Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Jan 2018)
The association between hippocampal subfield volumes and education in cognitively normal older adults and amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients
Abstract
Dong Woo Kang,1 Hyun Kook Lim,2 Soo-hyun Joo,1 Na Rae Lee,1 Chang Uk Lee1 1Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 2Department of Psychiatry, Yeoui-do St Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea Objective: Previous research has indicated that there are potential associations between education and total hippocampal volume in the trajectory of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the correlation between education and hippocampal subfield volumes in the progression of AD has yet to be understood. This study examined the relationship between education, which is a standard proxy for cognitive reserve, and hippocampal subfield volumes in healthy and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) groups.Subjects and methods: Thirty-eight subjects with aMCI and 39 healthy control subjects underwent 3 T magnetic resonance imaging, and hippocampal subfield volumes were measured by automated segmentation. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the association between education and hippocampal subfield volumes.Results: Education had a significant negative correlation with the left parasubiculum, presubiculum, and subiculum volumes in the aMCI group. In addition, multiple subfield volumes including left parasubiculum, left/right presubiculum, left cornus ammonis (CA)3, and left CA4 showed a significant correlation with the neuropsychological test scores in the control group and aMCI group.Conclusion: These findings contribute to a better understanding of the association between education, hippocampal subfield volumes, and amnestic cognitive functions in the early phase of AD. Keywords: education, hippocampus, presubiculum, subiculum, mild cognitive impairment, cognitive reserve
