Hyperintensity

Hyperintensities refer to areas of high intensity on types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the human brain or that of other mammals. These small regions of high intensity are observed on T2 weighted MRI images (typically created using 3D FLAIR) within cerebral white matter (white matter lesions, white matter hyperintensities or WMH) or subcortical gray matter (gray matter hyperintensities or GMH). They are usually seen in normal aging but also in a number of neurological disorders and psychiatric illnesses. For example deep white matter hyperintensites are 2.5 to 3 times more likely to occur in bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder than control subjects. WMH volume, calculated as a potential diagnostic measure, has been shown to correlate to certain cognitive factors. Hyperintensities appear as "bright signals" (bright areas) on an MRI image and the term "bright signal" is occasionally used as a synonym for a hyperintensity.