Subregions of the inferior parietal lobule are affected in the progression to Alzheimer's disease

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 1304 - 1311
• Main Authors: Greene, Sarah J, Killiany, Ronald J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2010
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Cognition Disorders - pathology; Cognition Disorders - physiopathology; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Disease Progression; Entorhinal Cortex - pathology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Inferior parietal lobule; Internal Medicine; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Mild cognitively impaired; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Parietal Lobe - pathology; Prospective Studies; Inferior parietal lobule; Magnetic resonance imaging; Alzheimer's disease; Mild cognitively impaired
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2010.04.026

Abstract Changes in several regions within the brain have been associated with progression from healthy aging to Alzheimer's disease (AD), including the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). In this study, the IPL was divided into three subregions: the gyrus, the banks of the sulcus, and the fundus to determine if these regions are independent of medial temporal regions in the progression of AD. Participants of the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging Initiative (Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging initiative (ADNI); n = 54) underwent a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and neuropsychological examination, and were categorized as normal controls, mild cognitively impaired (MCI), or AD. FreeSurfer was initially used to identify the boundaries of the IPL. Each subregion was then manually traced based on FreeSurfer curvature intensities. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to compare groups. Results suggest that changes in thickness of the banks of the inferior parietal lobule are occurring early in the progression from normal to MCI, followed by changes in the gyrus and fundus, and these measures are related to neuropsychological performance.