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Hippocampal volumes in cognitively normal persons at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
Author(s) -
Reiman Eric M.,
Uecker Anne,
Caselli Richard J.,
Lewis Stephen,
Bandy Daniel,
De Leon Mony J.,
De Santi Susan,
Convit Antonio,
Osborne David,
Weaver Amy,
Thibodeau Stephen N.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410440226
Subject(s) - dementia , hippocampal formation , alzheimer's disease , posterior cingulate , apolipoprotein e , psychology , magnetic resonance imaging , positron emission tomography , neuroimaging , medicine , cognitive decline , neuroscience , audiology , disease , cognition , radiology
Brain imaging techniques have the potential to characterize neurobiological changes that precede the onset of cognitive impairment in persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease. As previously described, positron emission tomography (PET) was used to compare 11 cognitively normal persons 50 to 62 years of age who were homozygous for the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E and 22 persons without the ε4 allele with a reported family history of Alzheimer's dementia who were matched for sex, age, and level of education. The ε4 homozygotes had significantly reduced glucose metabolism in the same brain regions as patients with Alzheimer's dementia; the largest reduction was in the posterior cingulate cortex. As described here, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to compare hippocampal volumes in the same subject groups. The ε4 homozygotes showed nonsignificant trends for smaller left and right hippocampal volumes; overall, smaller hippocampal volumes were associated with reduced performance on a long‐term memory test. Whereas PET measurements of cerebral glucose metabolism begin to decrease before the onset of memory decline, MRI measurements of hippocampal volume begin to decrease in conjunction with memory decline in cognitively normal persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease.