The entorhinal cortex is subdivided into anterolateral entorhinal cortex (alERC) and posteromedial entorhinal cortex (pmERC) subregions, which are theorized to support distinct cognitive roles. This distinction is particularly important as the alERC is one of the earliest cortical regions affected by Alzheimer's pathology and related neurodegeneration. The relative associations of alERC/pmERC with neuropsychological test performance have not been examined. We examined how alERC/pmERC volumes differentially relate to performance on 1) the Modified Rey Auditory Learning Test (ModRey), a verbal memory test designed to assess normal/preclinical populations, 2) the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and 3) the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center neuropsychological battery. We also examined whether alERC/pmERC volumes correlate with Alzheimer's disease cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. In 65 cognitively healthy (CDR = 0) older adults, alERC, but not pmERC, volume was associated with ModRey memory retention. Only alERC volume differentiated between participants who scored above and below the MoCA cutoff score for impairment. Evaluating the MoCA subdomains revealed that alERC was particularly associated with verbal recall. On the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center battery, both alERC and pmERC volumes were associated with Craft story recall and Benson figure copy, but only alERC volume was associated with Craft story retention and semantic fluency. Neither alERC nor pmERC volume correlated with CSF levels of amyloid or tau, and regression analyses showed that alERC volume and CSF amyloid levels were independently associated with ModRey retention performance. Taken together, these results suggest that the alERC is important for memory performance and that alERC volume differences are related to a pattern of neuropsychological test performance (i.e., impairments in episodic memory and semantic fluency) typically seen in clinical Alzheimer's disease.

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前外侧内嗅皮层体积与临床未受损老年人的记忆保留有关

内嗅皮层细分为前外侧内嗅皮层 (alERC) 和后内侧内嗅皮层 (pmERC) 亚区，理论上它们支持不同的认知角色。这种区别尤其重要，因为 alERC 是受阿尔茨海默病病理和相关神经变性影响的最早的皮质区域之一。alERC/pmERC 与神经心理学测试表现的相关关联尚未得到检验。我们检查了 alERC/pmERC 量与以下方面的表现有何不同：1) 改良 Rey 听觉学习测试 (ModRey)，一种旨在评估正常/临床前人群的语言记忆测试，2) 蒙特利尔认知评估 (MoCA)，和 3)国家阿尔茨海默病协调中心神经心理学电池。我们还检查了 alERC/pmERC 体积是否与阿尔茨海默病脑脊液 (CSF) 生物标志物相关。在 65 名认知健康 (CDR = 0) 的老年人中，alERC 而不是 pmERC，体积与 ModRey 记忆保留相关。只有 alERC 体积在得分高于和低于 MoCA 损伤临界值的参与者之间存在差异。评估 MoCA 子域显示 alERC 与言语回忆特别相关。在国家阿尔茨海默氏症协调中心电池组中，alERC 和 pmERC 卷都与 Craft 故事回忆和 Benson 图复制相关，但只有 alERC 卷与 Craft 故事保留和语义流畅性相关。alERC 和 pmERC 体积均与 CSF 中的淀粉样蛋白或 tau 水平无关，回归分析表明，alERC 体积和脑脊液淀粉样蛋白水平与 ModRey 保留性能独立相关。总之，这些结果表明 alERC 对记忆能力很重要，并且 alERC 体积差异与临床阿尔茨海默病中常见的神经心理学测试表现模式（即情景记忆和语义流畅性受损）有关。