BACKGROUND: White-matter hyperintensities are commonly found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of elderly people with or without dementia. Studies of the relation between severity of white-matter hyperintensities and cognitive impairment have had conflicting results. We undertook a longitudinal study of age-related decline in intellectual function and MRI at age 80 years. METHODS: From a cohort of 698 people born in 1914 and living in seven municipalities in Denmark, 68 healthy non-demented individuals had been tested with the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS) at ages 50, 60, and 70, and they agreed to further WAIS testing at age 80, and cerebral MRI at age 80-82 (mean age 82.3 years). We scored separately the numbers of periventricular and deep white-matter hyperintensities. FINDINGS: Scores for periventricular hyperintensities in this sample included all possible degrees of severity, but no participant scored more than 75% of maximum for deep white-matter hyperintensities. Neither type was related to the WAIS IQs of the 80-year assessment, but both were significantly associated with decline in performance IQ from age 50 to age 80 years (bivariate correlation coefficients 0.32, p=0.0087, and 0.28, p=0.0227, respectively). An analysis based on two WAIS subtests showed that the association between white-matter hyperintensities and cognitive impairment was significant only for cognitive decline in the decade 70-80 years. INTERPRETATION: Both periventricular and deep white-matter hyperintensities are related to decline in intelligence but, in healthy octogenarians, the cumulative effect of these features alone explains only a small part of the large differences among individuals in age-related decline in intelligence. Interpretation of the presence and severity of white-matter hyperintensities in a diagnostic context must be done cautiously.
BACKGROUND: White-matter hyperintensities are commonly found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of elderly people with or without dementia. Studies of the relation between severity of white-matter hyperintensities and cognitive impairment have had conflicting results. We undertook a longitudinal study of age-related decline in intellectual function and MRI at age 80 years. METHODS: From a cohort of 698 people born in 1914 and living in seven municipalities in Denmark, 68 healthy non-demented individuals had been tested with the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS) at ages 50, 60, and 70, and they agreed to further WAIS testing at age 80, and cerebral MRI at age 80-82 (mean age 82.3 years). We scored separately the numbers of periventricular and deep white-matter hyperintensities. FINDINGS: Scores for periventricular hyperintensities in this sample included all possible degrees of severity, but no participant scored more than 75% of maximum for deep white-matter hyperintensities. Neither type was related to the WAIS IQs of the 80-year assessment, but both were significantly associated with decline in performance IQ from age 50 to age 80 years (bivariate correlation coefficients 0.32, p=0.0087, and 0.28, p=0.0227, respectively). An analysis based on two WAIS subtests showed that the association between white-matter hyperintensities and cognitive impairment was significant only for cognitive decline in the decade 70-80 years. INTERPRETATION: Both periventricular and deep white-matter hyperintensities are related to decline in intelligence but, in healthy octogenarians, the cumulative effect of these features alone explains only a small part of the large differences among individuals in age-related decline in intelligence. Interpretation of the presence and severity of white-matter hyperintensities in a diagnostic context must be done cautiously.
Authors: Kejia Cai; Rongwen Tain; Sandhitsu Das; Frederick C Damen; Yi Sui; Tibor Valyi-Nagy; Mark A Elliott; Xiaohong J Zhou Journal: J Neurosci Methods Date: 2015-09-08 Impact factor: 2.390
Authors: D M J van den Heuvel; V H ten Dam; A J M de Craen; F Admiraal-Behloul; A C G M van Es; W M Palm; A Spilt; E L E M Bollen; G J Blauw; L Launer; R G J Westendorp; M A van Buchem Journal: AJNR Am J Neuroradiol Date: 2006-04 Impact factor: 3.825
Authors: D M J van den Heuvel; V H ten Dam; A J M de Craen; F Admiraal-Behloul; H Olofsen; E L E M Bollen; J Jolles; H M Murray; G J Blauw; R G J Westendorp; M A van Buchem Journal: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry Date: 2006-02 Impact factor: 10.154
Authors: Nicola Moscufo; Charles R G Guttmann; Dominik Meier; Istvan Csapo; Peter G Hildenbrand; Brian C Healy; Julia A Schmidt; Leslie Wolfson Journal: Neurobiol Aging Date: 2009-05-09 Impact factor: 4.673
Authors: Zukhrofi Muzar; Reymundo Lozano; Andrea Schneider; Patrick E Adams; Sultana M H Faradz; Flora Tassone; Randi J Hagerman Journal: Am J Med Genet A Date: 2015-04-21 Impact factor: 2.802
Authors: H Jokinen; H Kalska; R Mäntylä; R Ylikoski; M Hietanen; T Pohjasvaara; M Kaste; T Erkinjuntti Journal: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry Date: 2005-09 Impact factor: 10.154
Authors: Ana Verdelho; Sofia Madureira; José M Ferro; Anna-Maria Basile; Hugues Chabriat; Timo Erkinjuntti; Franz Fazekas; Michael Hennerici; John O'Brien; Leonardo Pantoni; Emilia Salvadori; Philip Scheltens; Marieke C Visser; Lars-Olof Wahlund; Gunhild Waldemar; Anders Wallin; Domenico Inzitari Journal: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry Date: 2007-04-30 Impact factor: 10.154