Unbiased whole-brain analysis of gray matter loss in Alzheimer's disease

In patients with Alzheimer's disease, substantial tissue loss occurs in the medial temporal lobe. In this study, we applied a voxel-based, unbiased wh ole-brain analysis method to compare magnetic resonance imaging scans of se ven patients with Alzheimer's disease and seven healthy elderly controls. I mages were transformed to standard coordinate space and tested for gray mat ter loss in patients. We found symmetrical decreases of gray matter in pati ents in the hippocampus, and, unexpectedly, also in the head of the caudate nucleus and the insula. The exact role of these two structures in the symp tomatology of Alzheimer's disease deserves further attention. (C) 2000 Else vier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.