Brain scan pattern linked to later decline in thinking skills
An observational study of 1,667 older adults over approximately six years linked a pattern of bright areas on brain scans to declining thinking skills.
Limit: Participants lost during follow-up could bias the link with later decline in thinking skills
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
The observational study analyzed 1,667 participants, with a mean age of 76, from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study. Researchers mapped white matter hyperintensities—areas that appear bright on certain brain scans—across 112 regions of white matter, tissue containing nerve fibers. They identified eight stable patterns and examined their links with cognitive performance over approximately six years.
A pattern involving deep white matter, with relatively less involvement of superficial white matter, was associated with faster decline across several thinking skills. This pattern was not associated with cognitive performance at the start of the study. Its association with later decline remained after accounting for the total amount of white matter hyperintensities.
Why it matters
The study addresses whether the location of brain scan abnormalities could help assess future cognitive risk in older adults, before differences appear on thinking tests.
Caveats
This observational study cannot show cause and effect, and its findings concern an older community-based population. The paper is a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed.
- White matter hyperintensities
- Deep spatial white matter hyperintensity pattern
- White matter hyperintensity burden
- Humans
The paper
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
bioRxiv, Oct 20, 2026, Open access, CC BY-NC-ND, Preprint, not peer-reviewed
