Structural MRI correlates of recognition memory in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Neuroimaging and lesion studies have demonstrated that hippocampal volume correlates with memory performance, but material-specific lateralization of this structure-function relationship has been inconsistent. This MRI study examined the relative contributions of left and right temporal lobe volumes to verbal and nonverbal recognition memory in a group of 20 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. There was a significant relationship between extent of right hippocampal and right temporal gray matter tissue volume deficit and performance on the face recognition subtest of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test. The face recognition test correlated with right hemisphere volume but not to left, indicating a material-specific relationship between brain structure and function in this patient group. Right temporal horn volume did not account for a significant proportion of variance in face recognition memory. Although word recognition was not significantly correlated with either left or right hippocampal volume in the total group, there was a strong correlation between left hippocampal volume and word recognition memory in the female AD patients. Thus, face recognition shows a material specific relationship with select lateralized hippocampal and temporal cortical volumes in AD patients, regardless of gender, whereas the verbal recognition–left-hippocampal volume relationship may be mediated by gender. (JINS, 1998, 4, 106–114.)

Left hippocampal volume loss in Alzheimer's disease is reflected in performance on odor identification: A structural MRI study

“…The current results are consistent with existing literature demonstrating correlations between hippocampal volume loss and a number of visual and verbal performance measures (Cahn et al, 1998;Deweer et al, 1995;Fama et al, 1997;Petersen et al, 2000), including the memory subtests of dementia status tests (Deweer et al, 1995;Fama et al, 1997;Stout et al 1996). Stronger associations have been…”

“…Impaired memory function is a critical feature in the diagnostic criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease (McKhann et al, 1984). Hippocampal atrophy in AD, demonstrated with structural MRI, is associated with impaired performance on both verbal and visual memory tasks (Cahn et al, 1998;Deweer et al, 1995;Fama et al, 1997;Petersen et al, 2000), including the memory subtests of dementia status tests (Deweer et al, 1995;Fama et al, 1997;Stout et al 1996). Data from Jernigan's laboratory (Stout et al, 1999) showed significant correlations between the volume of mesial temporal lobe and the immediate recall measures, as well as recognition discriminability, on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT; Delis et al, 1987) in demented patients.…”

“…Data from Jernigan's laboratory (Stout et al, 1999) showed significant correlations between the volume of mesial temporal lobe and the immediate recall measures, as well as recognition discriminability, on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT; Delis et al, 1987) in demented patients. Language and memory tasks with verbal or naming components have been lateralized to the left hemisphere and recently, stronger associations have been reported in Alzheimer's patients for performance on verbal memory tasks and the volume of the left hippocampus (Cahn et al, 1998;Toledo-Morrell et al, 2000).…”

“…Murphy et al reported in AD patients for verbal memory performance and left hippocampal volume (Cahn et al, 1998;ToledoMorrell et al, 2000). Indeed, Fama et al (1997) showed correlations between left hippocampal volumes and overall score on the DRS that were in the same range as the correlation for the Boston Naming Test, but below the correlation between left hippocampal volume and the odor identification scores, in the present study.…”

Hippocampal volume and retention in Alzheimer's disease

“…When cortical gray matter, hippocampal volumes and white matter signal hyperintensities were simultaneously entered into a regression model predicting immediate recall, only cortical gray matter volume explained a significant proportion of the variance. This finding highlights the importance of including non-hippocampal structures in correlational studies of memory (Cahn et al, 1998;Kopelman et al, 2001) and is consistent with other studies that have shown specificity in the relationship between memory and medial temporal structures (Cahn et al, 1998;Fama et al, 1997).…”