Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009;28(3):252-8.
doi: 10.1159/000241878. Epub 2009 Sep 25.

Mini-mental state examination is sensitive to brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease

A M Fjell  1 , I K Amlien, L T Westlye, K B Walhovd
Affiliations

Mini-mental state examination is sensitive to brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease

A M Fjell et al. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2009.

Abstract

Background/aims: Screening instruments such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) are useful for the early identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We tested whether macrostructural differences in brain volume are related to the MMSE.

Methods: The MMSE was related to cortical thickness and the volume of 19 brain structures in 96 patients with mild to moderate AD. In addition, the patients were compared to 93 healthy elderly controls.

Results: The MMSE was related to the volume of the total brain, cerebral cortex, accumbens, cerebral white matter, inferior lateral ventricles and hippocampus. Positive correlations with cortical thickness were found for 41% of the brain surface, and 58% of this area was significantly thinner in AD.

Conclusion: The MMSE is sensitive to macrostructural brain atrophy in AD, but also to morphometric variation not specifically related to AD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types