Fluid-Filled Spaces in the Brain Tied to Dementia Risk

A study in Neurology found that people with enlarged fluid-filled spaces in the brain around small blood vessels may be more likely to develop cognitive problems and dementia later on, reports Technology Networks . The authors analyzed 414 people, average age 80, who took tests of thinking and memory skills and were assessed for dementia at the beginning of the study and every two years for eight years. Participants had magnetic resonance imaging brain scans to check for enlarged perivascular spaces in two key brain regions. The top quartile of those with the largest number of enlarged perivascular spaces, designated as severe cases, were compared to those with fewer or no enlarged spaces. Persons with the largest number of enlarged perivascular spaces in both brain regions were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia during the study. In all, 97 people were diagnosed with dementia during the study, including 12 of 31 subjects with severe cases in both areas of the brain. Participants with severe enlargement of perivascular spaces in both areas also were more likely to have greater decline on overall cognition scores four years later than those with mild or absent enlargement of spaces. "These results suggest that there is an independent mechanism for the perivascular spaces as a biomarker of cognitive impairment and dementia apart from being a general marker of disease in the small vessels," said Matthew Paradise at the University of New South Wales.