Reduced frontal white matter microstructure in healthy older adults with low tactile recognition performance

The data revealed that poor performance in complex tactile recognition in older, neurologically healthy individuals is related to decreased structural integrity pronounced in the anterior corpus callosum. This region was strongly connected to the prefrontal cortex. Our data suggests decreased fractional anisotrophy in the anterior corpus callosum as a surrogate marker for progressed brain aging, leading to disturbances in networks relevant for higher-order cognitive processing. Complex tactile recognition might be a sensitive marker for identifying these starting cognitive impairments in older adults.