Selected Representative Publications MSLS

Elias, M.F., & Brown, C.J. (2023). Medical foods for lowering homocysteine in hypertensive patients. Journal of Clinical Hypertension. Jan 25(1):111–114. https://doi.org/10.1111/jch.14608

Elias, M. F & Brown, C. (2021). New evidence for homocysteine lowering for management of treatment-resistant hypertension. America Journal of Hypertension. Dec 22:hpab194. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpab194. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34935029

Elias, M. F. & Goodell, A. L. (2020). Human errors in automated office blood pressure measurement: Still room for improvement. Hypertension, 77(1), 6-15. doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.120.16164

Elias, M. F., Torres, R. V., & Davey, A. (2018). Clinical trials of blood pressure lowering and antihypertensive medication: Is cognitive measurement state-of-the-art? American Journal of Hypertension, 31, 631-642. doi: 1093/ajh/hpy0

Elias, M. F., Torres, R. V, & Davey, A. (2018). Clinical trials of blood pressure lowering and antihypertensive medication: Is cognitive measurement state-of-the-art? American Journal of Hypertension, 31, 631-642. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpy033/4897751

Torres, R. V., Elias, M. F., Seliger, S., Davey, A., & Robbins, M. A. (2016). Risk for cognitive impairment across 22 measures of cognitive ability in early-stage chronic kidney disease. Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfw005

Elias, M. F., Crichton, G. E., & Abhayaratna, W. P. (2015). Interactions between plasma homocysteine and arterial stifness in chronic kidney disease in community-dwelling individuals: The Maine-Syracuse Study. Journal of Human Hypertension, 29, 726-731. doi:10.1038/jhh.2015.17

Crichton, G. E., Elias, M. F., Dore, G. A., Torres, R. V., & Robbins, M. A. (2014). Measurement-to-measurement blood pressure variability is related to cognitive performance: The Maine-Syracuse Study. Hypertension, 64(5), 1094-1101. doi: 1161/hypertensionaha.114.04282.

Crichton, G. E., Elias, M. F., Davey, A., Sullivan, K. J., & Robbins, M. A. (2014). Higher HDL cholesterol is associated with better cognitive function: The Maine-Syracuse Study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 20, 961-970.

Davey, A., Elias, M. F, Robbins, M. A, Seliger, S. L., & Dore, G. A. (2013). Decline in renal functioning is associated with longitudinal decline in global cognitive functioning, abstract reasoning, and verbal memory. Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation, 28, 1810-1819.

Elias, M. F., Goodell, A. L., & Dore, G. A. (2012). Hypertension and cognitive functioning: A perspective in historical context. Hypertension, 60, 260-268.

Elias, M. F., Elias, P. K., Seliger, S. L., Narsipur, S. S., Dore, G. A. & Robbins, M. A. (2009). Chronic kidney disease, creatinine and cognitive functioning. Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, 24, 2446-2452.

Elias, M. F., Robbins, M. A., Budge, M. M., Brennan, S. L., Johnston, C., Nagy, Z., & Bates, C. J. (2006). Homocysteine, folate, vitamin B6 and B12 blood levels in relation to cognitive performance: The Maine-Syracuse Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 547-55

Elias, P. K., Elias, M. FRobbins, M. A., Budge, M. M. (2004). Blood pressure-related cognitive decline: Does age make a difference? Hypertension, 44, 631-636.

Elias, M. F., Robbins, M. A., Elias, P. K., & Streeten, D. H. P. (1998). A longitudinal study of blood pressure in relation to performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Health Psychology, 17, 486-493.

Robbins, M. A., Elias, M. F., Croog, S.H. & Colton, T. (1994). Unmedicated blood pressure levels and quality of life in elderly hypertensive women. Psychosomatic Medicine, 56, 251-259.

Hoeldtke, R. D., & Streeten, D. H. P. (1993). Treatment of orthostatic hypotension with erythropoietin. New England Journal of Medicine, 329, 611-615.

