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Whole-brain analysis reveals increased neuroanatomical asymmetries in dementia for hippocampus and amygdala
Wachinger C, Salat DH, Weiner M, Reuter M, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2016-10-10
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Structural magnetic resonance imaging data are frequently analysed to reveal morphological changes of the human brain in dementia. Most contemporary imaging biomarkers are scalar values, such as the volume of a structure, and may miss the localized morphological variation of early presymptomatic disease progression. Neuroanatomical shape descriptors, however, can represent complex geometric information of individual anatomical regions and may demonstrate increased sensitivity in association studies. Yet, they remain largely unexplored. In this article, we introduce a novel technique to study shape asymmetries of neuroanatomical structures across subcortical and cortical brain regions. We demonstrate that neurodegeneration of subcortical structures in Alzheimer's disease is not symmetric. The hippocampus shows a significant increase in asymmetry longitudinally and both hippocampus and amygdala show a significantly higher asymmetry cross-sectionally concurrent with disease severity above and beyond an ageing effect. Our results further suggest that the asymmetry in these structures is undirectional and that primarily the anterior hippocampus becomes asymmetric. Based on longitudinal asymmetry measures we subsequently study the progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, demonstrating that shape asymmetry in hippocampus, amygdala, caudate and cortex is predictive of disease onset. The same analyses on scalar volume measurements did not produce any significant results, indicating that shape asymmetries, potentially induced by morphometric changes in subnuclei, rather than size asymmetries are associated with disease progression and can yield a powerful imaging biomarker for the early presymptomatic classification and prediction of Alzheimer's disease. Because literature has focused on contralateral volume differences, subcortical disease lateralization may have been overlooked thus far.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Wachinger, C., Salat, D. H., Weiner, M., Reuter, M., & Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. (2016). Whole-brain analysis reveals increased neuroanatomical asymmetries in dementia for hippocampus and amygdala. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aww243
Vancouver
Wachinger C, Salat DH, Weiner M, Reuter M, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Whole-brain analysis reveals increased neuroanatomical asymmetries in dementia for hippocampus and amygdala. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2016. doi:10.1093/brain/aww243. PMID: 27913407.
BibTeX
@article{wachinger2016-27913407,
author = {Wachinger, C. and Salat, D. H. and Weiner, M. and Reuter, M. and {Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative}},
title = {{Whole-brain analysis reveals increased neuroanatomical asymmetries in dementia for hippocampus and amygdala}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1093/brain/aww243},
pmid = {27913407},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aww243}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The hippocampus shows a significant increase in asymmetry longitudinally and both hippocampus and amygdala show a significantly higher asymmetry cross-sectionally concurrent with disease severity above and beyond an ageing effect.
- Our results further suggest that the asymmetry in these structures is undirectional and that primarily the anterior hippocampus becomes asymmetric.
- The same analyses on scalar volume measurements did not produce any significant results, indicating that shape asymmetries, potentially induced by morphometric changes in subnuclei, rather than size asymmetries are associated with disease progression and can yield a powerful imaging biomarker for the early presymptomatic classification and prediction of Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
This longitudinal imaging study found that shape asymmetry in the hippocampus and amygdala was linked to disease severity and predicted progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, while standard volume measurements did not. It points to a possible new way to track early disease progression, but does not test any treatment or prevention.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 59/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 57 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 59 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Brain: journal h-index 503 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 151 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 12.6 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 33 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27913407) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 57 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 57 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 59 out of 100. |
| Total | 59 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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