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Cognitive Reserve Relates to Functional Network Efficiency in Alzheimer's Disease
Marina Weiler, Raphael Fernandes Casseb, Brunno Machado de Campos, Camila Vieira de Ligo Teixeira, Ana Flávia Mac Knight Carletti-Cassani, Jéssica Elias Vicentini, Thamires Naela Cardoso Magalhães, Débora Queiroz de Almeira et al.. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 2018-08-21
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, with no means of cure or prevention. The presence of abnormal disease-related proteins in the population is, in turn, much more common than the incidence of dementia. In this context, the cognitive reserve (CR) hypothesis has been proposed to explain the discontinuity between pathophysiological and clinical expression of AD, suggesting that CR mitigates the effects of pathology on clinical expression and cognition. fMRI studies of the human connectome have recently reported that AD patients present diminished functional efficiency in resting-state networks, leading to a loss in information flow and cognitive processing. No study has investigated, however, whether CR modifies the effects of the pathology in functional network efficiency in AD patients. We analyzed the relationship between CR, pathophysiology and network efficiency, and whether CR modifies the relationship between them. Fourteen mild AD, 28 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) due to AD, and 28 controls were enrolled. We used education to measure CR, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers to evaluate pathophysiology, and graph metrics to measure network efficiency. We found no relationship between CR and CSF biomarkers; CR was related to higher network efficiency in all groups; and abnormal levels of CSF protein biomarkers were related to more efficient networks in the AD group. Education modified the effects of tau-related pathology in the aMCI and mild AD groups. Although higher CR might not protect individuals from developing AD pathophysiology, AD patients with higher CR are better able to cope with the effects of pathology-presenting more efficient networks despite pathology burden. The present study highlights that interventions focusing on cognitive stimulation might be useful to slow age-related cognitive decline or dementia and lengthen healthy aging.
Key findings
- In this context, the cognitive reserve (CR) hypothesis has been proposed to explain the discontinuity between pathophysiological and clinical expression of AD, suggesting that CR mitigates the effects of pathology on clinical expression and cognition. fMRI studies of the human connectome have recently reported that AD patients present diminished functional efficiency in resting-state networks, leading to a loss in information flow and cognitive processing.
- We found no relationship between CR and CSF biomarkers; CR was related to higher network efficiency in all groups; and abnormal levels of CSF protein biomarkers were related to more efficient networks in the AD group.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
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 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, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Frontiers in aging neuroscience) |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 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 | — / 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 |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30186154) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 22 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Weiler, M., Casseb, R. F., de Campos, B. M., Teixeira, C. V. d. L., Carletti-Cassani, A. F. M. K., Vicentini, J. E., et al. (2018). Cognitive Reserve Relates to Functional Network Efficiency in Alzheimer's Disease. Frontiers in aging neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00255
Vancouver
Weiler M, Casseb RF, de Campos BM, Teixeira CVdL, Carletti-Cassani AFMK, Vicentini JE, et al. Cognitive Reserve Relates to Functional Network Efficiency in Alzheimer's Disease. Frontiers in aging neuroscience. 2018. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2018.00255. PMID: 30186154.
BibTeX
@article{weiler2018-30186154,
author = {Weiler, Marina and Casseb, Raphael Fernandes and de Campos, Brunno Machado and Teixeira, Camila Vieira de Ligo and Carletti-Cassani, Ana Flávia Mac Knight and Vicentini, Jéssica Elias and Magalhães, Thamires Naela Cardoso and de Almeira, Débora Queiroz and others},
title = {{Cognitive Reserve Relates to Functional Network Efficiency in Alzheimer's Disease}},
journal = {Frontiers in aging neuroscience},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.3389/fnagi.2018.00255},
pmid = {30186154},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00255}
}