title: Executive dysfunction and gray matter atrophy in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that impairment in executive function (EF) is common in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However, the neuroanatomic basis of executive impairment in patients with aMCI remains unclear. In this study, multiple regression voxel-based morphometry analyses were used to examine the relationship between regional gray matter volumes and EF performance in 50 patients with aMCI and 48 healthy age-matched controls. The core EF components (response inhibition, working memory and task switching, based on the EF model of Miyake et al) were accessed with computerized tasks. Atrophic brain areas related to decreases in the three EF components in patients with aMCI were located in the frontal and temporal cortices. Within the frontal cortex, the brain region related to response inhibition was identified in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Brain regions related to working memory were located in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, left premotor cortex, and right inferior frontal gyrus, and brain regions related to task shifting were distributed in the bilateral frontal cortex. Atrophy in the right inferior frontal gyrus was most closely associated with a decrease in all three EF components in patients with aMCI. Our data, from the perspective of brain morphology, contribute to a better understanding of the role of these brain areas in the neural network of EF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Dongming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Hongzan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Baiwei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yongchuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Sipan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lichun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Executive function; Inhibition; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mild cognitive impairment; Working memory