Leukoaraiosis, cognitivity and affectivity in elderly patients: on the lack of correlations between neurodiagnostic and psychometric findings

Among the age-related pathophysiological alterations of the brain, the anomalies of the white matter are becoming of increasing interest at both pathological and clinical levels. Wherever specific pathologies of the white matter can be excluded, the still encountered anomalies are generally defined as leukoaraiosis (from the Greek words white and rarefaction), in order to indicate certain ill-defined, slurred subcortical areas which may be single, multiple, or confluent, representing transparent white matter regions, most probably of ischemic origin. The causes, risk factors and clinical significance of leukoaraiosis have remained so far unknown. At clinical level, it is believed to be connected with cognitive and affective disorders. This study intended to collect evidence of the presence and to estimate the extent of eventual cognitive and affective disorders in a sample of elderly patients displaying cerebral lesions like simple or associated leukoaraiosis, as well as other stabilized focal, single or multiple ischemic lesions, cerebral atrophy, lacunar state and vascular cerebropathies without leukoaraiosis. So far no significant correlations have been encountered between the neurodiagnostic and psychometric findings.