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The Cutting Edge

MRI May Help Doctors Differentiate Causes of Memory Loss

MRI May Help Doctors Differentiate Causes of Memory Loss

Using a software program to analyze a patient’s MRIs, UCLA Health researchers were able to measure the volume of different regions of the brain, identifying areas where shrinkage may have occurred. Image: UCLA Health

A UCLA-led study has found that MRI scans can help doctors distinguish whether a person’s memory loss is being caused by Alzheimer’s disease or by traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study, which also involved researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, is important because it could help prevent doctors from misdiagnosing Alzheimer’s disease — a diagnosis that can be devastating for patients and their families, and can prevent them from receiving appropriate treatment. (A 2016 study by researchers affiliated with the University of Toronto found that up to 21 percent of older adults with dementia may be misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s.)

The current study involved 40 patients whose average age was just under 68 and who were being treated by UCLA neurologists. All of the patients had suffered traumatic brain injury and later developed memory problems. “We already knew that MRIs can reveal subtle abnormalities in patients with neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s,” says Somayeh Meysami, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral clinical research fellow in cognitive and behavioral neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether MRI also could reveal distinct abnormalities in traumatic brain injury,” Dr. Meysami says. “And, if we could identify such a pattern, it would lead to improved differentiation of TBI-related memory loss from other causes of dementia.”

Using a software program to analyze the patients’ MRIs, the researchers discovered that TBI caused the most damage to a region of the brain known as the ventral diencephalon, which is associated with learning and emotions. They also found that the least amount of atrophy occurred in the hippocampus, which is involved in memory and emotions — and is the part of the brain that is most affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Cyrus Raji, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiology at Washington University, says that one of the benefits of the approach is that it doesn’t require specialized equipment beyond an MRI machine and the software the researchers used — so it could potentially be performed at many medical centers. “The method we used to measure brain volumes in these individuals is useful because it can be applied on the same type of MRI scans we obtain in the clinic with no special type of imaging required,” Dr. Raji says.

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that up to 40 percent of dementias are caused by conditions other than Alzheimer’s. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.87 million Americans experienced traumatic brain injury in 2014, with the rates highest for people age 75 or older. Children age 4 and younger and adults age 65 and older were most likely to suffer serious brain injuries after a fall.

“Our study offers further evidence that not all memory loss is caused by Alzheimer’s disease,” says Mario Mendez, MD (RES ’82, FEL ’84), PhD, professor-in-residence of neurology, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Geffen School of Medicine. “It can be attributed to TBI, as well as other dementias and neurodegenerative disorders.”

— Marrecca Fiore

 

“MRI Volumetric Quantification in Persons with a History of Traumatic Brain Injury and Cognitive Impairment,” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, October 29, 2019


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Winter 2020

Winter 2020
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IN THIS ISSUE
  • Lessons from Sherm
  • Father’s X Chromosome May Yield Clues to Higher Rates of Autoimmune Disease in Women
  • Researchers Create Accurate Model of Organ Scarring
  • Biomarker Predicts Which Heart-failure Patients at Higher Risk of Death within One-to-three Years
  • Targeted Therapy Drug Extends Lives of Women with Aggressive Breast Cancer
  • Can a “Battery Leak” Trigger the Onset of Type 2 Diabetes?
  • Molecular Changes in Cells of Eye’s Lens Predict Future Cataracts
  • UCLA Addresses Increasing Demand with New Master’s in Genetic Counseling
  • Truth Seeker
  • Sherm
  • Repairing and Reversing Damage Caused by Huntington’s Disease
  • Cells’ Mitochondria Work Much Like Tesla Battery Packs
  • The Who and Friends Rock Private Show for UCLA Health and Teen Cancer America
  • A Confounding Case
  • Body Image Concerns Are Universal
  • “We Do Better with Diversity”
  • Annual UCLA Health System Board Meeting Turns Its Focus to Cardiac Care
  • UCLA Operation Mend Cheered on at New York City Veterans Day Parade
  • A Decade in Review: 7 Exciting Health Care Breakthroughs
  • MRI May Help Doctors Differentiate Causes of Memory Loss
  • On the Road to Health Care Equality
  • Learning To Listen
  • Photo Synthesis
  • Awards & Honors
  • In Memoriam
  • David Geffen Adds $46 Million to Landmark Medical Scholarships Program
  • Nearly 2,000 Guests Attend Party on the Pier for UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital
  • Golden Visionary Ball Raises More than $1 Million for UCLA Neurosurgery
  • Dr. Hans Gritsch Named Inaugural Chair in Kidney Transplantation
  • Nonprofit Heart of the Brain Fuels the Fight against Brain Cancer
  • UCLA Supporters Raise Money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
  • Dancing for NED Fundraiser Fights Ovarian Cancer
  • Gifts
  • In Memoriam
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