Temporal lobe abnormalities in dementia and depression: a study using high resolution single photon emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Objectives-Perfusion SPECT and MRI were used to test the hypothesis that late onset depression is associated with brain abnormalities. Tcexametazime (HM-PAO). Temporal lobe templates were fitted with brains pitched by 20°-30°. A subgroup of 41 patients (22 depressed) were also scanned using a Siemens Magnetron 1.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imager, using a FLAIR imaging sequence for the assessment of white matter hyperintensities, and a Turbo FLASH sequence for the measurement of medial temporal lobe width. Results-Demented patients showed reduced perfusion, particularly in the left temporoparietal cortex. In these regions of interest, patients with late onset depression tended to have perfusion values intermediate between patients with early onset depression and demented patients. DiVerences in changes in white matter between demented and early and late onset depressive patients did not reach conventional levels of significance. Temporal lobe width diVered between demented and depressed patients, but not between early and late onset depressed patients. Perfusion and temporal lobe width were not associated, but reductions of perfusion were associated with periventricular white matter changes. Mini mental state examination scores were associated with temporal perfusion in demented patients and with changes in deep white matter in depressed patients. Finally, severity of depressive symptoms was associated with decreased perfusion in frontotemporal and basal ganglia regions of interest. Methods-FortyConclusion-A cumulative eVect of duration of illness on regional cerebral perfusion could not be confirmed. Late onset depression may show more abnormalities of deep white matter and of left temporoparietal perfusion than early onset depression, but the underlying pathology remains to be established.

Medial Temporal Lobe Width on CT Scanning in Alzheimer’s Disease: Comparison with Vascular Dementia, Depression and Dementia with Lewy Bodies

“…Since depression is a risk factor for AD, only careful long-term follow-up of cases reported here who have atrophy will determine whether they are at increased risk of developing AD. Overall, although mild volume reductions in the hippocampus of 10-15% have been reported in chronic depression [4], our results are consistent with the findings of Ebmeier et al [14] who reported that mean MTL width on MRI was significantly greater in depressed subjects than in those with AD. Although structural brain changes and enduring cognitive impairments are known to occur in elderly depressed subjects [14,15].…”

Differentiating early and late‐onset depression with multichannel near‐infrared spectroscopy

“…Such temporal lobe dysfunction in LOD was reported by Ebmeier et al, 40,41 who investigated rCBF using SPECT. They found that patients with LOD exhibited decreased rCBF in the temporal areas of the cortex compared with those with EOD and emphasized the temporal lobe pathology of LOD.…”

Mapping Pathological ^99mTc-<i>d,l</i>-Hexamethylpropylene Amine Oxime Uptake in Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontal Lobe Dementia with SPECT

“…Recent studies have also pointed out the presence of a decreased basal ganglia rCBF in AD patients [14][15][16]. Other investigations have stressed the involvement of the anterior as well as the posterior cingulate cortex in both AD and FLD [17][18][19].…”

“…In general, such studies have preferably been focused on the tracer distribution in cortical brain tissues. The changes caused by AD and FLD on central structures [14][15][16] and the anterior [17,18] and posterior [19] cingulate cortex have seldom been studied. Most brain SPECT studies have been evaluated and analysed by visual rating of rCBF or outlining the regions of interest in a manual or semi-automatic mode, and building up ratios between reference and target regions.…”