Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess global and regional cerebral volumes in patients with a clinical diagnosis of subcortical vascular dementia (VD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whole brain volume, cerebrospinal fluid volume, volumes of the temporal, frontal and parietal lobes, the cerebellum and the amygdala-hippocampus complex were determined using a personal computer-based software. Seventeen patients with VD, 22 patients with AD and 13 healthy controls were included. Analysis of covariance using age as covariate demonstrated significant mean differences between controls and dementia groups with respect to all morphological parameters. However, apart from the volume of the cerebellum no significant volumetric differences were found between VD and AD. These results indicate that MRI-based volumetry allows differentiation between AD or VD from normal controls and that measurement of cerebellar volume may be of use to separate vascular and degenerative dementia. However, since the distribution of cerebral atrophy in both dementia groups is very similar, it is suggested that the atrophic changes are not specific to the underlying cause but rather reflect the selective vulnerability of neuronal structures. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess global and regional cerebral volumes in patients with a clinical diagnosis of subcortical vascular dementia (VD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whole brain volume, cerebrospinal fluid volume, volumes of the temporal, frontal and parietal lobes, the cerebellum and the amygdala-hippocampus complex were determined using a personal computer-based software. Seventeen patients with VD, 22 patients with AD and 13 healthy controls were included. Analysis of covariance using age as covariate demonstrated significant mean differences between controls and dementia groups with respect to all morphological parameters. However, apart from the volume of the cerebellum no significant volumetric differences were found between VD and AD. These results indicate that MRI-based volumetry allows differentiation between AD or VD from normal controls and that measurement of cerebellar volume may be of use to separate vascular and degenerative dementia. However, since the distribution of cerebral atrophy in both dementia groups is very similar, it is suggested that the atrophic changes are not specific to the underlying cause but rather reflect the selective vulnerability of neuronal structures. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Background The amygdala is a subcortical limbic structure consisting of histologically and functionally distinct subregions. New automated structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation tools facilitate the in vivo study of individual amygdala nuclei in clinical populations such as patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) who show symptoms indicative of limbic dysregulation. This study is the first to investigate amygdala nuclei volumes in AN, their relationships with leptin, a key indicator of AN-related neuroendocrine alterations, and further clinical measures. Methods T1-weighted MRI scans were subsegmented and multi-stage quality controlled using FreeSurfer. Left/right hemispheric amygdala nuclei volumes were cross-sectionally compared between females with AN (n = 168, 12–29 years) and age-matched healthy females (n = 168) applying general linear models. Associations with plasma leptin, body mass index (BMI), illness duration, and psychiatric symptoms were analyzed via robust linear regression. Results Globally, most amygdala nuclei volumes in both hemispheres were reduced in AN v. healthy control participants. Importantly, four specific nuclei (accessory basal, cortical, medial nuclei, corticoamygdaloid transition in the rostral-medial amygdala) showed greater volumetric reduction even relative to reductions of whole amygdala and total subcortical gray matter volumes, whereas basal, lateral, and paralaminar nuclei were less reduced. All rostral-medially clustered nuclei were positively associated with leptin in AN independent of BMI. Amygdala nuclei volumes were not associated with illness duration or psychiatric symptom severity in AN. Conclusions In AN, amygdala nuclei are altered to different degrees. Severe volume loss in rostral-medially clustered nuclei, collectively involved in olfactory/food-related reward processing, may represent a structural correlate of AN-related symptoms. Hypoleptinemia might be linked to rostral-medial amygdala alterations.