Exploring graded profiles of hippocampal atrophy along the anterior-posterior axis in semantic dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates marked hippocampal degeneration in semantic dementia (SD) however, the spatial distribution of hippocampal atrophy profiles in this syndrome remains unclear. Using a recently developed parcellation approach, we extracted hippocampal volumes from four distinct subregions running from anterior to posterior along the longitudinal axis (anterior, intermediate rostral, intermediate caudal, and posterior). Volumetric differences in hippocampal subregions were compared between 21 SD, 24 matched Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 27 healthy older Control participants. Despite comparable overall hippocampal volume loss, SD and AD groups diverged in terms of the magnitude of atrophy along the anterior-posterior axis of the hippocampus. Global hippocampal atrophy was observed in AD, with no discernible gradation or lateralisation. In contrast, SD patients displayed graded bilateral hippocampal atrophy, most pronounced on the left-hand side, and concentrated in anterior relative to posterior subregions. Finally, we found preliminary evidence that disease-specific vulnerability along the anterior-posterior axis of the hippocampus was associated with canonical clinical features of these syndromes.

Keywords: Episodic memory; Frontotemporal dementia; Hippocampus; Medial temporal lobe; Primary progressive aphasia; Semantic memory.