Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease
Identifying and Mapping Connectivity Patterns of Brain Network Hubs in Alzheimer's Disease
复制标题
识别和绘制阿尔茨海默氏病大脑网络中枢的连接模式
DOI：
10.1093/cercor/bhu246
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发表时间：
2015-10-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
He, Yong
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dai, Zhengjia;Yan, Chaogan;He, Yong
阿尔茨海默病（AD）不仅与区域灰质损伤有关，而且与脑区域之间的功能整合异常有关。本研究采用静息状态功能磁共振成像数据和基于体素的图论分析，系统研究了32例AD患者和38例健康对照（hc）的全脑网络内在功能连接模式。我们发现，AD选择性地针对大脑网络高度连接的中枢区域（就节点功能连接强度而言），包括内侧和外侧前额叶和顶叶皮层、脑岛和丘脑。这种损伤是连接距离依赖的（欧几里得），最显著的破坏出现在远程连接（例如100-130毫米）。此外，AD还破坏了默认模式、突出和执行控制模块之间的功能连接，以及突出和执行控制模块之间的连接。这些中枢连通性和模块完整性的破坏与患者的认知表现显著相关。最后，后内侧皮层的节点连接强度在区分AD和hc个体方面表现出高度的区分能力。综上所述，我们的研究结果强调了AD相关的特定脑中枢退化，从而为AD连接功能障碍的病理生理机制提供了新的见解，并表明将网络中枢连接作为诊断生物标志物的潜力。
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.