使用一种独特的三维(3D)成像技术来评估了20例因为轻度认知障碍接受核磁共振(MRI)扫描的患者，California大学Los Angeles分校(UCLA; USA)的研究人员发现海马体积较小的患者确实面临发生痴呆的危险。

　　帮助临床医生鉴别轻度解剖异常的技术，能够被用于任何引起海马的病变，例如痴呆、 癫痫、和海马硬化。根据UCLA研究人员的发现，检测能够预测认知功能下降，能够帮助患者咨询、治疗计划编制和治疗决策。

　　该研究发表在2006年5月的《神经病学档案》之上。

　　Size of Hippocampus Linked to Alzheimer’s
 
　　Researchers are trying to test the hypothesis that the hippocampus, the brain region that processes memory, is smaller in patients with mild cognitive impairment who develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and that it is larger in patients with mild cognitive impairment who experience cognitive stability or improvement.

　　Utilizing unique three-dimensional (3D) mapping techniques to assess magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment,the researchers, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA; USA) discovered that the patients with the smaller hippocampus did, in actuality, face an increased risk of developing dementia.

　　The method helps clinicians identify slight anatomic differences and can be applied to any disease affecting the hippocampus such as other forms of dementia, epilepsy, and hippocampal sclerosis. Approaches such as this for predicting cognitive decline, according to the UCLA investigators, hold great potential for patient counseling, advanced planning, and therapeutic decision-making.

　　The study was published in the May 2006 issue of the journal Archives of Neurology.