Patterns of longitudinal subcortical atrophy over one year in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and its impact on cognitive performance: a preliminary study

Authors

BERRİN ÇAVUŞOĞLUFollow
DUYGU HÜNERLİFollow
DERYA DURUSU EMEK SAVAŞFollow
GÖRSEV YENERFollow
EMEL ADAFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

BERRİN ÇAVUŞOĞLU 0000-0003-1997-8861

DUYGU HÜNERLİ 0000-0003-0278-258X

DERYA DURUSU EMEK SAVAŞ 0000-0001-7042-697X

GÖRSEV YENER 0000-0002-7756-4387

EMEL ADA 0000-0002-0463-0945

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.5826

Abstract

Background/aim: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is a risk factor for dementia, and thus, it is of interest to enlighten specific brain atrophy patterns in aMCI patients. We aim to define the longitudinal atrophy pattern in subcortical structures and its effect on cognition in patients with aMCI.Materials and methods: Twenty patients with aMCI and 20 demographically matched healthy controls with baseline and longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and neuropsychological assessments were studied. The algorithm FIRST (FMRIB’s integrated registration and segmentation tool) was used to obtain volumes of subcortical structures (thalamus, putamen, caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus, hippocampus, and amygdala). Correlations between volumes and cognitive performance were assessed.Results: Compared with healthy controls, aMCI demonstrated subcortical atrophies in the hippocampus (p = 0.001), nucleus accumbens (p = 0.003), and thalamus (p = 0.003) at baseline. Significant associations were found for the baseline volumes of the thalamus, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus with memory, the thalamus with visuospatial skills.Conclusion: aMCI demonstrated subcortical atrophies associated with cognitive deficits. The thalamus, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus may provide additional diagnostic information for aMCI.

Keywords

atrophy, magnetic resonance imaging, Mild cognitive impairment, neurocognitive functions, subcortical structures

First Page

588

Last Page

597

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

ÇAVUŞOĞLU, BERRİN; HÜNERLİ, DUYGU; EMEK SAVAŞ, DERYA DURUSU; YENER, GÖRSEV; and ADA, EMEL (2024) "Patterns of longitudinal subcortical atrophy over one year in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and its impact on cognitive performance: a preliminary study," Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences: Vol. 54: No. 3, Article 14. https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-0144.5826
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/medical/vol54/iss3/14