Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have validated the first standardized protocol to measure atrophy in the hippocampal region of the brain, an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.
The research, published in the February issue of Alzheimer's and Dementia, is the final step in an effort to develop a reliable approach for assessing signs of Alzheimer's-related neurodegeneration through structural MRI scans, according to a UCLA release.
Led by Dr. Liana Apostolova, director of the neuroimaging laboratory at UCLA, the study confirmed that the protocol to measure hippocampal atrophy in structural MRI scans correlates with pathologic changes that can denote the progressive development of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain (Alzheimers Dement, Vol. 11:2, pp. 139-150).
Apostolova and colleagues used a 7-tesla MRI scanner to image brain specimens of 16 deceased individuals: nine people who had Alzheimer's disease and seven who were cognitively normal. They scanned each sample for 60 hours, achieving unprecedented visualization of hippocampal tissue, according to Apostolova.
After using the protocol to measure hippocampal structures, the researchers analyzed the tissues for an accumulation of amyloid tau protein and loss of neurons, confirming a significant correlation between hippocampal volume and the indicators of Alzheimer's disease.
