Longitudinal changes in the brain in mild cognitive impairment: a magnetic resonance imaging study using the visual...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Radiology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Brain atrophy is a known indicator of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
• Differentiating progressive MCI (MCIp) from stable MCI (MCIs) is crucial for prognosis.
• Automated neuroimaging analysis offers earlier and more reliable detection of brain changes than visual methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess structural brain changes in MCIs, MCIp, and control groups over two years.
• To compare the efficacy of visual rating methods (VRM) and tensor-based morphometry (TBM) in detecting these changes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of brain MRI scans from 11 MCIs, 18 MCIp, and 84 control participants.
• Utilized both visual rating method (VRM) and tensor-based morphometry (TBM) for volumetric and automated analysis.
• Two-year follow-up period to evaluate changes over time.

Main Results:

• At baseline, both VRM and TBM distinguished MCIp and the overall MCI group from controls, but not MCIs from controls.
• At follow-up, TBM detected minor atrophic changes in the MCIs group compared to controls, while VRM did not.
• Neither method showed significant brain atrophy progression within or between MCI subgroups during the follow-up.

Conclusions:

• VRM and TBM are comparable for evaluating structural brain changes in MCI when groups are large and progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is evident.
• TBM showed potential in detecting subtle atrophic changes in stable MCI patients.
• Further validation with larger cohorts and longer follow-up periods is recommended.