Authors:	Fischer, Florian U. Wolf, Dominik Tüscher, Oliver Fellgiebel, Andreas
Title:	Structural network efficiency predicts resilience to cognitive decline in elderly at risk for Alzheimer’s disease
Online publication date:	31-May-2021
Year of first publication:	2021
Language:	english
Abstract:	Functional imaging studies have demonstrated the recruitment of additional neural resources as a possible mechanism to compensate for age and Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related cerebral pathology, the efficacy of which is potentially modulated by underlying structural network connectivity. Additionally, structural network efficiency (SNE) is associated with intelligence across the lifespan, which is a known factor for resilience to cognitive decline. We hypothesized that SNE may be a surrogate of the physiological basis of resilience to cognitive decline in elderly persons without dementia and with age- and AD-related cerebral pathology.Methods: We included 85 cognitively normal elderly subjects or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients submitted to baseline diffusion imaging, liquor specimens, amyloid-PET and longitudinal cognitive assessments. SNE was calculated from baseline MRI scans using fiber tractography and graph theory. Mixed linear effects models were estimated to investigate the association of higher resilience to cognitive decline with higher SNE and the modulation of this association by increased cerebral amyloid, liquor tau or WMHV. Results: For the majority of cognitive outcome measures, higher SNE was associated with higher resilience to cognitive decline (p-values: 0.011–0.039). Additionally, subjects with higher SNE showed more resilience to cognitive decline at higher cerebral amyloid burden (p-values: <0.001–0.036) and lower tau levels (p-values: 0.002–0.015).Conclusion: These results suggest that SNE to some extent may quantify the physiological basis of resilience to cognitive decline most effective at the earliest stages of AD, namely at increased amyloid burden and before increased tauopathy.
DDC:	610 Medizin 610 Medical sciences
Institution:	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department:	FB 04 Medizin
Place:	Mainz
ROR:	https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-5925
Version:	Published version
Publication type:	Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Document type specification:	Scientific article
License:	CC BY
Information on rights of use:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal:	Frontiers in aging neuroscience 13
Pages or article number:	637002
Publisher:	Frontiers Research Foundation
Publisher place:	Lausanne
Issue date:	2021
ISSN:	1663-4365
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2021.637002
Publisher DOI:	10.3389/fnagi.2021.637002
Appears in collections:	JGU-Publikationen