Spotlights

[Research News] Muscle Quality May Hold Clues to Early Cognitive Decline

Professor Kojiro Ishii's research group investigated the relationship between phase angle, an indicator of muscle quality, and found it to be associated with memory performance and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults.

Sarcopenia has been linked to dementia risk, but previous studies have focused on older adults. researchers assessed several muscle-related indices and cognitive function in middle-aged individuals. They found that phase angle—a measure of muscle quality—was strongly associated with cognitive function, especially in women. A significant association with memory performance was also observed in both genders. It could serve as an early marker for the risk of cognitive decline in clinical screenings.

Reference
Kentaro Ikeue, Hisashi Kato, Masashi Tanaka, Hajime Yamakage, Sayaka Kato, Masayo Iwasa, Kan Oishi, Yuiko Yamamoto, Megumi Kanasaki, Izuru Masuda, Kojiro Ishii, Noriko Satoh-Asahara, Phase Angle Is a Potential Novel Early Marker for Sarcopenia and Cognitive Impairment in the General Population, Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle Volume16, Issue3, June 2025

DOI :10.1002/jcsm.13820

https://research.doshisha.ac.jp/news/news-detail-75/

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1084858

Image title: Overview of the study exploring the link between sarcopenia and cognitive decline 
Image caption: This work investigated how various indicators of muscle quality, mass, and strength were related to cognitive parameters in middle-aged and older adults. The results showed that phase angle—an indicator of muscle quality that is very convenient to measure—was strongly related to cognitive decline.  
Image credit: Postdoctoral Researcher Kentaro Ikeue from Doshisha University, Japan
License type: CC-BY 4.0
Usage restrictions: Credit must be given to the creator.