Home › Research › Mild cognitive impairment
Cerebral quantitative susceptibility mapping predicts amyloid-β-related cognitive decline
Ayton S, Fazlollahi A, Bourgeat P, Raniga P, Ng A, Lim YY, Diouf I, Farquharson S et al.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2017-08-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
See Derry and Kent (doi:10.1093/awx167) for a scientific commentary on this article.The large variance in cognitive deterioration in subjects who test positive for amyloid-β by positron emission tomography indicates that convergent pathologies, such as iron accumulation, might combine with amyloid-β to accelerate Alzheimer's disease progression. Here, we applied quantitative susceptibility mapping, a relatively new magnetic resonance imaging method sensitive to tissue iron, to assess the relationship between iron, amyloid-β load, and cognitive decline in 117 subjects who underwent baseline magnetic resonance imaging and amyloid-β positron emission tomography from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle study (AIBL). Cognitive function data were collected every 18 months for up to 6 years from 100 volunteers who were either cognitively normal (n = 64) or diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (n = 17) or Alzheimer's disease (n = 19). Among participants with amyloid pathology (n = 45), higher hippocampal quantitative susceptibility mapping levels predicted accelerated deterioration in composite cognition tests for episodic memory [β(standard error) = -0.169 (0.034), P = 9.2 × 10-7], executive function [β(standard error) = -0.139 (0.048), P = 0.004), and attention [β(standard error) = -0.074 (0.029), P = 0.012]. Deteriorating performance in a composite of language tests was predicted by higher quantitative susceptibility mapping levels in temporal lobe [β(standard error) = -0.104 (0.05), P = 0.036] and frontal lobe [β(standard error) = -0.154 (0.055), P = 0.006]. These findings indicate that brain iron might combine with amyloid-β to accelerate clinical progression and that quantitative susceptibility mapping could be used in combination with amyloid-β positron emission tomography to stratify individuals at risk of decline.
Key findings
- See Derry and Kent (doi:10.1093/awx167) for a scientific commentary on this article.The large variance in cognitive deterioration in subjects who test positive for amyloid-β by positron emission tomography indicates that convergent pathologies, such as iron accumulation, might combine with amyloid-β to accelerate Alzheimer's disease progression.
- These findings indicate that brain iron might combine with amyloid-β to accelerate clinical progression and that quantitative susceptibility mapping could be used in combination with amyloid-β positron emission tomography to stratify individuals at risk of decline.
Why it matters
Among people with amyloid in the brain, higher levels of iron in the hippocampus, measured by a special MRI method, predicted faster cognitive decline. This suggests iron may combine with amyloid to speed progression, but it does not show that reducing iron helps patients.
Study details
- Participants64
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 57/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Brain: journal h-index 503 (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 | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 64 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 281 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 25.5 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 19.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 9 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 78 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Ashley Ian Bush: h-index 140 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Melbourne: institution h-index 1,342 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28899019) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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. 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
Ayton, S., Fazlollahi, A., Bourgeat, P., Raniga, P., Ng, A., Lim, Y. Y., et al. (2017). Cerebral quantitative susceptibility mapping predicts amyloid-β-related cognitive decline. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awx137
Vancouver
Ayton S, Fazlollahi A, Bourgeat P, Raniga P, Ng A, Lim YY, et al. Cerebral quantitative susceptibility mapping predicts amyloid-β-related cognitive decline. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2017. doi:10.1093/brain/awx137. PMID: 28899019.
BibTeX
@article{ayton2017-28899019,
author = {Ayton, S. and Fazlollahi, A. and Bourgeat, P. and Raniga, P. and Ng, A. and Lim, Y. Y. and Diouf, I. and Farquharson, S. and others},
title = {{Cerebral quantitative susceptibility mapping predicts amyloid-β-related cognitive decline}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awx137},
pmid = {28899019},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awx137}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
9 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Mild cognitive impairment
Also tagged “classification”
835 studies in the library carry the topic tag “classification”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 835 tagged studies.