1. Longitudinal Study of Impaired Intra- and Inter-Network Brain Connectivity in Subjects at High Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
- Author
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Yafeng Zhan, Yong Liu, Kaibin Xu, Jianhua Ma, Yue Cui, Qianjin Feng, Aaron Alexander-Bloch, and Tianzi Jiang
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Canada ,Longitudinal study ,Disease ,Neuropsychological Tests ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Alzheimer Disease ,Task-positive network ,Neural Pathways ,Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ,medicine ,Humans ,Cognitive Dysfunction ,Longitudinal Studies ,Default mode network ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Analysis of Variance ,General Neuroscience ,Disease progression ,Brain ,Cognition ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,United States ,Oxygen ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,030104 developmental biology ,Disease Progression ,Female ,Analysis of variance ,Geriatrics and Gerontology ,Alzheimer's disease ,Mental Status Schedule ,Psychology ,human activities ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with abnormal resting-state network (RSN) architecture of the default mode network (DMN), the dorsal attention network (DAN), the executive control network (CON), the salience network (SAL), and the sensory-motor network (SMN). However, little is known about the disrupted intra- and inter-network architecture in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Here, we employed a priori defined regions of interest to investigate the intra- and inter-network functional connectivity profiles of these RSNs in longitudinal participants, including normal controls (n = 23), participants with early MCI (n = 26), and participants with late MCI (n = 19). We found longitudinal alterations of functional connectivity within the DMN, where they were correlated with variation in cognitive ability. The SAL as well as the interaction between the DMN and the SAL were disrupted in MCI. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that longitudinal alterations of functional connectivity are more profound in earlier stages as opposed to later stages of the disease. The increased severity of cognitive impairment is associated with increasingly altered RSN connectivity patterns, suggesting that disruptions in functional connectivity may contribute to cognitive dysfunction and may represent a potential biomarker of impaired cognitive ability in MCI. Earlier prevention and treatment may help to delay disease progression to AD.
- Published
- 2016