Collaborative studies using data from the Framingham Heart Study:

Elias, M. F., Sullivan, L. M., Elias, P. K., D’Agostino, R. B., Sr., Wolf, P. A. Seshadri, S., Au, R., Benjamin, E. J., & Vasan, R. S. (2007). Left ventricular mass, blood pressure and lowered cognitive performance in the Framingham Offspring. Hypertension, 49, 439-445.


Elias, M. F., Sullivan, L. M., Elias, P. K., Vasan, R. S., D’Agostino, R. B., Sr., Seshadri, S., Au, R., Wolf, P. A., & Benjamin, E. J. (2006). Atrial fibrillation is associated with lower cognitive performance in the Framingham Offspring men. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 15, 214-222.

Elias, M. F., Elias, P. K., Sullivan, L. M., Wolf, P. A., & D’Agostino, R. B. (2005). Obesity, diabetes and cognitive deficit: The Framingham Heart Study. Neurobiology of Aging, 26S, S11-S16.

Elias, M. F., Sullivan, L. M., D’Agostino, R. B., Elias, P. K., Jacques, P. F., Selhub, J., Seshadri, S., Au, R., Beiser, A., & Wolf, P. A. (2005). Homocysteine and cognitive performance in the Framingham Offspring Study: age is important. American Journal of Epidemiology, 162, 644-653.

Elias, P. K., Elias, M. F., D'Agostino, R. B., Sullivan, L. M., & Wolf, P. A. (2005). Serum cholesterol and cognitive performance in the Framingham Heart Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67, 24-30.

Seshadri S., Wolf P. A., Beiser A., Elias M. F., Au R., Kase C. S., D’Agostino R. B., & DeCarli C. (2004). Stroke risk profile, brain volume and cognitive function: The Framingham Offspring Study. Neurology, 63, 1591-1599.

Elias, M. F., Sullivan, L. M., D’Agostino, R. B., Elias, P. K., Beiser, A., Au, R., Seshadri. S., DeCarli, C., & Wolf, P. A. (2004). The Framingham stroke risk profile and lowered cognitive performance. Stroke, 35, 404-409.

Elias, M. F., Elias, P. K., Sullivan, L. M., Wolf, P. A., & D’Agostino, R. B. (2003). Lower cognitive function in the presence of obesity and hypertension: The Framingham Heart Study. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 27, 260-268.

Elias, M. F., Beiser, A., Wolf, P. A., Au, R., White, R. F., & D'Agostino, R. B. (2000). The preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease: A 22-year prospective study of the Framingham cohort. Archives of Neurology, 57, 808-813.

Elias, P. K., Elias, M. F., D'Agostino, R. B., Silbershatz, H., & Wolf, P. A. (1999). Alcohol consumption and cognitive performance in the Framingham Heart Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150, 580-589.

Elias, P. K., Elias, M. F., D'Agostino, R. B., Cupples, L. A., Wilson, P. W., Silbershatz, H., & Wolf, P. A. (1997). NIDDM and blood pressure as risk factors for poor cognitive performance: The Framingham Study. Diabetes Care, 20, 1388-1395.

Elias, M. F., Wolf, P. A., D'Agostino, R. B., Cobb, J., & White, L. R. (1993). Untreated blood pressure level is inversely related to cognitive functioning: The Framingham Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 138, 353-364.

To access MSLS publications in the University of Maine digital commons, please visit: 

www.digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/longitudinal_papers/

Design Of The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS)

Many longitudinal studies are designed like a “snake.” They have a beginning and an end. The study starts at some point in time, data are repeatedly collected over time and data collection ends when the study is completed or there are no more surviving participants.

In contrast, the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS) uses a design that was very popular in life-span aging research in 1960 and for many years after. The study design is shown in the figure below. Starting with baseline the original cohort is followed over many years. Outcome measures are obtained at distinct time intervals, but new cohorts of individuals join the study at each specific period. The MSLS was designed to measure outcomes every five years and to add cohorts ever five years.

