Mechanisms of Cognitive Decline due to White Matter Lesions in Cognitively Intact Older Adults

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on FLAIR MRI are highly prevalent in older adults and are linked to cognitive deficits as well as dementia. Likely mechanisms underlying associations between WMH and cognitive deficits include widespread partial disconnection due to the diffuse nature of progressive WMH and/or tract‐specific disconnection syndromes. We used a virtual lesion approach to evaluate cognitive deficits in domains associated with three tracts: left arcuate fasciculus (LAF; verbal working memory), inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF; visual processing), and fornix (memory).