"We identified progressive brain atrophy as predictive of future cognitive decline among healthy elderly patients," said the study's lead author, Henry Rusinek, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York City.
"We have also shown that looking at the medial temporal lobe, a specific, relatively small brain region, was much more informative than looking at the whole brain," said Dr. Rusinek. The medial temporal lobe is a region near the middle of the brain that includes areas critical to forming new memories.
The researchers studied 45 healthy patients older than 60 to determine if medial temporal lobe atrophy rate predicted future memory decline. The patients underwent MR exams and neurological tests at the beginning of the study and two or more follow-up exams over a six-year period. The images and test results were compared and assessed for changes over time.
Of the 45 patients, 13 (29 percent) demonstrated cognitive decline. Medial temporal lobe atrophy rate was the most significant predictor of decline with overall accuracy of 89 percent.
"This study uses a novel approach to examine longitudinal changes in the brain, which are less subject to bias than existing approaches and are highly reproducible," said co-author Mony J. de Leon, Ed.D, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Brain Health at NYU School of Medicine.
The first signs of memory loss are usually diagnosed as mild cognitive impairment. People with mild cognitive impairment decli
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Contact: Maureen Morley
mmorley@rsna.org
630-590-7754
Radiological Society of North America
25-Nov-2003