Altruistic Social Activity, Depressive Symptoms, and Brain Regional Gray Matter Volume: Voxel-Based Morphometry Analysis From 8,695 Old Adults
Authors: Liu Yingxu , Zhang Ye , Thyreau Benjamin , Tatewaki Yasuko , Matsudaira Izumi , Takano Yuji , Hirabayashi Naoki , Furuta Yoshihikto , Hata Jun , Ninomiya Toshiharu , Taki Yasuyuki ,   Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD) Study Group, Ninomiya Toshiharu , Hata Jun , Shibata Mao , Honda Takanori , Ohara Tomoyuki , Nakaji Shigeyuki , Murashita Koichi , Mikami Tatsuya , Jung Songee , Misawa Mina , Maeda Tetsuya , Ishizuka Naoki , Akasaka Hiroshi , Terayama Yasuo , Yonezawa Hisashi , Takahashi Junko , Noguchi-Shinohara Moeko , Yamada Masahito , Iwasa Kazuo , Yuki-Nozaki Sohshi , Ono Kenjiro , Mimura Masaru , Bun Shogyoku , Niimura Hidehito , Shikimoto Ryo , Kida Hisashi , Nakashima Kenji , Fukada Yasuyo , Kowa Hisanori , Wada Kenji , Kishi Masafumi , Mori Takaaki , Yoshino Yuta , Shimizu Hideaki , Tachibana Ayumi , Ueno Shu-ichi , Takebayashi Minoru , Ishikawa Tomohisa , Fukuhara Ryuji , Koyama Asuka , Hashimoto Manabu Ikeda Mamoru , Kokubo Yoshihiro , Uchida Midori Esaki Kazuhiro , Taki Yasuyuki , Takano Yuji , Tatewaki Yasuko , Thyreau Benjamin , Yonemoto Koji , Yoshida Hisako , Muto Kaori , Inoue Yusuke , Momozawa Chikashi Terao Yukihide , Kubo Yutaka Kiyohara Michiaki 
Published: April 2022

Altruistic social activity, such as giving support to others, has shown protective benefits on dementia risk and cognitive decline. However, the pathological mechanism is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the association between altruistic social activity and brain regional gray matter. Furthermore, to explore the psychological interplay in altruistic social activity, we tested mediating effect of depressive symptoms on brain regional gray matter. We performed a cross-sectional voxel-based morphology (VBM) analysis including 8 695 old adults (72.9 ± 6.1 years) from Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD) Cohort. We measured altruistic social activities by self-report questionnaires, depressive symptoms by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)-short version. We employed the whole-brain VBM method to detect relevant structural properties related to altruistic social activity. We then performed multiple regression models to detect the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on particular brain regional gray matter volume while adjusting possible physical and social lifestyle covariables. We found that altruistic social activity is associated with larger gray matter volume in posterior insula, middle cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, thalamus, superior temporal gyrus, anterior orbital gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus. Depressive symptoms mediated over 10% on altruistic social activity and hippocampus volume, over 20% on altruistic social activity and cingulate gyrus volume. Our results indicated that altruistic social activity might preserve brain regional gray matter which are sensitive to aging and cognitive decline. Meanwhile, this association may be explained by indirect effect on depressive symptoms, suggesting that altruistic social activity may mitigate the neuropathology of dementia.