Integrity of white matter structure is related to episodic memory performance in the low-educated elderly

Elisa de Paula França Resende; Fernanda Freire Tovar-Moll; Fernanda Meireles Ferreira; Ivanei Bramati; Leonardo Cruz de Souza; Karoline Carvalho Carmona; Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães; Viviane Amaral Carvalho; Maira Tonidandel Barbosa; Paulo Caramelli

doi:10.1590/0004-282X20170158

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2017; 75(11): 778-784
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20170158

Article

Integrity of white matter structure is related to episodic memory performance in the low-educated elderly

Memória e integridade da substância branca em idosos de baixa escolaridade

Authors

Elisa de Paula França Resende

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Fernanda Freire Tovar-Moll

²IDOR - Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brasil
Fernanda Meireles Ferreira

²IDOR - Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brasil
Ivanei Bramati

²IDOR - Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brasil
Leonardo Cruz de Souza

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Karoline Carvalho Carmona

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Viviane Amaral Carvalho

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Maira Tonidandel Barbosa

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil
Paulo Caramelli

¹Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina da Belo Horizonte, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Grupo de Pesquisa em Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento, Belo Horizonte MG, Brasil

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The low-educated elderly are a vulnerable population in whom studying the role of white matter integrity on memory may provide insights for understanding how memory declines with aging and disease.

Methods: Thirty-one participants (22 women), 23 cognitively healthy and eight with cognitive impairment-no dementia, aged 80.4 ± 3.8 years, with 2.2 ± 1.9 years of education, underwent an MRI scan with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) acquisition. We verified if there were correlations between the performance on the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) with DTI parameters.

Results: The BCSB delayed recall task correlated with frontotemporoparietal connection bundles, with the hippocampal part of the cingulum bilaterally and with the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. The RAVLT learning and delayed recall scores also correlated with the hippocampal part of the cingulum bilaterally.

Conclusions: Although preliminary, our study suggests that the integrity of white matter frontotemporoparietal fasciculi seems to play a role in episodic memory performance in the low-educated elderly. This finding opens opportunities to study potential targets for memory decline prevention in vulnerable populations.

RESUMO

Idosos de baixo nível educacional representam uma população vulnerável em que o estudo do papel da integridade da substância branca na memória pode revelar como essa declina no envelhecimento.

Métodos: Trinta e um indivíduos (22 mulheres), sendo 23 cognitivamente saudáveis, oito com comprometimento cognitivo não demência, 80,4 ± 3,8 anos de idade e 2,2 ± 1,9 anos de escolaridade, foram submetidos à RM com imagem de tensor de difusão, cujos parâmetros foram correlacionados com a Bateria Cognitiva Breve (BCSB) e o Teste Auditivo Verbal de Rey (RAVLT).

Resultados: A evocação tardia da BCSB correlacionou-se com fascículos de conexão frontotemporoparietal, fascículo longitudinal superior direito e cíngulo parte hipocampal bilateral, sendo que esse último também correlacionou com o RAVLT (aprendizado e evocação tardia).

Conclusão: Apesar de preliminar, nosso estudo sugere que a integridade da substância branca parece ser importante para a memória em idosos de baixa escolaridade, achado que revela alvo potencial na prevenção do seu declínio em populações vulneráveis.

Keywords:

episodic memory - aging - white matter - health vulnerability

Palavras-chave:

memória episódica - envelhecimento - substância branca - vulnerabilidade em saúde

Full Text

References

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