High cortical iron is associated with the disruption of white matter tracts supporting cognitive function in healthy older adults.

ABSTRACT: Aging is associated with brain iron accumulation, which has been linked to cognitive decline. However, how brain iron affects the structure and function of cognitive brain networks remains unclear. Here, we explored the possibility that iron load in gray matter is associated with disruption of white matter (WM) microstructure within a network supporting cognitive function, in a cohort of 95 cognitively normal older adults (age range: 60-86). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to localize a set of brain regions involved in working memory and diffusion tensor imaging based probabilistic tractography was used to identify a network of WM tracts connecting the functionally defined regions. Brain iron concentration within these regions was evaluated using quantitative susceptibility

SUBMITTER: Zachariou V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10110441 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature