MRI biomarkers of small vessel disease and cognition: A cross-sectional study of a cognitively normal Mexican American cohort

Background The current project sought to evaluate the impact that white matter hyperintensities (WMH) have on executive function in cognitively normal Mexican Americans, an underserved population with onset and more rapid progression of dementia. Methods Data from 515 participants (360 female) enrolled in the Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities project were analyzed. Participants underwent clinical evaluation, cognitive testing, and a brain MRI. Linear regression was used to predict the effect of total WMH volume on cognitive test scores. Age, sex, and education were entered as covariates. Results Regression analysis showed that WMH volume significantly predicted executive function. WMH also predicted global cognition and attention scores, although not significantly after adjusting for age. Conclusion In this sample of cognitively normal Mexican Americans, we found that WMH volume was associated with lower scores in a measure of executive function, after accounting for age, sex, and education.

Automated summary

The study found that white matter hyperintensities (WMH) volume was negatively associated with executive function in cognitively normal Mexican Americans, even after adjusting for age, sex, and education.