title: Diverging Progression of Network Disruption and Atrophy in Alzheimer's Disease and Semantic Dementia.
abstract: The progression of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia is accompanied by grey matter atrophy and white matter deterioration. The impact of neuronal loss on the structural network connectivity in these dementia subtypes is, however, not well understood. In order to gain a more refined knowledge of the topological organization of white matter alterations in dementia, we used a network-based approach to analyze the brain's structural connectivity network. Diffusion-weighted and anatomical MRI images of groups with eighteen Alzheimer's disease and six semantic dementia patients, as well as twenty-one healthy controls were recorded to reconstruct individual connectivity networks. Additionally, voxel-based morphometry, using grey and white matter volume, served to relate atrophy to altered structural connectivity. The analyses showed that Alzheimer's disease is characterized by decreased connectivity strength in various cortical regions. An overlap with grey matter loss was found only in the inferior frontal and superior temporal areas. In semantic dementia, significantly reduced network strength was found in the temporal lobes, which converged with grey and white matter atrophy. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the structural disconnection in early Alzheimer's disease goes beyond grey matter atrophy and is independent of white matter volume loss, an observation that was not found in semantic dementia.
authors: Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Andreotti
authors: Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Dierks
authors: Karolinska Institute, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Lars-Olof
authors: LO
authors: Wahlund
authors: Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Grieder
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; atrophy; diffusion magnetic resonance; frontotemporal dementia; structural connectivity