Brain regional lesion burden and impaired mobility in the elderly.
This study investigated the relationship of brain white matter (WM) lesions affecting specific neural networks with decreased mobility in ninety-nine healthy community-dwelling subjects ≥75 years old prospectively enrolled by age and mobility status. We assessed lesion burden in the genu, body and splenium of corpus callosum; anterior, superior and posterior corona radiata; anterior and posterior limbs of internal capsule; corticospinal tract; and superior longitudinal fasciculus. Burden in the splenium of corpus callosum (SCC) demonstrated the highest correlation particularly with walking speed (r=0.4, p<10(-4)), and in logistic regression it was the best regional predictor of low mobility performance. We also found that independent of mobility, corona radiata has the largest lesion burden with anterior (ACR) and posterior (PCR) aspects being the most frequently affected. The results suggest that compromised inter-hemispheric integration of visuospatial information through the SCC plays an important role in mobility impairment in the elderly. The relatively high lesion susceptibility of ACR and PCR in all subjects may obscure the importance of these lesions in mobility impairment.
Moscufo
Nicola
N
Center for Neurological Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. moscufo@bwh.harvard.edu
Guttmann
Charles R G
CR
Meier
Dominik
D
Csapo
Istvan
I
Hildenbrand
Peter G
PG
Healy
Brian C
BC
Schmidt
Julia A
JA
Wolfson
Leslie
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016015:Logistic Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*