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Correlates of memory function in community-dwelling elderly: The importance of white matter hyperintensities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2004

CHRISTOPHER I. PETKOV ,
CHRISTINE C. WU ,
JAMIE L. EBERLING ,
DAN MUNGAS ,
PATRICIA A. ZRELAK ,
ANDREW P. YONELINAS ,
MARY N. HAAN  and
WILLIAM J. JAGUST
CHRISTOPHER I. PETKOV
Affiliation:
Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
CHRISTINE C. WU
Affiliation:
Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, California Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
JAMIE L. EBERLING
Affiliation:
Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, California Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
DAN MUNGAS
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
PATRICIA A. ZRELAK
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
ANDREW P. YONELINAS
Affiliation:
Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, California Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
MARY N. HAAN
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
WILLIAM J. JAGUST
Affiliation:
Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, California Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California William J. Jagust is currently at the University of California, Berkeley
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Abstract

We sought to identify magnetic resonance- (MR)-imaged structures associated with declarative memory in a community-dwelling sample of elderly Mexican–American individuals with a spectrum of cognitive decline. Measured structures were the hemispheric volumes of the hippocampus (HC), parahippocampal gyrus, and remaining temporal lobes, as well as severity of white matter signal hyperintensities (WMH). Participants were an imaged subsample from the Sacramento Area Latino Study of Aging (SALSA), N = 122. Individuals were categorized as normal, memory impaired (MI), cognitively impaired non-demented (CIND), or demented. We show that WMH was the strongest structural predictor for performance on a delayed free-recall task (episodic memory) in the entire sample. The association of WMH with delayed recall was most prominent in elderly normals and mildly cognitively impaired individuals with no dementia or impairment of daily function. However, the left HC was associated with verbal delayed recall only in people with dementia. The right HC volume predicted nonverbal semantic-memory performance. We conclude that WMH are an important pathological substrate that affects certain memory functions in normal individuals and those with mild memory loss and discuss how tasks associated with WMH may rely upon frontal lobe function. (JINS, 2004, 10, 371–381.)

Keywords

HippocampusImagingPopulationDeclarative memoryMagnetic resonance
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , May 2004 , pp. 371 - 381
Copyright
© 2004 The International Neuropsychological Society

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