Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Brain imaging techniques in the diagnosis of dementia

  • Published:
Neuropsychology Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Various recently developed brain imaging techniques used to assist in the diagnosis of dementia are reviewed. The methods reviewed are x-ray computed tomography scan imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and the older techniques of pneumoencephalography and radioisotope cisternography. It was concluded that while these techniques often offer excellent diagnostic information, none of them provides a definitive characteristic image for Alzheimer's disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alavi, A., Ferris, S., Wolf, A., Reivich, M., Farkas, T., Dann, R., Christman, D., MacGregor, R. R., and Fowler, J. (1981). Determination of cerebral metabolism in senile dementia using F-18-deoxyglucose and positron emission tomography.J. Nuclear Med. 21: 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, J. C., Rougemont, D., Soussaline, F., Bustany, P., Crouzel, C., Bousser, M. G., and Comar, D. (1984). Local interrelationships of cerebral oxygen consumption and glucose utilization in normal subjects and in ischemic stroke patients: A positron tomography study.J. Cerebral Blood Flow Metab. 4: 140–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, D. F. (1985). Hydrocephalic dementia. In J. A. M. Frederiks (Ed.),Handbook of Clinical Neurology (2nd ed.): Neurobehavioural Disorders (Vol. 2). Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, D. F., Cummings, J. L., and Tsai, S. Y. (1982). Angular gyrus syndrome simulating Alzheimer's disease.Arch. Neurol. 39: 616–620.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benson, D. F., Kuhl, D. E., Hawkins, R. A., Phelps, M. E. Cummings, J. L., and Tsai, S. Y. (1983). The fluorodeoxyglucose18F scan in Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia.Arch. Neurol. 40: 711–714.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benson, D. F., LeMay, M., Patten, D. H., and Rubens, A. B. (1970). Diagnosis of normal-pressure hydrocephalus.N. Engl. J. Med. 283: 609–615.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Besson, J. A. O., Corrigan, F. M., Foreman, E. I., Ashcroft, G. W., Eastwood, L. M., and Smith, F. W. (1983). Differentiating senile dementia of the Alzheimer type and multiinfarct dementia by proton NMR imaging.Lancet 2: 789.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, P. M. (1980). Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.J. Neurosurg. 52: 371–377.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bondareff, W., Baldy, R., and Levy, R. (1981). Quantitative computed tomography in senile dementia.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 38: 1365–1368.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, L. R., and Schoene, W. C. (1978). Clinical features of subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy (Binswanger disease).Neurology 28: 1206–1215.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, J. L., and Benson, D. F. (1983).Dementia: A Clinical Approach. Butterworths, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, J. L., Benson, D. F., and LoVerme, S., Jr. (1980). Reversible dementia: Illustrative cases, definition, and review.JAMA 243: 2434–2439.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeLeon, M. J., Ferris, S. H., and Blau, I. (1979). Correlations between computerized tomographic changes and behavioral deficits in senile dementia.Lancet 2: 859–860.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earnest, M. P., Heaton, R. K., Wilkinson, W. E., and Marke, W. F. (1979). Cortical atrophy, ventricular enlargement and intellectual impairment in the aged.Neurology 29: 1138–1143.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erkinjuntti, T., Sipponen, J. T., Iivanainen, M., Ketonen, L., Sulkava, R., and Sepponen, R. E. (1984). Cerebral NMR and CT imaging in dementia.J. Comput. Assist. Tomog. 8: 614–618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, S. H., DeLeon, M. J., Wolf, S. P., Farkas, T., Christman, D. R., Reisberg, B., Fowler, J. S., MacGregor, R., Goldman, A., George, A. E., and Rampal, S. (1980). Positron emission tomography in the study of aging and senile dementia.Neurobiol. Aging 1: 127–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, C. V., and White, S. (1981). Computerized axial tomograms and dementia in elderly patients.J. Gerontol. 36: 164–169.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foster, N. L., Chase, T. N., Fedio, P., Patronas, N. J., Brooks, R. A., and DiChiro, G. (1983). Alzheimer's disease: Focal cortical changes shown by positron emission tomography.Neurology 33: 961–965.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frackowiak, R. S. J., Lenzi, G. L., Jones, T., and Heather, J. D. (1980). Quantitative measurements of regional cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism in man using 150 and positron emission tomography.J. Comput. Assist. Tomog. 4: 727–736.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadjusek, D. C., Gibbs, C. J., Asher, D. M., Brown, P., Diwan, A., Hoffman, P., Nemo, G., Rohwer, R., and White, L. (1977). Precautions in medical care of handling materials from patients with transmissible virus dementia (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).N. Engl. J. Med. 297: 1253–1258.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gado, M., Hughes, C. P., Danziger, W., Chi, D., Jost, G., and Berg, L. (1982). Volumetric measurements of the cerebrospinal fluid spaces in demented subjects and controls.Radiology 144: 535–538.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • George, A. E., DeLeon, M., Ferris, S. H., and Kircheff, I. (1981). Parenchymal CT correlates of senile dementia (Alzheimer's disease): Loss of gray-white discriminability.Am. J. Neuroradiol. 2: 205–213.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Go, K. G., and Edzes, H. T. (1975). Water in brain edema: Observations by the pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance technique.Arch. Neurol. 32: 462–465.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Go, K. G., Dijk, P. V., Luiten, A. L., Herwijnen, A. A. B., Ijsbrand, C. L. V., Kamman, R. L., Vencken, L. M., Wilmink, J., and Berendsen, H. J. C. (1983). Interpretations of nuclear magnetic resonance tomograms of the brain.J. Neurosurg. 58: 574–584.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, W. D., Pawlik, R., Wagner, R., Ilsen, H. W., Herholz, K., and Wienhard, K. (1983). Functional hypometabolism of noninfarcted brain regions in ischemic stroke.J. Cerebral Blood Flow Metab. 3 (Suppl. 1): S582-S583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, E. J., van der Stee, M., Ricci, A. R., and Phelps, M. E. (1984). Prospects for both precision and accuracy in positron emission tomography.Ann. Neurol. 15 (Suppl.): S25-S34.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, S. L., Benson, D. F., Kuhl, D. E., and Cummings, J. L. (1982). FDG PET scan to confirm Jakob-Creutzfeldt diagnosis.Neurology 32: A167.

