Assessing the Changes of Cortical Thickness in Alzheimer Disease With MRI Using Freesurfer Software

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neurology
• Radiology

Background:

• Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a growing global health concern, necessitating early diagnosis for effective management.
• Structural neuroimaging, particularly Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), offers valuable biomarkers for AD detection.
• Automated cortical thickness measurement using software like Freesurfer provides efficient analysis of brain atrophy patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the correlation between cerebral cortex thickness and cognitive disorder severity in Alzheimer's disease.
• To evaluate the potential of cortical thickness as an early diagnostic marker for AD.
• To investigate the utility of quantifying cortical thickness changes for identifying local and global brain atrophy.

Main Methods:

• 20 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and 10 cognitively normal (CN) subjects underwent 1.5 T MRI.
• Brain cortical thickness was calculated in 7 specific regions using Freesurfer v5.3 software.
• Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis were employed to compare groups and assess diagnostic power.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in mean cortical thickness were observed across all 7 analyzed regions between AD patients and CN subjects.
• Mean cortical thickness was consistently lower in AD patients compared to CN subjects.
• ROC analysis indicated high diagnostic accuracy, with sensitivity and specificity up to 90% for differentiating AD patients based on cortical thickness.

Conclusions:

• Quantifying cortical thickness changes is crucial for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
• The pattern of cortical thinning serves as a valuable indicator of local and global brain atrophy.
• Cortical thickness measurement can be utilized as an alternative biomarker for dementia diagnosis, aiding clinicians in differential diagnosis.