Cerebral atrophy as predictor of cognitive function in old, community-dwelling individuals

Objectives - The impact of cortical and subcortical atrophy on cognitive function was examined in a sample of older community-dwelling men and women. Material and methods - Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on a sample of 129 individuals [age: 68.4 +/- 3.6 years (mean +/- SD), range 64-74 years, 64 women and 65 men, Mini-Mental State Examination scores above 23] to assess cortical and subcortical atrophy. Participants also performed a number of cognitive tasks, and the measures of atrophy were used to predict performance in these tasks. Results - In men, frontal cortical atrophy predicted worse performance in word fluency and the Stroop test, and occipital cortical atrophy was associated with poor performance in motor speed. In women, poor performance in motor speed was associated with subcortical atrophy at the level of the caudate nucleus. Conclusion - Atrophy in certain areas was associated with poor performance in specific cognitive tasks, although the amount of explained variance was rather limited in this quite homogenous sample.