Interestingly, our present findings show that there were
no significant differences of hippocampal volumes between
mild-to-moderate and severe COPD groups. One
possible explanation is that the cumulative loss of neurons
and their connections results in hippocampal atrophy in
the early stage of the disease, while the structural change
converts to the functional deterioration in the later stage.
In addition, as we investigated the associations between
hippocampal volume and cognitive function in COPD
groups, we found that the hippocampal volume is positively
correlated with cognitive ability in mild-to-moderate