Three-Dimensional Gray Matter Atrophy Mapping in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer Disease

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly population. It results from the abnormal accumulation of misfolded amyloid and tau proteins in neurons and the extracellular space, ultimately leading to cell death and progressive cognitive decline. Pathologic features of AD often are noted in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with a more restricted anatomical distribution.1 Spread of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles through the brain is highly systematic. The first amyloid plaques form in the temporo-occipital association cortices,2,3 then in the perirhinal or entorhinal area and the parietal cortex, and later in the frontal neocortex.4 Neocortical amyloid deposits ordinarily precede neocortical neurofibrillary tangles.2 Neurofibrillary tangles initially accumulate in the entorhinal cortex and later the hippocampus,2,5 then in the lateral temporal, parietal, and frontal association cortices.2,3