Abstract:
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia worldwide (Samieri, 2018). Previous studies show that white matter hyperintensities can be correlated with cognitive decline in dementia. Research surrounding Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and the progression of dementia, more specifically Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) continues to progress research towards prognosis via biomarkers only. By looking at FLAIR images taken from MRI, the White Matter Hyperintensity (WMH) biomarkers can be examined quantitatively. Research into understanding the progression of the neurodegenerative disease from MCI is fundamental to enabling to helping establish preventative measures. The purpose of this research was to highlight the interaction between WMH, cognitive impairment, and classification groups (Healthy controls, Subjective Complaints, Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Multi-domain Mild cognitive impairment, and early Alzheimer’s’). There were 143 participants included in this research. Lesion volume and number of lesions were measured using the lesion growth algorithm (LGA) on the Lesion Segmentation Toolbox. We used ACE-III cognitive scores as a measure of cognitive ability. It was found that there was a significant correlation between the groups of cognitive impairment and the classification groups when investigating variance for ACE-III, Lesion Volume, and the number of lesions. The findings of this study indicate that Age is an important covariate when conducting this type of research. There was however no correlation between lesion volume and cognitive impairment. This research goes largely against previous findings from other research. This is potentially due to the exclusive use of lesion segmentation software, given the strong findings in previous research surrounding WMH's impact on cognitive impairment.