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Differences between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies: an fMRI study of task-related brain activity
Sauer J, ffytche DH, Ballard C, Brown RG, Howard R.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2006-05-02
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
We investigated whether previously reported differences between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in resting occipital activity lead to activation differences within functionally specialized visual cortical areas and deactivation differences in the default network. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 10; 5 male), DLB (n = 9; 4 male) and controls (n = 13; 5 male) performed three functional MRI (fMRI) scanning experiments involving visual colour, face or motion stimuli. Reaction time or accuracy in DLB and Alzheimer's disease differed significantly from controls but not between patient groups, with the exception of accuracy in the face task (DLB DLB P = 0.05; Alzheimer's disease > controls P = 0.14) and the motion task (DLB < Alzheimer's disease P = 0.031 and DLB < control P = 0.048). However, these differences could be explained by behavioural performance, failing to reach significance in the ANCOVA analysis. In the default network, group deactivation differences between controls and both patient groups were found for the colour and motion task (colour: control < Alzheimer's disease P = 0.02; control < DLB P = 0.019; motion: control < Alzheimer's disease P = 0.118; control < DLB P = 0.118) but could be accounted for by behavioural performance. The results suggest that cognitive fMRI can be used to detect both performance-dependent and performance-independent differences between Alzheimer's disease and DLB, reflecting the distribution of functional pathology in the two conditions.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Sauer, J., ffytche, D. H., Ballard, C., Brown, R. G., & Howard, R. (2006). Differences between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies: an fMRI study of task-related brain activity. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl102
Vancouver
Sauer J, ffytche DH, Ballard C, Brown RG, Howard R. Differences between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies: an fMRI study of task-related brain activity. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2006. doi:10.1093/brain/awl102. PMID: 16670180.
BibTeX
@article{sauer2006-16670180,
author = {Sauer, J. and ffytche, D. H. and Ballard, C. and Brown, R. G. and Howard, R.},
title = {{Differences between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies: an fMRI study of task-related brain activity}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awl102},
pmid = {16670180},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl102}
}
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Key findings
- Reaction time or accuracy in DLB and Alzheimer's disease differed significantly from controls but not between patient groups, with the exception of accuracy in the face task (DLB < Alzheimer's disease; P = 0.038).
- The results suggest that cognitive fMRI can be used to detect both performance-dependent and performance-independent differences between Alzheimer's disease and DLB, reflecting the distribution of functional pathology in the two conditions.
Why it matters
Using fMRI tasks, this small study found differences in brain activity between Alzheimer disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, but many differences could be explained by behavioural performance. It concerns using cognitive fMRI to detect differences between dementias, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 42/100
Published in a leading specialty 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 senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 42 out of 100.
| 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 | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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 106 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.8 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | King's College London: institution h-index 1,348 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16670180) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 40 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 42 out of 100. |
| Total | 42 / 100 | — |
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Also tagged “bodies”
1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.