Journal
JOURNAL OF CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW AND METABOLISM
Volume 32, Issue 10, Pages 1869-1878Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1038/jcbfm.2012.96
Keywords
cerebrovascular disease; diffusion tensor imaging; MRI; vascular cognitive impairment; white matter disease
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Funding
- LIFE-Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases at the University of Leipzig
- European Union
- European Regional Development Fund
- Free State of Saxony
- German Consortium for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
- German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- IFB-Integrated Research and Treatment Center Adiposity Diseases at the University of Leipzig
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Cerebral microangiopathy (CMA) has been associated with executive dysfunction and fronto-parietal neural network disruption. Advances in magnetic resonance imaging allow more detailed analyses of gray (e.g., voxel-based morphometry-VBM) and white matter (e.g., diffusion tensor imaging-DTI) than traditional visual rating scales. The current study investigated patients with early CMA and healthy control subjects with all three approaches. Neuropsychological assessment focused on executive functions, the cognitive domain most discussed in CMA. The DTI and age-related white matter changes rating scales revealed convergent results showing widespread white matter changes in early CMA. Correlations were found in frontal and parietal areas exclusively with speeded, but not with speed-corrected executive measures. The VBM analyses showed reduced gray matter in frontal areas. All three approaches confirmed the hypothesized fronto-parietal network disruption in early CMA. Innovative methods (DTI) converged with results from conventional methods (visual rating) while allowing greater spatial and tissue accuracy. They are thus valid additions to the analysis of neural correlates of cognitive dysfunction. We found a clear distinction between speeded and nonspeeded executive measures in relationship to imaging parameters. Cognitive slowing is related to disease severity in early CMA and therefore important for early diagnostics. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism (2012) 32, 1869-1878; doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2012.96; published online 11 July 2012
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