Alteration of Visuospatial System as an Early Marker of Cognitive Decline: A Double-Center Neuroimaging Study

Autor: Dalida Borbala Berente, Janos Zsuffa, Tom Werber, Mate Kiss, Anita Drotos, Anita Kamondi, Gabor Csukly, Andras Attila Horvath
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Vol 14 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1663-4365
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.854368
Popis: Amnestic-type mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) represents the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease associated with a high conversion rate to dementia and serves as a potential golden period for interventions. In our study, we analyzed the role of visuospatial (VS) functions and networks in the recognition of a-MCI. We examined 78 participants (32 patients and 46 controls) in a double-center arrangement using neuropsychology, structural, and resting-state functional MRI. We found that imaging of the lateral temporal areas showed strong discriminating power since in patients only the temporal pole (F = 5.26, p = 0.034) and superior temporal gyrus (F = 8.04, p < 0.001) showed reduced cortical thickness. We demonstrated significant differences between controls and patients in various neuropsychological results; however, analysis of cognitive subdomains revealed that the largest difference was presented in VS skills (F = 8.32, p < 0.001). Functional connectivity analysis of VS network showed that patients had weaker connectivity between the left and right frontotemporal areas, while stronger local connectivity was presented between the left frontotemporal structures (FWE corrected p < 0.05). Our results highlight the remarkable potential of examining the VS system in the early detection of cognitive decline. Since resting-state setting of functional MRI simplifies the possible automatization of data analysis, detection of VS system alterations might provide a non-invasive biomarker of a-MCI.
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