Abstract
BackgroundWhite matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are markers for cerebrovascular pathology, which are frequently seen in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Verbal fluency is often impaired especially in AD, but little research has been conducted concerning the specific effects of WMH on verbal fluency in MCI and AD.ObjectiveOur aim was to examine the relationship between WMH and verbal fluency in healthy old age and pathological aging (MCI/AD) using quantified MRI data.MethodsMeasures for semantic and phonemic fluency as well as quantified MRI imaging data from a sample of 42 cognitively healthy older adults and 44 patients with MCI/AD (total n = 86) were utilized. Analyses were performed both using the total sample that contained seven left-handed/ambidextrous participants, as well with a sample containing only right-handed participants (n = 79) in order to guard against possible confounding effects regarding language lateralization.ResultsAfter controlling for age and education and adjusting for multiple correction, WMH in the bilateral frontal and parieto-occipital areas as well as the right temporal area were associated with semantic fluency in cognitively healthy and MCI/AD patients but only in the models containing solely right-handed participants.ConclusionThe results indicate that white matter pathology in both frontal and parieto-occipital cerebral areas may have associations with impaired semantic fluency in right-handed older adults. However, elevated levels of WMH do not seem to be associated with cumulative effects on verbal fluency impairment in patients with MCI or AD. Further studies on the subject are needed.
Highlights
Aging is often accompanied by vascular changes in cerebral white matter (WM) (Feigin et al, 2003), which typically show up as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) when magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is utilized (Pantoni et al, 2007)
In the whole sample, increased WMH volumes in both the frontal and parieto-occipital areas, bilaterally, were significantly associated with worse performance in the semantic fluency task, these associations did not survive correction for multiple testing
A significant association was seen between increased WMH volumes in the right temporal lobe and worse performance in the semantic fluency task only in the right-handed participants
Summary
Aging is often accompanied by vascular changes in cerebral white matter (WM) (Feigin et al, 2003), which typically show up as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) when magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is utilized (Pantoni et al, 2007). These cerebrovascular changes can have a variety of effects on cognitive functions, including impairments to information processing speed, executive. White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are markers for cerebrovascular pathology, which are frequently seen in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Verbal fluency is often impaired especially in AD, but little research has been conducted concerning the specific effects of WMH on verbal fluency in MCI and AD
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