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 Caltagirone^3,4, 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.