White Matter Hyperintensities in the Normal Population

Authors

Callie Beck, Brigham Young University
Dr. Ramona O. Hopkins, Brigham Young University

Keywords

white matter hyperintensities, WMH, normal population, comobid disorders

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

White-matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are unidentified bright objects in the white matter regions of the brain and have been observed on magnetic resonance (MR) brain images since the mid-1980s. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between WMHs and various pathologic conditions such as hypertension, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, brain atrophy, bipolar disorder, mania, depression, hemophilia, and following carbon monoxide poisoning. However, the etiology and mechanisms of WMHs remain unclear. A majority of the information regarding the prevalence of WMHs in normal healthy individuals comes from the control data in studies that focus on various illnesses such as bipolar disorder, depression, or mania. There are a relatively few studies that focus on normal individuals and the majority of those are older individuals or individuals with comorbid disorders.

Recommended Citation

Beck, Callie and Hopkins, Dr. Ramona O. (2013) "White Matter Hyperintensities in the Normal Population," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 488.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/488