There are many active research projects accessing and applying shared ADNI data. Use the search above to find specific research focuses on the active ADNI investigations. This information is requested annually as a requirement for data access.
| Principal Investigator | |
| Principal Investigator's Name: | Lawrence Ver Hoef |
| Institution: | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Department: | Neurology |
| Country: | |
| Proposed Analysis: | In healthy adults, a morphological feature of the hippocampus, referred to as “hippocampal dentation” has been shown to be associated with memory performance. This refers to a dentated or tooth-like appearance of the CA1 surface on the inferior aspect of the hippocampus. The degree of hippocampal dentation has been shown to vary widely across normal individuals, and has been positively correlated with measures of verbal and visual memory.1 Hippocampal dentation has not been studied in AD patients or in cognitively normal elderly adults up to now. Higher levels of education appear to be protective of AD2. We hypothesize that patients with a greater degree of dentation and AD or MCI will have a slower disease progression and/or late age of onset. We also hypothesize that even as the hippocampus atrophies in AD, the hippocampus retains its original morphology and so the dentation will persist despite global atrophy. To test this hypothesis, we will select at random 100 participants from the healthy controls, MCI, and AD groups, as well as 50 asymptomatic participants that have PET scans positive for beta amyloid and tau protein, matched for age and gender across groups from the database. Using T1-weighted MRI sequences, we will apply a super-resolution hippocampal segmentation method we have developed that allows visualization of dentation at a resolution much higher than the original source image. Dentation will be assessed both visually and quantitatively. We will examine for correlations with dentation across these groups with PET, neuropsychological parameters, level of education, age, gender, race, age of onset of MCI, age of progression to dementia, apo E4 status and other clinical variables as available. This data will be used as preliminary data for a future R01 proposal. |
| Additional Investigators | |
| Investigator's Name: | Goutham Selladurai |
| Proposed Analysis: | In healthy adults, a morphological feature of the hippocampus, referred to as “hippocampal dentation” has been shown to be associated with memory performance. This refers to a dentated or tooth-like appearance of the CA1 surface on the inferior aspect of the hippocampus. The degree of hippocampal dentation has been shown to vary widely across normal individuals, and has been positively correlated with measures of verbal and visual memory.1 Hippocampal dentation has not been studied in AD patients or in cognitively normal elderly adults up to now. Higher levels of education appear to be protective of AD2. We hypothesize that patients with a greater degree of dentation and AD or MCI will have a slower disease progression and/or late age of onset. We also hypothesize that even as the hippocampus atrophies in AD, the hippocampus retains its original morphology and so the dentation will persist despite global atrophy. To test this hypothesis, we will select at random 100 participants from the healthy controls, MCI, and AD groups, as well as 50 asymptomatic participants that have PET scans positive for beta amyloid and tau protein, matched for age and gender across groups from the database. Using T1-weighted MRI sequences, we will apply a super-resolution hippocampal segmentation method we have developed that allows visualization of dentation at a resolution much higher than the original source image. Dentation will be assessed both visually and quantitatively. We will examine for correlations with dentation across these groups with PET, neuropsychological parameters, level of education, age, gender, race, age of onset of MCI, age of progression to dementia, apo E4 status and other clinical variables as available. This data will be used as preliminary data for a future R01 proposal. (same as PI) |
