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Volume of the posterior and not anterior hippocampus predicts spatial memory performance in Alzheimer´s Disease
Esra Kara, Sophia Toelke, Oezguer A. Onur. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2023
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Abstract Background Hippocampal volume atrophy is one of the most acknowledged supportive biomarkers for Alzheimer´s disease (AD). However, how hippocampal volumes along the anterior‐posterior axis mediate memory in aging and dementia is still subject of ongoing research. This study aimed to investigate the difference in volume of the hippocampus and its anterior and posterior subregions in a healthy young and senior control group as well as in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD and its ability to predict performance in spatial memory tasks. Method Thirteen healthy young controls (24.9 ± 2.8 years), fourteen healthy senior controls (66.6 ± 8.2 years) as well as fifteen MCI patients (71.1 ± 6.0 years) with biomarkers typical for AD were included in this study. Subject‐specific manual tracing of hippocampi according to the EADC‐ADNI Harmonized Protocol for Hippocampal Segmentation (HarP) was performed on high‐resolution T1‐weighted MRI. Following the segmentation into anterior and posterior hippocampal parts, volumetry of anterior, posterior and total hippocampus was computed. Every subject performed a combined spatial memory and object recognition paradigm. Brain‐behavior correlations were conducted in order to explore prediction of spatial memory performance. Result Volume measures of the hippocampi significantly differentiated healthy from pathological aging. Larger volume of posterior hippocampus in MCI patients correlated with higher performance scores in the spatial memory task (mean percentage of successfully retrieved object locations) whereas total and anterior hippocampal volume did not predict performance in the spatial memory task. Conclusion These results support a functional hippocampal anterior‐posterior differentiation in memory processes and further stress the importance of integrating the dissociation of the hippocampus along its long‐axis concerning functional connectivity in memory processes and dementia.
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APA 7th
Kara, E., Toelke, S., & Onur, O. A. (2023). Volume of the posterior and not anterior hippocampus predicts spatial memory performance in Alzheimer´s Disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.076698
Vancouver
Kara E, Toelke S, Onur OA. Volume of the posterior and not anterior hippocampus predicts spatial memory performance in Alzheimer´s Disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2023. doi:10.1002/alz.076698.
BibTeX
@article{kara2023-5f0a5bfa,
author = {Kara, Esra and Toelke, Sophia and Onur, Oezguer A.},
title = {{Volume of the posterior and not anterior hippocampus predicts spatial memory performance in Alzheimer´s Disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& Dementia},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1002/alz.076698},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.076698}
}
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Key findings
- Result Volume measures of the hippocampi significantly differentiated healthy from pathological aging.
- Conclusion These results support a functional hippocampal anterior‐posterior differentiation in memory processes and further stress the importance of integrating the dissociation of the hippocampus along its long‐axis concerning functional connectivity in memory processes and dementia.
Why it matters
In a small sample of 13 healthy young controls, 14 healthy senior controls and 15 patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's, the volume of the posterior hippocampus predicted spatial memory performance, while the anterior hippocampus did not. This supports the idea that different parts of the hippocampus have different roles in memory, which may be relevant to understanding memory loss in Alzheimer's, but it is a small early study and does not test any treatment.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 30/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2023 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Oezguer A. Onur: h-index 33 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Cologne: institution h-index 879 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 30 / 100 | — |
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