Do 2‐year changes in superior frontal gyrus and global brain atrophy affect cognition?

Abstract

Introduction Metabolic alterations to the superior frontal gyrus (SFG) have been linked to cognitive decline. Whether these indicate structural atrophy, which could be screened for at a larger scale using noninvasive structural imaging, is unknown. Methods We assessed annual structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and cognitive data from 3 consecutive years from 204 participants from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative database (mean age 72.24 [8.175] years). We evaluated associations between brain structural changes and performance in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Everyday Cognition Visuospatial subtest (ECog Visuospatial), and Functional Assessment Questionnaire. Results Changes in the surface area of the SFG were associated with changes in the outcome of the ECog Visuospatial test ( P < .05), but an inconsistent pattern of association was found between the 2-year global brain atrophy progression and changes in the outcome from the three cognitive tests selected. Discussion The extent into which (and if) changes in the SFG influence cognition warrant further evaluation in a larger period in more heterogeneous population.

Distinct brain iron profiles associated with logopenic progressive aphasia and posterior cortical atrophy

“…The precuneus and superior frontal gyrus also showed higher susceptibilities in PCA. This is in line with the literature as atrophy in the precuneus has recently been associated impairment of autobiographical memory in PCA ( Ahmed et al 2018 ), while atrophy in the superior frontal gyrus is commonly associated with visuospatial cognitive decline ( Valdes Hernandez et al 2018 ).…”

Alzheimer’s Patient Microglia Exhibit Enhanced Aging and Unique Transcriptional Activation

“…We began with frozen samples of frontal cortex, which is affected by tau pathology in the later stages of disease (Braak stages V and VI) that roughly coincide with onset and progression of dementia. Tissue samples were excised from the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), which has been linked with visuospatial cognition both in AD and in lesion studies ( du Boisgueheneuc et al, 2006 ; Valdé s Herná ndez et al, 2018 ). To maximize the likelihood of observing differences between AD and control, we selected only AD specimens with high scores for amyloid and tau neuropathology in frontal cortex, and we selected only control specimens with negligible amounts of these pathologies in this region (see sample metadata in Data S2 ).…”

Spatial Transcriptomics and In Situ Sequencing to Study Alzheimer’s Disease

“…The RNA quality of the 6 samples was good (RIN: 8.4  0.8, Table S5). We profiled tissue from the superior frontal gyrus (Brodmann area 10), which is of relevance to AD (Valdés Hernández et al, 2018). We report a total of 222 gene expression profiles, including 45 human orthologs of PIGs, 42 human orthologs of plaque-reactive genes in the OLIG module, and a series of cell type markers (Table S6).…”