title: Pathomechanisms of atrophy in insular cortex in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The insular cortex is associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms, changes in cardiovascular and autonomic control, and mortality in Alzheimer's dementia. However, the insular cortex does not provide information on the contribution of the other cortices to cognitive decline. We hypothesized that the factors that affect to atrophy in insular cortex are different from other cortical regions. A total of 42 patients with probable Alzheimer's dementia were included in the analyses. The manual drawing of regions of interest was used to detect insular cortex located in the deep gray matter and to avoid coatrophy. Covariates, which could affect to the atrophy of the cerebral cortex, were selected based on previous studies. Any of the demographic factors, vascular risk factors, and the severity scales of dementia was not associated with any insular volume ratio. We suggest that the pathomechanisms of atrophy in insular cortex are different from those of other cortex regions in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yeonsil
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea Center for Geriatric Neuroscience Research, Institute of Biomedical Science, Konkuk Medical Science Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea alzdoc@kuh.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Seol-Heui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; atrophy; cortical thickness; insular cortex; magnetic resonance imaging