Advanced MRI morphometric techniques in neurodegenerative disorders

Dementia is one of the increasing global health challenges, especially with the great physical, psychological, social and economic impact it has on society. Even though there is a lack of awareness and understanding, new research continues to be done in order to help with the significant gaps in knowledge for it. This study tackled the volumetric changes in the brains of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment as the early stage which may lead to dementia and patients with Alzheimer’s as the most common neurodegenerative disease. To measure these alterations was employed a relatively new approach called Voxel- Based Morphometry. It revealed that the areas with the most reduced volume were in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s, more specifically they were located mainly in the hippocampus, followed by lesions in temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex. Additionally, it was measured how the gray matter could impact their neuropsychological performance. Interestingly enough, there was no significant correlation between those two aspects, yet what was found was that patients with Alzheimer’s performed worse in some tests when compared to patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment. These deficits were observed in tests which measured overall cognition along with episodic memory and word fluency. In conclusion, Voxel Based Morphometry sheds light upon the key regions affected by gray matter volume loss and how this loss could impact the cognition in patients with dementia. These findings carry significant implications for early diagnosis, disease progression and the development of specialized treatment which may ease the burden of dementia on its patients and society.