title: White matter hyperintensities are positively associated with cortical thickness in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: White matter hyperintensities are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). White matter hyperintensities are believed to disconnect brain areas. We examined the topographical association between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness in controls, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD patients. We examined associations between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness among 18 older cognitively healthy participants, 18 amnestic MCI, and 17 mild AD patients. These associations were cluster-size corrected for multiple comparisons. In controls, a positive association between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness was found in lateral temporal gyri. In MCI patients, white matter hyperintensities were positively related to cortical thickness in frontal, temporal, and parietal areas. Positive associations between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness in AD patients were confined to parietal areas. The results of the interaction group by white matter hyperintensities on cortical thickness were consistent with the findings of positive associations in the parietal lobe for MCI and AD patients separately. In the frontal areas, controls and AD patients showed inverse associations between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness, while MCI patients still showed a positive association. These results suggest that a paradoxical relationship between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness could be a consequence of neuroinflammatory processes induced by AD-pathology and white matter hyperintensities. Alternatively, it might reflect a region-specific and disease-stage dependent compensatory hypertrophy in response to a compromised network.
authors.affiliation: School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands European Graduate School of Neuroscience EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-3, Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Heidi I L
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands European Graduate School of Neuroscience EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lies
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clerx
authors.affiliation: School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands European Graduate School of Neuroscience EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ed H B M
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Gronenschild
authors.affiliation: School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands European Graduate School of Neuroscience EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aalten
authors.affiliation: School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands European Graduate School of Neuroscience EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frans R J
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Verhey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000473:pathology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Compensation; cortical thickness; dementia; hypertrophy; inflammation; white matter hyperintensities