Cerebral small-vessel disease and decline in information processing speed, executive function and memory

Cerebral small-vessel disease is common in older people and may contribute to the development of dementia. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between measures of cerebral small-vessel disease on MRI and the rate of decline in specific cognitive domains in participants from the prospective, population-based Rotterdam Scan Study. Participants were 60-90 years of age and free from dementia at baseline in 1995-1996. White matter lesions (WML), cerebral infarcts and generalized brain atrophy were assessed on the baseline MRI. We performed neuropsychological testing at baseline and repeatedly in 1999-2000 and in 2001-2003. We used random-effects models for repeated measures to…