Tract-defined regional white matter hyperintensities and memory

• Published in: NeuroImage clinical Vol. 25; p. 102143
• Main Authors: Rizvi, Batool, Lao, Patrick J., Colón, Juliet, Hale, Christiane, Igwe, Kay C., Narkhede, Atul, Budge, Mariana, Manly, Jennifer J., Schupf, Nicole, Brickman, Adam M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.01.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - diagnostic imaging; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer's disease; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnostic imaging; Cognitive Dysfunction - pathology; Cognitive Dysfunction - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Memory; Memory Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Memory Disorders - pathology; Memory Disorders - physiopathology; Neuroimaging - methods; Regular; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; White Matter - pathology; White matter fiber tracts; White matter hyperintensities; White matter hyperintensities; White matter fiber tracts; Alzheimer's disease; Memory
• ISSN: 2213-1582; 2213-1582
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102143

•White matter hyperintensity volume in association and projection tracts was related to memory in older adults.•The relationship of WMH volumes in association and projection tracts with cognition was specific to memory, and not to a global cognition measure that excluded memory.•Within projection tracts, WMH volumes affecting the anterior thalamic and the corticospinal tracts were most reliably associated with poorer memory.•Within association tracts, WMH volume affecting the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the uncinate fasciculus were most reliably associated with poorer memory. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are common radiological findings among older adults and strong predictors of age-related cognitive decline. Recent work has implicated WMH in the pathogenesis and symptom presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized clinically primarily by a deficit in memory. The severity of WMH volume is typically quantified globally or by lobe, whereas white matter itself is organized by tracts and fiber classes. We derived WMH volumes within white matter tract classes, including association, projection, and commissural tracts, in 519 older adults and tested whether WMH volume within specific fiber classes is related to memory performance. We found that increased association and projection tract defined WMH volumes were related to worse memory function but not to a global cognition summary score that excluded memory. We conclude that macrostructural damage to association and projection tracts, manifesting as WMH, may result in memory decline among older adults. [Display omitted]