Volumetric reduction of the corpus callosum in Alzheimer's disease in vivo as assessed with voxel-based morphometry

Chaim, Tiffany M.; Duran, Fábio L.S.; Uchida, Ricardo R.; Périco, Cintia A.M.; de Castro, Claudio C.; Busatto, Geraldo F.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.04.003

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 154, Issue 1 , Pages 59-68, 15 January 2007

Volumetric reduction of the corpus callosum in Alzheimer's disease in vivo as assessed with voxel-based morphometry

Tiffany M. Chaim
- Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Fábio L.S. Duran
- Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Ricardo R. Uchida
- Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Psychiatry, Santa Casa Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Cintia A.M. Périco
- Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Claudio C. de Castro
- Department of Radiology, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
Geraldo F. Busatto
- Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
- Corresponding author. Rua Ovídio Pires Campos, s/n-CEP 05403-010, São Paulo, Brazil. Tel./fax: +55 11 30643567.

Received 20 October 2005; received in revised form 11 March 2006; accepted 2 April 2006.

Abstract

Several recent magnetic resonance imaging studies have employed voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to detect regional gray matter volume abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, investigations of corpus callosum (CC) abnormalities in AD using this automated methodology have been scarce, and no VBM study investigated correlations between regional CC atrophy and cognitive measurements in AD subjects at mild disease stages. We used VBM to compare the topography of CC volume differences between 14 AD subjects (MMSE 14–25) and 14 healthy volunteers. Images were acquired using a 1.5-Telsa scanner, and were spatially normalized and segmented using optimized VBM. Statistical comparisons were performed using the general linear model. Significant CC atrophy was detected in the antero-superior portion of the splenium, the isthmus, the anterior and posterior portions of the CC body, and the rostral portion of the genu. Voxels showing peak statistical difference were all left-sided (P<0.001, uncorrected for multiple comparisons). A cluster of significant positive correlation with MMSE scores was seen on the left anterior CC body. Our results confirm previous findings of diffuse volumetric CC reductions early in the course of AD, and warrant further evaluation of the relevance of atrophic changes in anterior CC portions to the cognitive impairments that characterize the disorder.