Approved Research

Insula volume and risk of incident atrial fibrillation

Lay summary

We know that the health of the heart and brain are tightly linked. We know a great deal about how heart disease can damage the brain, for example by causing blot clots to travel to the brain, block blood flow, and cause a stroke. Less is known about how brain diseases can affect the heart. We hypothesize that aging-related brain diseases can disrupt the normal signals from the brain to the heart and cause heart-rhythm problems. We will test this hypothesis using data from brain scans in the UK Biobank. Our results may provide useful new information on how heart and brain health are linked, ultimately helping doctors with diagnosis and treatments.