Reduced Thickness of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex as a Predictor of Amnestic-Mild Cognitive Impairment Conversion to Alzheimer’s Disease with Psychosis

Abstract

Background: A long-term follow-up study in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is needed to elucidate the association between regional brain volume and psychopathological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease with psychosis (AD + P). Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the thickness of the angular cingulate cortex (ACC) on the risk of AD + P conversion in patients with aMCI. Methods: This was a hospital-based prospective longitudinal study including 174 patients with aMCI. The main outcome measure was time-to-progression from aMCI to AD + P. Subregions of the ACC (rostral ACC, rACC; caudal ACC, cACC) and hippocampus (HC) were measured as regions of interest with magnetic resonance imaging and the Freesurfer analysis at baseline. Survival analysis with time to incident AD + P as an event variable was calculated with Cox proportional hazards models using the subregions of the ACC and HC as a continuous variable. Results: Cox proportional hazard analyses showed that the risk of AD + P was associated with sub-regional ACC thickness but not HC volume: reduced cortical thickness of the left cACC (HR [95%CI], 0.224 [0.087–0.575], p = 0.002), right cACC (HR [95%CI], 0.318 [0.132–0.768], p = 0.011). This association of the cACC with the risk of AD also remained significant when adjusted for HC volume. Conclusion: We found that reduced cortical thickness of the cACC is a predictor of aMCI conversion to AD + P, independent of HC, suggesting that the ACC plays a vital role in the underlying pathogenesis of AD + P.

Chemotherapy-induced functional brain abnormality in colorectal cancer patients: a resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…In addition, impaired structure of ACG was also found in patients with MCI and it was paralleled with decreased performance of cognitive function, especially interference and conflict monitoring ( 58 ). The structural abnormality of ACG was identified as a predictor of cognitive impairment, which suggested that ACG played a key role in the underlying pathogenesis of cognitive impairment ( 59 ). In addition, the impaired cognitive function could be improved by mind-body exercise (movement-based mind-body intervention), which could modulate regional brain activities and structure in ACG ( 60 ).…”

Altered anterior cingulate cortex subregional connectivity associated with cognitions for distinguishing the spectrum of pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease

“…Neuroimage 80, 246-262. doi: 10.1016Neuroimage 80, 246-262. doi: 10. /j.neuroimage.2013 Yan, C. G., Wang, X. D., Zuo, X. N., and Zang, Y. F. (2016). DPABI: Data Processing & Analysis for (Resting-State) Brain Imaging.…”

“…Although data are limited, the fact remains that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in multiple cognitive processes, including executive function (Jung et al, 2019). At the same time, the loss of ACC volume has been confirmed in patients with aMCI converted to AD (Jeong et al, 2021); On fMRI, ACC also showed degenerative changes and reduced functional activity in patients with early AD (Jung et al, 2019). Therefore, studying the role of the ACC in the development of AD is of great significance (Behrens et al, 2009;Cera et al, 2019).…”

“…Many studies on depression have examined the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and shown it to be involved in information processing and regulation ( Kelly et al, 2009 ; Shackman et al, 2011 ; Peng et al, 2021 ). And the degenerative changes in ACC are consistently seen in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) ( Jeong et al, 2021 ). At the same time, some studies have shown that the change of ACC subregional thickness is an effective predictor of SCD and aMCI conversion to AD ( Sambuchi et al, 2015 ; Jung et al, 2019 ; Jeong et al, 2021 ).…”

“…And the degenerative changes in ACC are consistently seen in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) ( Jeong et al, 2021 ). At the same time, some studies have shown that the change of ACC subregional thickness is an effective predictor of SCD and aMCI conversion to AD ( Sambuchi et al, 2015 ; Jung et al, 2019 ; Jeong et al, 2021 ). Although the data are more limited, there are also studies supporting involvement of the ACC in top-down functions and cognition in internalized conditions ( Sheena et al, 2021 ).…”