This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Abstract
Patients with chronic hypercortisolemia due to Cushing's syndrome (CS) exhibit cognitive
dysfunction. Because glucocorticoid excess is associated with hippocampal damage in
animals, and the hippocampus participates in learning and memory, we explored the
relationships between hippocampal formation (HF) volume, memory dysfunction, and cortisol
levels in 12 patients with CS. After magnetic resonance imaging, HF volume was determined
using digital sum of track ball traces of dentate gyrus, hippocampus proper and subiculum,
correcting for total intracranial volume. For 27% of the patients, HF volume fell
outside the 95% confidence intervals for normal subject volume given in the literature.
In addition, there were significant and specific correlations between HF volume and
scores for verbal paired associate learning, verbal recall, and verbal recall Corrected
for fullscale IQ (r = 0.57 to 0.70, p < 0.05). HF volume was negatively correlated
with plasma cortisol levels (r = −0.73, p < 0.05). These studies suggest an association
between reduced HF volume, memory dysfunction, and elevated cortisol in patients with
CS.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Biological PsychiatryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Abnormal cortisol response in Alzheimer's disease linked to hippocampal atrophy.Lancet. 1988; 2: 391-392
- Early marker for Alzheimer's disease: The atrophic hippocampus (Letter to the Editor).Lancet. 1989; : 391-392
- Anterior temporal lobes and hippocampal formations: Normative volumetric measurements.Radiology. 1989; 172: 549-554
- MR imaging-based volume measurements of the hippocampal formation and anterior temporal lobe: Validation studies.Radiology. 1990; 176: 205-209
- The brain as a target for steroid hormone action.Annu Rev Neurosci. 1979; 2: 65-112
- High incidence of cortical atrophy of the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres in Cushing's disease.Radiology. 1971; 99: 341-348
- Hippocampal abnormalities in amnesic patients revealed by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.Nature. 1989; 341: 54-57
- Relationships between brain CT scan findings and cortisol in psychotic and nonpsychotic depressed patients.Biol Psychiatry. 1989; 26: 565-575
- A multiple scoring method for the assessment of complex memory functions.J Consult Clin Psychol. 1975; 43: 800-809
- Stress, glucocorticoids, and their role in degenerative changes in the aging hippocampus.in: Crook T. Bartus R. Ferris S. Gershon S. Treatment Development Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease. Mark Powley, Madison, CT1986
- Hippocampal damage associated with prolonged glucocorticoid exposure in primates.J Neurosci. 1990; 10: 2897-2902
- Autoradiographic localization of glucocorticoid and progesterone binding sites in the human post-mortem brain.J Steroid Biochem. 1986; 25: 717-721
- Neuropsychological deficits in Cushing's Syndrome.J Nerv Ment Dis. 1980; 168: 753-757
Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
July 13,
1992
Received:
May 15,
1991
Footnotes
☆This work was supported by ADAMHA grant R0-1-MH43372 to Monica N. Starkman and NIH GCRC MO 1 RR 0042.
Identification
Copyright
© 1992 Published by Elsevier Inc.
