Decreased myelin content of the fornix predicts poorer memory performance beyond vascular risk, hippocampal volume, and fractional anisotropy in nondemented older adults.

ABSTRACT: Alterations to cerebral white matter tracts have been associated with cognitive decline in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, the fornix has been implicated as especially vulnerable given that it represents the primary outflow tract of the hippocampus. Despite this, little work has focused on the fornix using a potential early marker of white matter degeneration-myelin water fraction (MWF; an in vivo marker of myelin content). Therefore, we sought to (1) clarify associations between MWF in the fornix and memory functioning, and (2) examine whether fornix MWF relates to memory performance above and beyond hippocampal volume and conventional imaging measures of white matter that may not be as specific to alterations in myelin content. Forty nondemented older adults (mean age 

SUBMITTER: Bangen KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8500888 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature