Srisaikaew Patcharaporn, Wongpakaran Nahathai, Anderson Nicole D, Chen J Jean, Kothan Suchart, Varnado Pairada, Unsrisong Kittisak, Mahakkanukrauh Pasuk
Ph.D. Program in Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2020 Dec 2;12:594002. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.594002. eCollection 2020.
Damage to the fornix leads to significant memory impairment and executive dysfunction and is associated with dementia risk. We sought to identify if fornix integrity and fiber length are disrupted in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and how they associate with cognition. Data from 14 healthy older adult controls (HCs) and 17 subjects with non-amnestic MCI (n-aMCI) were analyzed. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 1.5 Tesla MRI was performed to enable manual tracing of the fornix and calculation of DTI parameters. Higher fractional anisotropy of body and column of the fornix was associated with better executive functioning and memory, more strongly in the HC than in the n-aMCI group. Fornix fiber tract length (FTL) was associated with better executive function, more strongly in the n-aMCI than in the HC group, and with better memory, more strongly in the HC than in the n-aMCI group. These results highlight a decline in the contributions of the fornix to cognition in n-aMCI and suggest that maintenance of fornix FTL is essential for sustaining executive functioning in people with n-aMCI.
穹窿受损会导致严重的记忆障碍和执行功能障碍，并与痴呆风险相关。我们试图确定在轻度认知障碍（MCI）中穹窿的完整性和纤维长度是否受到破坏，以及它们与认知的关联方式。分析了来自14名健康老年对照者（HCs）和17名非遗忘型MCI（n-aMCI）受试者的数据。采用1.5特斯拉磁共振成像进行扩散张量成像（DTI），以实现对穹窿的手动追踪并计算DTI参数。穹窿体和柱的较高分数各向异性与更好的执行功能和记忆相关，在HC组中比在n-aMCI组中关联更强。穹窿纤维束长度（FTL）与更好的执行功能相关，在n-aMCI组中比在HC组中关联更强，与更好的记忆相关，在HC组中比在n-aMCI组中关联更强。这些结果凸显了n-aMCI中穹窿对认知贡献的下降，并表明维持穹窿FTL对维持n-aMCI患者的执行功能至关重要。
