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. 2011 Apr;32(4):572-80.
doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.04.011. Epub 2009 May 14.

Brain atrophy associated with baseline and longitudinal measures of cognition

V A Cardenas  1 , L L Chao, C Studholme, K Yaffe, B L Miller, C Madison, S T Buckley, D Mungas, N Schuff, M W Weiner
Affiliations

Brain atrophy associated with baseline and longitudinal measures of cognition

V A Cardenas et al. Neurobiol Aging. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

The overall goal was to identify patterns of brain atrophy associated with cognitive impairment and future cognitive decline in non-demented elders. Seventy-one participants were studied with structural MRI and neuropsychological testing at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Deformation-based morphometry was used to examine the relationship between regional baseline brain tissue volume with baseline and longitudinal measures of delayed verbal memory, semantic memory, and executive function. Smaller right hippocampal and entorhinal cortex (ERC) volumes at baseline were associated with worse delayed verbal memory performance at baseline while smaller left ERC volume was associated with greater longitudinal decline. Smaller left superior temporal cortex at baseline was associated with worse semantic memory at baseline, while smaller left temporal white and gray matter volumes were associated with greater semantic memory decline. Increased CSF and smaller frontal lobe volumes were associated with impaired executive function at baseline and greater longitudinal executive decline. These findings suggest that baseline volumes of prefrontal and temporal regions may underlie continuing cognitive decline due to aging, pathology, or both in non-demented elderly individuals.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement for Authors

The authors have no actual or potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The T-statistic map is overlaid on the spatially normalized average MRI. The contours delineate statistically significant clusters of association between baseline brain volume and either baseline (left panels) or change (right panels) in cognitive scores. The top panel shows results for delayed memory, the middle for object naming, and the bottom for executive function. Voxels shaded red/yellow indicate smaller baseline tissue volumes associated with either worse baseline or greater declines in cognition, and blue shaded voxels indicate larger baseline tissue volumes associated with worse baseline or greater declines in cognition.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The T-statistic map is overlaid on the spatially normalized MRI. The contours delineate statistically significant clusters of association between baseline brain volume and age. Red and pink contours (encompassing blue shaded voxels) show regions where decreased tissue volume was associated with increasing age; green contours (encompassing red/yellow voxels) show regions of increased CSF volume with increasing age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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