Highlights
- •Strictly lobar cerebral microbleeds are linked to impaired language function.
- •Periventricular hyperintensities are associated with poor executive function.
- •Periventricular hyperintensities are linked to slow information processing speed.
- •Silent lacunes are not independently associated with cognitive deficits.
- •Different silent lesions may cause different patterns of cognitive impairment.
Abstract
Background/objectives
Silent cerebrovascular lesions (SCLs) and their underlying pathology are now recognized
as important causes of cognitive impairment in the elderly. However, the distinct
profile of cognitive deficits associated with each type of SCLs remains unclear.
Methods
Of 497 otherwise healthy hypertensive elderly Chinese, 398 participants (mean age
72.0, ranging from 65 to 99, SD = 5.1) successfully completed a battery of structured
neuropsychological tests and a multi-sequence 3 T MRI scanning. SCLs were rated independently.
Correlations between each MRI marker and cognitive function were assessed using a
series of linear regression models.
Results
Strictly lobar cerebral microbleeds were linked to impaired language function (B = −0.231,
p < 0.05). Silent lacunes were associated with poor executive function, but the association
disappeared after additional adjustment for white matter hyperintensities. White matter
hyperintensities (especially periventricular hyperintensities) were associated with
poor executive function (B = −0.126, p < 0.05) and slower information processing speed (B = −0.149, p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Different SCLs were associated with different patterns of cognitive deficits, indicating
that different SCLs may have distinct impacts on cognitive performance.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
CMBs (cerebral microbleeds), DWMHs (deep white matter hyperintensities), EF (executive function), IPS (information processing speed), PVHs (periventricular hyperintensities), SCLs (Silent cerebrovascular lesions), SLs (silent lacunes, WMHs - white matter hyperintensities)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 28, 2019
Accepted:
June 26,
2019
Received in revised form:
June 18,
2019
Received:
November 20,
2018
Footnotes
☆The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (HKU/HA HKW IRB) for human research. All participants were informed of the scope of the study before signing the consent form.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
