Different susceptibility of medial temporal lobe and basal ganglia atrophy rates to vascular risk factors

Atrophy of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and basal ganglia (BG) are characteristic of various neurodegenerative diseases in older people. In search of potentially modifiable factors that lead to atrophy in these structures, we studied the association of vascular risk factors with atrophy of the MTL and BG in 368 nondemented men and women (born, 1907-1935) who participated in the Age, Gene/Environment, Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. A fully automated segmentation pipeline estimated volumes of the MTL and BG from whole-brain magnetic resonance imaging performed at baseline and 2.4 years later. Linear regression models showed higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures and the presence of Apo E ε4 were independently associated with increased atrophy of the MTL but no association of vascular risk factors with atrophy of the BG. The different susceptibility of MTL and BG atrophy to the vascular risk factors suggests perfusion of the BG is relatively preserved when vascular risk factors are present.