TY - JOUR
T1 - Olfactory deficit detected by fMRI in early Alzheimer's disease
AU - Wang, Jianli
AU - Eslinger, Paul J.
AU - Doty, Richard L.
AU - Zimmerman, Erin K.
AU - Grunfeld, Robert
AU - Sun, Xiaoyu
AU - Meadowcroft, Mark D.
AU - Connor, James R.
AU - Price, Joseph L.
AU - Smith, Michael B.
AU - Yang, Qing X.
N1 - Funding Information:
This investigation was made possible with support from the G.M. Leader Family Foundation and NIH grants R01 EB00454 , R01 AG027771 , and R01 AG17496 . It was also funded, in part, under a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health using Tobacco Settlement Funds . The Department specifically disclaims responsibility for any analyses, interpretations, or conclusions.
PY - 2010/10/21
Y1 - 2010/10/21
N2 - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is accompanied by smell dysfunction, as measured by psychophysical tests. Currently, it is unknown whether AD-related alterations in central olfactory system neural activity, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are detectable beyond those observed in healthy elderly. Moreover, it is not known whether such changes are correlated with indices of odor perception and dementia. To investigate these issues, 12 early stage AD patients and 13 nondemented controls underwent fMRI while being exposed to each of three concentrations of lavender oil odorant. All participants were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2), and the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR). The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal at primary olfactory cortex (POC) was weaker in AD than in HC subjects. At the lowest odorant concentration, the BOLD signals within POC, hippocampus, and insula were significantly correlated with UPSIT, MMSE, DRS-2, and CDR scores. The BOLD signal intensity and activation volume within the POC increased significantly as a function of odorant concentration in the AD group, but not in the control group. These findings demonstrate that olfactory fMRI is sensitive to the AD-related olfactory and cognitive functional decline.
AB - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is accompanied by smell dysfunction, as measured by psychophysical tests. Currently, it is unknown whether AD-related alterations in central olfactory system neural activity, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are detectable beyond those observed in healthy elderly. Moreover, it is not known whether such changes are correlated with indices of odor perception and dementia. To investigate these issues, 12 early stage AD patients and 13 nondemented controls underwent fMRI while being exposed to each of three concentrations of lavender oil odorant. All participants were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2), and the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR). The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal at primary olfactory cortex (POC) was weaker in AD than in HC subjects. At the lowest odorant concentration, the BOLD signals within POC, hippocampus, and insula were significantly correlated with UPSIT, MMSE, DRS-2, and CDR scores. The BOLD signal intensity and activation volume within the POC increased significantly as a function of odorant concentration in the AD group, but not in the control group. These findings demonstrate that olfactory fMRI is sensitive to the AD-related olfactory and cognitive functional decline.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.08.018
DO - 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.08.018
M3 - Article
C2 - 20709038
AN - SCOPUS:77957280687
SN - 0006-8993
VL - 1357
SP - 184
EP - 194
JO - Brain research
JF - Brain research
ER -