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Brain networks disrupted in Alzheimer's disease

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

An analysis of the anatomical connectivity in the brains of 15 people with Alzheimer's disease, 68 with mild cognitive impairment and 28 healthy older individuals, has found several measures showed disease effects:

  • widespread network disruptions
  • decreases in network nodes
  • neural fiber path length
  • decreased signaling efficiency
  • increased asymmetry in the proportions of fibers that connect the left and right cortical regions

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-08/mali-wgw082213.php

Daianu, M., Jahanshad, N., Nir, T. M., Toga, A. W., Jack, C. R., Weiner, M. W., & Thompson, P. M. (2013). Breakdown of Brain Connectivity Between Normal Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Structural k-Core Network Analysis. Brain Connectivity, 3(4), 407-422. Retrieved from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/brain.2012.0137 (Original work published 2013)

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