Posterior white matter hyperintensities are associated with reduced medial temporal lobe subregional integrity and long-term memory in older adults

Batool Rizvi; Mithra Sathishkumar; Soyun Kim; Freddie Márquez; Steven J Granger; Myra S Larson; Blake A Miranda; Martina K Hollearn; Liv McMillan; Bin Nan; Nicholas J Tustison; Patrick J Lao; Adam M Brickman; Dana Greenia; Maria M Corrada; Claudia H Kawas; Michael A Yassa

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103308

Posterior white matter hyperintensities are associated with reduced medial temporal lobe subregional integrity and long-term memory in older adults

Neuroimage Clin. 2023:37:103308. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103308. Epub 2022 Dec 28.

Authors

Batool Rizvi¹, Mithra Sathishkumar¹, Soyun Kim¹, Freddie Márquez¹, Steven J Granger¹, Myra S Larson¹, Blake A Miranda¹, Martina K Hollearn¹, Liv McMillan¹, Bin Nan², Nicholas J Tustison³, Patrick J Lao⁴, Adam M Brickman⁴, Dana Greenia⁵, Maria M Corrada⁶, Claudia H Kawas⁷, Michael A Yassa⁸

Affiliations

¹ Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
² Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
³ Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
⁴ Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Neurology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
⁵ Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁷ Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁸ Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. Electronic address: michael.yassa@uci.edu.

Abstract

White matter hyperintensities are a marker of small vessel cerebrovascular disease that are strongly related to cognition in older adults. Similarly, medial temporal lobe atrophy is well-documented in aging and Alzheimer's disease and is associated with memory decline. Here, we assessed the relationship between lobar white matter hyperintensities, medial temporal lobe subregional volumes, and hippocampal memory in older adults. We collected MRI scans in a sample of 139 older adults without dementia (88 females, mean age (SD) = 76.95 (10.61)). Participants were administered the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Regression analyses tested for associations among medial temporal lobe subregional volumes, regional white matter hyperintensities and memory, while adjusting for age, sex, and education and correcting for multiple comparisons. Increased occipital white matter hyperintensities were related to worse RAVLT delayed recall performance, and to reduced CA1, dentate gyrus, perirhinal cortex (Brodmann area 36), and parahippocampal cortex volumes. These medial temporal lobe subregional volumes were related to delayed recall performance. The association of occipital white matter hyperintensities with delayed recall performance was fully mediated statistically only by perirhinal cortex volume. These results suggest that white matter hyperintensities may be associated with memory decline through their impact on medial temporal lobe atrophy. These findings provide new insights into the role of vascular pathologies in memory loss in older adults and suggest that future studies should further examine the neural mechanisms of these relationships in longitudinal samples.

Keywords: Aging; Cerebrovascular disease; Hippocampus; Long-term memory; Small vessel disease.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Aged
Alzheimer Disease* / pathology
Atrophy / pathology
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Memory Disorders / diagnostic imaging
Memory Disorders / etiology
Memory Disorders / pathology
Memory, Long-Term
Temporal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
Temporal Lobe / pathology
White Matter* / diagnostic imaging
White Matter* / pathology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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