White matter hyperintensities at critical crossroads for executive function and verbal abilities in small vessel disease
Corresponding Author
Ileana Camerino
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Ileana Camerino, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJoanna Sierpowska
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorAndrew Reid
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Search for more papers by this authorNathalie H. Meyer
Center for Neuroprosthetics (CNP) and Brain Mind Institute (BMI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Search for more papers by this authorAnil M. Tuladhar
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRoy P. C. Kessels
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorFrank-Erik de Leeuw
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorVitória Piai
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Ileana Camerino
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Ileana Camerino, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJoanna Sierpowska
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorAndrew Reid
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Search for more papers by this authorNathalie H. Meyer
Center for Neuroprosthetics (CNP) and Brain Mind Institute (BMI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Search for more papers by this authorAnil M. Tuladhar
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRoy P. C. Kessels
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorFrank-Erik de Leeuw
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorVitória Piai
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience, Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorFunding information: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Grant/Award Numbers: 024.001.006, 451-17-003; Dutch Heart Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: 2016 T044, 2014 T060; Innovational Research Incentive, Grant/Award Number: 016-126-351
Abstract
The presence of white matter lesions in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is among the main causes of cognitive decline. We investigated the relation between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) locations and executive and language abilities in 442 SVD patients without dementia with varying burden of WMH. We used Stroop Word Reading, Stroop Color Naming, Stroop Color-Word Naming, and Category Fluency as language measures with varying degrees of executive demands. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) was used as a control task, as it measures processing speed without requiring language use or verbal output. A voxel-based lesion–symptom mapping (VLSM) approach was used, corrected for age, sex, education, and lesion volume. VLSM analyses revealed statistically significant clusters for tests requiring language use, but not for SDMT. Worse scores on all tests were associated with WMH in forceps minor, thalamic radiations and caudate nuclei. In conclusion, an association was found between WMH in a core frontostriatal network and executive-verbal abilities in SVD, independent of lesion volume and processing speed. This circuitry underlying executive-language functioning might be of potential clinical importance for elderly with SVD. More detailed language testing is required in future research to elucidate the nature of language production difficulties in SVD.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Anonymized data can be made available to qualified investigators on request to the corresponding author.
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