PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Honea, R. A.
AU  - Swerdlow, R. H.
AU  - Vidoni, E. D.
AU  - Goodwin, J.
AU  - Burns, J. M.
TI  - Reduced gray matter volume in normal adults with a maternal family history of Alzheimer disease
AID  - 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181c918cb
DP  - 2010 Jan 12
TA  - Neurology
PG  - 113--120
VI  - 74
IP  - 2
4099  - http://n.neurology.org/content/74/2/113.short
4100  - http://n.neurology.org/content/74/2/113.full
SO  - Neurology2010 Jan 12; 74
AB  - Objective: A consistently identified risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD) is family history of dementia, with maternal transmission significantly more frequent than paternal transmission. A history of maternal AD may be related to AD-like glucose consumption in cognitively healthy subjects. In this cross-sectional study, we tested whether cognitively healthy people with a family history of AD have less gray matter volume (GMV), an endophenotype for late-onset AD, than individuals with no family history, and whether decreases in GMV are different in subjects with a maternal family history. Methods: As part of the Kansas University Brain Aging Project, 67 cognitively intact individuals with a maternal history of late-onset AD (FHm, n = 16), a paternal history of AD (FHp, n = 8), or no parental history of AD (FH−, n = 43), similar in age, gender, education, and Mini-Mental State Examination score, were scanned at 3 T. We used voxel-based morphometry to examine GMV differences between groups, controlling for age, gender, and apoE4. Results: Cognitively healthy individuals with a family history of late-onset AD had significantly decreased GMV in the precuneus, middle frontal, inferior frontal, and superior frontal gyri compared with FH− individuals. FHm subjects had significantly smaller inferior frontal, middle frontal, precuneus, and lingual gyri compared with FH− and FHp subjects. Conclusions: Overall, maternal family history of Alzheimer disease (AD) in cognitively normal individuals is associated with lower gray matter volume in AD-vulnerable brain regions. These data complement and extend reports of cerebral metabolic differences in subjects with a maternal family history. AD=Alzheimer disease; BA=Brodmann area; CDR=Clinical Dementia Rating; FH+=parental family history of Alzheimer disease; FH−=no family history of Alzheimer disease; FHm=maternal family history of Alzheimer disease; FHp=paternal family history of Alzheimer disease; GMV=gray matter volume; mtDNA=mitochondrial DNA; TICV=total intracranial volume.