Free Water-Corrected Fractional Anisotropy in Normal-Appearing White Matter as a Potential Neuroimaging Biomarker for Attention and Executive Function Impairment in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

Objective

To investigate the relationship between white matter integrity changes and attention/executive function in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), focusing on tract-specific alterations over stages and identifying key neuroimaging markers affecting cognitive decline.

Methods

A total of 170 CSVD patients, including 103 Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VaMCI) and 67 with no cognitive impairment (NCI) underwent MRI and neuropsychological assessments. Neuroimaging metrics included quantitative susceptibility (QS), free water (FW), FW-corrected fractional anisotropy (FAt) and FW-corrected mean diffusivity (MDt) in white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). WMH volume, gray/white matter volume, lacunar infarcts (LI) volume and counts were also included. Partial correlations were conducted to assess neuroimaging-cognition relationships, and random forest analysis was employed to determine the relative importance of these indices, with a particular focus on white matter tracts.

Results

The VaMCI group exhibited decreased NAWM FAt and white matter volume, increased NAWM QS, WMH volume, LI volume and counts when compared to the NCI group. NAWM/WMH FAt positively associated with attention/executive function, whereas NAWM/WMH QS, FW, MDt, WMH volume, and LI metrics negatively correlated. Notably, NAWM FAt was the most significant variable, especially in frontal white matter tracts and thalamic radiation.

Conclusion

NAWM FAt significantly impacts attention/executive function in CSVD, particularly in the frontal lobe and thalamic radiation, and may serve as an early potential neuroimaging biomarker for cognitive decline.