Associations of subclinical cerebral small vessel disease and processing speed in non-demented subjects: A 7-year study

Abstract

Markers of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) have previously been associated with age-related cognitive decline. Using longitudinal data of cognitively healthy, older adults ( N = 216, mean age at baseline = 70.9 years), we investigated baseline status and change in white matter hyperintensities (WMH) (total, periventricular, deep), normal appearing white matter (NAWM), brain parenchyma volume (BPV) and processing speed over seven years as well as the impact of different covariates by applying latent growth curve (LGC) models. Generally, we revealed a complex pattern of associations between the different CSVD markers. More specifically, we observed that changes of deep WMH (dWMH), as compared to periventricular WMH (pWMH), were more strongly related to the changes of other CSVD markers and also to baseline processing speed performance. Further, the number of lacunes rather than their volume reflected the severity of CSVD. With respect to the studied covariates, we revealed that higher education had a protective effect on subsequent total WMH, pWMH, lacunar number, NAWM volume, and processing speed performance. The indication of antihypertensive drugs was associated with lower lacunar number and volume at baseline and the indication of antihypercholesterolemic drugs came along with higher processing speed performance at baseline. In summary, our results confirm previous findings, and extend them by providing information on true within-person changes, relationships between the different CSVD markers and brain-behavior associations. The moderate to strong associations between changes of the different CSVD markers indicate a common pathological relationship and, thus, support multidimensional treatment strategies.

Assessing the Role of Past Depression in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, with and without Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Participants with AD+ CSF performed worse in verbal memory than AD- participants, consistent with the neurocognitive profile of AD [ 50, 51 ]. All participants with MCI exhibited slowed processing speed, which is typical of vascular cognitive impairment in the context of moderate to high WMH burden [ 52 ]. Variations in the spatial distribution of WMH are known to contribute to a range of clinical phenotypes [ 53 ].…”

An Integrative Nomogram for Identifying Cognitive Impairment Using Seizure Type and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Neuroimaging Markers in Patients with Late-Onset Epilepsy of Unknown Origin

“…We also explored the potential moderating effect of education on the relationship between PVH and cognitive function. We used automated segmentation and a visual inspection of PVH volume to assess WMH severity more robustly in the moderating role analysis [ 50 ]. No direct relationship between education and cognitive function was found; however, education blunted the effect of PVH on cognitive function.…”

Neuropsychological Profile of Early Cognitive Impairment in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

“…Second, no subjects had data on AD biomarkers such as amyloid imaging or β amyloid in cerebrospinal fluid, so we cannot exclude the possibility that we had enrolled patients with AD pathology. Finally, since we do not have sufficient longitudinal data but only cross-sectional data, further longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the rate of change measures [36].…”