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Research

27,380 Alzheimer's and dementia studies in plain English, each scored out of 100.

Find studies

Showing 1–25 of 203 studies in Brain scans and imaging (page 1 of 9) · 27,380 in the whole library · How the 0–100 score works

Showing 203 studies tagged imaging — clear

Browse by subject, author or institution

Each number is how many studies that link shows, with your other filters kept.

Other subjects

Authors

Names as each record prints them; the same person can appear under two spellings.

Institutions

From OpenAlex; 12,859 studies have no institution on record and are not counted here.

What “Brain scans and imaging” covers

Brain scans and imaging — MRI, PET and other scans: what they show, how early, and how reliably.

A note on reading research. One study is rarely the final word.

We try to note the size of a study, whether it was in humans or animals, and how early-stage the finding is. If a summary here doesn't make that clear, treat it with extra caution and check the original source.

Spatial patterns of neuroimaging biomarker change in individuals from families with autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 77 out of 100. The Lancet. Neurology 2018-02-01

We found a sequence to pathological changes, with rates of Aβ deposition in mutation carriers being significantly different from those in non-carriers first (across regions that showed a significant difference, at a mean of 18·9 years [SD 3·3] before expected onset), followed by hypometabolism (14·1 years [5·1] before expected onset), and lastly structural decline (4·7 years [4·2] before expected onset). 2 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 346 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Brain and blood metabolite signatures of pathology and progression in Alzheimer disease: A targeted metabolomics study

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 73 out of 100. PLoS medicine 2018-01-25

We found that distinct sphingolipid species including sphingomyelin (SM) with acyl residue sums C16:0, C18:1, and C16:1 (SM C16:0, SM C18:1, SM C16:1) and hydroxysphingomyelin with acyl residue sum C14:1 (SM (OH) C14:1) were consistently associated with severity of AD pathology at autopsy and AD progression across prodromal and preclinical stages. 5 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 44 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Association Between Elevated Brain Amyloid and Subsequent Cognitive Decline Among Cognitively Normal Persons

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 73 out of 100. JAMA 2017-06-01

Among the 445 participants (243 with normal amyloid, 202 with elevated amyloid), mean (SD) age was 74.0 (5.9) years, mean education was 16.4 (2.7) years, and 52% were women. 2 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 243 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

The Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative (ADNI): MRI methods

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 72 out of 100. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2008-02-26

The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is a longitudinal multisite observational study of healthy elders, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease. 5 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Random Forest Algorithm for the Classification of Neuroimaging Data in Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 68 out of 100. Frontiers in aging neuroscience 2017-10-06

Twelve articles-published between the 2007 and 2017-have been included in this systematic review after a quantitative and qualitative selection. 4 key findings →

Design: systematic review Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

The cortical signature of prodromal AD: regional thinning predicts mild AD dementia

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 67 out of 100. Neurology 2008-12-24

Thinning in specific cortical areas known to be affected by Alzheimer disease (AD) is detectable in individuals with questionable AD dementia (QAD) and predicts conversion to mild AD dementia. 3 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 49 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

[11C]PIB in a nondemented population: potential antecedent marker of Alzheimer disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 66 out of 100. Neurology 2006-08-01

Longitudinal studies will be required to determine the association of elevated [(11)C]PIB binding and risk of developing dementia of the Alzheimer type. 2 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Full text may need a subscription

Functional network integrity presages cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 66 out of 100. Neurology 2017-06-07

In clinically normal older adults, lower functional connectivity predicted more rapid decline in PACC scores over time, particularly when coupled with increased Aβ burden. 2 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 237 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Microglial activation in early Alzheimer trajectory is associated with higher gray matter volume

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 65 out of 100. Neurology 2019-02-22

In this in vivo study, we have demonstrated that microglial activation quantified using [ 11 C]PBR28 PET was associated with higher gray matter volume and higher hippocampal volume in patients with MCI. 4 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 55 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

The metabolic brain signature of cognitive resilience in the 80+: beyond Alzheimer pathologies

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 64 out of 100. Brain : a journal of neurology 2019-04-01

Our main findings were: (i) FDG-PET uptake in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex and anterior temporal pole was associated with baseline global cognition in cognitively stable 80+ (the resilience signature); (ii) established Alzheimer's disease imaging biomarkers did not predict baseline global cognition in this subset of participants; (iii) in the full MCSA 80+ and ADNI cohorts, amyloid burden and FDG-PET in the resilience signature were the stronger predictors of baseline global cognition; (iv) sex and systemic vascular health predicted FDG-PET in the resilience signature, suggesting vascular health maintenance as a potential pathway to preserve the metabolism of these areas; and (v) the resilience signature provided significant information about global longitudinal cognitive change even when considering amyloid status in both the MCSA and ADNI cohorts. 1 key finding →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 192 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Longitudinal β-Amyloid Deposition and Hippocampal Volume in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease and Suspected Non-Alzheimer Disease Pathophysiology

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 64 out of 100. JAMA neurology 2016-10-01

Among the 174 participants (81 men [46.6%]; 93 women [53.4%]; mean [SD] age, 65.7 [8.9] years), a proportion (14%-17%) of individuals with neurodegeneration alone (SNAP) later demonstrated Aβ+. 1 key finding →

Design: cohort study Participants: 174 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimer's disease with Pittsburgh Compound‐B

