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Schweitzer N, Li J, Thurston RC, Lopresti B, Klunk WE, Snitz B, Tudorascu D, Cohen A, Kamboh MI, Halligan‐Eddy E, Iordanova B, Villemagne VL, Aizenstein H, Wu M. Sex-dependent alterations in hippocampal connectivity are linked to cerebrovascular and amyloid pathologies in normal aging. Alzheimers Dement 2024; 20:914-924. [PMID: 37817668 PMCID: PMC10916980 DOI: 10.1002/alz.13503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Compared to males, females have an accelerated trajectory of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The neurobiological factors underlying the more rapid cognitive decline in AD in females remain unclear. This study explored how sex-dependent alterations in hippocampal connectivity over 2 years are associated with cerebrovascular and amyloid pathologies in normal aging. METHODS Thirty-three females and 21 males 65 to 93 years of age with no cognitive impairment performed a face-name associative memory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task with a 2-year follow-up. We acquired baseline carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh compound B ([11 C]PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) and T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (T2-FLAIR) MRI to quantify amyloid β (Aβ) burden and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, respectively. RESULTS Males had increased hippocampal-prefrontal connectivity over 2 years, associated with greater Aβ burden. Females had increased bilateral hippocampal functional connectivity, associated with greater WMH volume. DISCUSSION These findings suggest sex-dependent compensatory mechanisms in the memory network in the presence of cerebrovascular and AD pathologies and may explain the accelerated trajectory of cognitive decline in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah Schweitzer
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Jinghang Li
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Rebecca C. Thurston
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Brian Lopresti
- Department of RadiologyUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - William E. Klunk
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Beth Snitz
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Dana Tudorascu
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Ann Cohen
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - M. Ilyas Kamboh
- Department of Human GeneticsSchool of Public HealthUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Edythe Halligan‐Eddy
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Bistra Iordanova
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Victor L. Villemagne
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Howard Aizenstein
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Minjie Wu
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
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Wang L, Kolobaric A, Aizenstein H, Lopresti B, Tudorascu D, Snitz B, Klunk W, Wu M. Identifying sex-specific risk architectures for predicting amyloid deposition using neural networks. Neuroimage 2023; 275:120147. [PMID: 37156449 PMCID: PMC10905666 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In older adults without dementia, White Matter Hyperintensities (WMH) in MRI have been shown to be highly associated with cerebral amyloid deposition, measured by the Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) PET. However, the relation to age, sex, and education in explaining this association is not well understood. We use the voxel counts of regional WMH, age, one-hot encoded sex, and education to predict the regional PiB using a multilayer perceptron with only rectilinear activations using mean squared error. We then develop a novel, robust metric to understand the relevance of each input variable for prediction. Our observations indicate that sex is the most relevant predictor of PiB and that WMH is not relevant for prediction. These results indicate that there is a sex-specific risk architecture for Aβ deposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linghai Wang
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
| | | | - Howard Aizenstein
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Brian Lopresti
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Dana Tudorascu
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Beth Snitz
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - William Klunk
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Minjie Wu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
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Wu M, Schweitzer N, Iordanova BE, Halligan-Eddy E, Tudorascu DL, Mathis CA, Lopresti BJ, Kamboh MI, Cohen AD, Snitz BE, Klunk WE, Aizenstein HJ. In Pre-Clinical AD Small Vessel Disease is Associated With Altered Hippocampal Connectivity and Atrophy. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2023; 31:112-123. [PMID: 36274019 PMCID: PMC10768933 DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2022.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Small Vessel Disease (SVD) is known to be associated with higher AD risk, but its relationship to amyloidosis in the progression of AD is unclear. In this cross-sectional study of cognitively normal older adults, we explored the interactive effects of SVD and amyloid-beta (Aβ) pathology on hippocampal functional connectivity during an associative encoding task and on hippocampal volume. METHODS This study included 61 cognitively normal older adults (age range: 65-93 years, age mean ± standard deviation: 75.8 ± 6.4, 41 [67.2%] female). PiB PET, T2-weighted FLAIR, T1-weighted and face-name fMRI images were acquired on each participant to evaluate brain Aβ, white matter hyperintensities (WMH+/- status), gray matter density, and hippocampal functional connectivity. RESULTS We found that, in WMH (+) older adults greater Aβ burden was associated with greater hippocampal local connectivity (i.e., hippocampal-parahippocampal connectivity) and lower gray matter density in medial temporal lobe (MTL), whereas in WMH (-) older adults greater Aβ burden was associated with greater hippocampal distal connectivity (i.e., hippocampal-prefrontal connectivity) and no changes in MTL gray matter density. Moreover, greater hippocampal local connectivity was associated with MTL atrophy. CONCLUSION These observations support a hippocampal excitotoxicity model linking SVD to neurodegeneration in preclinical AD. This may explain how SVD may accelerate the progression from Aβ positivity to neurodegeneration, and subsequent AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minjie Wu
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
| | - Noah Schweitzer
- Department of Bioengineering (NS, BEI, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Bistra E Iordanova
- Department of Bioengineering (NS, BEI, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Edythe Halligan-Eddy
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Dana L Tudorascu
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; Departments of Medicine and Biostatistics (DLT), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Chester A Mathis
- Department of Radiology (CAM, BJL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Brian J Lopresti
- Department of Radiology (CAM, BJL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - M Ilyas Kamboh
- Department of Human Genetics (MIK), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Ann D Cohen
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Beth E Snitz
- Department of Neurology (BES), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - William E Klunk
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Howard J Aizenstein
