Hippocampal pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: selective vulnerability of subfields and their associated projections

Abstract

Although hippocampal involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been consistently highlighted by postmortem studies, memory impairment remains under-recognized and the involvement of specific hippocampal subfields and their connectivity patterns are poorly characterized in\xa0vivo. A prospective multimodal neuroimaging study has been undertaken with 50 well-characterized ALS patients, 18 patients with Alzheimer s disease, and 40 healthy controls to evaluate their mesial temporal lobe profile. Patients with ALS and Alzheimer s disease have divergent hippocampal signatures. The cornu ammonis 2/3 subfield and the hippocampus-amygdala transition area are the most affected regions in ALS in contrast to Alzheimer s disease, where the presubiculum and subiculum are the most vulnerable regions. Tractography reveals considerable fornix and perforant pathway pathology in both patient groups. Mesial temporal lobe structures in ALS have a selective and disease-specific vulnerability profiles, and their white matter projections exhibit concomitant degeneration. Our combined gray and white matter analyses indicate a connectivity-based, network-defined involvement of interconnected temporal lobe structures as opposed to contiguous involvement of adjacent structures. Our findings underline the importance of screening for memory deficits and personalized management strategies in ALS.