The cortical neuroanatomy of neuropsychological deficits in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: A surface-based morphometric analysis

• Published in: Neuropsychologia 2011-12, Vol.49 (14), p.3931-3945
• Main Authors: Ahn, Hyun-Jung, Seo, Sang Won, Chin, Juhee, Suh, Mee Kyung, Lee, Byung Hwa, Kim, Sung Tae, Im, Kiho, Lee, Jong-Min, Lee, Jun Hong, Heilman, Kenneth M., Na, Duk L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Cognition; Cognitive Dysfunction - etiology; Cognitive Dysfunction - pathology; Cortical atrophy; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dissociative Disorders; Female; Functional Laterality; Geriatrics; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mild cognitive impairment; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Statistics as Topic
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.10.010

► There are different patterns of cortical thinning associated with neuropsychological tests. ► The neuropsychological tests have a hemispheric laterality associated with each functions. ► The patterns of cortical thinning are pathological markers for cognitive dysfunction. Patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the amnesic form of mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) often demonstrate several types of neuropsychological deficits. These deficits are often related to cortical atrophy, induced by neuronal degradation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether different anatomic patterns of cortical atrophy are associated with specific neuropsychological deficits. The participants were 170 patients with AD and 99 patients with aMCI. All participants underwent the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery (SNSB), which includes tests that assess attention, language, visuospatial functions, verbal and visual memory, and frontal/executive functions. Cortical atrophy (thinning) was quantified by measuring the thickness of the cortical mantle across the entire brain using automated, three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging. The relationship between cortical thickness and neuropsychological performance was analysed using stepwise multiple linear regression analyses. These analyses (corrected P