Asymmetrical atrophy of thalamic subnuclei in Alzheimer’s disease and amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment is associated with key clinical features
Publication: Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
Audrey Low, Elijah Mak, Maura Malpetti, Leonidas Chouliaras, Nicolas Nicastro, Li Sua, Negin Holland, Timothy Rittman, Patricia Vázquez Rodríguez, Luca Passamonti, W Richard Bevan-Jones, PP Simon Jones, James B.Rowe, John T.O’Brien
1 December 2019
Widespread cortical asymmetries have been identified in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but thalamic asymmetries and their relevance to clinical severity in AD remain unclear.
This research discovered that although overall asymmetry of the thalamus did not differ between groups, greater leftward lateralization of atrophy in the ventral nuclei was demonstrated in AD, compared with controls and amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment. Increased posterior ventrolateral and ventromedial nuclei asymmetry were associated with worse cognitive dysfunction, informant-reported neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional ability.
Leftward ventral thalamic atrophy was associated with disease severity in AD. The findings suggest the clinically relevant involvement of thalamic nuclei in the pathophysiology of AD.
