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Hippocampal and temporal lobe atrophy and age-related decline in memory
R Ylikoski1, O Salonen, R Mäntylä
1Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Objectives:
To evaluate the relationship of memory decline that accompanies aging with structural changes in the medial temporal lobe, in healthy middle-aged and older subjects.
Material And Methods:
A sample of 35 neurologically non-diseased subjects, between 55 and 70 years of age, were examined in a 5-year follow-up study. Neuropsychological investigation included tests of learning, verbal memory, and visual memory. MRI was performed with a superconducting MRI system operating at 1.0 T, using coronal slices of T1-weighted images. Medial temporal lobe atrophy was rated separately in the neocortical, entorhinal and hippocampal regions.
Results:
We did not find any statistically significant relationship between mild hippocampal or temporal atrophy and memory test performance. Nor did the longitudinal decline in memory show a relationship with temporal lobe atrophy.
Conclusions:
The main outcome of our study was that age-related memory decline was not related to mild temporal lobe atrophy in healthy subjects without mild cognitive impairment. There could be other factors influencing memory functions besides age-related structural changes in temporal lobes.