From analyzing the large dataset of brain scans, the researchers also identified several brain regions where structural changes were strongly associated with the disease.

Notably, volume loss in the hippocampus, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex were among the strongest indicators of Alzheimer’s disease across age and sex groups.

The hippocampus plays a key role in memory and learning, the amygdala regulates emotions, and the entorhinal cortex is involved in memory, navigation, and perception, and among the first parts of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Interestingly, researchers also found that individuals aged 69 to 76, the youngest group studied, commonly showed volume loss in the right hippocampus, suggesting this region may serve as an early biomarker for the disease.

Medical News Today spoke with Dung Trinh, MD, internist for the MemorialCare Medical Group and chief medical officer of the Healthy Brain Clinic in Irvine, CA, about the possible role of the right hippocampus.

“The paper points to the hippocampus as one of the earliest and most consistently structures in Alzheimer’s affecting memory, with rapid tissue loss occurring early in the disease process,” Trinh told us.

“In this dataset, the 69 to 76 age group showed substantial right hippocampal volume decreases, which likely means that this region was sensitive to subtle early-stage neuro degeneration before more widespread cortical changes became dominant,” he detailed.

“I would frame it as a promising signal rather than a definitive standalone biomarker because the study is still based on one cohort and internal validation only,” noted Trinh.