ArticleHuman brain mapping2013
Association between white matter microstructure, executive functions, and processing speed in older adults: the impact of vascular health.
Article in Human brain mapping, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
90 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fish consumption and cognitive function in aging: a systematic review of observational studies.GeroScience · 2026Pooled it
- Noninvasive brain stimulation in children and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2021Pooled it
- A Mediterranean Diet with Fresh, Lean Pork Improves Processing Speed and Mood: Cognitive Findings from the MedPork Randomised Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Cerebellar White Matter Microstructure Is Associated With Age, Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid Beta Levels, and Cognition in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Using memory recall response time on digital cognitive testing to detect subtle cognitive changes among cognitively unimpaired older adults.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Complementary MR measures of white matter and their relation to cardiovascular health and cognition.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Domain-specific longitudinal associations between brain volume, white matter lesions, and cognitive function changes.Heliyon · 2025Article
- Cognitive processing speed and accuracy are intrinsically different in genetic architecture and brain phenotypes.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Investigating the effect of hypertension on vascular cognitive impairment by using the resting-state functional connectome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Brain signal variability and executive functions across the life span.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Cerebral white matter myelination is associated with longitudinal changes in processing speed across the adult lifespan.Brain communications · 2024Article
- Cortical lobar volume reductions associated with homocysteine-related subcortical brain atrophy and poorer cognition in healthy aging.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
- Blood pressure-related white matter microstructural disintegrity and associated cognitive function impairment in asymptomatic adults.Stroke and vascular neurology · 2023Article
- Neurocognitive Changes in Sickle Cell Disease: A Comprehensive Review.Annals of neurosciences · 2022Review
- Cognitive deficits, clinical variables, and white matter microstructure in schizophrenia: a multisite harmonization study.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- The canonical pattern of Alzheimer's disease atrophy is linked to white matter hyperintensities in normal controls, differently in normal controls compared to in AD.Neurobiology of aging · 2022Article
- White matter integrity as a mediator between socioeconomic status and executive function.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- Cognitive Impairment and Dementia After Stroke: Design and Rationale for the DISCOVERY Study.Stroke · 2021Review
- The effect of vascular health factors on white matter microstructure mediates age-related differences in executive function performance.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2021Article
- Age-related changes in cerebrovascular health and their effects on neural function and cognition: A comprehensive review.Psychophysiology · 2021Review
30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Cerebral white matter damage is not only a commonly reported consequence of healthy aging, but is also associated with cognitive decline and dementia. The aetiology of this damage is unclear; however, individuals with hypertension have a greater burden of white matter signal abnormalities (WMSA) on MR imaging than those without hypertension. It is therefore possible that elevated blood pressure (BP) impacts white matter tissue structure which in turn has a negative impact on cognition. However, little information exists about whether vascular health indexed by BP mediates the relationship between cognition and white matter tissue structure. We used diffusion tensor imaging to examine the impact of vascular health on regional associations between white matter integrity and cognition in healthy older adults spanning the normotensive to moderate-severe hypertensive BP range (43-87 years; N = 128). We examined how white matter structure was associated with performance on tests of two cognitive domains, executive functioning (EF) and processing speed (PS), and how patterns of regional associations were modified by BP and WMSA. Multiple linear regression and structural equation models demonstrated associations between tissue structure, EF and PS in frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital white matter regions. Radial diffusivity was more prominently associated with performance than axial diffusivity. BP only minimally influenced the relationship between white matter integrity, EF and PS. However, WMSA volume had a major impact on neurocognitive associations. This suggests that, although BP and WMSA are causally related, these differential metrics of vascular health may act via independent pathways to influence brain structure, EF and PS.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.