Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Application of Granger Causality Analysis of the Directed Functional Connection in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: August 7, 2017
Structural changes of the corpus callosum in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease
Philipp A Thomann1, Torsten Wustenberg, Johannes Pantel
1Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Background:
Although previous studies demonstrate significant atrophy of the corpus callosum (CC) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), CC alterations in mild cognitive impairment have not been investigated yet.
Methods:
21 subjects with mild cognitive impairment, 10 with AD and 21 healthy controls were investigated using magnetic resonance imaging. In the mid-sagittal slice the CC was traced manually. Additionally, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed.
Results:
The CC was significantly smaller in patients with AD compared to healthy controls in both manual tracing and VBM. The atrophy was prominent in rostral parts of the CC. In subjects with mild cognitive impairment, the two rostral CC segments were smaller compared to controls when manually traced. In contrast, VBM revealed no significant difference between subjects with mild cognitive impairment and controls.
Conclusion:
Manual tracing was more sensitive in detecting discrete structural CC changes than VBM. Alterations of the CC in mild cognitive impairment rank in between normal aging and AD, supporting the hypothesis that mild cognitive impairment most often represents a preclinical stage of AD.
More Related Videos
06:23The 4 Mountains Test: A Short Test of Spatial Memory with High Sensitivity for the Diagnosis of Pre-dementia Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: October 13, 2016
08:29Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ and tau...
Dementia l: Introduction
Cerebral Hemispheres
Cognitive Development During Adulthood