title: Total MRI load of cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive ability in older people.
abstract: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) may cause cognitive dysfunction. We tested the association between the combined presence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of SVD and cognitive ability in older age. Cognitive testing and brain MRI were performed in 680 older participants. MRI presence of lacunes, white matter hyperintensities, microbleeds, and perivascular spaces were summed in a score of 0-4 representing all SVD features combined. We also applied latent variable modeling to test whether the 4 MRI features form a unitary SVD construct. The SVD score showed significant associations with general cognitive ability. Latent variable modeling indicated that the 4 MRI markers formed a unitary construct, which showed consistent associations with cognitive ability compared with the SVD score. Total MRI load of SVD is associated with lower general cognitive ability in older age. The total SVD score performed consistently with the more complex latent variable model, suggesting validity and potential utility in future research for determining total SVD load.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Brain Research Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Staals
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bastin
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Department of Psychology, School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gow
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Janie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Starr
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Deary
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: joanna.wardlaw@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Joanna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wardlaw
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D059345:Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging
keywords: Cerebral microbleeds; Cerebral small vessel disease; Cerebrovascular disease; Cognitive aging; Lacunes; MRI; Perivascular spaces; White matter hyperintensities