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53/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Getting a diagnosis

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Imaging has played a variety of roles in the study of Alzheimer disease (AD) over the past four decades. Initially, computed tomography (CT) and then magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used diagnostically to rule out other causes of dementia. More recently, a variety of imaging modalities including structural and functional MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) studies of cerebral metabolism with fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) and amyloid tracers such as Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) have shown characteristic changes in the brains of patients with AD, and in prodromal and even presymptomatic states that can help rule-in the AD pathophysiological process. No one imaging modality can serve all purposes as each have unique strengths and weaknesses. These modalities and their particular utilities are discussed in this article. The challenge for the future will be to combine imaging biomarkers to most efficiently facilitate diagnosis, disease staging, and, most importantly, development of effective disease-modifying therapies.

Key findings

Initially, computed tomography (CT) and then magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used diagnostically to rule out other causes of dementia.
More recently, a variety of imaging modalities including structural and functional MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) studies of cerebral metabolism with fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) and amyloid tracers such as Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) have shown characteristic changes in the brains of patients with AD, and in prodromal and even presymptomatic states that can help rule-in the AD pathophysiological process.
No one imaging modality can serve all purposes as each have unique strengths and weaknesses.
These modalities and their particular utilities are discussed in this article.
The challenge for the future will be to combine imaging biomarkers to most efficiently facilitate diagnosis, disease staging, and, most importantly, development of effective disease-modifying therapies.

Why it matters

This review describes how imaging has been used in Alzheimer's disease, first with CT and MRI to rule out other causes of dementia and more recently with structural and functional MRI and PET studies of cerebral metabolism and amyloid tracers such as Pittsburgh Compound-B, which show characteristic changes in prodromal and even presymptomatic states. It states that no one imaging modality can serve all purposes and that the future challenge is to combine imaging biomarkers to facilitate diagnosis, disease staging and development of effective disease-modifying therapies.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 53/100

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. We have no data on impact for its field and year, so that was left out: it earned 50 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine: journal h-index 197 (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	2012 — 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	6 / 7	Cited 873 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	5 / 5	54.6 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	4 / 6	Cited by 30 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 157 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author William E. Klunk: h-index 108 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	3 / 3	Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22474610)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	50 / 94	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 50 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100.
Total	53 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Johnson, K. A., Fox, N. C., Sperling, R. A., & Klunk, W. E. (2012). Brain imaging in Alzheimer disease. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a006213

Vancouver

Johnson KA, Fox NC, Sperling RA, Klunk WE. Brain imaging in Alzheimer disease. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2012. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a006213. PMID: 22474610.

BibTeX

@article{johnson2012-22474610,
  author  = {Johnson, K. A. and Fox, N. C. and Sperling, R. A. and Klunk, W. E.},
  title   = {{Brain imaging in Alzheimer disease}},
  journal = {Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1101/cshperspect.a006213},
  pmid    = {22474610},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a006213}
}

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