The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Brain Structure

Abstract. MoCA is a short cognitive screening tool. We examined the relationship of MoCA performance to white matter integrity, gray matter volume, and surface-based measurements at normal aging in a study in which older and younger cognitively unaffected subjects participated. The sample was split according to MoCA performance, and the data were analyzed using a general linear model (Age × MoCA). We found effects in the expected direction for all methods. The main effects on age and performance as well as interactions occurred for regions associated with aging, pathological and nonpathological. Older low-performing subjects showed structural deficits compared to older high-performing subjects. Therefore, the global index of cognitive status reflects relevant features of the brain structure.