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Impaired cerebrovascular-cerebrospinal fluid coupling is associated with non-motor features of Lewy body disease
Ignatavicius, A.; Konuri, A.; Churchill, L.; Anderson, J.; Halliday, G. M.; Lewis, S. J.; Matar, E.. medRxiv (preprint), 2026-08-19
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Parkinsons disease and dementia with Lewy bodies patients both demonstrated weaker global BOLD-CSF coupling compared to controls, with no detectable difference between patient groups. Weaker coupling was associated with the severity of hallucinations and cognitive fluctuations, poorer nocturnal sleep quality and impaired attentional working memory, but not overall motor symptom burden. Our results provide preliminary evidence that disrupted temporal coordination between cerebrovascular activity and CSF inflow may contribute to the fluctuating neuropsychiatric features of Lewy body disorders and highlight the utility of BOLD-CSF coupling as a dynamic in vivo proxy of glymphatic function. Replication in larger cohorts incorporating multimodal imaging and biomarkers of pathology will be essential to validate these findings and determine whether brain-fluid dysregulation represents a potentially modifiable therapeutic target.
Key findings
- Parkinsons disease and dementia with Lewy bodies patients both demonstrated weaker global BOLD-CSF coupling compared to controls, with no detectable difference between patient groups.
- Weaker coupling was associated with the severity of hallucinations and cognitive fluctuations, poorer nocturnal sleep quality and impaired attentional working memory, but not overall motor symptom burden.
- Our results provide preliminary evidence that disrupted temporal coordination between cerebrovascular activity and CSF inflow may contribute to the fluctuating neuropsychiatric features of Lewy body disorders and highlight the utility of BOLD-CSF coupling as a dynamic in vivo proxy of glymphatic function.
- Replication in larger cohorts incorporating multimodal imaging and biomarkers of pathology will be essential to validate these findings and determine whether brain-fluid dysregulation represents a potentially modifiable therapeutic target.
Why it matters
People with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies showed weaker coordination between cerebrovascular activity and cerebrospinal fluid inflow than controls, and this was linked to hallucinations, cognitive fluctuations and poorer sleep. The authors describe this as preliminary evidence and call for replication in larger cohorts.
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Study details
- Participants39
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 26 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on impact for its field and year, so that was left out: it earned 24 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 26 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (medRxiv (preprint)) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| 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 | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 39 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| 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 | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Elie Matar: h-index 28 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Sydney: institution h-index 1,466 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 24 / 94 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 26 out of 100. |
| Total | 26 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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 names 7 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.
APA 7th
Ignatavicius, A., Konuri, A., Churchill, L., Anderson, J., Halliday, G. M., Lewis, S. J., et al. (2026). Impaired cerebrovascular-cerebrospinal fluid coupling is associated with non-motor features of Lewy body disease. medRxiv (preprint). https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.13.26353090
Vancouver
Ignatavicius A, Konuri A, Churchill L, Anderson J, Halliday GM, Lewis SJ, et al. Impaired cerebrovascular-cerebrospinal fluid coupling is associated with non-motor features of Lewy body disease. medRxiv (preprint). 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.05.13.26353090.
BibTeX
@article{ignatavicius2026-d2399b77,
author = {Ignatavicius, A. and Konuri, A. and Churchill, L. and Anderson, J. and Halliday, G. M. and Lewis, S. J. and Matar, E.},
title = {{Impaired cerebrovascular-cerebrospinal fluid coupling is associated with non-motor features of Lewy body disease}},
journal = {medRxiv (preprint)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.05.13.26353090},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.13.26353090}
}