Trišins Maksims, Zdanovskis Nauris, Platkājis Ardis, Šneidere Kristīne, Kostiks Andrejs, Karelis Guntis, Stepens Ainārs
Department of Radiology, Riga Stradins University, LV-1007 Riga, Latvia.
Department of Radiology, Riga East University Hospital, LV-1038 Riga, Latvia.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Mar 31;60(4):587. doi: 10.3390/medicina60040587.
: Magnetic resonance imaging is vital for diagnosing cognitive decline. Brodmann areas (BA), distinct regions of the cerebral cortex categorized by cytoarchitectural variances, provide insights into cognitive function. This study aims to compare cortical thickness measurements across brain areas identified by BA mapping. We assessed these measurements among patients with and without cognitive impairment, and across groups categorized by cognitive performance levels using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test. : In this cross-sectional study, we included 64 patients who were divided in two ways: in two groups with (CI) or without (NCI) impaired cognitive function and in three groups with normal (NC), moderate (MPG) and low (LPG) cognitive performance according to MoCA scores. Scans with a 3T MRI scanner were carried out, and cortical thickness data was acquired using Freesurfer 7.2.0 software. : By analyzing differences between the NCI and CI groups cortical thickness of BA3a in left hemisphere (U = 241.000, = 0.016), BA4a in right hemisphere (U = 269.000, = 0.048) and BA28 in left hemisphere (U = 584.000, = 0.005) showed significant differences. In the LPG, MPG and NC cortical thickness in BA3a in left hemisphere (H (2) = 6.268, = 0.044), in V2 in right hemisphere (H (2) = 6.339, = 0.042), in BA28 in left hemisphere (H (2) = 23.195, < 0.001) and in BA28 in right hemisphere (H (2) = 10.015, = 0.007) showed significant differences. : Our study found that cortical thickness in specific Brodmann Areas-BA3a and BA28 in the left hemisphere, and BA4a in the right-differ significantly between NCI and CI groups. Significant differences were also observed in BA3a (left), V2 (right), and BA28 (both hemispheres) across LPG, MPG, NC groups. Despite a small sample size, these findings suggest cortical thickness measurements can serve as effective biomarkers for cognitive impairment diagnosis, warranting further validation with a larger cohort.
磁共振成像对于诊断认知功能衰退至关重要。布罗德曼区（BA）是根据细胞结构差异对大脑皮层进行分类的不同区域，有助于深入了解认知功能。本研究旨在比较通过BA图谱确定的不同脑区的皮质厚度测量值。我们评估了有认知障碍和无认知障碍患者的这些测量值，并使用蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）测试，对根据认知表现水平分类的各组进行了评估。
在这项横断面研究中，我们纳入了64名患者，他们以两种方式分组：分为认知功能受损（CI）组和未受损（NCI）组，以及根据MoCA评分分为认知正常（NC）、中度（MPG）和低度（LPG）认知表现的三组。使用3T MRI扫描仪进行扫描，并使用Freesurfer 7.2.0软件获取皮质厚度数据。
通过分析NCI组和CI组之间的差异，左半球BA3a（U = 241.000，P = 0.016）、右半球BA4a（U = 269.000，P = 0.048）和左半球BA28（U = 584.000，P = 0.005）的皮质厚度显示出显著差异。在LPG、MPG和NC组中，左半球BA3a（H(2)=6.268，P = 0.044）、右半球V2（H(2)=6.339，P = 0.042）、左半球BA28（H(2)=23.195，P < 0.001）和右半球BA28（H(2)=10.0l5，P = 0.007）的皮质厚度也显示出显著差异。
我们的研究发现，特定布罗德曼区——左半球的BA3a和BA28以及右半球的BA4a，在NCI组和CI组之间存在显著差异。在LPG、MPG、NC组的BA3a（左）、V2（右）和BA28（双侧半球）中也观察到了显著差异。尽管样本量较小，但这些发现表明皮质厚度测量可作为认知障碍诊断的有效生物标志物，值得用更大的队列进行进一步验证。
