Thalamic volume loss as an early sign of amnestic mild cognitive impairment

•Thalamic volume loss could be an early sign of poorcognitiveperformance in aMCI.•Thalamic volume loss might predate the atrophy of amygdala.•Amygdala volume is the least sensitive for differentiation of dementia stages. The aim of this study was to compare brain volume reduction in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) with age-related changes in age- and gender-matched healthy individuals. Sixty-six patients were divided in three groups based on medical history, neurological and neurocognitive assessment: 26 patients with AD, 20 patients with aMCI and 20 healthy controls. All participants underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging on 3 T unit. MR volumetry of cerebral cortex, white matter and lateral ventricles volumes, as well as volumes of subcortical nuclei (hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus) was performed. Global cerebral and grey matter volumes were lower in AD patients compared to aMCI (p = 0.023 and p = 0.001, respectively) and controls (p