Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
PLoS One. 2010 Oct 21;5(10):e13567. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013567.
The association between brain white matter lesions and cognitive impairment in old age is well established. However, little is known about this association in midlife. As this information will inform policy for early preventative healthcare initiatives, we investigated non-periventricular frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobe white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in relation to cognitive function in 428 (232 women) community-dwelling adults aged 44 to 48 years.
Frontal white matter lesions were significantly associated with greater intraindividual RT variability in women, while temporal WMH were associated with face recognition deficits in men. Parietal and occipital lobe lesions were unrelated to cognitive performance. These findings did not differ when education and a range of health variables, including vascular risk factors, were taken into account.
Gender differences in WMH-cognition associations are discussed, and we conclude that small vessel disease is present in midlife and has functional consequences which are generally not recognized. Preventative strategies should, therefore, begin early in life.
大脑白质病变与老年认知障碍之间的关联已得到充分证实。然而，关于中年时期这种关联的了解甚少。由于这些信息将为早期预防保健计划的政策制定提供依据，我们调查了 428 名（232 名女性）社区居住的 44 至 48 岁成年人的非脑室周围额、颞、顶和枕叶白质高信号（WMH）与认知功能之间的关系。
额叶白质病变与女性个体内 RT 变异性增加显著相关，而颞叶 WMH 与男性的面孔识别缺陷相关。顶叶和枕叶病变与认知表现无关。当考虑到教育和一系列健康变量（包括血管危险因素）时，这些发现没有差异。
讨论了 WMH-认知关联中的性别差异，并得出结论，中年时期存在小血管疾病，并且具有通常未被认识到的功能后果。因此，预防策略应尽早开始。
