Functional magnetic resonance imaging changes in amnestic and nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment during encoding and recognition tasks

Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows changes in multiple regions in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). The concept of MCI recently evolved to include nonamnestic syndromes, so little is known about fMRI changes in these individuals. This study investigated activation during visual complex scene encoding and recognition in 29 cognitively normal (CN) elderly, 19 individuals with aMCI, and 12 individuals with nonamnestic MCI (naMCI). During encoding, CN activated an extensive network that included bilateral occipital–parietal–temporal cortex; precuneus; posterior cingulate; thalamus; insula; and medial, anterior, and lateral frontal regions. Amnestic MCI activated an anatomic subset of these regions. Non-amnestic MCI activated an even smaller anatomic subset. During recognition, CN activated the same regions observed during encoding except the precuneus. Both MCI groups again activated a subset of the regions activated by CN. During encoding, CN had greater activation than aMCI and naMCI in bilateral temporoparietal and frontal regions. During recognition, CN had greater activation than aMCI in predominantly temporoparietal regions bilaterally, while CN had greater activation than naMCI in larger areas involving bilateral temporoparietal and frontal regions. The diminished parietal and frontal activation in naMCI may reflect compromised ability to perform nonmemory (i.e., attention/executive, visuospatial function) components of the task. (JINS, 2009, 15, 372–382.)

[1]  R. Petersen Mild cognitive impairment as a diagnostic entity , 2004, Journal of internal medicine.

[2]  J. Morris The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) , 1993, Neurology.

[3]  G. Glosser,et al.  Gestural communication in Alzheimer's disease. , 1998, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[4]  Benjamin J. Shannon,et al.  Parietal lobe contributions to episodic memory retrieval , 2005, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[5]  C. Vergani,et al.  Mild Cognitive Impairment Subtypes and Vascular Dementia in Community‐Dwelling Elderly People: A 3‐Year Follow‐Up Study , 2006, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[6]  Andrew J Saykin,et al.  Cholinergic enhancement of frontal lobe activity in mild cognitive impairment. , 2004, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[7]  E. Tangalos,et al.  The short test of mental status. Correlations with standardized psychometric testing. , 1991, Archives of neurology.

[8]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Mayo's older Americans normative studies: category fluency norms. , 1998, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[9]  C. Jack,et al.  Patterns of atrophy differ among specific subtypes of mild cognitive impairment. , 2007, Archives of neurology.

[10]  C. Jack,et al.  Functional inferences vary with the method of analysis in fMRI , 2000, NeuroImage.

[11]  Thanh-Thu T. Tran,et al.  Mild cognitive impairment: evaluation with 4-T functional MR imaging. , 2006, Radiology.

[12]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Mild Cognitive Impairment Clinical Characterization and Outcome , 1999 .

[13]  C. Jack,et al.  Comparison of memory fMRI response among normal, MCI, and Alzheimer’s patients , 2003, Neurology.

[14]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Registry , 1990, Aging.

[15]  O. Spreen,et al.  A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary , 1991 .

[16]  E. Kokmen,et al.  Short Test of Mental Status , 2016 .

[17]  R. Cabeza Cognitive neuroscience of aging: contributions of functional neuroimaging. , 2001, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[18]  Clifford R. Jack,et al.  Functional Inferences Vary with the Method of Analysis in fMRI , 2001, NeuroImage.

[19]  Vince D. Calhoun,et al.  Alterations in Memory Networks in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: An Independent Component Analysis , 2006, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[20]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Mayo's older americans normative studies: WAIS-R norms for ages 56 to 97 , 1992 .

[21]  M. Albert,et al.  Medial temporal lobe function and structure in mild cognitive impairment , 2004, Annals of neurology.

[22]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Neuropsychological tests' norms above age 55: COWAT, BNT, MAE token, WRAT-R reading, AMNART, STROOP, TMT, and JLO , 1996 .

[23]  F Barkhof,et al.  fMRI of visual encoding: Reproducibility of activation , 1999, Human brain mapping.

[24]  Richard J. Caselli,et al.  Hippocampal adaptation to face repetition in healthy elderly and mild cognitive impairment , 2004, Neuropsychologia.

[25]  D. Harvey,et al.  Extent and distribution of white matter hyperintensities in normal aging, MCI, and AD , 2006, Neurology.

[26]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: A general linear approach , 1994 .

[27]  Robert A. Bornstein,et al.  The Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised , 1990 .

[28]  Frederik Barkhof,et al.  Challenging the cholinergic system in mild cognitive impairment: a pharmacological fMRI study , 2004, NeuroImage.

[29]  Robert C. Welsh,et al.  Aging and the Neural Correlates of Successful Picture Encoding: Frontal Activations Compensate for Decreased Medial-Temporal Activity , 2005, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[30]  J. Morris,et al.  Current concepts in mild cognitive impairment. , 2001, Archives of neurology.

[31]  C. Jack,et al.  Mild cognitive impairment – beyond controversies, towards a consensus: report of the International Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment , 2004, Journal of internal medicine.

[32]  C. Jack,et al.  MRI patterns of atrophy associated with progression to AD in amnestic mild cognitive impairment , 2008, Neurology.

[33]  M. Erb,et al.  Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and actual retrieval performance affect cerebral activation in the elderly , 2007, Neurobiology of Aging.

[34]  Clifford R. Jack,et al.  Comparison of different methodological implementations of voxel-based morphometry in neurodegenerative disease , 2005, NeuroImage.

[35]  Sterling C. Johnson,et al.  Associative Learning Over Trials Activates the Hippocampus in Healthy Elderly but not Mild Cognitive Impairment , 2008, Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition.

[36]  R. Henson,et al.  Frontal lobes and human memory: insights from functional neuroimaging. , 2001, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[37]  C. Reynolds,et al.  Wechsler memory scale-revised , 1988 .

[38]  M. Albert,et al.  Increased hippocampal activation in mild cognitive impairment compared to normal aging and AD , 2005, Neurology.

[39]  Frederik Barkhof,et al.  Parametric fMRI analysis of visual encoding in the human medial temporal lobe , 1999, Hippocampus.

[40]  G. E. Alexander,et al.  Activation of brain regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease: The effect of mild cognitive impairment , 2006, Neurobiology of Aging.