What is medial temporal atrophy?
Abstract. Background: Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) is a sensitive radiologic marker for Alzheimer disease (AD) and associated with cognitive impairment. The value of MTA in the oldest old (>85 years old) is largely unknown.
What does atrophy of temporal lobe mean?
Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) Medial temporal lobe atrophy represents loss of volume in the hippocampal area. MTA is sensitive for Alzheimer’s disease but not specific; it can be found in other dementias as well [34].
What causes temporal lobe atrophy?
Sleep-wake rhythm fragmentation and medial temporal lobe atrophy increase with age. Sleep-wake rhythm fragmentation and medial temporal lobe atrophy are related. People with pronounced sleep-wake rhythm fragmentation show more atrophy.
Can an MRI show brain atrophy?
MRI scans use magnetic fields and focused radio waves to detect hydrogen atoms in tissues within the body. They can detect the same problems as CT scans but they are better for identifying certain conditions, such as brain atrophy and damage from small strokes or subtle ischemia.
What does the medial temporal lobe do?
The medial temporal lobe (MTL) includes the hippocampus, amygdala and parahippocampal regions, and is crucial for episodic and spatial memory. MTL memory function consists of distinct processes such as encoding, consolidation and retrieval.
What is mesial temporal sclerosis of the brain?
Mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) is a term used to describe scarring in the deep part of the temporal lobe of the brain. MTS is the most common cause of structural epilepsy and focal seizures in the temporal lobe.
What does the right temporal lobe control?
The temporal lobes are also believed to play an important role in processing affect/emotions, language, and certain aspects of visual perception. The non-dominant lobe, which is typically the right temporal lobe, is involved in learning and remembering non-verbal information (e.g. visuo-spatial material and music).
What are the symptoms of temporal lobe damage?
Damage to the temporal lobes can result in:
- Difficulty in understanding spoken words (Receptive Aphasia)
- Disturbance with selective attention to what we see and hear.
- Difficulty with identification and categorisation of objects.
- Difficulty learning and retaining new information.
- Impaired factual and long-term memory.
What does mild to moderate atrophy of the brain mean?
In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections between them. Atrophy can be generalized, which means that all of the brain has shrunk; or it can be focal, affecting only a limited area of the brain and resulting in a decrease of the functions that area of the brain controls.
What happens if the medial temporal lobe is damaged?
Damage to the hippocampal region and related medial temporal lobe structures (perirhinal, entorhinal, and parahippocampal cortices) impairs new learning (anterograde amnesia) as well as memory for information that was acquired before the damage occurred (retrograde amnesia).