Neuroscience 2001 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 893.6 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Left Hippocampal Volume Loss in Alzheimer's Disease is Reflected in Performance on Odor Identification: A Structural MRI Study. |
| Authors: |
Murphy, C.*1,2
; Jernigan, T. L.3,4
; Fennema-Notestine, C.4
1Dept Psychol, San Diego State Univ, San Diego, CA 2Head and Neck Surgery, UCSD School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 3Psychiatry, UCSD School of Medicine, San Diego, CA 4VA Medical Center, San Diego, CA |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions - Neurodegenerative Disorders -- Alzheimers Disease: Cognative function |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | Sensory Systems<br />- Chemical Senses<br />-- Olfaction: CNS pathways and physiology |
| Session: |
893. Neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer's disease--screening, imaging, genetics Slide |
| Presentation Time: | Thursday, November 15, 2001 9:15 AM-9:30 AM |
| Location: | Room 28D |
| Keywords: | olfaction, neuroimaging, aging |
The very high sensitivity and specificity of odor identification tasks in discriminating between Alzheimer’s patients (AD) and normals suggests its utility in reflecting the presence of underlying neuropathology. Significant neuropathological changes are seen in areas critical to processing olfactory information, even in the early stages of AD. This study investigated whether performance on olfactory tasks was related to volumetric measures of mesial temporal areas central to olfactory processing and important in the neuropathology of early AD (hippocampus, parahippocampal area, amygdala), obtained with structural MRI, in 13 AD patients and 23 age-matched controls, diagnosed at the UCSD ADRC. Robust relationships were observed between left hippocampal volume and the functional measures that were greater for 1) AD patients than for controls, 2) for the San Diego Odor Identification Test (ODOR ID, r = .85) and the Boston Naming Test (BNT, r = .74) than for odor or taste threshold. The robust relationship between left hippocampal volume and ODOR ID performance suggests a neural substrate for the breakdown in performance on ODOR ID in early AD. The findings support the hypothesis that the ODOR ID task is at least as sensitive if not more sensitive than the BNT to the left hippocampal volume loss in AD, and more sensitive than other measures investigated. These results support the inclusion of ODOR ID in diagnostic batteries, and suggest the utility of quantitative MRI in the assessment of AD.
Supported by NIH grant AG04085 to CM and the UCSD ADRC.
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2001 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2001. Online.
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