  • Hughes, C. P., and Gado, M. (1981). Computed tomography and aging of the brain.Radiology 139: 391–396.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, P. L., and Farmer, T. W. (1979). The hypernormal CT scan in dementia: Bilateral isodense subdural hematomas.Neurology 29: 1522–1524.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Katzman, R. (1976). The prevalence and malignancy of Alzheimer's disease.Arch. Neurol. 33: 216–218.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Katzman, R. (1977). Normal pressure hydrocephalus. In C. E. Wells (Ed.),Dementia (2nd ed.). Davis, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, D. E. (1984). Imaging local brain function with emission computed tomography.Radiology 150: 625–631.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, D. E., Metter, E. J., and Reige, W. H. (1985). Patterns of cerebral glucose utilization in depression, multiple infarct dementia and Alzheimer's disease. In L. Sokoloff (Ed.),Brain Imaging and Brain Function. Raven, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, D. E., Phelps, M. E., Markham, C. H., Metter, E. J., Riege, W. H., and Winter, J. (1982). Cerebral metabolism and atrophy in Huntington's disease determined by18FDG and computed tomographic scan.Ann. Neurol. 12: 425–434.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, D. E., Phelps, M. E., Markham, C., Winter, D., Metter, E. J., and Riege, W. (1981). Local cerebral glucose metabolism in Huntington's disease determined by emission computed tomography of18F-fluorodeoxyglucose.J. Cerebral Blood Flow Metab. 1(Suppl. 1): S459-S460.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeMay, M., and New, P. F. G. (1970). Radiological diagnosis of occult normal-pressure hydrocephalus.Radiology 96: 347–358.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lying-Tunell, U. (1977). Cerebrospinal fluid turnover and convexity block in mental impairment: A controlled prospective study.Neurology 27: 460–470.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsden, C. D., and Harrison, M. J. G. (1972). Outcome of investigation of patients with presenile dementia.Br. Med. J. 2: 249–252.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazziotta, J. C., Phelps, M. E., and Carson, R. E. (1984). Tomographic mapping of human metabolism: Subcortical responses to auditory and visual stimulation.Neurology 34: 825–828.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Metter, E. J., Hanson, W. R., Kuhl, D. E., and Phelps, M. E. (1983). In R. H. Brookshire (Ed.),Clinical Aphasiology Conference Prodeedings. BRK, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metter, E. J., Riege, W. H., Benson, D. F., Kuhl, D. E., and Phelps, M. E. (1986). Patterns of regional cerebral glucose metabolism in Alzheimer's disease patients. In S. T. Hutton (Ed.),Fifth Tarbox Parkinson's Disease Symposium: The Norman Rockwell Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. Liss, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metter, E. J., Wasterlain, C. G., Kuhl, D. E., Hanson, W. R., and Phelps, M. E. (1981).18FDG positron emission computed tomography in the study of aphasia.Annals of Neurology 10: 173–183.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naeser, M. A., Gebhardt, C., and Levine, H. L. (1980). Decreased computerized tomography numbers in patients with presenile dementia.Arch. Neurol. 37: 401–409.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patten, D. H., and Benson, D. F. (1968). Diagnosis of normal-pressure hydrocephalus by RISA cisternography.J. Nuclear Med. 9: 457–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, M. E., Huang, S. C., Hoffman, E. J., Selin, C., Sokoloff, L., and Kuhl, D. E. (1979). Tomographic measurement of local cerebral glucose metabolism in humans with (F-18)-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose: Validation of method.Ann. Neurol. 6: 371–388.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, M. E., Mazziotta, J. C., and Huang, S. C. (1982). Review study of cerebral function with positron computed tomography.J. Cerebral Blood Flow Metab. 2: 113–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roos, R., Gadjusek, D. C., and Gibbs, C. J., Jr. (1973). The clinical characteristics of transmissible Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.Brain 96: 1–20.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenburg, G. A., Kornfeld, M., Stovring, J., and Bicknell, J. M. (1979). Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy (Binswanger): Computerized tomography.Neurology 29: 1102–1106.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Soininen, H., Puranen, R., and Riekkinen, P. J. (1982). Computer tomography findings in senile dementia and normal aging.J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat. 45: 50–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ter-Pogossian, M. M., Phelps, M. E., Hoffman, E. J., and Mullani, N. A. (1975). A positron-emission transaxial tomograph for nuclear imaging (PETT).Radiology 114: 89–98.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Terrence, C. F., Delaney, J. F., and Alberts, M. C. (1977). Computed tomography for Huntington's disease.Neuroradiology 13: 173–175.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, CN19, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 08903, New Brunswick, New Jersey

    Artiss L. Powell

  2. Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, 90024-1769, Los Angeles, California

    D. Frank Benson

Authors
  1. Artiss L. Powell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Frank Benson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Powell, A.L., Benson, D.F. Brain imaging techniques in the diagnosis of dementia. Neuropsychol Rev 1, 3–19 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01108856

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01108856

Key words

Search

Navigation