Cortical Thinning in Individuals with Subjective Memory Impairment

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Meiberth, Dix^{a; 1; *} | Scheef, Lukas^{b; 1} | Wolfsgruber, Steffen^{a; c} | Boecker, Henning^{b; c} | Block, Wolfgang^b | Träber, Frank^b | Erk, Susanne^d | Heneka, Michael T.^{c; e; f} | Jacobi, Heike^a | Spottke, Annika^{a; c} | Walter, Henrik^d | Wagner, Michael^{a; c} | Hu, Xiaochen^a | Jessen, Frank^{a; c}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany | [b] Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany | [c] German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, DZNE, Bonn, Germany | [d] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz, Berlin, Germany | [e] Department of Neurology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany | [f] Clinical Neuroscience Unit, Department of Neurology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Dix Meiberth, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany. Tel.: +49 221 478 32296; Fax: +49 221 478 32297; E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Elderly individuals with subjective memory impairment (SMI) report memory decline, but perform within the age-, gender-, and education- adjusted normal range on neuropsychological tests. Longitudinal studies indicate SMI as a risk factor or early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is increasing evidence from neuroimaging that at the group level, subjects with SMI display evidence of AD related pathology. This study aimed to determine differences in cortical thickness between individuals with SMI and healthy control subjects (CO) using the FreeSurfer environment. 110 participants (41 SMI/69 CO) underwent structural 3D-T1 MR imaging. Cortical thickness values were compared between groups in predefined AD-related brain regions of the medial temporal lobe, namely the bilateral entorhinal cortex and bilateral parahippocampal cortex. Cortical thickness reduction was observed in the SMI group compared to controls in the left entorhinal cortex (p = 0.003). We interpret our findings as evidence of early AD-related brain changes in persons with SMI.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cortical thickness, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex, subjective cognitive decline, subjective memory impairment

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-142322

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 139-146, 2015