March 2022
Journal: Geroscience
Co-Lead Authors: Ozzoude, M., Varriano, B., Beaton, D.
All Authors: Miracle Ozzoude, Brenda Varriano, Derek Beaton, Joel Ramirez, Melissa F Holmes, Christopher J M Scott, Fuqiang Gao, Kelly M Sunderland, Paula McLaughlin, Jennifer Rabin, Maged Goubran, Donna Kwan, Angela Roberts, Robert Bartha, Sean Symons, Brian Tan, Richard H Swartz, Agessandro Abrahao, Gustavo Saposnik, Mario Masellis, Anthony E Lang, Connie Marras, Lorne Zinman, Christen Shoesmith, Michael Borrie, Corinne E Fischer, Andrew Frank, Morris Freedman, Manuel Montero-Odasso, Sanjeev Kumar, Stephen Pasternak, Stephen C Strother, Bruce G Pollock, Tarek K Rajji, Dallas Seitz, David F Tang-Wai, John Turnbull, Dar Dowlatshahi, Ayman Hassan, Leanne Casaubon, Jennifer Mandzia, Demetrios Sahlas, David P Breen, David Grimes, Mandar Jog, Thomas D L Steeves, Stephen R Arnott, Sandra E Black, Elizabeth Finger, ONDRI Investigators; Maria Carmela Tartaglia
Empathy impairment has been associated with brain atrophy but its relationship to white matter hyperintensities (WMH) is unknown. We aimed to investigate the relationships amongst WMH, brain atrophy, and empathy deficits in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases. Five hundred thirteen participants with Alzheimer’s disease/mild cognitive impairment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease, or cerebrovascular disease (CVD) were included. Our results suggest that cortical atrophy and WMH may be associated with empathy deficits in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases.