Differential associations between entorhinal and hippocampal volumes and memory performance in older adults

Magnetic resonance imaging-derived entorhinal and hippocampal volumes were measured in 14 nondemented, community-dwelling older adults. Participants were selected so that memory scores from 2 years prior to scanning varied widely but were not deficient relative to age-appropriate norms. A median split of these memory scores defined high-memory and low-memory groups. Verbal memory scores at the time of imaging were lower, and entorhinal and hippocampal volumes were smaller, in the low-memory group than in the high-memory group. Left entorhinal cortex volume showed the strongest correlation (r = .79) with immediate recall of word lists. Left hippocampal volume showed the strongest correlation (r = .57) with delayed paragraph recall. These results suggest that entorhinal and hippocampal volumes are related to individual differences in dissociable kinds of memory performance among healthy older adults.