Fig. 4

Cortical hypometabolism in education-based subgroups with respect to healthy volunteer control subjects (CTR). The whole patient group (n = 133) was divided into quartiles to obtain education-based subgroups: poorly educated (first quartile; Low-EDUC), average education level (second quartile; Average-EDUC), highly educated (High-EDUC; third quartile), and exceptionally educated (fourth quartile; Except-EDUC). All education-based subgroups were characterized by hypometabolism in Alzheimer’s disease-typical cortical regions with respect to CTR. However, the High-EDUC subgroup demonstrated a more extended hypometabolism (than the Low-Educ and Average-EDUC subgroups) involving a more extended hypometabolism in the left superior temporal and posterior cingulate cortices, in the right fusiform gyrus, and in the posterior parietal cortex and precuneus in both hemispheres. The Except-EDUC subgroup showed a cluster of significant hypometabolism including only the left posterior parietal cortex (larger with respect to Low- and Average-EDUC subgroups but not further extended with respect to the High-EDUC subgroup). See Table 6 for details on coordinates and z-scores. Other details are the same as in the Fig. 2 legend