title: Hippocampal hyperactivation associated with cortical thinning in Alzheimer's disease signature regions in non-demented elderly adults.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with functional and structural alterations in a distributed network of brain regions supporting memory and other cognitive domains. Functional abnormalities are present in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with evidence of early hyperactivity in medial temporal lobe regions, followed by failure of hippocampal activation as dementia develops. Atrophy in a consistent set of cortical regions, the "cortical signature of AD," has been reported at the stage of dementia, MCI, and even in clinically normal (CN) older individuals predicted to develop AD. Despite multiple lines of evidence for each of these findings, the relationship between this structural marker of AD-related neurodegeneration and this functional marker of the integrity of the episodic memory system has not yet been elucidated. We investigated this relationship in 34 nondemented older humans (CN, N = 18; MCI, N = 16). Consistent with previous studies, we found evidence of hippocampal hyperactivation in MCI compared with CN. Additionally, within this MCI group, increased hippocampal activation correlated with cortical thinning in AD-signature regions. Even within the CN group, increased hippocampal activity was negatively correlated with cortical thinning in a subset of regions, including the superior parietal lobule (r = -0.66; p < 0.01). These findings, across a continuum of nondemented and mildly impaired older adults, support the hypothesis that paradoxically increased hippocampal activity may be an early indicator of AD-related neurodegeneration in a distributed network.
authors: Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors: Deepti
authors: D
authors: Putcha
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Brickhouse
authors: Kelly
authors: K
authors: O'Keefe
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Sullivan
authors: Dorene
authors: D
authors: Rentz
authors: Gad
authors: G
authors: Marshall
authors: Brad
authors: B
authors: Dickerson
authors: Reisa
authors: R
authors: Sperling
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests