Cognitive Correlates of Hippocampal Atrophy and Ventricular Enlargement in Adults with or without Mild Cognitive Impairment

Naira Goukasian; Shai Porat; Anna Blanken; David Avila; Dimitar Zlatev; Sona Hurtz; Kristy S Hwang; Jonathan Pierce; Shantanu H Joshi; Ellen Woo; Liana G Apostolova

doi:10.1159/000490044

Cognitive Correlates of Hippocampal Atrophy and Ventricular Enlargement in Adults with or without Mild Cognitive Impairment

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2019 Aug 13;9(2):281-293. doi: 10.1159/000490044. eCollection 2019 May-Aug.

Authors

Naira Goukasian¹, Shai Porat², Anna Blanken², David Avila³, Dimitar Zlatev⁴, Sona Hurtz⁵, Kristy S Hwang⁶, Jonathan Pierce⁷, Shantanu H Joshi⁷, Ellen Woo⁷, Liana G Apostolova^{8

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Affiliations

¹ University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
² Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Irvine School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
⁴ Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁶ Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁷ Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁸ Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁹ Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

Abstract

We analyzed structural magnetic resonance imaging data from 58 cognitively normal and 101 mild cognitive impairment subjects. We used a general linear regression model to study the association between cognitive performance with hippocampal atrophy and ventricular enlargement using the radial distance method. Bilateral hippocampal atrophy was associated with baseline and longitudinal memory performance. Left hippocampal atrophy predicted longitudinal decline in visuospatial function. The multidomain ventricular analysis did not reveal any significant predictors.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Hippocampal atrophy; Imaging; MRI; Mild cognitive impairment; Ventricular enlargement.

Grants and funding

P30 AG010133/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States