Click here to read a description of the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study

 

                                          
Description of the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study

The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS) of aging, cardiovascular disease and cognitive performance has had its home in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maine since 1977. Participants in the study are persons from the entire adult age-span living in the communities represented by Central New York. One must follow longitudinal study subjects wherever they go, and thus the MSLS now includes former residents of Central New York who live in Maine and many other states. The longitudinal study paradigm (following the same individuals at prescribed intervals over time) is the ideal design for the study of aging.

The first studies were performed in 1974 in collaboration between Professor Merrill F. Elias (Syracuse University) and Professor of Medicine, David H.P. Streeten at what is now State University of New York Health Sciences Center, Syracuse New York.  Grant support from the National Institute on Aging for this study was transferred from Syracuse University to the University of Maine in 1977. The data analysis and control center reside at the University of Maine, but data collection involved the Central New York residents who entered the study at its inception in 1974. Hence the study was labeled the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. 

Professors Merrill Elias, PhD, MPH and Michael Robbins, PhD have been principal and coprincipal investigators on the NIH grants providing partial support to the MSLS. At the end of data collection and grant support they were name Director and Co-director respectively. Using archived data and with financial support from collaborating investigators, the study continued on until 2023, when the data were de-identified and made available to qualified investigators. In 2024 Susan P. Elias, PhD was appointed Associate Director of Archiving and has now assumed duties as a contact person for those investigators who might like to use MSLS data.  

Professor Merrill Elias is a neuropsychologist and a cardiovascular epidemiologist and Professor Robbins brings extensive expertise in social psychology, aging and health psychology to the project. Susan Elias brings skills and experience in data management, including archiving.

Study History

While at Syracuse University, Professor Elias (PI) and Professor of Medicine David H.P. Streeten (co-PI) wrote the initial grant application resulting in support for the collection of baseline data and subsequent grants supporting the longitudinal phase of the study.  The study was initially funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and subsequently received funding from NIA and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of NIH for 40 years.       

Supplementary funding from these sources allowed the MSLS researchers to collaborate with the Framingham Heart Study personnel on many investigations and published papers. In 1990 the MSLS received a Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) award from the NIA and in 2000 it expanded from a study of hypertension (high blood pressure) and cognitive functioning to a study of cardiovascular disease risk factors and cognitive functioning.

The MSLS has a rich data base. There are seven longitudinal waves of data available for over 1000 community participants and cross-sectional data are available for 2,472 study participants. These data include risk factors for cardiovascular disease, data on cardiovascular disease, clinical cognitive performance measures, and personality and lifestyle measures.  Recent waves of the study include many psychosocial variables, demographic variables, information on medications, and extensive data on cardiovascular risk factors and events such as diabetes, stroke, obesity, smoking, homocysteine, APOE-e4 genotype, nutrition, and physical activity.

The study has involved collaborations at the University of Oxford, the University of Birmingham, England, the University of South Australia, Luxemburg Institutes of Health, Temple University, the University of Delaware, the University of Virginia and the University of Southern California, among other US institutions.

At this point in time over 228 peer-reviewed publications have resulted from this study, 24 of which employed Framingham Heart Study data in collaboration with Framingham Heart Study investigators.

For inquiries, Dr. Susan Elias may be contacted at susan.elias@maine.edu 

Director
Merrill F. Elias, PhD, MPH
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Cooperating Professor
Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering
Institute of Medicine
University of Maine
mfelias@maine.edu


Co-Director
Michael A. Robbins, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator, MSLS
Associate Research Professor and
Cooperating Associate Research Professor
Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering
Acting Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Maine
robbins@maine.edu

Associate Director for Archiving
Susan Elias, PhD, MS
Staff Scientist II
Lyme & Vector-borne Disease Laboratory
MaineHealth Institute for Research
Cooperating Research Faculty Associate in Psychology
Department of Psychology
University of Maine
susan.elias@maine.edu

    L-R: Michael A. Robbins (seated), Merrill F. Elias, Susan P. Elias