title: Aberrant white matter networks mediate cognitive impairment in patients with silent lacunar infarcts in basal ganglia territory.
abstract: Silent lacunar infarcts, which are present in over 20% of healthy elderly individuals, are associated with subtle deficits in cognitive functions. However, it remains largely unclear how these silent brain infarcts lead to cognitive deficits and even dementia. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging tractography and graph theory to examine the topological organization of white matter networks in 27 patients with silent lacunar infarcts in the basal ganglia territory and 30 healthy controls. A whole-brain white matter network was constructed for each subject, where the graph nodes represented brain regions and the edges represented interregional white matter tracts. Compared with the controls, the patients exhibited a significant reduction in local efficiency and global efficiency. In addition, a total of eighteen brain regions showed significantly reduced nodal efficiency in patients. Intriguingly, nodal efficiency-behavior associations were significantly different between the two groups. The present findings provide new aspects into our understanding of silent infarcts that even small lesions in subcortical brain regions may affect large-scale cortical white matter network, as such may be the link between subcortical silent infarcts and the associated cognitive impairments. Our findings highlight the need for network-level neuroimaging assessment and more medical care for individuals with silent subcortical infarcts.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Jinfu
authors: J
authors: Tang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Suyu
authors: S
authors: Zhong
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Yaojing
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
authors: Kewei
authors: K
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Junying
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Gaolang
authors: G
authors: Gong
authors: Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
authors: Adam S
authors: AS
authors: Fleisher
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: He
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors: Zhanjun
authors: Z
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000473:pathology*; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*