Age-related white matter changes and cognitive impairment.
Age-related white matter changes (WMC) are a frequent finding in CT/MRI of older subjects. The role of WMC in cognitive impairment has been studied in community-dwelling and healthy old people, subjects with vascular risk factors, stroke patients, depressed and demented subjects. Although there are several negative studies, the majority of the evidence points towards an association between WMC and cognitive impairment. Speed of mental processes, attention, concentration, executive functions and visual spatial skills are the cognitive domains more commonly affected. The methodological problems of the negative studies are discussed, a number of unsolved issues are raised stressing the need for longitudinal studies of WMC with a adequate inception cohort.
Ferro
José M
JM
Centro de Estudos Egas Moniz, Serviço de Neurologia, Hospital Santa Maria, 1649-035 Lisbon, Portugal. jmferro@iscvt.com
Madureira
Sofia
S
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology