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Abstract #3321

The Role of Structural Disconnection Secondary to Regional Grey Matter Loss in the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease

Laura Serra1, Mara Cercignani1, Tommaso Gili2, Roberta Perri3, Lucia Fadda3, Carlo Caltagirone3,4, Marco Bozzali1

1Neuroimaging Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy; 2MarbiLab, Enrico Fermi Centre, Roma, Italy; 3Clinical and Behavioural Neurology Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy; 4Dept of Neuroscience, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Roma, Italy


Whole-brain voxel-based MRI investigations of AD have shown that medial and temporal areas are the sites of earliest atrophy, while positron emission tomography (PET) studies of early AD have pointed at the posterior cingulate-precuneus area as a region characterised by early metabolic alterations. This study aims at assessing the involvment of the cingulum bundle, a white matter structure connecting anterior and posterior cingulate cortices during AD progression. To this aim we used voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tractography in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment.