Memory performance correlates with gray matter density in the ento-/perirhinal cortex and posterior hippocampus in patients with mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls — A voxel based morphometry study
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Abstract
Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is a useful tool to assess differences in brain morphology
between groups of patients and healthy controls. In addition, VBM enables the performance
of regression analyses to determine potential correlations between performance on
cognitive tests and variations in local brain morphology. Prior VBM studies investigating
patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have revealed different patterns of
local brain atrophy. In order to extend previous findings, we investigated 18 patients
with MCI and 18 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent
extensive neuropsychological testing in addition to undergoing anatomical scanning
with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cohort analysis revealed bilateral decreases
in gray matter density in the medial temporal lobes (MTLs) and neocortical regions
of the temporal lobes in patients with MCI. Moreover, regression analyses demonstrated
a correlation between immediate verbal recall and gray matter density in the left
perirhinal/entorhinal cortex, while delayed free recall correlated with gray matter
density in the left hippocampus. It has been proposed that performance in the immediate
recall is supported by the so-called "episodic buffer", a component of working memory
that contributes to the maintenance of integrated memory traces. Accordingly, our
results suggest that anatomical regions associated with verbal long-term and verbal
working memory are structurally segregated within the left MTL.