University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Damage to the cingulum contributes to alzheimer's disease pathophysiology by deafferentation mechanism

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 15:58 authored by Marco Bozzali, Giovanni Giulietti, Barbara Basile, Laura Serra, Barbara Spanò, Roberta Perri, Franco Giubilei, Camillo Marra, Carlo Caltagirone, Mara Cercignani
This study investigates the differential contribution of gray matter (GM) atrophy and deafferentation through white matter (WM) damage in the clinical progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thirty-one patients with probable AD, 23 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI), and 14 healthy subjects underwent MRI scanning at 3T. Voxel-based morphometry was used to assess regional GM atrophy in AD and a-MCI patients. Diffusion tensor-MRI tractography was used to reconstruct the cingulum bilaterally, and to quantify, voxel-by-voxel, its fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) (measures of microscopic WM integrity). Atrophy of the cinguli was also assessed by means of jacobian determinants (JD) of local transformations. In AD patients, four clusters of reduced GM were found nearby the cinguli, in the posterior (PCC) and anterior cingulate cortex, and in the hippocampal/parahippocampal areas. Widespread areas of reduced FA and increased MD were found in the cinguli of both, AD and a-MCI patients. A region of macroscopic atrophy was detectable in AD patients only. Strong associations were found between local GM densities in the four identified clusters, and measures of micro- and (to a lesser extent) macroscopic damage of patients' cinguli. Linear regression analyses revealed that MD in the cinguli predicts patients' measures of episodic memory in combination with GM density of hippocampal/parahippocampal areas, and measures of global cognition in combination with GM density of the PCC. This study indicates that brain deafferentation though the cingulum is likely to play a remarkable role in progressive development of cognitive impairment in AD. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Human Brain Mapping

ISSN

1065-9471

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Issue

6

Volume

33

Page range

1295-1308

Department affiliated with

  • Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-01-25

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC