Differentiated Regional Homogeneity in Progressive Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Study With Post Hoc Label.

PURPOSE: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered to be the clinical transition stage between patients with cognitively intact geriatrics and Alzheimer's disease (AD). When observed longitudinally, however, a certain proportion of patients with MCI are expected to revert to a cognitively intact state (MCI_R) while others either remain in the MCI state (MCI_S) or deteriorate into AD (MCI_P). It is worthwhile to investigate the divergence in the brain activities of these MCI groups with different post hoc labels.

METHODS

In this study, we employed the regional homogeneity (ReHo) measure to explore the characteristics of local brain activity in these MCI groups.

RESULTS

Compared to age-matched normal controls, our results exhibited that (1) in MCI_R group, ReHo index showed an increase in the left insula and a decrease in the left superior temporal gyrus; (2) in MCI_S group, ReHo index increased in the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG_orb) and decreased in the left inferior parietal lobe; and (3) in MCI_P group, ReHo index elevated in the left IFG_orb and decreased in the left putamen.

CONCLUSIONS

The distinct ReHo changes in the individual MCI groups indicated a potential evidence for differentially active interventions for a specific patient with MCI.