Automated hippocampal atrophy rates in subjects with and without cognitive impairment

objective of this study is to characterize the pattern of atrophy in the MCI patients selected on the cutoff scores of the FCSRT. Methods: In 63 patients with MCI followed in a memory clinic, we compared brain volume using voxel-based morphometry in those with a FCSRT free recall score> 17 or total recall > 40 (MCI-high, n1⁄447) with those with scores below these thresholds (MCI-low, n1⁄416). Results: Gray matter volume decrease was found bilaterally in the temporal lobes, posterior cingulate gyri, middle occipital gyri, insula, parietal inferior and frontal inferior gyri, and in the thalamus and nucleus basalis in the left hemisphere in the MCI-low patients, compared to the MCI-high (cluster significant at p< 0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons). Conclusions: The pattern of grey matter atrophy in the MCI group with FCSRT scores lower than the cutoffs was similar to that of early AD. These findings emphasized the value of specific memory test such as the FCSRT in clinical practice and research studies to discriminate MCI patients at higher risk to progress to AD.