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59/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 59 out of 100. How common it is

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Much is known concerning AD pathophysiology but our understanding of the disease at the systems level remains incomplete. Previous AD research has used resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI) to assess the integrity of functional networks within the brain. Most studies have focused on the default-mode network (DMN), a primary locus of AD pathology. However, other brain regions are inevitably affected with disease progression. We studied rs-fcMRI in five functionally defined brain networks within a large cohort of human participants of either gender (n = 510) that ranged in AD severity from unaffected [clinical dementia rating (CDR) 0] to very mild (CDR 0.5) to mild (CDR 1). We observed loss of correlations within not only the DMN but other networks at CDR 0.5. Within the salience network (SAL), increases were seen between CDR 0 and CDR 0.5. However, at CDR 1, all networks, including SAL, exhibited reduced correlations. Specific networks were preferentially affected at certain CDR stages. In addition, cross-network relations were consistently lost with increasing AD severity. Our results demonstrate that AD is associated with widespread loss of both intranetwork and internetwork correlations. These results provide insight into AD pathophysiology and reinforce an integrative view of the brain's functional organization.

Key findings

We observed loss of correlations within not only the DMN but other networks at CDR 0.5.
Our results demonstrate that AD is associated with widespread loss of both intranetwork and internetwork correlations.
These results provide insight into AD pathophysiology and reinforce an integrative view of the brain's functional organization.

Why it matters

This imaging study found that as Alzheimer's disease severity increased, connections within and between brain networks were lost, with changes appearing even at the very mild stage. It describes how the disease affects brain networks over its course but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Alzheimer's in numbers →

Study details

Participants510
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 59/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Journal of Neuroscience: journal h-index 651 (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	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	1 / 5	2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	510 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	6 / 7	Cited 597 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	37.3 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 20.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 18 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 103 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Beau M. Ances: h-index 81 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22745490)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	59 / 100	—

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Read the original

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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

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APA 7th

Brier, M. R., Thomas, J. B., Snyder, A. Z., Benzinger, T. L., Zhang, D., Raichle, M. E., et al. (2012). Loss of intranetwork and internetwork resting state functional connections with Alzheimer's disease progression. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5698-11.2012

Vancouver

Brier MR, Thomas JB, Snyder AZ, Benzinger TL, Zhang D, Raichle ME, et al. Loss of intranetwork and internetwork resting state functional connections with Alzheimer's disease progression. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2012. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5698-11.2012. PMID: 22745490.

BibTeX

@article{brier2012-22745490,
  author  = {Brier, M. R. and Thomas, J. B. and Snyder, A. Z. and Benzinger, T. L. and Zhang, D. and Raichle, M. E. and Holtzman, D. M. and Morris, J. C. and others},
  title   = {{Loss of intranetwork and internetwork resting state functional connections with Alzheimer's disease progression}},
  journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1523/jneurosci.5698-11.2012},
  pmid    = {22745490},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5698-11.2012}
}

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