Voineskos Aristotle N, Winterburn Julie L, Felsky Daniel, Pipitone Jon, Rajji Tarek K, Mulsant Benoit H, Chakravarty M Mallar
Kimel Family Translational Imaging Genetics Laboratory, Research Imaging Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Geriatric Mental Health Service, Campbell Family Mental Health Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2015 Aug;36(8):3020-37. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22825. Epub 2015 May 9.
Newer approaches to characterizing hippocampal morphology can provide novel insights regarding cognitive function across the lifespan. We comprehensively assessed the relationships among age, hippocampal morphology, and hippocampal-dependent cognitive function in 137 healthy individuals across the adult lifespan (18-86 years of age). They underwent MRI, cognitive assessments and genotyping for Apolipoprotein E status. We measured hippocampal subfield volumes using a new multiatlas segmentation tool (MAGeT-Brain) and assessed vertex-wise (inward and outward displacements) and global surface-based descriptions of hippocampus morphology. We examined the effects of age on hippocampal morphology, as well as the relationship among age, hippocampal morphology, and episodic and working memory performance. Age and volume were modestly correlated across hippocampal subfields. Significant patterns of inward and outward displacement in hippocampal head and tail were associated with age. The first principal shape component of the left hippocampus, characterized by a lengthening of the antero-posterior axis was prominently associated with working memory performance across the adult lifespan. In contrast, no significant relationships were found among subfield volumes and cognitive performance. Our findings demonstrate that hippocampal shape plays a unique and important role in hippocampal-dependent cognitive aging across the adult lifespan, meriting consideration as a biomarker in strategies targeting the delay of cognitive aging.
表征海马体形态的新方法能够为整个生命周期中的认知功能提供新的见解。我们全面评估了137名18至86岁成年健康个体的年龄、海马体形态与海马体依赖性认知功能之间的关系。他们接受了核磁共振成像、认知评估以及载脂蛋白E状态的基因分型检测。我们使用一种新的多图谱分割工具（MAGeT-Brain）测量了海马体亚区体积，并评估了基于顶点的（向内和向外位移）以及基于海马体形态的整体表面描述。我们研究了年龄对海马体形态的影响，以及年龄、海马体形态与情景记忆和工作记忆表现之间的关系。年龄与海马体各亚区的体积存在适度的相关性。海马体头部和尾部显著的向内和向外位移模式与年龄相关。以前后轴延长为特征的左侧海马体的第一主形状成分与整个成年期的工作记忆表现显著相关。相比之下，亚区体积与认知表现之间未发现显著关系。我们的研究结果表明，海马体形状在整个成年期的海马体依赖性认知衰老中起着独特而重要的作用，在旨在延缓认知衰老的策略中，值得作为一种生物标志物加以考虑。
