Attention-Related Brain Activation Is Altered in Older Adults With White Matter Hyperintensities Using Multi-Echo fMRI

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Arron W. S. Metcalfe¹  Jeremy Rezmovitz²  Sarah Atwi³  Bradley J. MacIntosh³  Andrew D. Robertson⁵  Nicole D. Anderson⁶ 

[1] Centre for Youth Bipolar Disorder, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;

关键词: white matter hyperintensities;    small vessel disease;    attention;    multi-echo;    fMRI;    BOLD;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2018.00748

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Cognitive decline is often undetectable in the early stages of accelerated vascular aging. Attentional processes are particularly affected in older adults with white matter hyperintensities (WMH), although specific neurovascular mechanisms have not been elucidated. We aimed to identify differences in attention-related neurofunctional activation and behavior between adults with and without WMH. Older adults with moderate to severe WMH (n = 18, mean age = 70 years), age-matched adults (n = 28, mean age = 72), and healthy younger adults (n = 19, mean age = 25) performed a modified flanker task during multi-echo blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging. Task-related activation was assessed using a weighted-echo approach. Healthy older adults had more widespread response and higher amplitude of activation compared to WMH adults in fronto-temporal and parietal cortices. Activation associated with processing speed was absent in the WMH group, suggesting attention-related activation deficits that may be a consequence of cerebral small vessel disease. WMH adults had greater executive contrast activation in the precuneous and posterior cingulate gyrus compared to HYA, despite no performance benefits, reinforcing the network dysfunction theory in WMH.

【 授权许可】

Unknown