title: Tract-specific fractional anisotropy predicts cognitive outcome in a community sample of middle-aged participants with white matter lesions.
abstract: Cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) have been consistently related to cognitive dysfunction but the role of white matter (WM) damage in cognitive impairment is not fully determined. Diffusion tensor imaging is a promising tool to explain impaired cognition related to WMLs. We investigated the separate association of high-grade periventricular hyperintensities (PVHs) and deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMHs) with fractional anisotropy (FA) in middle-aged individuals. We also assessed the predictive value to cognition of FA within specific WM tracts associated with high-grade WMLs. One hundred participants from the Barcelona-AsIA Neuropsychology Study were divided into groups based on low- and high-grade WMLs. Voxel-by-voxel FA were compared between groups, with separate analyses for high-grade PVHs and DWMHs. The mean FA within areas showing differences between groups was extracted in each tract for linear regression analyses. Participants with high-grade PVHs and participants with high-grade DWMHs showed lower FA in different areas of specific tracts. Areas showing decreased FA in high-grade DWMHs predicted lower cognition, whereas areas with decreased FA in high-grade PVHs did not. The predictive value to cognition of specific WM tracts supports the involvement of cortico-subcortical circuits in cognitive deficits only in DWMHs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Soriano-Raya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Júlia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miralbell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Stroke Unit, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López-Cancio
authors.affiliation: 1] Radiology Department, Image Diagnosis Center, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain [2] Medical Image Core Facility, August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bargalló
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Stroke Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario, Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Arenillas
authors.affiliation: Department of Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Stroke Unit, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cáceres
authors.affiliation: Primary Healthcare Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, ICS-IDIAP Jordi Gol, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toran
authors.affiliation: Primary Healthcare Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, ICS-IDIAP Jordi Gol, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alzamora
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Stroke Unit, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dávalos
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain [2] Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3C), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mataró
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056784:Leukoencephalopathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D011379:Prognosis