Hippocampal volume and retention in Alzheimer's disease.
This study tested the hypothesis that the hippocampus has a relatively specific role in retaining information over delays. Thirty-seven subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease were evaluated with a verbal memory task and structural MRI. Cortical gray matter but not hippocampal volume predicted immediate free recall. In contrast, hippocampal volume was the best predictor of how well information was retained over a delay, even after controlling for levels of immediate recall. Results suggest that the role of the hippocampus is relatively specific to the consolidation of new memories.
Kramer
Joel H
JH
Department of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, 94143, USA. kramer@itsa.ucsf.edu
Schuff
Norbert
N
Reed
Bruce R
BR
Mungas
Dan
D
Du
An-Tao
AT
Rosen
Howard J
HJ
Jagust
William J
WJ
Miller
Bruce L
BL
Weiner
Michael W
MW
Chui
Helena C
HC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology