Thinner temporal and parietal cortex is related to incident clinical progression to dementia in patients with subjective cognitive decline

Abstract

IntroductionWe aimed to investigate if thinner cortex of the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-signature region was related to clinical progression in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD).MethodsWe included 302 SCD patients with clinical follow-up (≥1 year) and three-dimensional T1 magnetic resonance imaging. We estimated AD-signature cortical thickness, consisting of nine frontal, parietal, and temporal gyri and hippocampal volume. We used Cox proportional hazard models (hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals) to evaluate cortical thickness in relation to clinical progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.ResultsAfter a follow-up of the mean (standard deviation) 3 (2) years, 49 patients (16%) showed clinical progression to MCI (n = 32), AD (n = 9), or non-AD dementia (n = 8). Hippocampal volumes, thinner cortex of the AD-signature (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], 5 [2–17]) and various AD-signature subcomponents were associated with increased risk of clinical progression. Stratified analyses showed that thinner AD-signature cortex was specifically predictive for clinical progression to dementia but not to MCI.DiscussionIn SCD patients, thinner regional cortex is associated with clinical progression to dementia.

A more randomly organized grey matter network is associated with deteriorating language and global cognition in individuals with subjective cognitive decline

“…Possibly, our present associations between betweenness centrality and language decline might be part of normal aging, or can be due to pathological processes unrelated to AD. In recent studies in cognitively normal individuals, we have demonstrated associations between amyloid abnormalities and path length in fronto‐temporo‐parietal regions (Tijms et al, ), and thinner temporal cortex to be related to memory decline and disease progression (Pegueroles et al, ; Verfaillie et al, ). We now show that lower path length values in fronto‐temporo‐occipital cortices and precuneus were associated with global cognitive decline.…”

“…Two hundred thirty-one individuals with SCD were included with available MRI and follow-up neuropsychological assessment from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (Van Der Flier et al, 2014). Patients visited our memory clinic between 2000 and 2012 and were described in earlier studies (Benedictus et al, 2015;Verfaillie et al, 2017Verfaillie et al, , 2016. At baseline, all patients underwent standardized dementia screening, including medical history, extensive neuropsychological assessment, physical examination, blood tests, and 3D-T1-weighted structural MRI (brain).…”

“…Possibly, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might help identifying those at risk of decline (Dickerson et al, ; Tijms et al, ; Verfaillie et al, ). Evidence is accumulating that brain changes leading to cognitive decline and dementia are not restricted to specific regions such as the medial temporal lobe, but rather include widespread changes in structure, function and organization of the brain (Benzinger et al, ; Dickerson et al, ; Pegueroles et al, ).…”

Differential Regional Brain Spontaneous Activity in Subgroups of Mild Cognitive Impairment

“…The superior and middle frontal gyri are involved in a series of cognitive processes, such as executive function and working memory (Kim et al, 2014;Zamora et al, 2016), while the lateral temporal cortex is more involved in episodic memory (Luo et al, 2018). These cognitive functions are typically impaired in AD and MCI patients (Bell-McGinty et al, 2005;Clément and Belleville, 2010;Teipel et al, 2010;Liang et al, 2011;Scheller et al, 2014;Verfaillie et al, 2016;Melrose et al, 2018). Studies have suggested an involvement of the lateral frontal and temporal cortical regions in aMCI (Bell-McGinty et al, 2005;Clément and Belleville, 2010;Teipel et al, 2010;Liang et al, 2011;Scheller et al, 2014;Verfaillie et al, 2016;Melrose et al, 2018).…”

Introduction to special edition, “State of the Field: Advances in Neuroimaging from the 2016 Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium”

“…Vemuri et al review the literature surrounding imaging markers of cerebrovascular disease, a topic that is relevant for understanding the impact of cerebrovascular disease on dementia risk [9]. Work by Verfaillie et al [8] and Rana et al [10] shows that baseline measures of gray matter atrophy predict progression to AD dementia among clinically asymptomatic participants. Along these lines, La Joie et al in their study examined the associations between item-specific cognitive complaints and abnormal amyloid levels among nondemented older individuals and found that a specific profile of complaints may be predictive of early amyloid accumulation [11].…”