Brain Structural Network Compensation Is Associated With Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology

• Main Authors: Xiaoning Sheng, Haifeng Chen, Pengfei Shao, Ruomeng Qin, Hui Zhao, Yun Xu, Feng Bai, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neuroscience
• Subjects: cognitive impairment; pathological biomarkers; Alzheimer’s disease; structural compensation ability; gray matter (GM) atrophy
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.630278/full

BackgroundStructural network alterations in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are related to worse cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to quantify the alterations in gray matter associated with impaired cognition and their pathological biomarkers in AD-spectrum patients.MethodsWe extracted gray matter networks from 3D-T1 magnetic resonance imaging scans, and a graph theory analysis was used to explore alterations in the network metrics in 34 healthy controls, 70 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, and 40 AD patients. Spearman correlation analysis was computed to investigate the relationships among network properties, neuropsychological performance, and cerebrospinal fluid pathological biomarkers (i.e., Aβ, t-tau, and p-tau) in these subjects.ResultsAD-spectrum individuals demonstrated higher nodal properties and edge properties associated with impaired memory function, and lower amyloid-β or higher tau levels than the controls. Furthermore, these compensations at the brain regional level in AD-spectrum patients were mainly in the medial temporal lobe; however, the compensation at the whole-brain network level gradually extended from the frontal lobe to become widely distributed throughout the cortex with the progression of AD.ConclusionThe findings provide insight into the alterations in the gray matter network related to impaired cognition and pathological biomarkers in the progression of AD. The possibility of compensation was detected in the structural networks in AD-spectrum patients; the compensatory patterns at regional and whole-brain levels were different and the clinical significance was highlighted.