FRIDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with Alzheimer's disease show markedly reduced functional connectivity of the hippocampus to other brain areas, according to study findings published in the October issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Greg Allen, Ph.D., from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and colleagues examined functional connectivity of the hippocampus using magnetic resonance imaging in eight patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and eight healthy controls.
The researchers found that the patients with probable Alzheimer's disease had markedly reduced hippocampal functional connectivity, including a lack of connectivity with the frontal lobes. In contrast, control patients showed good connectivity with diffuse cortical, subcortical and cerebellar sites.
"The findings suggest a functional disconnection between the hippocampus and other brain regions in patients with Alzheimer disease," Allen and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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