Memory impairment in occipital periventricular hyperintensity patients is associated with reduced functional responses in the insula and Heschl's gyrus.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive impairments of occipital periventricular hyperintensity (OPVH) patients and their brain-wide functional alterations in large scale.

Methods: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was performed in 15 OPVH patients and 12 age-matched healthy controls to distinguish the cognitive impairment features of OPVH. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was applied with a delayed digital match memory task to identify the brain-wide functional alterations in OPVH patients.

Results: The two groups were not statistically different in terms of demographic or cardiovascular risk factors. The OPVH group had significantly lower scores in global cognitive abilities, immediate memory and delayed memory as determined by the MMSE (p < 0.05). The fMRI results demonstrated that the insula, precentral gyrus and Heschl's gyrus of the OPVH group had decreased activation compared to the control group (p < 0.005, uncorrected). Multivariate analysis also showed that OPVH was negatively correlated with reduced activation in the insula, precentral gyrus and Heschl's gyrus (p < 0.005).

Conclusion: OPVH affects the immediate and delayed memory. These changes are accompanied with decreased functional responses in the insula and Heschl's gyrus.