Distinctive alterations of the cingulum bundle during aging and Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 31; no. 9; pp. 1582 - 1592
• Main Authors: Catheline, Gwénaëlle, Periot, Olivier, Amirault, Marion, Braun, Marc, Dartigues, Jean-François, Auriacombe, Sophie, Allard, Michèle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Inc 01.09.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological; Adult; Aged; Aging; Aging - pathology; Aging - physiology; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer’s disease; Biological and medical sciences; Cingulum bundle; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Development. Senescence. Regeneration. Transplantation; Diffusion tensor imaging; Female; Fractional anisotropy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gyrus Cinguli - pathology; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Number of fibers; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Young Adult; Aging; Fractional anisotropy; Number of fibers; Alzheimer’s disease; Cingulum bundle; Diffusion tensor imaging; Nervous system diseases; Senescence; Alzheimer disease; Central nervous system disease; Degenerative disease; Alzheimer's disease; Cerebral disorder
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.08.012

Brain imaging studies have revealed frontal disruption during aging and parieto-temporal disruption during Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The present study aims at developing a specific method based on precise anatomical landmarks for assessing the integrity all along the course of the cingulum bundle, so as to determine if it presents the classical aging and AD dissociation. Five regions of interest (ROIs) were placed on fractional anisotropy (FA) maps all along the cingulum in 15 young (G young), 15 70-year-old (G old), and 15 AD subjects (G alz). An age-related decrease of FA occurred in the anterior part of the bundle. Moreover, a specific alteration of the supero-posterior region of the cingulum during AD was observed since mean FA values as well as mean number of fibers were significantly decreased in G alz compared to G old and G young. This multiple ROIs placement allows for revealing distinctive alterations of the cingulum bundle during aging and AD, which could constitute the anatomical basis for the distinctive functional disconnection recently described in the literature using functional connectivity at rest.