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Abnormal salience network in normal aging and in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease
He X, Qin W, Liu Y, Zhang X, Duan Y, Song J, Li K, Jiang T et al.. Human brain mapping, 2013-11-12
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
The salience network (SN) serves to identify salient stimuli and to switch between the central executive network (CEN) and the default-mode network (DMN), both of which are impaired in Alzheimer's disease (AD)/amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). We hypothesized that both the structural and functional organization of the SN and functional interactions between the SN and CEN/DMN are altered in normal aging and in AD/aMCI. Gray matter volume (GMV) and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) were analyzed from healthy younger (HYC) to older controls (HOC) and from HOC to aMCI and AD patients. All the SN components showed significant differences in the GMV, intranetwork FC, and internetwork FC between the HYC and HOC. Most of the SN components showed differences in the GMV between the HOC and AD and between the aMCI and AD. Compared with the HOC, AD patients exhibited significant differences in intra- and internetwork FCs of the SN, whereas aMCI patients demonstrated differences in internetwork FC of the SN. Most of the GMVs and internetwork FCs of the SN and part of the intranetwork FC of the SN were correlated with cognitive differences in older subjects. Our findings suggested that structural and functional impairments of the SN may occur as early as in normal aging and that functional disconnection between the SN and CEN/ DMN may also be associated with both normal aging and disease progression.
Key findings
- All the SN components showed significant differences in the GMV, intranetwork FC, and internetwork FC between the HYC and HOC.
- Compared with the HOC, AD patients exhibited significant differences in intra- and internetwork FCs of the SN, whereas aMCI patients demonstrated differences in internetwork FC of the SN.
- Our findings suggested that structural and functional impairments of the SN may occur as early as in normal aging and that functional disconnection between the SN and CEN/ DMN may also be associated with both normal aging and disease progression.
Why it matters
This study found structural and functional changes in the salience network in normal aging and in people with amnestic MCI and Alzheimer's disease. It describes brain changes associated with the disease but does not test any treatment or prevention.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Human brain mapping) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Human Brain Mapping: journal h-index 271 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 213 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 15.2 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 40 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Chunshui Yu: h-index 79 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Chinese Academy of Sciences: institution h-index 1,801 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24222384) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
He, X., Qin, W., Liu, Y., Zhang, X., Duan, Y., Song, J., et al. (2014). Abnormal salience network in normal aging and in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Human brain mapping. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22414
Vancouver
He X, Qin W, Liu Y, Zhang X, Duan Y, Song J, et al. Abnormal salience network in normal aging and in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Human brain mapping. 2014. doi:10.1002/hbm.22414. PMID: 24222384.
BibTeX
@article{he2014-24222384,
author = {He, X. and Qin, W. and Liu, Y. and Zhang, X. and Duan, Y. and Song, J. and Li, K. and Jiang, T. and others},
title = {{Abnormal salience network in normal aging and in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Human brain mapping},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1002/hbm.22414},
pmid = {24222384},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22414}
}
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