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 63 out of 100. Annals of Neurology 2004-01-21

This report describes the first human study of a novel amyloid-imaging positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, termed Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB), in 16 patients with diagnosed mild AD and 9 controls. 3 key findings →

Participants: 16 Evidence: low

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Full text may need a subscription

Resting bold fMRI differentiates dementia with Lewy bodies vs Alzheimer disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 62 out of 100. Neurology 2011-04-27

Changes in functional connectivity in DLB indicate patterns of activation that are distinct from those seen in AD and may improve discrimination of DLB from AD and cognitively normal individuals. 3 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 88 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

The AddNeuroMed framework for multi-centre MRI assessment of Alzheimer's disease: experience from the first 24 months

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 61 out of 100. International journal of geriatric psychiatry 2011-01-01

A framework for multi-centre MRI studies of Alzheimer's disease has been established consisting of a harmonized MRI acquisition protocol across centres, rigorous QC at both the sites and central data analysis hub and an automated image analysis pipeline. 4 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 378 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Full text may need a subscription

An automated labeling system for subdividing the human cerebral cortex on MRI scans into gyral based regions of interest

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 61 out of 100. NeuroImage 2006-03-14

In this study, researchers assessed the validity and reliability of an automated labeling system developed to subdivide the human cerebral cortex on magnetic resonance images into gyral based regions of interest. 3 key findings →

Evidence: low

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Full text may need a subscription

Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Assessment of Brain Iron Level in Alzheimer Disease Using 3-T MRI

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 60 out of 100. Radiology 2020-06-30

Iron concentration in the deep gray matter and neocortical regions was higher in patients with Alzheimer disease than in healthy control participants. 3 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 100 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Full text may need a subscription

11C PiB and structural MRI provide complementary information in imaging of Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 60 out of 100. Brain 2008-02-07

Interestingly, we found no consistent differences in learning and memory performance between high versus low PiB cognitively normal or amnestic MCI subjects. 5 key findings →

Evidence: low

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

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Where “Free full text” comes from

Free full text links and the Full text may need a subscription label come from Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex records of free copies, checked 10 Oct 2026. A study with neither is unknown, not paywalled. Show only studies that are free to read

How the 0–100 score works — and why some entries are capped

This is alzhub's own score. It is not an official metric, not an impact factor, and no journal, publisher or ranking body endorses it. We built it so that a reader who is not a scientist can tell a landmark trial from a conference abstract without having to already know the difference. Every point comes from one of 20 components, all of them printed on the study itself, so you can disagree with our arithmetic rather than having to trust the total.

  • Journal tier up to 10 pts
  • Journal's citation record up to 4 pts
  • Study design up to 12 pts
  • Strength of evidence up to 5 pts
  • Peer-review validation up to 10 pts
  • How recent up to 5 pts
  • Sample size up to 4 pts
  • Effect reported up to 3 pts
  • Studied in people up to 3 pts
  • Randomised / blinded up to 2 pts
  • Times cited up to 7 pts
  • Citations per year up to 5 pts
  • Impact for its field and year up to 6 pts
  • Cited by studies here up to 6 pts
  • Still being cited up to 4 pts
  • Senior author's track record up to 4 pts
  • Institution's track record up to 3 pts
  • Multi-centre collaboration up to 3 pts
  • Indexed in PubMed up to 2 pts
  • Free to read up to 2 pts

Journals are placed in ordered tiers, never given a numeric impact factor — we could not verify current impact factors from a source we control, and an invented one would be worse than none. Tier 1 is the top-tier general journals (NEJM, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, Science, Nature Medicine); tier 2 is the leading specialty journals; tier 3 is every other peer-reviewed journal. A separate part scores how much the journal's own papers are cited, which tells the tier-3 journals apart.

Two rules we don't bend. First, we never fill in a missing value: if a record does not state a sample size or a design, that component scores zero, and if we simply have no data for a part, such as a citation count, that part is left out and the study is scored on the parts we could check. The study card says which. Second, anything that is not a peer-reviewed article is capped at 16/100 and carries a warning chip — so a conference abstract or a company press release can never outrank a peer-reviewed paper, no matter how good it looks.

We rank a rigorous null result — a good trial showing that something does not work — above an early positive finding. Someone deciding whether to buy a supplement is served by that, and the rigour is already counted by the design and journal components.

The score is computed from the published data alone and is reproducible: the same file always yields the same numbers.

See the whole rubric drawn out → — four charts covering all 27,380 studies: how the scores are spread and where the cap bites, which of the 20 components the library is strong and weak on, which subjects rest on stronger evidence, and what kinds of study each subject is actually built from.

What this library is — and isn't

This is a large sample of the Alzheimer's literature, not an exhaustive index of it. It holds 27,380 records, built mostly from automated pulls of Europe PMC (60.6% of the library) and OpenAlex (18.6%), plus smaller pulls from PubMed, Crossref and medRxiv. If a study, a drug, or a finding isn't here, that is not evidence it doesn't exist in the literature — it may simply not have been pulled in yet.

1,032 records (3.8% of the library) are not peer-reviewed — 962 of those are preprints posted before any journal review, and the rest are conference abstracts, regulatory notices and reports. Every study card on this page states its status plainly, and the score above is capped for anything that isn't a peer-reviewed article.

See the full, machine-readable breakdown of this library's coverage →

Newest studies, as a dated timeline →    Atom feed