White matter lesions (WMLs) are areas of abnormal myelination in the brain. These lesions are best visualized as hyperintensities on T2 weighted and FLAIR (Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) sequences of magnetic resonance imaging. They are considered a marker of small vessel disease.
White matter disease is strongly linked to cardiovascular disease risk factors, and researchers believe that white matter disease is a biomarker (medical sign) of the lifelong risk of stroke, dementia and disability.
Studies have found that white matter lesions appear in some degree on brain scans of most older adults but less often in younger people. White matter lesions are among the most common incidental findings—which means the lesions have no clinical significance—on brain scans of people of any age.
White matter disease doesn't have a cure, but there are treatments that can help manage your symptoms. The primary treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy can help with any balance and walking difficulties you may develop.
White matter disease is the wearing away of tissue in the largest and deepest part of your brain that has a number of causes, including aging. This tissue contains millions of nerve fibers, or axons, that connect other parts of the brain and spinal cord and signal your nerves to talk to one another.
This is your brain on aging
By age 60, this degeneration, termed white matter disease, is present in more than half of the population. Originally, white matter disease was considered a normal, age-related change.
Highlights. White matter stroke is a prominent stroke subtype. White matter stroke is a leading cause of dementia (vascular dementia) and commonly co-occurs with Alzheimer's disease. Unlike multiple sclerosis, there is no cellular repair process in white matter stroke.
White matter dementia (WMD) is a syndrome introduced in 1988 to highlight the potential of cerebral white matter disorders to produce cognitive loss of sufficient severity to qualify as dementia.
White matter dynamically changes in response to learning, stress, and social experiences. Several lines of evidence have reported white matter dysfunction in psychiatric conditions, including depression, stress- and anxiety-related disorders.
White matter injuries are very serious, but, depending on the type and extent of the injury, extensive recovery may occur. As long as the neuron cell bodies remain healthy, axons can regrow and slowly repair themselves.
White matter disease may develop with conditions associated with aging, such as stroke, but it can also affect young people due to conditions such as cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Background: White matter lesions (WML) are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
Increasing and Improving White Matter
Other research found that when adults learned new skills, the amount of white matter in their brains increased. This was true for learning to read as an adult and learning to juggle.
Increased numbers and size of the intense-white spots seen on the mostly gray images of the brain have long been linked to memory loss and emotional problems, especially as people age.
White matter lesions (WMLs) are often seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of elderly people and are related to various geriatric disorders, including dizziness. The cause of this correlation could be the disruption of neuronal networks that mediate higher vestibular cortical function.
White matter hyperintensities are present in 43.1% of migraine patients. Age, presence of aura, nausea, disability during attack, resistance to treatment, and severity of headache and duration of migraine are considered a risk factor for development of white matter hyperintensities.
An MRI of the Brain usually demonstrates white matter lesions seen in typical locations (demyelinating plaques). Sudden onset of double vision is another finding in MS. In this condition the patient usually complains of double vision with both eyes open and the separation of the images is usually horizontal.
Those who had more severe cases of insomnia or suffered from the disorder for longer periods of time had greater white matter abnormalities. The researchers suggested this could be due to the loss of myelin -- the protective coating around the nerve fibers in white matter.
White matter lesions are often found on MR scans of elderly people, they are attributed to degenerative changes of long penetrating arteries. 1-6 Reported prevalence ranges from 5% to 90%, depending on study design, study population, and rating scales.
Background. White matter lesions (WML) are a frequent neuroradiological finding in brain MRI with a large number of underlying causes [1]. Two of the most common etiologies are multiple sclerosis (MS) and vascular disorders causing small vessel disease (SVD), each with distinct and characteristic features [2, 3].
From childhood (7 years of age) to adulthood (~40 years of age), R1 increases significantly within all tracts, and the magnitude of change varies significantly among tracts (Figure 2). R1 values for each tract reach their peak, mature level between 30 and 50 years of age.
Approximately half the brain is grey matter, made up of cell bodies including neurons, the other half, referred to as white matter is composed of neuronal projections which are insulated by fatty membranes and therefore appear white. Tumour cells use the white matter as a route to spread to other brain regions.
Many studies have shown that with increasing age, white matter FA decreases, including such white matter areas as the corpus callosum, deep frontal, inferior frontal, medial orbital, fornix, anterior limb of internal capsule, external capsule, anterior cingulum, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and cerebellar tracts ( ...
These data demonstrate a consistent regional scaling relationship between global and regional WMSA that can be used to classify individuals into one of four stages of white matter disease.