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Mapping progressive brain structural changes in early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment
Apostolova LG, Thompson PM.. Neuropsychologia, 2007-12-14
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly, ranks third in health care cost after heart disease and cancer. Given the disproportionate aging of the population in all developed countries, the socio-economic impact of AD will continue to rise. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional state between normal aging and dementia, carries a four- to sixfold increased risk of future diagnosis of dementia. As complete drug-induced reversal of AD symptoms seems unlikely, researchers are now focusing on the earliest stages of AD where a therapeutic intervention is likely to realize the greatest impact. Recently neuroimaging has received significant scientific consideration as a promising in vivo disease-tracking modality that can also provide potential surrogate biomarkers for therapeutic trials. While several volumetric techniques laid the foundation of the neuroimaging research in AD and MCI, more precise computational anatomy techniques have recently become available. This new technology detects and visualizes discrete changes in cortical and hippocampal integrity and tracks the spread of AD pathology throughout the living brain. Related methods can visualize regionally specific correlations between brain atrophy and important proxy measures of disease such as neuropsychological tests, age of onset or factors that may influence disease progression. We describe extensively validated cortical and hippocampal mapping techniques that are sensitive to clinically relevant changes even in the single individual, and can identify group differences in epidemiological studies or clinical treatment trials. We give an overview of some recent neuroimaging advances in AD and MCI and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the various analytic approaches.
Key findings
- Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional state between normal aging and dementia, carries a four- to sixfold increased risk of future diagnosis of dementia.
- Recently neuroimaging has received significant scientific consideration as a promising in vivo disease-tracking modality that can also provide potential surrogate biomarkers for therapeutic trials.
Why it matters
This review describes how computational anatomy techniques can detect discrete changes in cortical and hippocampal integrity and track the spread of Alzheimer's pathology in the living brain, and notes that mild cognitive impairment carries a four- to sixfold increased risk of future dementia. It presents neuroimaging as a promising disease-tracking modality and potential surrogate biomarker for trials, but tests no treatment.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
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.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychologia) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Neuropsychologia: journal h-index 321 (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 | 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 | 2008 — 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 144 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.2 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 18 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Paul M. Thompson: h-index 193 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, Los Angeles: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18395760) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.026
- PubMed: 18395760
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Apostolova, L. G., & Thompson, P. M. (2008). Mapping progressive brain structural changes in early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.026
Vancouver
Apostolova LG, Thompson PM. Mapping progressive brain structural changes in early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia. 2008. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.026. PMID: 18395760.
BibTeX
@article{apostolova2008-18395760,
author = {Apostolova, L. G. and Thompson, P. M.},
title = {{Mapping progressive brain structural changes in early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment}},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.026},
pmid = {18395760},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.026}
}
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