White matter hyperintensities are common in midlife and already associated with cognitive decline

Author:

d’Arbeloff Tracy1,Elliott Maxwell L1ORCID,Knodt Annchen R1,Melzer Tracy R23,Keenan Ross24,Ireland David5,Ramrakha Sandhya5,Poulton Richie5,Anderson Tim23,Caspi Avshalom1678,Moffitt Terrie E1678,Hariri Ahmad R1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA

2. New Zealand Brain Research Institute, 66 Stewart Street, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand

3. Department of Medicine, University of Otago, 2 Riccarton Avenue, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand

4. Christchurch Radiology Group, 6/242 Ferry Road, Waltham, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand

5. Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand

6. Social, Genetic, & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK

7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27708, USA

8. Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA

Abstract

Abstract White matter hyperintensities proliferate as the brain ages and are associated with increased risk for cognitive decline as well as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. As such, white matter hyperintensities have been targeted as a surrogate biomarker in intervention trials with older adults. However, it is unclear at what stage of aging white matter hyperintensities begin to relate to cognition and if they may be a viable target for early prevention. In the Dunedin Study, a population-representative cohort followed since birth, we measured white matter hyperintensities in 843 45-year-old participants using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and we assessed cognitive decline from childhood to midlife. We found that white matter hyperintensities were common at age 45 and that white matter hyperintensity volume was modestly associated with both lower childhood (ß = −0.08, P = 0.013) and adult IQ (ß=−0.15, P < 0.001). Moreover, white matter hyperintensity volume was associated with greater cognitive decline from childhood to midlife (ß=−0.09, P < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that a link between white matter hyperintensities and early signs of cognitive decline is detectable decades before clinical symptoms of dementia emerge. Thus, white matter hyperintensities may be a useful surrogate biomarker for identifying individuals in midlife at risk for future accelerated cognitive decline and selecting participants for dementia prevention trials.

Funder

National Institute on Aging

Medical Research Council

National Science Foundation

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Environmental Science

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