Recognition of Facial Emotional Expression in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Amyloid PET allows for the assessment of amyloid β status in the brain, distinguishing true Alzheimer’s disease from Alzheimer’s disease-mimicking conditions. Around 15–20% of patients with clinically probable Alzheimer’s disease have been found to have no significant Alzheimer’s pathology on amyloid PET. However, a limited number of studies had been conducted this subpopulation in terms of clinical progression. Objective: We investigated the risk factors that could affect the progression to dementia in patients with amyloid-negative amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: This study was a single-institutional, retrospective cohort study of patients over the age of 50 with amyloidnegative amnestic MCI who visited the memory clinic of Asan Medical Center with a follow-up period of more than 36 months. All participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), detailed neuropsychological testing, and fluorine-18[F18]-florbetaben amyloid PET. Results: During the follow-up period, 39 of 107 patients progressed to dementia from amnestic MCI. In comparison with the stationary group, the progressed group had a more severe impairment in verbal and visual episodic memory function and hippocampal atrophy, which showed an Alzheimer’s disease-like pattern despite the lack of evidence for significant Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Voxel-based morphometric MRI analysis revealed that the progressed group had a reduced gray matter volume in the bilateral cerebellar cortices, right temporal cortex, and bilateral insular cortices. Conclusion: Considering the lack of evidence of amyloid pathology, clinical progression of these subpopulation may be caused by other neuropathologies such as TDP-43, abnormal tau or alpha synuclein that lead to neurodegeneration independent of amyloid-driven pathway. Further prospective studies incorporating biomarkers of Alzheimer’s diseasemimicking dementia are warranted.

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A Comparison of Emotional Decoding Abilities in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Very Mild and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

Current Alzheimer Research ◽

10.2174/1567205010666131212120020 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 200-205

Author(s):

Aleksandra Klimkowicz-Mrowiec ◽

Lukasz Krzywoszanski ◽

Karolina Spisak ◽

Bryan Donohue ◽

Andrzej Szczudlik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

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The Anterior-posterior Functional Connectivity Disconnection in the Elderly with Subjective Memory Impairment and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Current Alzheimer Research ◽

10.2174/1567205017666200525015017 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 373-381

Author(s):

Wuhai Tao ◽

Jinping Sun ◽

Xin Li ◽

Wen Shao ◽

Jing Pei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Memory Impairment ◽

Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan ◽

Subjective Memory ◽

Long Distance ◽

Whole Brain ◽

Subjective Memory Impairment

Background: Subjective Memory Impairment (SMI) may tremendously increase the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The full understanding of the neuromechanism of SMI will shed light on the early intervention of AD. Methods: In the current study, 23 Healthy Controls (HC), 22 SMI subjects and 24 amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) subjects underwent the comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. The difference in the connectivity of the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Functional Connectivity (FC) from the Region of Interest (ROI) to the whole brain were compared, respectively. Results: The results showed that HC and SMI subjects had significantly higher connectivity in the region of the precuneus area compared to aMCI subjects. However, from this region to the whole brain, SMI and aMCI subjects had significant FC decrease in the right anterior cingulum, left superior frontal and left medial superior frontal gyrus compared to HC. In addition, this FC change was significantly correlated with the cognitive function decline in participants. Conclusion: Our study indicated that SMI subjects had relatively intact DMN connectivity but impaired FC between the anterior and posterior brain. The findings suggest that long-distance FC is more vulnerable than the short ones in the people with SMI.

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