Distinct Changes in Functional Connectivity in Posteromedial Cortex Subregions during the Progress of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which causes dementia, especially in the elderly. The posteromedial cortex (PMC), which consists of several subregions involved in distinct functions, is one of the critical regions associated with the progression and severity...

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Published in:Frontiers in neuroanatomy 2016-04, Vol.10, p.41-41
Main Authors: Wu, Yan, Zhang, Yaqin, Liu, Yong, Liu, Jieqiong, Duan, Yunyun, Wei, Xuehu, Zhuo, Junjie, Li, Kuncheng, Zhang, Xinqin, Yu, Chunshui, Wang, Jiaojian, Jiang, Tianzi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer’s disease
Automation
Brain research
Cognitive ability
Cortex (cingulate)
Cortex (parietal)
Dementia
Dementia disorders
functional connectivity
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Geriatrics
Laboratories
Memory
network
Neural networks
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neuroimaging
Neuroscience
posteromedial cortex
Psychiatry
Science
Subregions
Therapeutic applications
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Summary:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which causes dementia, especially in the elderly. The posteromedial cortex (PMC), which consists of several subregions involved in distinct functions, is one of the critical regions associated with the progression and severity of AD. However, previous studies always ignored the heterogeneity of the PMC and focused on one stage of AD. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we studied the respective alterations of each subregion within the PMC along the progression of AD. Our data set consisted of 21 healthy controls, 18 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 17 patients with mild AD (mAD), and 18 patients with severe AD (sAD). We investigated the functional alterations of each subregion within the PMC in different stages of AD. We found that subregions within the PMC have differential vulnerability in AD. Disruptions in functional connectivity began in the transition area between the precuneus and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and then extended to other subregions of the PMC. In addition, each of these subregions was associated with distinct alterations in the functional networks that we were able to relate to AD. Our research demonstrated functional changes within the PMC in the progression of AD and may elucidate potential biomarkers for clinical applications.
ISSN:1662-5129
1662-5129
DOI:10.3389/fnana.2016.00041