Surface based morphometry in alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder especially affecting the elderly population which is growing worldwide. In this study, surface-based morphometry analysis was performed on anatomical MR images of patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and healthy control (HC) subjects using a computational anatomy toolbox called CAT(Computational Anatomy Toolbox) on SPM (Statistical Parameter Mapping) platform. MR images were obtained from a database named Minimal Interval Resonance Imaging in Alzheimer's Disease (MIRIAD) consisting of 46 AD patients and 23 HC subjects. The cortical thickness measurements were performed over 34 different regions on each hemisphere defined by Desikan-Killiany anatomical atlas. The t-statistics parameters of the cortical thickness values were found to be decreased in 24 regions in AD patients compared with the HC subjects. Additionally, the linear correlation values between the MMSE scores and cortical thickness values of AD and HC individuals were estimated for each atlas region. Accordingly, 28 regions exhibited a significant correlation between MMSE(Mini Mental State Examination) scores and cortical thickness values. Significant regions that were affected by AD were observed to be as parietal, temporal, frontal, cingulate and occipital lobes as reported in previous studies.