Fig. 1

Model investigating direct and indirect (via WMH) effects of hypertension and Aβ positivity on cognition. Here we seek to understand whether subjects with arterial hypertension or Aβ positive status have worse cognitive performance at baseline (baseline memory, executive function, and PACC5 scores) and outcomes over time (ΔPACC5). Because both the Aβ and vascular pathologies may exacerbate the formation of WMH and these, in turn, may also contribute to brain dysfunction and poor cognitive outcomes [5, 6, 42, 43], we also test for an indirect mediating effect of hypertension and Aβ positivity on cognitive performance via regional WMH volumes. We adjusted such models for age, sex, education, mean background intensity, and TICV, as described in “Covariates, confounders, and data transformation” section