- Department of Psychiatry (MW, EHE, DLT, ADC, WEK, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Bioengineering (NS, BEI, HJA), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
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Qiu T, Zeng Q, Zhang Y, Luo X, Xu X, Li X, Shen Z, Li K, Wang C, Huang P, Zhang M, Dai S, Xie F. Altered functional connectivity pattern of hippocampal subfields in individuals with objectively-defined subtle cognitive decline and its association with cognition and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 56:6227-6238. [PMID: 36342704 PMCID: PMC10100315 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), subtle cognitive changes can be detected using sensitive neuropsychological measures, and have proposed the concept of objectively-defined subtle cognitive decline (Obj-SCD). We aimed to assess the functional alteration of hippocampal subfields in individuals with Obj-SCD and its association with cognition and pathological biomarkers. Forty-two participants with cognitively normal (CN), 29 with Obj-SCD, and 55 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were retrospectively collected from the ADNI database. Neuropsychological performance, functional MRI, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) data were obtained. We calculated the seed-based functional connectivity (FC) of hippocampal subfields (cornu ammonis1 [CA1], CA2/3/dentate gyrus [DG], and subiculum) with whole-brain voxels. Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between FC values of significantly altered regions and neuropsychological performance and CSF biomarkers. The Obj-SCD group showed lower FC between left CA1-CA2/3/DG and right thalamus and higher FC between right subiculum and right superior parietal gyrus (SPG) compared with the CN and MCI groups. In the Obj-SCD group, FC values between left CA2/3/DG and right thalamus were positively associated with Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) recognition (r = 0.395, p = 0.046) and CSF Aβ1-42 levels (r = 0.466, p = 0.019), and FC values between left CA1 and right thalamus were positively correlated with CSF Aβ1-42 levels (r = 0.530, p = 0.006). Taken together, dysfunction in CA1-CA2/3/DG subregions suggests subtle cognitive impairment and AD-specific pathological changes in individuals with Obj-SCD. Additionally, increased subiculum connectivity may indicate early functional compensation for subtle cognitive changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiantian Qiu
- Department of RadiologyLinyi People's HospitalLinyiChina
| | - Qingze Zeng
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Yusong Zhang
- Department of RadiologyLinyi People's HospitalLinyiChina
| | - Xiao Luo
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Xiaopei Xu
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Xiaodong Li
- Department of RadiologyLinyi People's HospitalLinyiChina
| | - Zhujing Shen
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Kaicheng Li
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Chao Wang
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Peiyu Huang
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Minming Zhang
- Department of RadiologyThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Shouping Dai
- Department of RadiologyLinyi People's HospitalLinyiChina
| | - Fei Xie
- Department of Equipment and Medical EngineeringLinyi People's HospitalLinyiChina
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Chang YL, Moscovitch M. Sex differences in item and associative memory among older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108375. [PMID: 36179862 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
In older adults without cognitive impairment, women have an advantage over men in verbal memory tests; however, whether women with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) exhibit this advantage remains controversial. We evaluated sex-specific differences in older adults with and without aMCI in item and associative verbal memory by using an associative memory task with immediate and delayed recognition conditions. The associations between memory task performances and medial temporal morphometric measures were examined. The study included 49 individuals with aMCI and 55 healthy older adults (HOs). The results revealed that a female advantage in immediate item and delayed associative memory was evident in HOs, and the female advantage in associative memory persisted even after item memory performance was controlled. By contrast, the female advantage was absent in individuals with aMCI; such women had more associative false alarms than men with aMCI. Furthermore, decreases in item memory, associative memory, and cortical thickness in the perirhinal and entorhinal regions in individuals with aMCI versus their sex-matched controls were more prominent in women than in men. The relation between brain structure and associative memory function was evident only for women, indicating that women and men may have different cognitive and neural mechanisms for processing associative memory. These findings support the concept of cognitive reserve in women during normal aging. Accounting for sex differences in verbal memory performance is crucial to improve aMCI identification, particularly for women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Ling Chang
- Department of Psychology, College of Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan; Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan; Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10048, Taiwan; Center for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Robotics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
| | - Morris Moscovitch
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON M6A 2E1, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
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Loeffler DA. Modifiable, Non-Modifiable, and Clinical Factors Associated with Progression of Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 80:1-27. [PMID: 33459643 DOI: 10.3233/jad-201182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
There is an extensive literature relating to factors associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but less is known about factors which may contribute to its progression. This review examined the literature with regard to 15 factors which were suggested by PubMed search to be positively associated with the cognitive and/or neuropathological progression of AD. The factors were grouped as potentially modifiable (vascular risk factors, comorbidities, malnutrition, educational level, inflammation, and oxidative stress), non-modifiable (age at clinical onset, family history of dementia, gender, Apolipoprotein E ɛ4, genetic variants, and altered gene regulation), and clinical (baseline cognitive level, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and extrapyramidal signs). Although conflicting results were found for the majority of factors, a positive association was found in nearly all studies which investigated the relationship of six factors to AD progression: malnutrition, genetic variants, altered gene regulation, baseline cognitive level, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and extrapyramidal signs. Whether these or other factors which have been suggested to be associated with AD progression actually influence the rate of decline of AD patients is unclear. Therapeutic approaches which include addressing of modifiable factors associated with AD progression should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Loeffler
- Beaumont Research Institute, Department of Neurology, Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, MI, USA
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