Stefan Teipel1,2, Inga Ehlers1,2, Anna Erbe1,2, Carsten Holzmann3, Esther Lau1,2, Karlheinz Hauenstein4, Christoph Berger5. 1. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany. 2. DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock, Germany. 3. Department of Medical Genetics, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany. 4. Department of Radiology, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany. 5. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Working memory impairment is among the earliest signs of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We aimed to study the functional and structural substrate of working memory impairment in early AD dementia and MCI. METHODS: We studied a group of 12 MCI and AD subjects compared to 12 age- and gender-matched healthy elderly controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a 2-back versus 1-back letter recognition task. We performed a three-way image fusion analysis with joint independent component analysis of cortical activation during working memory, and DTI derived measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) and the mode of anisotropy. RESULTS: We found significant hypoactivation in posterior brain areas and relative hyperactivation in anterior brain areas during working memory in AD/MCI subjects compared to controls. Corresponding independent components from DTI data revealed reduced FA and reduced mode of anisotropy in intracortical projecting fiber tracts with posterior predominance and increased FA and increased mode along the corticospinal tract in AD/MCI compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that impairments of structural fiber tract integrity accompany breakdown of posterior and relatively preserved anterior cortical activation during working memory performance in MCI/AD subjects.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Working memory impairment is among the earliest signs of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We aimed to study the functional and structural substrate of working memory impairment in early AD dementia and MCI. METHODS: We studied a group of 12 MCI and AD subjects compared to 12 age- and gender-matched healthy elderly controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a 2-back versus 1-back letter recognition task. We performed a three-way image fusion analysis with joint independent component analysis of cortical activation during working memory, and DTI derived measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) and the mode of anisotropy. RESULTS: We found significant hypoactivation in posterior brain areas and relative hyperactivation in anterior brain areas during working memory in AD/MCI subjects compared to controls. Corresponding independent components from DTI data revealed reduced FA and reduced mode of anisotropy in intracortical projecting fiber tracts with posterior predominance and increased FA and increased mode along the corticospinal tract in AD/MCI compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that impairments of structural fiber tract integrity accompany breakdown of posterior and relatively preserved anterior cortical activation during working memory performance in MCI/AD subjects.
Authors: Harald Hampel; Nicola Toschi; Claudio Babiloni; Filippo Baldacci; Keith L Black; Arun L W Bokde; René S Bun; Francesco Cacciola; Enrica Cavedo; Patrizia A Chiesa; Olivier Colliot; Cristina-Maria Coman; Bruno Dubois; Andrea Duggento; Stanley Durrleman; Maria-Teresa Ferretti; Nathalie George; Remy Genthon; Marie-Odile Habert; Karl Herholz; Yosef Koronyo; Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui; Foudil Lamari; Todd Langevin; Stéphane Lehéricy; Jean Lorenceau; Christian Neri; Robert Nisticò; Francis Nyasse-Messene; Craig Ritchie; Simone Rossi; Emiliano Santarnecchi; Olaf Sporns; Steven R Verdooner; Andrea Vergallo; Nicolas Villain; Erfan Younesi; Francesco Garaci; Simone Lista Journal: J Alzheimers Dis Date: 2018 Impact factor: 4.472