Left Temporal Hypometabolism in FDG-PET underlines Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis in Frontotemporal Dementia
Year: 2018
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration as the second most cause of presenile dementia shows a characteristic pattern of hypometabolism in frontal and temporal regions in [18F]-fluordeoxyglucose positron-emission-tomography (FDG-PET). In ageing and dementia, the concept of cognitive reserve as a mediating factor between neuronal injury and clinical symptoms has been proposed for many years. Years of education (YoE) has been demonstrated as a proxy of cognitive reserve in Alzheimer’s disease. We aimed to test how the paradigm of cognitive reserve is reflected in FTD. Subjects and methods: FDG-PET of 93 subjects (age 68 ± 9 years) with FTD were analysed retrospectively. Mini-mental-state-examination (MMSE) and YoE were recorded. A voxel-wise regression analysis was used to identify regional glucose metabolism associated with declining MMSE. Individual FDG-PET values were extracted from the resulting significant cluster (FWE correction, p < 0.05). The residuals of the partial correlation between FDG-PET and MMSE were correlated with YoE. Results: Cognitive deterioration (MMSE) was only correlated with left temporal hypometabolism whereas the contralateral temporal lobe and bilateral frontal cortices did not indicate significant associations. Regression analysis with values deriving from the left temporal cluster indicated a significant positive association with MMSE (β = 0.62, p < 0.001). The residuals of the correlation of FDG-PET and MMSE showed a significant correlation with the YoE (ß = 0.29, p = 0.005). Conclusion: Cognitive decline is mainly associated with left temporal hypometabolism in FTD. Cognitive reserve expressed by a higher level of education is also present in FTD and needs to receive attention as a potential modifying factor in prevention and treatment of FTD.
DOI: 10.48350/126205
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3043353113