Hippocampal and cortical atrophy in amyloid-negative mild cognitive impairments: comparison with amyloid-positive

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Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
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Published on: June 3, 2020

Byoung Seok Ye1, Sang Won Seo, Chi Hun Kim

  • 1Department of Neurology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.

Neurobiology of Aging
|October 2, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Structural brain changes in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) differ based on amyloid-beta plaque presence. Amyloid-negative aMCI shows distinct changes, while amyloid-positive aMCI exhibits Alzheimer's disease-like patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Neurology
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD).
  • The underlying pathologies in aMCI patients can be heterogeneous, necessitating differentiation for accurate diagnosis and prognosis.
  • Understanding structural brain differences between amyloid-positive and amyloid-negative aMCI is crucial for identifying distinct disease trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and compare structural brain changes in amyloid-negative (PiB(-)) and amyloid-positive (PiB(+)) aMCI patients.
  • To differentiate the specific patterns of hippocampal and cortical alterations in these two aMCI subgroups.
  • To correlate observed structural changes with amyloid-beta deposition status.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 48 aMCI patients and classified them into PiB(-) aMCI (N=16) and PiB(+) aMCI (N=32) based on Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
  • Compared hippocampal shape and regional cortical thickness in aMCI subgroups against 41 cognitively normal (NC) individuals.
  • Utilized neuroimaging techniques to analyze structural differences in key brain regions.

Main Results:

  • PiB(-) aMCI patients showed hippocampal deformity in the right cornu ammonis 1 and cortical thinning in the left medial prefrontal and right anterior temporal regions compared to NC.
  • PiB(+) aMCI patients exhibited hippocampal deformity in bilateral subiculum and cornu ammonis 1, along with cortical thinning in bilateral medial temporal regions, temporoparietal junctions, precuneus, and prefrontal cortices, relative to NC.
  • These findings indicate distinct structural alterations correlating with amyloid status in aMCI.

Conclusions:

  • Structural changes in PiB(-) aMCI may stem from various pathological processes beyond typical AD.
  • Structural alterations in PiB(+) aMCI align with known AD-related neurodegenerative patterns.
  • Differentiating aMCI based on amyloid status is essential for understanding heterogeneous brain changes and disease progression.
Keywords:
Alzheimer's diseaseCortical thicknessHippocampusMild cognitive impairmentPittsburgh compound B

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