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61/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 61 out of 100. Brain scans and imaging

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

It is not known exactly where amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrils begin to accumulate in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, we showed that abnormal levels of Aβ42 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be detected before abnormal amyloid can be detected using PET in individuals with preclinical AD. Using these approaches, here we identify the earliest preclinical AD stage in subjects from the ADNI and BioFINDER cohorts. We show that Aβ accumulation preferentially starts in the precuneus, medial orbitofrontal, and posterior cingulate cortices, i.e., several of the core regions of the default mode network (DMN). This early pattern of Aβ accumulation is already evident in individuals with normal Aβ42 in the CSF and normal amyloid PET who subsequently convert to having abnormal CSF Aβ42. The earliest Aβ accumulation is further associated with hypoconnectivity within the DMN and between the DMN and the frontoparietal network, but not with brain atrophy or glucose hypometabolism. Our results suggest that Aβ fibrils start to accumulate predominantly within certain parts of the DMN in preclinical AD and already then affect brain connectivity.

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APA 7th

Palmqvist, S., Schöll, M., Strandberg, O. T., Mattsson, N., Stomrud, E., Zetterberg, H., et al. (2017). Earliest accumulation of β-amyloid occurs within the default-mode network and concurrently affects brain connectivity. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01150-x

Vancouver

Palmqvist S, Schöll M, Strandberg OT, Mattsson N, Stomrud E, Zetterberg H, et al. Earliest accumulation of β-amyloid occurs within the default-mode network and concurrently affects brain connectivity. Nature Communications. 2017. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01150-x. PMID: 29089479.

BibTeX

@article{palmqvist2017-29089479,
  author  = {Palmqvist, Sebastian and Schöll, Michael and Strandberg, Olof T. and Mattsson, Niklas and Stomrud, Erik and Zetterberg, Henrik and Blennow, Kaj and Landau, Susan M. and Jagust, William J. and Hansson, Oskar},
  title   = {{Earliest accumulation of β-amyloid occurs within the default-mode network and concurrently affects brain connectivity}},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year    = {2017},
  doi     = {10.1038/s41467-017-01150-x},
  pmid    = {29089479},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01150-x}
}

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 names 10 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Why it matters

Using data from the ADNI and BioFINDER cohorts, the authors report that amyloid buildup in the earliest stage of preclinical Alzheimer's disease starts mainly in parts of the brain's default mode network. This early buildup was associated with weaker connectivity in this network, but not with brain shrinkage or lower glucose use.

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How this study scored 61/100

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 strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 58 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 61 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature Communications)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Nature Communications: journal h-index 747 (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	— / 5	No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score
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	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 915 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	5 / 5	83.2 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017
Impact for its field and year	6 / 6	Cited 41.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	4 / 4	Cited 347 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Oskar Hansson: h-index 148 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29089479)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Points	58 / 95	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 58 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 61 out of 100.
Total	61 / 100	—

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