Comparison of cognitive assessment and brain MRI in Alzheimer disease

Objective To study the correlation of cognitive assessment with the brain structural measurement using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in AD patients. Methods There were 23 mild-moderate AD patients and 22 normal controls.Neuropsychological objectives were detected,including MMSE,ADL, POD, FOM, RVR,DS and BD .Volumetric measurements of hippocampal formations (HF), amygdala(AMY), linear measurements of width of the temporal horn, and width of lateral were detected with MRI. Results ①Volume of HF, width of temporal horn, and width of lateral showed significant differences between patients of AD and control subjects (P0.01). But there was no sinificant difference in AMY between both groups.②The volume of HF, width of the temporal horn, and width of lateral were found to be correlated significantly with scores on MMSE, ADL, POD and FOM. But volume of HF, width of temporal horn and width of lateral were not significantly correlated with scores of DS and BD. Especially MMSE and FOM were significantly correlated with the volume of HF in the mild-moderate AD. Conclusion The structural measurement using MRI is correlated significantly with cognitive assessment.