Thinner cortex in patients with subjective cognitive decline is associated with steeper decline of memory

We aimed to investigate associations between regional cortical thickness and rate of decline over time in 4 cognitive domains in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). We included 233 SCD patients with the total number of 654 neuropsychological assessments (median = 3, range = 2–8) and av...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurobiology of aging 2018-01, Vol.61, p.238-244
Main Authors: Verfaillie, Sander C.J., Slot, Rosalinde E., Tijms, Betty M., Bouwman, Femke, Benedictus, Marije R., Overbeek, Jozefien M., Koene, Teddy, Vrenken, Hugo, Scheltens, Philip, Barkhof, Frederik, van der Flier, Wiesje M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Alzheimer Disease - etiology
Alzheimer's disease
Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging
Cerebral Cortex - pathology
Cognition
Cognitive Dysfunction - complications
Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction - pathology
Cognitive Dysfunction - psychology
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Language
Longitudinal
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory
Mental Status and Dementia Tests
Middle Aged
Structural magnetic resonance imaging
Subjective cognitive decline
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Summary:We aimed to investigate associations between regional cortical thickness and rate of decline over time in 4 cognitive domains in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). We included 233 SCD patients with the total number of 654 neuropsychological assessments (median = 3, range = 2–8) and available baseline magnetic resonance imaging from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (125 males, age: 63 ± 9, Mini–Mental State Examination score: 28 ± 2). We assessed longitudinal cognitive functioning at baseline and follow-up in 4 cognitive domains (composite Z-scores): memory, attention, executive function, and language. Thickness (millimeter) was estimated using FreeSurfer for frontal, temporal, parietal, cingulate, and occipital cortices. We used linear mixed models to estimate effects of cortical thickness on cognitive performance (dependent variables). There were no associations between cortical thickness and baseline cognition, but a faster subsequent rate of memory loss was associated with thinner cortex of the frontal [β (SE) = 0.20 (0.07)], temporal [β (SE) = 0.18 (0.07)], and occipital [β (SE) = 0.22 (0.09)] cortices (all p < 0.05FDR). These findings illustrate that early cortical changes, particularly in the temporal cortex, herald incipient cognitive decline related to neurodegenerative diseases, most prominently Alzheimer's disease.
ISSN:0197-4580
1558-1497
DOI:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.09.009