ABSTRACT
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a group of pathological, imaging and clinical syndromes involving small cerebral vessels with different causes. The incidence rate of CSVD increases with age and is the most important cause of vascular cognitive impairment. Different diffusion imaging techniques can quantify white matter microstructure damage by revealing the diffusion movement of water molecules in specific brain tissues, explore the basis and biophysical mechanisms of tissue change, and have important value for the mechanism research, early diagnosis, progression risk, and therapeutic evaluation of cognitive impairment related to CSVD. This article reviews the research progress of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging in CSVD related cognitive impairment.