R2* mapping for brain iron: Associations with cognition in normal aging

R2* mapping for brain iron: Associations with cognition in normal aging; Christine Ghadery, Lukas Pirpamer, Edith Hofer, Christian Langkammer, Katja Petrovic, Marisa Loitfelder, Petra Schwingenschuh, Stephan Seiler, Marco Duering, Eric Jouvent, Helena Schmidt, Franz Fazekas, Jean-Francois Mangin, Hugues Chabriat, Martin Dichgans, Stefan Ropele, Reinhold Schmidt; Neurobiology of Aging, Available online 19 September 2014, ISSN 0197-4580, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.09.013.

We found the highest iron concentration in the globus pallidus, and pallidal as well as putaminal iron was significantly and inversely associated with cognitive performance in all cognitive domains, except memory. These associations were iron load-dependent. Vascular brain lesions and brain volume did not mediate the relationship between iron and cognitive performance.