TY  - JOUR
AU  - Behfar, Qumars
AU  - Behfar, Stefan Kambiz
AU  - von Reutern, Boris
AU  - Richter, Nils
AU  - Dronse, Julian
AU  - Fassbender, Ronja
AU  - Fink, Gereon R.
AU  - Onur, Oezguer A.
TI  - Graph Theory Analysis Reveals Resting-State Compensatory Mechanisms in Healthy Aging and Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease
JO  - Frontiers in aging neuroscience
VL  - 12
SN  - 1663-4365
CY  - Lausanne
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
M1  - FZJ-2020-04545
SP  - 576627
PY  - 2020
AB  - Several theories of cognitive compensation have been suggested to explain sustained cognitive abilities in healthy brain aging and early neurodegenerative processes. The growing number of studies investigating various aspects of task-based compensation in these conditions is contrasted by the shortage of data about resting-state compensatory mechanisms. Using our proposed criterion-based framework for compensation, we investigated 45 participants in three groups: (i) patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and positive biomarkers indicative of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); (ii) cognitively normal young adults; (iii) cognitively normal older adults. To increase reliability, three sessions of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging for each participant were performed on different days (135 scans in total). To elucidate the dimensions and dynamics of resting-state compensatory mechanisms, we used graph theory analysis along with volumetric analysis. Graph theory analysis was applied based on the Brainnetome atlas, which provides a connectivity-based parcellation framework. Comprehensive neuropsychological examinations including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and the Trail Making Test (TMT) were performed, to relate graph measures of compensatory nodes to cognition. To avoid false-positive findings, results were corrected for multiple comparisons. First, we observed an increase of degree centrality in cognition related brain regions of the middle frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus and superior parietal lobe despite local atrophy in MCI and healthy aging, indicating a resting-state connectivity increase with positive biomarkers. When relating the degree centrality measures to cognitive performance, we observed that greater connectivity led to better RAVLT and TMT scores in MCI and, hence, might constitute a compensatory mechanism. The detection and improved understanding of the compensatory dynamics in healthy aging and prodromal AD is mandatory for implementing and tailoring preventive interventions aiming at preserved overall cognitive functioning and delayed clinical onset of dementia.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:33192468
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000585389400001
DO  - DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2020.576627
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/887959
ER  -