Impact of Alzheimers Disease on the Functional Connectivity of Spontaneous Brain Activity

Title: Impact of Alzheimers Disease on the Functional Connectivity of Spontaneous Brain Activity

Volume: 6 Issue: 6

Author(s): Christian Sorg, Valentin Riedl, Robert Perneczky, Alexander Kurz and Afra M. Wohlschlager

Affiliation:

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, spontaneous brain activity, functional connectivity, fMRI, resting state, resting state networks, small world, local integration

Abstract: Alzheimers disease (AD) prominently affects the structure and function of cerebral networks. Reflecting the complex network structure of the brain, spontaneous brain activity is organized by synchronized activity across distinct temporal and spatial scales. Temporal correlations of the functional MRI (fMRI) signal during rest have been used to characterize the impact of AD on the functional connectivity of spontaneous brain activity. Here we review studies using resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) to explore AD-induced changes of synchronized intrinsic activity at three levels of brain organization: the regional, inter-regional and large-scale level. Changes in posterior areas of the default network (DN) and the medial temporal lobes seem to be central to AD. These areas show remarkable disturbances in neuronal communication at all spatial levels and in very early stages of the disease. Finally, rs-fMRI seems to have the potential to produce connectivity-related biomarkers that distinguish AD and healthy aging.

Cite this article as:

Sorg Christian, Riedl Valentin, Perneczky Robert, Kurz Alexander and Wohlschlager M. Afra, Impact of Alzheimers Disease on the Functional Connectivity of Spontaneous Brain Activity, Current Alzheimer Research 2009; 6 (6) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156720509790147106