Hippocampal and entorhinal cortex volume decline in cognitively intact elderly.

Studying the distribution and chronological sequence of brain morphological changes that occur in normal aging is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying these alterations and for distinguishing them from pathological processes. Whether the hippocampal formation is subjected to or spared from age-related shrinkage still remains controversial. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to assess hippocampal and entorhinal morphology in two population-based cognitively unimpaired cohorts (aged 53-55 years and 73-75 years, respectively) matched for gender, education, handedness, and apolipoprotein E status.