title: Distinct Changes in Functional Connectivity in Posteromedial Cortex Subregions during the Progress of Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which causes dementia, especially in the elderly. The posteromedial cortex (PMC), which consists of several subregions involved in distinct functions, is one of the critical regions associated with the progression and severity of AD. However, previous studies always ignored the heterogeneity of the PMC and focused on one stage of AD. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we studied the respective alterations of each subregion within the PMC along the progression of AD. Our data set consisted of 21 healthy controls, 18 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 17 patients with mild AD (mAD), and 18 patients with severe AD (sAD). We investigated the functional alterations of each subregion within the PMC in different stages of AD. We found that subregions within the PMC have differential vulnerability in AD. Disruptions in functional connectivity began in the transition area between the precuneus and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and then extended to other subregions of the PMC. In addition, each of these subregions was associated with distinct alterations in the functional networks that we were able to relate to AD. Our research demonstrated functional changes within the PMC in the progression of AD and may elucidate potential biomarkers for clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yaqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Brainnetome Center, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jieqiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yunyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xuehu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kuncheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xinqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical UniversityBeijing, China; Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General HospitalTianjin, China.
authors.forename: Chunshui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Jiaojian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengdu, China; Brainnetome Center, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of QueenslandBrisbane, QLD, Australia; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Tianzi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; functional connectivity; network; posteromedial cortex; subregions