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Early detection of dementia with default-mode network effective connectivity
Sam Ereira, Sheena Waters, Adeel Razi, Charles R Marshall. Nature. Mental health, 2024-06-06
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Altered functional connectivity precedes structural brain changes and symptoms in dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the largest contributor to dementia at the population level, and disrupts functional connectivity in the brain's default-mode network (DMN). We investigated whether a neurobiological model of DMN effective connectivity could predict a future dementia diagnosis at the single-participant level. We applied spectral dynamic causal modeling to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in a nested case-control group from the UK Biobank, including 81 undiagnosed individuals who developed dementia up to nine years after imaging, and 1,030 matched controls. Dysconnectivity predicted both future dementia incidence (AUC = 0.82) and time to diagnosis (R = 0.53), outperforming models based on brain structure and functional connectivity. We also evaluated associations between DMN dysconnectivity and major risk factors for dementia, revealing strong relationships with polygenic risk for Alzheimer's disease and social isolation. Neurobiological models of effective connectivity may facilitate early detection of dementia at population level, supporting rational deployment of targeted dementia-prevention strategies.
Key findings
- We investigated whether a neurobiological model of DMN effective connectivity could predict a future dementia diagnosis at the single-participant level.
- We applied spectral dynamic causal modeling to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in a nested case-control group from the UK Biobank, including 81 undiagnosed individuals who developed dementia up to nine years after imaging, and 1,030 matched controls.
- Dysconnectivity predicted both future dementia incidence (AUC = 0.82) and time to diagnosis (R = 0.53), outperforming models based on brain structure and functional connectivity.
- We also evaluated associations between DMN dysconnectivity and major risk factors for dementia, revealing strong relationships with polygenic risk for Alzheimer's disease and social isolation.
- Neurobiological models of effective connectivity may facilitate early detection of dementia at population level, supporting rational deployment of targeted dementia-prevention strategies.
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Study details
- Study designcase-control study
- Effect sizeAUC = 0.82
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 66/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a case-control study. Scored zero for sample size, 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 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 66 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature. Mental health) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 6 / 12 | A case-control study |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 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 | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| 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 41716754) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 37 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 66 out of 100. |
| Total | 66 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Ereira, S., Waters, S., Razi, A., & Marshall, C. R. (2024). Early detection of dementia with default-mode network effective connectivity. Nature. Mental health. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00259-5
Vancouver
Ereira S, Waters S, Razi A, Marshall CR. Early detection of dementia with default-mode network effective connectivity. Nature. Mental health. 2024. doi:10.1038/s44220-024-00259-5. PMID: 41716754.
BibTeX
@article{ereira2024-41716754,
author = {Ereira, Sam and Waters, Sheena and Razi, Adeel and Marshall, Charles R},
title = {{Early detection of dementia with default-mode network effective connectivity}},
journal = {Nature. Mental health},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1038/s44220-024-00259-5},
pmid = {41716754},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00259-5}
}
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