Volume loss of the hippocampus and temporal lobe in healthy elderly persons destined to develop dementia
Abstract
Objective To determine initial locus and rate of degeneration of temporal lobe structures (total lobe, hippocampus and parahippocampus) in preclinical dementia.
Background Postmortem studies suggest that the earliest changes in Alzheimer's disease are neurofibrillary tangle formation in hippocampus and adjacent cortex. MRI volume analysis of temporal lobe structures over time in subjects prior to developing dementia may allow the identification of when these processes begin, the rate they develop, and which areas are key to symptom development.
Methods 30 nondemented (NOD), healthy, elderly individuals enrolled in a prospective study of healthy aging evaluated annually over a mean of 42 months. Twelve subjects with subsequent cognitive decline were assigned to the preclinical dementia group (PreD). All 120 annual MRI studies analyzed by volumetric techniques assessed group differences in temporal lobe volumes and rates of brain loss.
Results NOD as well as PreD subjects had significant, time-dependent decreases in hippocampal and parahippocampal volume. Rates of volume loss between the groups did not significantly differ. PreD cases had significantly smaller hippocampi when asymptomatic. Parahippocampal volume did not differ between PreD and NOD cases. Significant time-dependent temporal lobe atrophy was present only in PreD.
Conclusions Hippocampal and parahippocampal atrophy occurs at a similar rate regardless of diagnostic group. Those who develop dementia may have smaller hippocampi to begin with, but become symptomatic because of accelerated loss of temporal lobe volume. Temporal lobe volume loss may mark the beginning of the disease process within six years prior to dementia onset.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 1997 by the American Academy of Neurology.
Publication History
Published online: May 1, 1997
Published in print: May 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citation information is sourced from Crossref Cited-by service.
Citations
Download Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited By
- Mild Cognitive Impairment Progression and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: A Comprehensive Analysis of 3553 Cases over 203 Months, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13, 2, (518), (2024).https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13020518
- The Role of Alpha-Linolenic Acid and Other Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Mental Health: A Narrative Review, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25, 22, (12479), (2024).https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252212479
- Magnitude and kinetics of a set of neuroanatomic volume and thickness together with white matter hyperintensity is definitive of cognitive status and brain age, Translational Psychiatry, 14, 1, (2024).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-03097-2
- Schizophrenia pathology reverse-translated into mouse shows hippocampal hyperactivity, psychosis behaviors and hyper-synchronous events, Molecular Psychiatry, (2024).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02781-5
- Neuroprotective potentials of Lead phytochemicals against Alzheimer's disease with focus on oxidative stress-mediated signaling pathways: Pharmacokinetic challenges, target specificity, clinical trials and future perspectives, Phytomedicine, 124, (155272), (2024).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2023.155272
- Late Life Depression is Not Associated With Alzheimer-Type Tau: Preliminary Evidence From a Next-Generation Tau Ligand PET-MR Study, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, (2024).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2024.07.005
- Prediction of future dementia among patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by integrating multimodal clinical data, Heliyon, 10, 17, (e36728), (2024).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36728
- Navigating the intersection: Diabetes and Alzheimer's intertwined relationship, Ageing Research Reviews, 100, (102415), (2024).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102415
- Art in Memory, Exploring the Benefit of Creative Arts Therapies for Children, Adolescents, and Adults, (1-25), (2023).https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7856-1.ch001
- Sex differences in spatial tasks: Considering environmental factors, navigation strategies, and age, Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 4, (2023).https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2023.1166364
- See more
Loading...
View Options
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Personal login Institutional LoginPurchase Options
The neurology.org payment platform is currently offline. Our technical team is working as quickly as possible to restore service.
If you need immediate support or to place an order, please call or email customer service:
- 1-800-638-3030 for U.S. customers - 8:30 - 7 pm ET (M-F)
- 1-301-223-2300 for customers outside the U.S. - 8:30 - 7 pm ET (M-F)
- [email protected]
We appreciate your patience during this time and apologize for any inconvenience.