Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Pattern of brain atrophy rates in autopsy-confirmed dementia with Lewy bodies
Zuzana Nedelska1, Tanis J Ferman2, Bradley F Boeve3
1Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Neurology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and Motol University Hospital, Charles University in Prague, Prague, the Czech Republic; International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, the Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is characterized by preserved whole brain and medial temporal lobe volumes compared with Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) on magnetic resonance imaging. However, frequently coexistent AD-type pathology may influence the pattern of regional brain atrophy rates in DLB patients. We investigated the pattern and magnitude of the atrophy rates from 2 serial MRIs in autopsy-confirmed DLB patients (n = 20) and mixed DLB/AD patients (n = 22), compared with AD (n = 30) and elderly nondemented control subjects (n = 15), followed antemortem. DLB patients without significant AD-type pathology were characterized by lower global and regional rates of atrophy, similar to control subjects. The mixed DLB/AD patients displayed greater atrophy rates in the whole brain, temporoparietal cortices, hippocampus and amygdala, and ventricle expansion, similar to AD patients. In the DLB and DLB/AD patients, the atrophy rates correlated with Braak neurofibrillary tangle stage, cognitive decline, and progression of motor symptoms. Global and regional atrophy rates are associated with AD-type pathology in DLB, and these rates can be used as biomarkers of AD progression in patients with LB pathology.
Related Concept Videos
Dementia l: Introduction
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Parkinson Disease ll: Pathophysiology
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...
Neural Regulation

