Exploring relationships between brain structure volumes, cortical thickness and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

AbstractAim The study aims to address the long term effects of Alzheimer’s disease progression onchanges in brain structure volumes, cortical thickness and cognitive decline. Previous research fails to pinpoint effect of Alzheimer’s progression collectively on the three variables and has inconsistencies in results relative to changes in anatomical volumes and cortical thinning as well as scanner effect dilemma.Methods Longitudinal data were analysed from participants in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), including individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD; N = 941), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; N = 1545), and cognitively normal (CN; N = 925) participants. MRI imaging and cognitive assessment data were utilized. Images were segmented using the LOD Brain model, and a multiple regression model was employed to investigate the impact of Alzheimer’s progression and aging on various brain structure volumes and cortical thickness.Results The results indicate progression of the illness resulted in a significant decrease in brain structure volumes across grey and white matter, brain stem, basal ganglia and cerebellum with the exception of an increase in ventricles as well as an increase in cortical thinning in entorhinal cortex temporal, parietal cortices alongside cerebrum. Cognitive decline is correlated with a loss in total brain volume and more specifically grey matter, cerebellum and basal ganglia amplified by Alzheimer’s progression.Conclusions Our results highlight how important it is to conduct research integrating cortical thickness, brain volume and cognitive decline in order to enhance our understanding of the disease’s progression.