Objectives: Cerebral WMHs on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are common incidental findings in cognitively healthy elderly subjects. The relationship between such changes and cognitive function remains unclear.
Methods: The present study evaluated the relationship between the degree of white matter changes and cognitive function using data from 172 cognitively healthy subjects who underwent MRI and a battery of neuropsychological tests. The degree of WMHs was rated using a four-point scale for images on a computer screen.
Results: Regarding the frontal and parieto-occipital regions and basal ganglia region, compared with the group with no WMHs, the group with the most severe WMHs showed significantly lower performances for attention and disorientation to time, respectively.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that even in cognitively healthy elderly individuals, presence of large WMHs affects performance on certain cognitive domains according to their localization.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.