P2‐417: RELATION BETWEEN WHITE MATTER HYPERINTENSITY AND COGNITION IN MIDDLE AGED AND ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS: DATA FROM TATA LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF AGING

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are frequently seen in elderly individuals and are shown to be related to impaired cognitive functions. Relation between white matter hyperintensities and cognitive functions has not been well examined in middle aged and elderly individuals from India. Hence in this study, we aimed to examine the relation between white matter hyperintensities, cognitive functions and in study participants from Tata longitudinal study of aging. Data of 99 participants above 50 years of age were obtained from Tata Longitudinal Study of Aging, Bangalore, India. All participants underwent Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination-III and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). T1 MPRAGE and T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences were acquired as per the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI - II) protocol using a 3T MR scanner. MRI scans were then visually rated by a trained radiologist, who was blinded to the participant details, on Fazeka's scale for white matter lesions; periventricular white matter (PVWM) and deep white matter (DWM). Spearman's rank-order correlation was conducted to examine the relation between cognitive scores and white matter hyperintensities. Out of 99 participants, there were 42 females and 57 males. The mean age of participants was 64.65 years (SD=8.3) and mean years of education was 17.1 years (SD=3.3). There was a significant negative correlation between (a)Fazeka's PVWM scores and ACE-attention sub-score (rs=−.237,p=0.018), ACE Fluency sub-score (rs=−.248, p=0.013. (b) Fazeka's DWM scores and ACE- Fluency sub-score (rs=−0.203, p= 0.04). There was significant positive correlation between (c) PVWM and DSST time taken (rs=.251, p=0.014). Findings of the study suggest a significant correlation between white matter hyperintensities and impaired cognitive functions, mainly in domains of executive function. Our findings are similar to those reported in western studies. Future longitudinal studies with larger sample size are required to examine whether WMH in middle age are markers of individuals at risk of cognitive decline.