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[Vol.40 No.4 contents]
Japanese/English
Full Text of this Articlein Japanese PDF (1385K) |
| ArticleTitle | Toward an integrative understanding of Alzheimer's disease through the lens of brain functional networks: Insights from multimodal neuroimaging |
| Language | J |
| AuthorList | Yuta Katsumi |
| Affiliation | Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School |
| Publication | Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 40 (4), 302-313, 2024 |
| Received | |
| Accepted | |
| Abstract | Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined neuropathologically by the presence of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles comprised of hyperphosphorylated tau, the aggregation of which is thought to play a pivotal role in a neurodegenerative cascade leading up to neuronal and synaptic loss and eventually a phenotypically heterogeneous cognitive-behavioral dementia syndrome. With the advent of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers specifically binding to Aβ plaques or tau, it is now possible to visualize and quantify these neuropathological features in living human brains even many years prior to the onset of symptoms. In addition, recent research combining PET and other neuroimaging modalities (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging) has started to characterize the spatio-temporal trajectories of AD-related neuropathological and neurodegenerative changes with unprecedented specificity. In this article, I will discuss current evidence emerging from our work and that of others primarily focusing on "atypical" clinical phenotypes of AD, demonstrating how functional networks of the cerebral cortex could be useful in characterizing the accumulation and spread of AD-related pathological proteins as well as in predicting the rate of subsequent clinical decline. Overall, evidence emerging from the literature collectively points to the utility of functional networks for understanding the mechanisms of AD progression and potential strategies to slow it. |
| Keywords | Beta amyloid, tau, atypical Alzheimer's disease, functional connectivity, fMRI |
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