Home › Research › Brain scans and imaging
Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease
Dai Z, Yan C, Li K, Wang Z, Wang J, Cao M, Lin Q, Shu N et al.. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2014-10-19
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated not only with regional gray matter damages, but also with abnormalities in functional integration between brain regions. Here, we employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and voxel-based graph-theory analysis to systematically investigate intrinsic functional connectivity patterns of whole-brain networks in 32 AD patients and 38 healthy controls (HCs). We found that AD selectively targeted highly connected hub regions (in terms of nodal functional connectivity strength) of brain networks, involving the medial and lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, insula, and thalamus. This impairment was connectivity distance-dependent (Euclidean), with the most prominent disruptions appearing in the long-range connections (e.g., 100-130 mm). Moreover, AD also disrupted functional connections within the default-mode, salience and executive-control modules, and connections between the salience and executive-control modules. These disruptions of hub connectivity and modular integrity significantly correlated with the patients' cognitive performance. Finally, the nodal connectivity strength in the posteromedial cortex exhibited a highly discriminative power in distinguishing individuals with AD from HCs. Taken together, our results emphasize AD-related degeneration of specific brain hubs, thus providing novel insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of connectivity dysfunction in AD and suggesting the potential of using network hub connectivity as a diagnostic biomarker.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Dai, Z., Yan, C., Li, K., Wang, Z., Wang, J., Cao, M., et al. (2015). Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991). https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu246
Vancouver
Dai Z, Yan C, Li K, Wang Z, Wang J, Cao M, et al. Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991). 2015. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu246. PMID: 25331602.
BibTeX
@article{dai2015-25331602,
author = {Dai, Z. and Yan, C. and Li, K. and Wang, Z. and Wang, J. and Cao, M. and Lin, Q. and Shu, N. and others},
title = {{Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease}},
journal = {Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1093/cercor/bhu246},
pmid = {25331602},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu246}
}
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.
Key findings
- We found that AD selectively targeted highly connected hub regions (in terms of nodal functional connectivity strength) of brain networks, involving the medial and lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, insula, and thalamus.
- These disruptions of hub connectivity and modular integrity significantly correlated with the patients' cognitive performance.
- Taken together, our results emphasize AD-related degeneration of specific brain hubs, thus providing novel insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of connectivity dysfunction in AD and suggesting the potential of using network hub connectivity as a diagnostic biomarker.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)) |
| 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 | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 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 25331602) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 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.
Related studies in Brain scans and imaging
Also tagged “mapping”
3 studies in the library carry the topic tag “mapping”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 3 tagged studies.