Cognitive Impairment And Alteration Of Cerebral Grey Matter Density In COPD Patients: A MRI Study

Objective This study investigates the cognitive styles of cognitive impairment and the change of grey matter density in the stable COPD patients,and to further explore the relationship between grey matter density change and cognitive impairment.Methods From June 2014 to June 2016,25 patients with COPD in stationary period were recruited,setting control group with 26 normal person.psychometric tests,MRI,pulmonary function tests and blood tests were performed in two groups.With the analysis of the difference in gray matter density between two groups based on VBM,this paper further carries out relative research.Results Compared to healthy controls,the COPD patients had lower scores on the MMSE(Mini-mental State Examination),MoCA(Montreal Cognitive Assessment),DS(Digit Span),DST(Digit Symbol Test),TMA(Trail Making Test-A),and TMB(Trail Making Test-B).The VBM result showed that the grey matter density of the right supramarginal gyrus,inferior parietal lobule and right cerebellum are significantly lower than the heathy controls.The grey matter density of the right cerebellum was positively correlated with the scores of MoCA and Digit Span Backward test.Conclusions Patients with COPD in stationary period are mainly characterized by NonAmnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment,and manifested executive dysfunction.Reduced density of the gray matter in the brains of those people with COPD in stationary period has a solid connection to their cognitive disorder.Moreover,MRI is a useful tool for the diagnosis and the prognosis of cognitive disorder in those people with COPD.