Hypofunction in the posterior cingulate gyrus correlates with disorientation for time and place in Alzheimer’s disease
- Nobutsugu Hironoa,
- Etsuro Moria,
- Kazunari Ishiib,
- Yoshitaka Ikejiria,
- Toru Imamuraa,
- Tatsuo Shimomuraa,
- Mamoru Hashimotoa,
- Hikari Yamashitaa,
- Masahiro Sasakib
- aDepartment of Clinical Neurosciences, bDepartment of Neuroimaging Research, Hyogo Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Saisho-ko, Himeji, Japan
- Dr Nobutsugu Hirono, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Hyogo Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, 520 Saisho-ko, Himeji, 670 Japan. Telephone 0081 792 95 5511; fax 0081 792 95 8199; email hirono{at}hiabcd.gojp
- Received 22 May 1997
- Revised 11 September 1997
- Accepted 25 September 1997
Abstract
The relation between orientation for time and place and regional cerebral glucose metabolism was examined in 86 patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease of minimal to moderate severity. Regional glucose metabolic rates in the posterior cingulate gyri and in the right middle temporal gyrus were significantly correlated with temporal orientation, and the glucose metabolic rate in the right posterior cingulate gyrus was significantly correlated with locational orientation irrespective of age, sex, education, and memory impairment. The results suggest that dysfunction of these structures plays an important part in producing disorientation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
