Associations between total MRI-visible small vessel disease burden and domain-specific cognitive abilities in a community-dwelling older-age cohort

Hamilton, O.K.L. et al. (2021) Associations between total MRI-visible small vessel disease burden and domain-specific cognitive abilities in a community-dwelling older-age cohort. Neurobiology of Aging, 105, pp. 25-34. (doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.04.007) (PMID:34022536)

Abstract

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a leading cause of vascular cognitive impairment, however the precise nature of SVD-related cognitive deficits, and their associations with structural brain changes, remain unclear. We combined computational volumes and visually-rated MRI markers of SVD to quantify total SVD burden, using data from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (n = 540; age: 72.6 ± 0.7 years). We found negative associations between total SVD burden and general cognitive ability (standardized β: -0.363; 95%CI: [-0.49, -0.23]; p(FDR) < 0.001), processing speed (-0.371 [-0.50, -0.24]; p(FDR) < 0.001), verbal memory (-0.265; [-0.42, -0.11]; p(FDR) = 0.002), and visuospatial ability (-0.170; [-0.32, -0.02]; p(FDR) = 0.029). Only the association between SVD burden and processing speed remained after accounting for covariance with general cognitive ability (-0.325; [-0.61, -0.04]; p(FDR) = 0.029). This suggests that SVD's association with poorer processing speed is not driven by, but is independent of its association with poorer general cognitive ability. Tests of processing speed may be particularly sensitive to the cognitive impact of SVD, but all major cognitive domains should be tested to determine the full range of SVD-related cognitive characteristics.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The LBC1936 is supported by Age UK [MR/M01311/1] (http://www.disconnectedmind.ed.ac.uk) and the Medical Research Council [G1001245/96099]. LBC1936 MRI brain imaging was supported by Medical Research Council (MRC) grants [G0701120], [G1001245], [MR/M013111/1] and [MR/R024065/1]. OKLH is funded by the University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine as part of the Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD in Translational Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh. SRC, JMW, IJD, SMM and LB were supported by MRC grants [MR/M013111/1] and [MR/R024065/1]. SRC and IJD are additionally supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant R01AG054628, and IJD was also supported by the Dementias Platform UK [MR/L015382/1]. MVH was supported by the Row Fogo Charitable Trust [BROD.FID3668413]. JMW is supported by the European Union Horizon 2020, (PHC-03-15, project no 666881), ‘SVDs@Target’, the Fondation Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence for the Study of Perivascular Spaces in Small Vessel Disease (ref no. 16 CVD 05), and the UK Dementia Research Institute which receives its funding from DRI Ltd, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hamilton, Dr Olivia

Creator Roles

Hamilton, O.K.L.: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

• Authors: Hamilton, O.K.L., Cox, S.R., Ballerini, L., Bastin, M.E., Corley, J., Gow, A.J., Muñoz Maniega, S., Redmond, P., Valdés Hernández, M. d. C., Wardlaw, J.M., and Deary, I.J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Neurobiology of Aging
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0197-4580
• ISSN (Online): 1558-1497
• Published Online: 22 April 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Neurobiology of Aging 105: 25-34
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License