Home › Research › Brain scans and imaging
Functional connectivity in dementia with Lewy bodies: A within- and between-network analysis
Julia Schumacher, Luis R Peraza, Michael Firbank, Alan J Thomas, Marcus Kaiser, Peter Gallagher, John T O'Brien, Andrew M Blamire et al.. Human brain mapping, 2017-11-29
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common form of dementia and is characterized by cognitive fluctuations, visual hallucinations, and Parkinsonism. The phenotypic expression of the disease may, in part, relate to alterations in functional connectivity within and between brain networks. This resting-state study sought to clarify this in DLB, how networks differed from Alzheimer's disease (AD), and whether they were related to clinical symptoms in DLB. Resting-state networks were estimated using independent component analysis. We investigated functional connectivity changes in 31 DLB patients compared to 31 healthy controls and a disease comparator group of 29 AD patients using dual regression and FSLNets. Within-network connectivity was generally decreased in DLB compared to controls, mainly in motor, temporal, and frontal networks. Between-network connectivity was mainly intact; only the connection between a frontal and a temporal network showed increased connectivity in DLB. Differences between AD and DLB were subtle and we did not find any significant correlations with the severity of clinical symptoms in DLB. This study emphasizes the importance of reduced connectivity within motor, frontal, and temporal networks in DLB with relative sparing of the default mode network. The lack of significant correlations between connectivity measures and clinical scores indicates that the observed reduced connectivity within these networks might be related to the presence, but not to the severity of motor and cognitive impairment in DLB patients. Furthermore, our results suggest that AD and DLB may show more similarities than differences in patients with mild disease.
Key findings
- We investigated functional connectivity changes in 31 DLB patients compared to 31 healthy controls and a disease comparator group of 29 AD patients using dual regression and FSLNets.
- Within-network connectivity was generally decreased in DLB compared to controls, mainly in motor, temporal, and frontal networks.
- Differences between AD and DLB were subtle and we did not find any significant correlations with the severity of clinical symptoms in DLB.
- The lack of significant correlations between connectivity measures and clinical scores indicates that the observed reduced connectivity within these networks might be related to the presence, but not to the severity of motor and cognitive impairment in DLB patients.
- Furthermore, our results suggest that AD and DLB may show more similarities than differences in patients with mild disease.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →
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 (Human brain mapping) |
| 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 29193464) |
| 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 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Schumacher, J., Peraza, L. R., Firbank, M., Thomas, A. J., Kaiser, M., Gallagher, P., et al. (2018). Functional connectivity in dementia with Lewy bodies: A within- and between-network analysis. Human brain mapping. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23901
Vancouver
Schumacher J, Peraza LR, Firbank M, Thomas AJ, Kaiser M, Gallagher P, et al. Functional connectivity in dementia with Lewy bodies: A within- and between-network analysis. Human brain mapping. 2018. doi:10.1002/hbm.23901. PMID: 29193464.
BibTeX
@article{schumacher2018-29193464,
author = {Schumacher, Julia and Peraza, Luis R and Firbank, Michael and Thomas, Alan J and Kaiser, Marcus and Gallagher, Peter and O'Brien, John T and Blamire, Andrew M and others},
title = {{Functional connectivity in dementia with Lewy bodies: A within- and between-network analysis}},
journal = {Human brain mapping},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1002/hbm.23901},
pmid = {29193464},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23901}
}
Related studies in Brain scans and imaging
Also tagged “connectivity”
187 studies in the library carry the topic tag “connectivity”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 187 tagged studies.