Parietal cortex matters in alzheimer's disease: An overview of structural, functional and metabolic findings

H.I.L. Jacobs*, M.P.J. van Boxtel, J. Jolles, F.R.J. Verhey, H.B.M. Uylings

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Atrophy of the medial temporal lobe, especially the hippocampus and the parahippocampal gyrus, is considered to be the most predictive structural brain biomarker for Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). However, recent neuroimaging studies reported a possible mismatch between structural and metabolic findings, showing medial temporal lobe atrophy and medial parietal hypoperfusion as biomarkers for AD. The role of the parietal lobe in the development of AD is only recently beginning to attract attention. The current review discusses parietal lobe involvement in the early stages of AD, viz. mild cognitive impairment, as reported from structural, functional, perfusion and metabolic neuroimaging studies. The medial and posterior parts of the parietal lobe seem to be preferentially affected, compared to the other parietal lobe parts. On the basis of the reviewed literature we propose a model showing the relationship between the various pathological events, as measured by different neuroimaging techniques, in the development of AD. In this model myelin breakdown is a beginning of the chain of pathological events leading to AD pathology and an AD diagnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)297-309
Number of pages13
JournalNeuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Volume36
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2012

Keywords

  • Posterior parietal cortex
  • Mild cognitive impairment
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Neuroimaging
  • Disconnection
  • MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
  • VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRY
  • DEFAULT-MODE NETWORK
  • APPEARING WHITE-MATTER
  • BRAIN PERFUSION SPECT
  • DIFFUSION TENSOR MRI
  • GRAY-MATTER
  • TEMPORAL-LOBE
  • FDG-PET
  • GLUCOSE-METABOLISM

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