Structural and functional MRI correlates of T2 hyperintensities of brain white matter in young neurologically asymptomatic adults

Keřkovský, Miloš; Stulík, Jakub; Dostál, Marek; Kuhn, Matyáš; Lošák, Jan; Praksová, Petra; Hulová, Monika; Bednařík, Josef; Šprláková-Puková, Andrea; Mechl, Marek

doi:10.1007/s00330-019-06268-8

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Aligning with our results, Schaefer et al reported connectivity changes in cerebellar regions that are connected to frontoparietal cognitive networks (lobules crus II and VIIb) in patients with CSVD ( Schaefer et al, 2014 ). Another study revealed that both the number and volume of WMHs were correlated with decreased FC of the cerebellum ( Kerkovsky et al, 2019 ). Our findings provide further support for cerebellar involvement in WMHs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cerebellum Is Related to Cognitive Dysfunction in White Matter Hyperintensities

Cao

Nie

Zhang

et al. 2021

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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ObjectiveWhite matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently presumed to be secondary to cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and associated with cognitive decline. The cerebellum plays a key role in cognition and has dense connections with other brain regions. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate if cerebellar abnormalities could occur in CSVD patients with WMHs and the possible association with cognitive performances.MethodsA total of 104 right-handed patients with WMHs were divided into the mild WMHs group (n = 39), moderate WMHs group (n = 37), and severe WMHs group (n = 28) according to the Fazekas scale, and 36 healthy controls were matched for sex ratio, age, education years, and acquired resting-state functional MRI. Analysis of voxel-based morphometry of gray matter volume (GMV) and seed-to-whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) was performed from the perspective of the cerebellum, and their correlations with neuropsychological variables were explored.ResultsThe analysis revealed a lower GMV in the bilateral cerebellum lobule VI and decreased FC between the left- and right-sided cerebellar lobule VI with the left anterior cingulate gyri in CSVD patients with WMHs. Both changes in structure and function were correlated with cognitive impairment in patients with WMHs.ConclusionOur study revealed damaged GMV and FC in the cerebellum associated with cognitive impairment. This indicates that the cerebellum may play a key role in the modulation of cognitive function in CSVD patients with WMHs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cerebellum Is Related to Cognitive Dysfunction in White Matter Hyperintensities

Cao

Nie

Zhang

et al. 2021

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…We must remember that this study was designed as exploratory and not confirmatory. Our main goal was to investigate whether and how the WMLs influenced the cerebral networking in asymptomatic patients with cICA, a medical condition characterised by cognitive impairment 8 , 9 and an increased number of WMLs, 10–12 which are increasingly recognised to be associated with each other. 3 The results of our study are statistically significant, and they allow us to speculate that further studies could help us in better understanding the impact of WMLs in these patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6–8 WMLs are associated with different adverse clinical outcomes, including cognitive dysfunction, depression and functional disability. 9 , 10 Different studies have shown that WMLs influence brain networks, as studied by resting-state functional connectivity in healthy subjects, 11–13 but less is known in other medical conditions, including patients with cICA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

White-matter hyperintensities in patients with carotid artery stenosis: An exploratory connectometry study

et al. 2020

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Background White-matter lesions (WMLs) are frequently found in magnetic resonance imaging (MRi), and the WML load tends to be higher in patients affected by cervical internal carotid artery (cICA) stenosis. Purpose This study aimed to investigate whether and how WMLs influence cerebral networking in patients with asymptomatic cICA stenosis eligible for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) by exploiting the connectometry technique. Methods The study was designed as a cross-sectional exploratory investigation, and 28 patients with cICA stenosis eligible for CEA were enrolled. All patients received an MRI scan, including a T1-weighted, a FLAIR and a diffusion-weighted (DW) sequence. The T1 and FLAIR sequences were analysed for quantification of WML burden (WMLB) and total number of WMLs (TNWMLs). The DW data were reconstructed in the MNI space using q-space diffeomorphic reconstruction, and were grouped to create a connectometry database. The connectometry analysis evaluated the influence of both the WMLB and TNWMLs to local connectivity in a multiple regression model that included age, WMLB and TNWMLs, adopting three different T-score thresholds (1, 2 and 3). A p-value corrected for false discovery rate of <0.05 was adopted as a threshold to identify statistically significant results. Results The connectometry analysis identified several white-matter bundles negatively correlated with WMLB; no statistically significant correlation was found for TNWMLs. Conclusion Results of our study suggest that WMLs influence brain connectivity measured by the connectometry technique in patients with cICA stenosis eligible for CEA. Further studies are warranted to understand the role of WMLs better as a marker of disease in patients with cICA stenosis.

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“…A useful tool used in research for better understanding how the WMHb influences brain activity is resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) (Lv et al, 2018). Several studies (De Marco et al, 2017; Keřkovský et al, 2019; Reijmer et al, 2015) have been conducted with this technique in HS. In particular, it has been demonstrated that WMHb modulates brain functional connectivity within different resting‐state networks (Reijmer et al, 2015), including the default mode network (DMN) (De Marco et al, 2017), with compensatory rearrangements of cerebral circuits in response to increased WMH load (Keřkovský et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between white matter hyperintensities, cognition and regional neural activity in healthy subjects

Porcu

Cocco

Cocozza

et al. 2021

Eur J of Neuroscience

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White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are common findings that can be found in physiological ageing. Several studies suggest that the disruption of white matter tracts included in WMH could induce abnormal functioning of the respective linked cortical structures, with consequent repercussion on the cerebral functions, included the cognitive sphere. In this cross‐sectional research, we analysed the effects of the total WMH burden (tWMHb) on resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) and cognition. Functional and structural MR data, as well as the scores of the trail making test subtests A (TMT‐A) and B (TMT‐B) of 75 healthy patients, were extracted from the public available Leipzig Study for Mind–Body–Emotion Interactions dataset. tWMHb was extracted from structural data. Spearman's correlation analyses were made for investigating correlations between WMHb and the scores of the cognitive tests. The fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations (fALFF) method was applied for analysing the rs‐fMRI data, adopting a multiple regression model for studying the effects of tWMHb on brain activity. Three different subanalyses were conducted using different statistical methods. We observed statistically significant correlations between WMHb and the scores of the cognitive tests. The fALFF analysis revealed that tWMHb is associated with the reduction of regional neural activity of several brain areas (in particular the prefrontal cortex, precuneus and cerebellar crus I/II). We conclude that our findings clarify better the relationships between WMH and cognitive impairment, evidencing that tWMHb is associated with impairments of the neurocognitive function in healthy subjects by inducing a diffuse reduction of the neural activity.

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Structural and functional MRI correlates of T2 hyperintensities of brain white matter in young neurologically asymptomatic adults

Cited by 8 publications

References 41 publications

The Cerebellum Is Related to Cognitive Dysfunction in White Matter Hyperintensities

The Cerebellum Is Related to Cognitive Dysfunction in White Matter Hyperintensities

White-matter hyperintensities in patients with carotid artery stenosis: An exploratory connectometry study

The association between white matter hyperintensities, cognition and regional neural activity in healthy subjects

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