ReviewImaging small vessel-associated white matter changes in aging

- Changes in small vessel sufficiency with aging impact neural health and function.
- Variation in even the 'normal' vascular range may measurably impact brain tissue.
- Future therapeutics may target vascular systems to reduce age-associated decline.

Alterations in cerebrovascular structure and function may underlie the most common age-associated cognitive, psychiatric, and neurological conditions presented by older adults. Although much remains to understand, existing research suggests several age-associated detrimental conditions may be mediated through sometimes subtle small vessel-induced damage to the cerebral white matter. Here we review a selected portion of the vast work that demonstrates links between changes in vascular and neural health as a function of advancing age, and how even changes in low-to-moderate risk individuals, potentially beginning early in the adult age-span, may have an important impact on functional status in late life.