Hippocampal atrophy in the healthy is initially linear and independent of age.

Patients with minimal cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) have smaller hippocampal volumes (HV) and increased rates of HV loss (rHVL). A 6-year study was conducted to assess rHVL in healthy aging subjects (HC) in which four MRI scans, each 2 years apart, were obtained on 26 HC with a mean age of 58.8 years when entering the study.