MRI VOLUMETRIC STUDIES IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE - RELATIONSHIP TO CLINICAL AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES

The authors studied 34 subjects with probable dementia of the Alzheime r type (DAT) and 28 healthy, age-matched control subjects, using a 1.5 -tesla GE MRI scanner. Absolute volumes of ventricular and sulcal cere brospinal fluid spaces and volumes, corrected for total intracranial v olume, were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in the DAT group, compared to the control group. Right-left measures of hemispheric structural a symmetry were greater in the DAT group, whereas aging alone influenced brain structure in the control group. Also, in the DAT group, certain volumetric measures were significantly correlated with specific clini cal indicators of severity of illness and some neuropsychological indi ces. These data demonstrate widespread structural abnormalities in rel atively early DAT and a relationship between brain structure and some measures of cognitive dysfunction.