© 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
1420–8008/13/0364–0197$38.00/0
Original Research Article
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2013;36:197–210
Cued Recall Measure Predicts the Progression
of Gray Matter Atrophy in Patients with
Amnesic Mild Cognitive Impairment
Lejla Koric
a
Jean-Philippe Ranjeva
b
Olivier Felician
a, c
Maxime Guye
b
Francesca de Anna
a
Elisabeth Soulier
b
Mira Didic
a, c
Mathieu Ceccaldi
a, c
a
Service de Neurologie et de Neuropsychologie, CHU Timone, APHM,
b
Centre d’Exploration
Métabolique par Résonance Magnétique, UMR AMU-CNRS 7339, and
c
Institut des Neurosciences
des Systèmes, INSERM U1106, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Université Aix-Marseille,
Marseille, France
Key Words
Mild cognitive impairment · Memory · Alzheimer’s disease · Magnetic resonance imaging ·
Voxel-based morphometry · Longitudinal study
Abstract
Amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is a heterogeneous syndrome that could be sub-
divided into distinct neuropsychological variants. To investigate relationships between the
neuropsychological profile of memory impairment at baseline and the neuroimaging pattern
of grey matter (GM) loss over 18 months, we performed a prospective volumetric brain study
on 31 aMCI patients and 29 matched controls. All subjects were tested at baseline using a
standardized neuropsychological battery, which included the Free and Cued Selective Recall
Reminding Test (FCSRT) for the assessment of verbal declarative memory. Over 18 months,
patients with impaired free recall but normal total recall (high index of cueing) on the FCSRT
developed subcortical and frontal GM loss, while patients with impaired free and total recall
(low index of cueing) developed GM atrophy within the left anterior and lateral temporal lobe.
In summary, cued recall deficits are associated with a progression of atrophy that closely par-
allels the spatiotemporal distribution of neurofibrillary degeneration in early Alzheimer’s dis-
ease (AD), indicating possible AD pathological changes. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
Introduction
)ndividuals with amnesic mild cognitive impairment ȋaMC)Ȍ are at high risk to convert to
probable Alzheimerǯs disease ȋADȌ, with a conversion rate to dementia averaging ͳͲ–ͳͷ%
per year [ͳ, ʹ]. (owever, some develop other neurodegenerative diseases, while others
Accepted: April 2, 2013
Published online: July 27, 2013
Lejla Koric
Service de Neurologie et de Neuropsychologie
CHU Timone, 265, rue St-Pierre
FR–13005 Marseille (France)
E-Mail lejla.koric @ ap-hm.fr
www.karger.com/dem
DOI: 10.1159/000351667
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