Correlation transfer function analysis as a biomarker for Alzheimer brain plasticity using longitudinal resting-state
Doaa Mousa1, Nourhan Zayed2,3, Inas A Yassine4
1Computers and Systems Department, Electronics Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt. doaa_mousa@eri.sci.eg.
Scientific Reports
|December 6, 2023
Summary
This study reveals how brain connectivity changes over time in Alzheimer's disease (AD) stages. It identifies specific brain network alterations, offering new biomarkers for tracking disease progression and understanding neural plasticity in AD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Longitudinal changes in brain functional connectivity are not well understood in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- Neural plasticity, the brain's ability to change, is fundamental but its dynamic alterations in AD remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate longitudinal changes in significant brain connections (SCs) across different stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- To introduce and validate the correlation transfer function (CorrTF) as a novel biomarker for assessing AD progression.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a dataset of normal controls (NC) and individuals with early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI), late mild cognitive impairment (LMCI), and AD across three visits.
- Employed the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas to define 116 brain regions and calculated intensity time series.
- Extracted CorrTF connections for each region and applied t-tests and ANOVA to identify significant longitudinal changes.
Main Results:
- No significant SCs were found across all three visits in NC subjects.
- In EMCI and LMCI, SCs predominantly originated from the cerebellum.
- Hippocampal connectivity increased from EMCI to LMCI but was absent in AD.
- Longitudinal patterns differed between CorrTF and Pearson Correlation for the EAN and SN networks, but were similar for SMC, VC, DMN, and Cereb networks.
Conclusions:
- The study defines temporal brain changes associated with distinct AD stages.
- CorrTF serves as a potential biomarker for detecting functional alterations and understanding AD's evolving nature.
- Findings contribute to a better understanding of neural plasticity and disease progression in Alzheimer's.
