Resting state glucose utilization and the CERAD cognitive battery in patients with Alzheimerʹs disease

The present study examined the cortical functional representation of neuropsychological domains in Alzheimerʹs disease (AD) using positron emission tomography (PET) and the neuropsychological assessment battery of the Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimerʹs Disease (CERAD). Thirty patients with clinical probable AD and 10 elderly healthy controls underwent 18FDG brain PET imaging during a resting state. Correlations between metabolic values and cognitive measures were determined using a region of interest analysis with NEUROSTAT (University of Michigan, USA) and a voxel-based analysis with SPM96 (Wellcome Department, London, UK). Specific correlations were seen between measures of episodic memory, verbal fluency and naming and left hemispheric temporal and prefrontal metabolism. Drawing was correlated with metabolism in left prefrontal and left inferior parietal regions. The presented data support the use of metabolic–cognitive correlations to demonstrate the neuronal substrates of cognitive impairment in AD. Subtests of the CERAD battery give a good representation of left, but not of right hemisphere function in AD.