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Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in the cholinergic pathway associated with cognitive performance in subjects with mild Alzheimer's disease after 12-week donepezil treatment
Li W, Antuono PG, Xie C, Chen G, Jones JL, Ward BD, Franczak MB, Goveas JS et al.. NeuroImage, 2012-01-08
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Plain-language summary
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), such as donepezil, have been shown to improve cognition in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. In this paper, our goal is to determine the relationship between altered cerebral blood flow (CBF) and intrinsic functional network connectivity changes in mild AD patients before and after 12-week donepezil treatment. An integrative neuroimaging approach was employed by combining pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) MRI and resting-state functional MRI (R-fMRI) methods to determine the changes in CBF and functional connectivity (FC) in the cholinergic pathway. Linear regression analyses determined the correlations of the regional CBF alterations and functional connectivity changes with cognitive responses. These were measured with the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scores and Alzheimer's disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) scores. Our results show that the regional CBF in mild AD subjects after donepezil treatment was significantly increased in the middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), which are the neural substrates of the medial cholinergic pathway. In both brain regions, the baseline CBF and its changes after treatment were significantly correlated with the behavioral changes in ADAS-cog scores. The intrinsic FC was significantly enhanced in the medial cholinergic pathway network in the brain areas of the parahippocampal, temporal, parietal and prefrontal cortices. Finally, the FC changes in the medial prefrontal areas demonstrated an association with the CBF level in the MCC and the PCC, and also were correlated with ADAS-cog score changes. These findings indicate that regional CBF and FC network changes in the medial cholinergic pathway were associated with cognitive performance. It also is suggested that the combined pCASL-MRI and R-fMRI methods could be used to detect regional CBF and FC changes when using drug treatments in mild AD subjects.
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APA 7th
Li, W., Antuono, P. G., Xie, C., Chen, G., Jones, J. L., Ward, B. D., et al. (2012). Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in the cholinergic pathway associated with cognitive performance in subjects with mild Alzheimer's disease after 12-week donepezil treatment. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.077
Vancouver
Li W, Antuono PG, Xie C, Chen G, Jones JL, Ward BD, et al. Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in the cholinergic pathway associated with cognitive performance in subjects with mild Alzheimer's disease after 12-week donepezil treatment. NeuroImage. 2012. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.077. PMID: 22245641.
BibTeX
@article{li2012-22245641,
author = {Li, W. and Antuono, P. G. and Xie, C. and Chen, G. and Jones, J. L. and Ward, B. D. and Franczak, M. B. and Goveas, J. S. and others},
title = {{Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in the cholinergic pathway associated with cognitive performance in subjects with mild Alzheimer's disease after 12-week donepezil treatment}},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.077},
pmid = {22245641},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.077}
}
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Key findings
- Our results show that the regional CBF in mild AD subjects after donepezil treatment was significantly increased in the middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), which are the neural substrates of the medial cholinergic pathway.
- In both brain regions, the baseline CBF and its changes after treatment were significantly correlated with the behavioral changes in ADAS-cog scores.
- The intrinsic FC was significantly enhanced in the medial cholinergic pathway network in the brain areas of the parahippocampal, temporal, parietal and prefrontal cortices.
- Finally, the FC changes in the medial prefrontal areas demonstrated an association with the CBF level in the MCC and the PCC, and also were correlated with ADAS-cog score changes.
- These findings indicate that regional CBF and FC network changes in the medial cholinergic pathway were associated with cognitive performance.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| 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 | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22245641) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 100 | — |
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