Cardiovascular health profile is favorably associated with brain health and neurocognitive development in adolescents

Poor cardiovascular health has been linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline in adults, however this relation is not well established among adolescents. The purpose of this analysis was to test the associations of cardiovascular health behaviors (diet, physical activity, nicotine use, and sleep health) and health indicators (body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, blood pressure) with adolescents' brain development and executive and cognitive function. We included 978 individuals from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study who completed the year 2 follow-up assessment. Analysis was limited to those with complete data on cardiovascular health behaviors and health indicators which were used to compute composite cardiovascular health scores. Outcomes included estimates of general cognitive ability, executive function, and learning/memory through the NIH Toolbox neurocognitive battery, and MRI-derived brain morphometry. Associations were estimated by multilevel linear regression models using random effects. The mean (SD) age was 11.9 (0.2) years, 44.9% were girls, and 53.4% were white race/ethnicity. Individuals with more favorable cardiovascular health behaviors showed higher executive cognitive function scores (β = 0.170; CI 95%, 0.076 to 0.265; p = 00.001). Overall cardiovascular health was associated with a higher measure of executive cognitive function (β = 0.209; CI 95%, 0.067 to 0.351; p = 00.002) and total whole brain cortical volume (β = 480.1; CI 95%, 4.7 to 955.6; p = 00.003). r Our findings reveal positive associations between adolescents' cardiovascular health behaviors and overall cardiovascular health with cognitive and executive function and brain cortical volume. Although our study is cross-sectional, the findings from a representative group of early adolescents add to the existing evidence suggesting a relationship between cardiovascular and brain health. •Cardiovascular health behaviors (physical activity) and overall cardiovascular health are directly associated with executive cognitive function.•Sleep, normal body weight, and robust cardiovascular health are directly associated with brain volume (total cortical area and mean cortical thickness).•Better heart health may improve cognitive and brain health in adolescents.