Contributions of connectional pathways to shaping Alzheimer’s disease pathologies
2025

Connectional Pathways in Alzheimer's Disease Pathologies

Sample size: 500 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Bougacha Salma, Roquet Daniel, Landeau Brigitte, Saul Elise, Naveau Mikaël, Sherif Siya, Bejanin Alexandre, Dhenain Marc, Raj Ashish, Vivien Denis, Chetelat Gaël

Primary Institution: Normandie University, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237

Hypothesis

The study investigates how different connectional pathways contribute to the spread of Alzheimer's disease pathologies.

Conclusion

Functional and structural connectivity pathways differently influence the spread of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, with functional pathways being significant for hypometabolism and amyloid load.

Supporting Evidence

  • Functional pathways explained more than 30% of contributions for hypometabolism and amyloid load.
  • Atrophy and tau load were mainly predicted by structural pathways.
  • The ɛ4 allele modulated contributions to the four biomarkers.

Takeaway

This study looks at how brain connections affect the spread of Alzheimer's disease, showing that some connections are more important for certain symptoms.

Methodology

The study used imaging data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative to analyze the contributions of structural and functional pathways to Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the selection of participants and the use of specific imaging techniques.

Limitations

The study's findings may not be generalizable beyond the specific populations studied, and the reliance on statistical thresholds for defining pathology sites may affect reproducibility.

Participant Demographics

The study included 353 amyloid-positive patients (195 females) aged 55 to 90 years and 147 age-, sex-, and education-matched amyloid-negative controls (65 females) aged 60 to 96 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.001

Confidence Interval

[42%, 70.1%]

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/braincomms/fcae459

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