Structural connectivity networks in Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body disease.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

We evaluated disruption of the white matter (WM) network related with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body disease (LBD), which includes Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

METHODS:

We consecutively recruited 37 controls and 77 patients with AD-related cognitive impairment (ADCI) and/or LBD-related cognitive impairment (LBCI). Diagnoses of ADCI and LBCI were supported by amyloid PET and dopamine transporter PET, respectively. There were 22 patients with ADCI, 19 patients with LBCI, and 36 patients with mixed ADCI/LBCI. We investigated the relationship between ADCI, LBCI, graph theory-based network measures on diffusion tensor images, and cognitive dysfunction using general linear models after controlling for age, sex, education, deep WM hyperintensities (WMH), periventricular WMH, and intracranial volume.

RESULTS:

LBCI, especially mixed with ADCI, was associated with increased normalized path length and decreased normalized global efficiency. LBCI was related to the decreased nodal degree of left caudate, which was further associated with broad cognitive dysfunction. Decreased left caudate nodal degree was associated with decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the brain regions vulnerable to LBD. Compared with the control group, the LBCI group had an increased betweenness centrality in the occipital nodes, which was associated with decreased FA in the WM adjacent to the striatum and visuospatial dysfunction.

CONCLUSION:

Concomitant ADCI and LBCI are associated with the accentuation of LBCI-related WM network disruption centered in the left caudate nucleus. The increase of occipital betweenness centrality could be a characteristic biologic change associated with visuospatial dysfunction in LBCI.

• Authors: Kyoungwon Baik, Jin-Ju Yang, Jin Ho Jung, Yang Hyun Lee, Seok Jong Chung, Han Soo Yoo, Young H Sohn, Phil Hyu Lee, Jong-Min Lee, Byoung Seok Ye
• Journal: Brain and behavior (Brain Behav) Vol. 11 Issue 5 Pg. e02112 (05 2021) ISSN: 2162-3279 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33792194 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Topics

• Alzheimer Disease (diagnostic imaging)
• Brain (diagnostic imaging)
• Cognitive Dysfunction (diagnostic imaging, etiology)
• Humans
• Lewy Body Disease (diagnostic imaging)
• White Matter (diagnostic imaging)