title: Algebraic connectivity of brain networks shows patterns of segregation leading to reduced network robustness in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Measures of network topology and connectivity aid the understanding of network breakdown as the brain degenerates in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We analyzed 3-Tesla diffusion-weighted images from 202 patients scanned by the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - 50 healthy controls, 72 with early- and 38 with late-stage mild cognitive impairment (eMCI/lMCI) and 42 with AD. Using whole-brain tractography, we reconstructed structural connectivity networks representing connections between pairs of cortical regions. We examined, for the first time in this context, the network's Laplacian matrix and its Fiedler value, describing the network'salgebraic connectivity, and the Fiedler vector, used to partition a graph. We assessed algebraic connectivity and four additional supporting metrics, revealing a decrease in network robustness and increasing disarray among nodes as dementia progressed. Network components became more disconnected and segregated, and their modularity increased. These measures are sensitive to diagnostic group differences, and may help understand the complex changes in AD.
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA madelaine.daianu@ini.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Madelaine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daianu
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA neda.jahanshad@ini.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jahanshad
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA talia.nir@ini.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Talia M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Nir
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA cassandra.leonardo@loni.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Cassandra D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Leonardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA jack.clifford@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Clifford R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medicine, and Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA michael.weiner@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA mBernstein@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA pthomp@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thompson
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Fiedler value; algebraic connectivity; brain network; modularity