Maintaining ideal levels of cardiovascular health (CVH), determined by the American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7 metric (LS7), in young adulthood is associated with greater whole brain volume in middle age but not regional differences in structure, a recent study found. Researchers determined CVH according to the LS7, assigning 0, 1, or 2 points for meeting poor, intermediate, or ideal criteria for the 7 components (range 0–14) at baseline (aged 18–30 years in 1985–1986) and year 25 follow-up examination for 518 participants of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) brain MRI substudy. They found:

• Mean percentage of whole brain volume, normal gray matter, and normal white matter was 81.3% (±2.5), 42.9% (±2.0), and 38.4% (±2.0), respectively.
• Greater CVH score at baseline and average CVH score were associated with greater percentage of whole brain volume.
• Visit-based or average CVH score was not significantly associated with normal gray or white matter volume or abnormal white matter volume.