Functional connectivity alterations in women with subjective cognitive decline

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Gerontology

Background:

• Alzheimer's disease (AD) disproportionately affects women and is currently incurable.
• Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) represents an early risk stage for AD development.
• Understanding early AD markers in women is crucial for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional connectivity differences in resting-state networks between healthy older women and those with SCD.
• To explore demographic, lifestyle, and comorbidity variations between the two groups.
• To identify potential neuroimaging biomarkers for early AD risk in women.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 3T high-resolution resting-state fMRI scans from the Women's Healthy Ageing Program (WHAP).
• Employed a seed-based approach in FSL to analyze functional connectivity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), Frontoparietal Network (FPN), and Salience Network (SN).
• Conducted group comparisons on demographic, lifestyle, and medical comorbidity data.

Main Results:

• Older women with SCD exhibited significantly increased functional connectivity within the DMN and FPN compared to healthy controls.
• No significant differences were found in demographic variables, lifestyle factors, or medical comorbidities between the groups.

Conclusions:

• Self-reported SCD in women is associated with heightened functional connectivity in specific brain networks.
• These connectivity changes may serve as early indicators of AD risk.
• Further research is warranted to explore the implications of these findings for AD prediction and prevention in women.