                      association between VRF burden and depressive symptoms from
                      longitudinal studies is scarce. This preregistered study
                      analysed longitudinal data from 6,964 middle-aged and older
                      adults from the UK Biobank who participated in consecutive
                      assessments of VRFs, brain imaging, and depressive symptoms.
                      Using mediation modelling, we directly tested to what extend
                      white matter microstructure mediates the longitudinal
                      association between VRF burden and depressive symptoms. Our
                      results showed small associations between VRF burden and
                      depressive symptoms at follow-up. However, there was no
                      evidence that fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter
                      tracts mediated this association. Additional analyses also
                      yielded no mediating effects using alternative
                      operationalisations of VRF burden, mean diffusivity (MD) of
                      single tracts, or overall average of tract-based white
                      matter microstructure (global FA, global MD, white matter
                      hyperintensity volume). Taken together, these results lend
                      no support to the hypothesis that disconnection of white
                      matter tracts underlies the association between VRF burden
                      and depressive symptoms, while highlighting the relevance of
                      using longitudinal data to directly test pathways linking
                      vascular and mental health. Future studies should examine
                      alternative mechanisms and potentially more fine-grained
                      associations between VRFs and depressive symptoms using
                      similar longitudinal study designs.},
      cin          = {INM-7},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)INM-7-20090406},
      pnm          = {5253 - Neuroimaging (POF4-525)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5253},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)25},
      doi          = {10.31234/osf.io/pvntx},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/911398},
}