The hippocampus (HC), structure in the medial temporal lobe, is a unique brain region
involved in a number of functions - spatial and temporal orientation, stress and emotion
regulation, learning and memory, to name but a few. In recent years, development
in neuroimaging allows considerable researchers to delve human brain's structures and
functions in vivo, hippocampus in particular.
Currently, our society is aging and its longevity is associated with a number of diseases,
particularly linked to neurodegeneration. A significant number of aged individuals
decline cognitively - memory loss is highly prevalent and affects life quality of patients
and their loved ones. The hippocampus is a particularly interesting structure in the
context of aging and cognitive decline. Despite an overwhelming number of studies
about ageing and hippocampus, the precise processes underlying cognitive decline are
still not well understood. The question about the link between ageing and cognitive
impairment is crucial in order to understand influences of ageing.
In sum, the aim of this study was to assess the contribution of age-related HC structural
change in cognitive decline in a cross-sectional MRI study: the relationship between
episodic memory loss and the HC volume in old age. We assessed at first, the association
between the whole hippocampal structural changes along the aging and the episodic
memory decline. It is well known that HC volume is negatively correlated with age and
that the cognitive impairment appears also in the normal ageing. What is the
connection between these factors? What degree atrophy could be linked with normal
ageing, as well as cognitive decline? Dose the cognitive decline reflect an underlying
neuropathological change or a preclinical or undetected disease? The first purpose of
this study was to elucidate the relationship between age, hippocampal volumes and
cognitive performance.