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66/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 66 out of 100. Treatments

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Objectives To describe magnetic resonance imaging characteristics in a large sample of subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to investigate associations between these characteristics and cognition. Design Cohort study. Setting Baseline data of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of galantamine in MCI. Patients Included in the study were 896 subjects with MCI (age [mean +/- SD], 70 +/- 9 years; 54% women) with available clinical and magnetic resonance imaging data. Main outcome measures Neuropsychology: Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale, MCI version, assessing global cognition; delayed recall on the New York University Paragraph Recall Test, assessing episodic memory; and Digit Symbol Substitution Test, assessing executive function. Neuroimaging: Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy (MTA) Rating Scale (0-4) and Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale (0-30), assessing white matter hyperintensities (WMHs); and lacune counts. Results Median MTA score was 2 (range, 0-4), and mean (+/- SD) Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale score 6.0 (+/- 4.7). Lacunes were present in 33% of subjects. In unadjusted models, increasing MTA and WMHs were associated with poorer performance on all cognitive tests, and lacunes with poorer performance on the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale, MCI version, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. In multivariable models, including magnetic resonance imaging measures simultaneously, MTA remained a predictor of cognition, whereas WMH had no independent predictive value. There was an interaction between MTA and lacunes: the strength of the association with the Digit Symbol Substitution Test increased with decreasing MTA. Conclusions Medial temporal lobe atrophy seems to be a more important predictor of cognition than small-vessel disease in MCI. Lacunes were associated with performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, especially in subjects with milder MTA. Although WMHs were prevalent and associated with cognition in unadjusted analyses, there was no discernible association between WMHs and the cognitive measures in this study after adjustment for age.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

van de Pol, L. A., Korf, E. S., van der Flier, W. M., Brashear, H. R., Fox, N. C., Barkhof, F., et al. (2007). Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of cognition in mild cognitive impairment. Archives of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.64.7.1023

Vancouver

van de Pol LA, Korf ES, van der Flier WM, Brashear HR, Fox NC, Barkhof F, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of cognition in mild cognitive impairment. Archives of neurology. 2007. doi:10.1001/archneur.64.7.1023. PMID: 17620494.

BibTeX

@article{vandepol2007-17620494,
  author  = {van de Pol, L. A. and Korf, E. S. and van der Flier, W. M. and Brashear, H. R. and Fox, N. C. and Barkhof, F. and Scheltens, P.},
  title   = {{Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of cognition in mild cognitive impairment}},
  journal = {Archives of neurology},
  year    = {2007},
  doi     = {10.1001/archneur.64.7.1023},
  pmid    = {17620494},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.64.7.1023}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Key findings

Results Median MTA score was 2 (range, 0-4), and mean (+/- SD) Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale score 6.0 (+/- 4.7).
In unadjusted models, increasing MTA and WMHs were associated with poorer performance on all cognitive tests, and lacunes with poorer performance on the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale, MCI version, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test.
Lacunes were associated with performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, especially in subjects with milder MTA.
Although WMHs were prevalent and associated with cognition in unadjusted analyses, there was no discernible association between WMHs and the cognitive measures in this study after adjustment for age.

Why it matters

In 896 people with mild cognitive impairment, shrinkage of the medial temporal lobe on MRI stayed linked to poorer thinking-test scores even after other brain changes were taken into account, while white-matter changes did not once age was accounted for. The authors conclude that medial temporal lobe atrophy "seems to be a more important predictor of cognition than small-vessel disease in MCI", and small strokes (lacunes) were still tied to an executive-function test. The data are a one-time baseline snapshot from a galantamine trial, so they show links, not causes, and say nothing about whether any treatment works.

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Study details

Study designcohort study
Participants896
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 66/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of neurology)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	Archives of Neurology: journal h-index 353 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	11 / 12	A randomized controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”)
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	896 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	2 / 2	Randomized and blinded or placebo-controlled (as stated in the record)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 87 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	2 / 5	4.1 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 6 other studies in this library
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 6 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Philip Scheltens: h-index 181 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17620494)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	66 / 100	—

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