Aberrant functional organization within and between resting-state networks in AD

PLoS One. 2013 May 7;8(5):e63727. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063727. Print 2013.

Abstract

Altered functional characteristics have been reported in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD); nonetheless, comprehensive analyses of the resting-state networks (RSNs) are rare. This study combined multiple imaging modalities to investigate the functional and structural changes within each RSN and between RSNs in aMCI/AD patients. Eight RSNs were identified from functional MRI data from 35 AD, 18 aMCI and 21 normal control subjects using independent component analysis. We compared functional connectivity (FC) within each RSN and found decreased FC in the several cognitive-related RSNs in AD, including the bilateral precuneus of the precuneus network, the posterior cingulate cortex and left precuneus of the posterior default mode network (DMN), and the left superior parietal lobule of the left frontoparietal network (LFP). We further compared the grey matter volumes and amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuations of these regions and found decreases in these measures in AD. Importantly, we found decreased inter-network connectivity between the visual network and the LFP and between the anterior and posterior DMNs in AD. All indices in aMCI patients were numerically between those of controls and AD patients. These results suggest that the brain networks supporting complex cognitive processes are specifically and progressively impaired over the course of AD, and the FC impairments are present not only within networks but also between networks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology
  • Alzheimer Disease / physiopathology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Demography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Nerve Net / pathology
  • Nerve Net / physiopathology*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Organ Size
  • Rest / physiology*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 11JCZDJC19300), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 program, No. 2011CB707801), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81271551, 60831004, 30900476), and the International Cooperation and Exchanges NSFC (No. 30370434). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.