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Changes in Regional T1/T2-Weighted Ratio Index in Patients With Semantic Dementia
Miho Ota1, Yuko Koshibe2, Ayako Kitabatake2
1Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Background:
Semantic dementia (SD) is a type of frontotemporal dementia primarily characterised by semantic aphasia, which involves the loss of meaning of words and objects. In SD, the pattern of alteration in the regional T1/T2-weighted ratio index, a proxy for myelin content, remains to be clarified. The present study examined the regional changes in the T1/T2-weighted ratio index associated with SD.
Method:
Nineteen patients with SD and 21 healthy participants underwent a 1.5-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scan. Differences in index values between the two diagnostic groups were assessed.
Results:
Patients with SD had significantly reduced index values in bilateral temporal poles and nuclei accumbens. A significant positive relationship was found between the index values in the left parahippocampal region and the 'naming' subscore in the Mini-Mental State Examination.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that the T1/T2-weighted ratio approach is useful for differentiating the patients with SD from healthy participants.
