AUTHOR=Kagerer Sonja M. , Schroeder Clemens , van Bergen Jiri M. G. , Schreiner Simon J. , Meyer Rafael , Steininger Stefanie C. , Vionnet Laetitia , Gietl Anton F. , Treyer Valerie , Buck Alfred , Pruessmann Klaas P. , Hock Christoph , Unschuld Paul G. 

TITLE=Low Subicular Volume as an Indicator of Dementia-Risk Susceptibility in Old Age

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.811146

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2022.811146

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=INTRODUCTION: Hippocampal atrophy is an established Alzheimer's Disease (AD) biomarker. Volume loss in specific subregions as measurable with ultra-high field MRI may reflect earliest pathological alterations. 
METHODS: Data from PET for estimation of cortical amyloid β (Aβ) and high-resolution 7 Tesla T1 MRI for assessment of hippocampal subfield volumes were analyzed in 61 non-demented elderly individuals who were divided into risk-categories as defined by high levels of cortical Aβ and low performance in standardized episodic memory tasks.
RESULTS: High cortical Aβ and low episodic memory interactively predicted subicular volume (F(3,57)=5.90, p=0.018). The combination of high cortical Aβ and low episodic memory was associated with significantly lower subicular volumes, when compared to participants with high episodic memory (p=0.004). 
DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that low subicular volume is linked to established indicators of AD risk, such as increased cortical Aβ and low episodic memory. Our data support subicular volume as a marker of dementia-risk susceptibility in old-aged non-demented persons.