What does the research say about dirty-appearing white matter?

Dirty-appearing white matter

There is 1 paper on dirty-appearing white matter in aging research: 1 observational study in people. The newest story, Nov 9, 2026: “Subtle white matter changes showed no clear dementia link”.

Biomarker

1 paper studies it1 more mentions it3 findings

See all 2 papers on dirty-appearing white matter

“baseline DAWM ratings were associated with an increase in total WMH volumes (p = 0.004)”

The association between cerebral "dirty-appearing" white matter and progression of small vessel disease in community-dwelling older adultsJournal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism2025doi:10.1177/0271678x251385591

Humans1

Effects

Cerebral microbleeds

no changein humans1

1 study

Dirty-appearing white matter was not clearly linked with cerebral microbleeds in individuals with limited baseline WMH burden (p = 0.823).
“DAWM was not associated with new microbleeds (p = 0.823) or new enlarged perivascular spaces (p = 0.685) at follow-up”
Humansin individuals with limited baseline WMH burdenbrain5-year follow-upn = 1,253
The association between cerebral "dirty-appearing" white matter and progression of small vessel disease in community-dwelling older adults
Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and MetabolismOct 22, 2025

Associations

Subcortical infarcts

upin humans1

1 study

Dirty-appearing white matter is associated with subcortical infarcts in individuals with limited baseline WMH burden (p = 0.018).
“as well as with new subcortical infarcts (p = 0.018) at 5-year follow-up”
Humansin individuals with limited baseline WMH burdenbrain5-year follow-upn = 1,253
The association between cerebral "dirty-appearing" white matter and progression of small vessel disease in community-dwelling older adults
Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and MetabolismOct 22, 2025

Latest

1 paper in 12 months

Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and MetabolismOct 22

The association between cerebral "dirty-appearing" white matter and progression of small vessel disease in community-dwelling older adults

Cohort study of 2,506 peopleBiomarkers

Paper

NeurologyMay 11

Subtle white matter changes showed no clear dementia link

In older adults with limited bright white matter abnormalities, higher subtle-abnormality ratings were not linked to dementia (hazard ratio 0.93, comparing rates over…In older adults with limited bright white matter abnormalities, higher subtle-abnormality ratings were not linked to dementia (hazard ratio 0.93, comparing rates over time).

Cohort · 1,738 peopleDementia