Regional differences in relationships between apparent white matter integrity, cognition and mood in patients with ischemic stroke.
White matter changes are one potential etiology of behavioral changes in cerebrovascular disease. Whole brain diffusion tensor imaging-fractional anisotropy (DTI-FA) as a measure of apparent white matter integrity is related to cognitive function in cerebrovascular disease. However, white matter changes are not uniform, nor are their effects. We examine the relationship between regional differences in DTI-FA and cognition and mood in an ischemic-stroke sample. Participants were 108 patients, 3-6 months post stroke. Working memory, basic attention, recall, language, visuo-spatial, psychomotor, and encoding skills, and mood were assessed via neuropsychological evaluation. DTI scans were performed on a 1.5 T GE magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was calculated for frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal regions using automated masks. Frontal and parietal FAs were more strongly and consistently related to cognitive and mood scores than were FA values from whole brain or temporal or occipital regions. This research contributes to our understanding of the etiology of cognitive and mood deficits in cerebrovascular disease.
Williamson
John
J
Department of Neurology, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0236, USA. john.williamson@neurology.ufl.edu
Nyenhuis
David
D
Stebbins
Glenn T
GT
Lamb
Damon
D
Simkus
Vaidas
V
Sripathirathan
Kumar
K
Wang
Changsheng
C
de Toledo-Morrell
Leyla
L
Gorelick
Philip
P
D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*