A study by the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) adds to a growing body of evidence indicating MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain scans provide valuable diagnostic information about Alzheimer’s.
MRI scans that detect shrinkage in specific regions of the mid-brain attacked by Alzheimer’s accurately diagnose the neurodegenerative disease, even before symptoms interfere with daily function.
The image demonstrates on the top a normal MRI brain scan, showing no atrophy, depicts the three areas of interest in the brain’s medial temporal lobe: hippocampus (outlined in red); entorhinal cortex (blue) and perirhinal cortex (green), and on the bottom the MRI brain scan shows severe atrophy indicative of Alzheimer’s pathology in all three areas, except the right perirhinal cortex, which has moderate atrophy.
“This study demonstrates that MRI brain scans are accurate enough to be clinically useful, both in diagnosing Alzheimer’s itself at an early stage and in identifying people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s,” said Florida ADRC Center Director Huntington Potter.
The diagnosis often includes a medical history, mental status tests, neurological evaluations and blood tests. Physicians typically use brain scans only to exclude conditions that can also cause memory deficits, such as strokes and brain tumors.
The Florida researchers used a new visual rating system to evaluate the severity of shrinkage, or atrophy, in the brain’s medial temporal lobe, specifically in three structures essential for the conscious memory of facts and events. They compared the MRI brain scans of 260 people, a group with probable Alzheimer’s, two groups with varying degrees of mild cognitive impairment (mild memory problems), and a control group of normal elderly with no discernable memory loss.
They found that scores generated by this MRI-facilitated test accurately distinguished each group from the other and correlated with the types of memory problems most frequently caused by Alzheimer’s. The more extensive the brain atrophy, the more advanced the clinical stage of Alzheimer’s.
The researchers even found brain atrophy in some people without memory complaints at the study’s onset who demonstrated memory decline when assessed a year or two later. This suggests MRIs could predict who will get the disease well before signs of dementia become apparent by other diagnostic methods as well as rule out an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in people experiencing memory problems, Dr. Duara said. “If you don’t have changes in these three particular areas of the brain, then you don’t have Alzheimer’s.”
1. Ranjan Duara, et al. MRI Brain Scans Accurate in Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. University of South Florida Health. December 2008.
2. Image courtesy of Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
My Mother, Aunt, and Uncle all had severe Alzheimer’s. Mom passed on this past March, 2010.
I probably cannot afford the test, but I truly want to know if I will have Alzheimer’s so I can prepare now if and when to place myself into a unit. I do not want my children to take care of me, so I have to find a place that will take me.
Do you have testing in South Orange County, CA? If so, can you refer me to a clinical trial?
Thank you. Pam keith
Pam, we only report on the story – we are not a medical organization and do not conduct the tests. You may want to ask your doctor if he or she is aware of any testing centers in your area.