Mnemonic function in small vessel disease and associations with white matter tract microstructure

- Working and long-term memory are both impaired in SVD compared to healthy adults.
- SVD explained a significant proportion of the variance in both mnemonic functions.
- Variance in working memory was explained by microstructure of the cingula.
- Variance in long-term memory was explained by microstructure of the uncinate.

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is associated with deficits in working memory, with a relative sparing of long-term memory; function may be influenced by white matter microstructure. Working and long-term memory were examined in 106 patients with SVD and 35 healthy controls. Microstructure was measured in the uncinate fasciculi and cingula. Working memory was more impaired than long-term memory in SVD, but both abilities were reduced compared to controls. Regression analyses found that having SVD explained the variance in memory functions, with additional variance explained by the cingula (working memory) and uncinate (long-term memory). Performance can be explained in terms of integrity loss in specific white matter tract associated with mnemonic functions.