Affiliations: [a] Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| [b]
Brighton & Sussex Medical School, CISC, University of Sussex, Brighton, Falmer East Sussex, UK
| [c]
Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy
| [d]
Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy
| [e]
Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Dr. Marco Bozzali, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39 06 5150 1324; Fax: +39 06 5150 1213; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: This longitudinal study investigates the modifications in structure and function occurring to typical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains over a 2-year follow-up, from pre-dementia stages of disease, with the aim of identifying biomarkers of prognostic value. Thirty-one patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment were recruited and followed-up with clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI assessments. Patients were retrospectively classified as AD Converters or Non-Converters, and the data compared between groups. Cross-sectional MRI data at baseline, assessing volume and functional connectivity abnormalities, confirmed previous findings, showing a more severe pattern of regional grey matter atrophy and default-mode network disconnection in Converters than in Non-Converters. Longitudinally, Converters showed more grey matter atrophy in the frontotemporal areas, accompanied by increased connectivity in the precuneus. Discriminant analysis revealed that functional connectivity of the precuneus within the default mode network at baseline is the parameter able to correctly classify patients in Converters and Non-Converters with high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy.
