Change over time of White Matter Hyperintensities and cognitive scores in the Cache County Memory and Aging Study

Authors

Zachary McDonnell, Brigham Young University
Dr. Erin Bigler, Brigham Young University

Keywords

white matter hyperintensities, cognitive scores, memory, aging study

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The Cache County Study on Memory in Aging (CCMA) includes a sample of over 400 individuals with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Bigler et al., 2000). Studies have shown that White Matter Hyperintensities (WMH) on MRIs are associated with not only cognitive decline, but degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease (Philip Scheltens et al., 1998). A common and widely used clinical rating method for identifying WMH is the Scheltens Rating Scale (PH Scheltens et al., 1993). This scale rates WMH, Grey Matter Hyperintensities (GMH), Periventricular White Matter Hyperintensities (PWM), and Infratentorial Signal Hyperintensites (IFH) in a semi-quantitative scale that can be easily taught to raters with little to no background in neuroimaging and is as reliable as other more complex or automated scales. Our goal in this research was to investigate severity WMH and determine its predictive effect on cognitive scores and life expectancy.

Recommended Citation

McDonnell, Zachary and Bigler, Dr. Erin (2015) "Change over time of White Matter Hyperintensities and cognitive scores in the Cache County Memory and Aging Study," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2015: Iss. 1, Article 43.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2015/iss1/43