Abstract
Background and Objective: Current evidence suggests that abnormalities within the default-mode network (DMN) play a key role in the broad-scale cognitive problems that characterize mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, little is known about the alterations of DMN network homogeneity (NH) in MCI.Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans (rs-fMRI) were collected from 38 MCI patients and 69 healthy controls matched for age, gender, and education. NH approach was employed to analyze the imaging dataset. Cognitive performance was measured with the Chinese version of Alzheimer's disease assessment scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog).Results: Two groups have no significant differences between demographic factors. And mean ADAS-Cog score in MCI was 12.02. MCI patients had significantly lower NH values than controls in the right anterior cingulate cortex and significantly higher NH values in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex(vmPFC) than those in healthy controls. No significant correlations were found between abnormal NH values and ADAS-Cog in the patients.Conclusions: These findings provide further evidence that abnormal NH of the DMN exists in MCI, and highlight the significance of DMN in the pathophysiology of cognitive problems occurring in MCI.
Highlights
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is recognized as cognitive decline more significant than the expectation of an individual’s age and education level [1]
We explored whether abnormal network homogeneity (NH) in the default-mode network (DMN) would be associated with patient neurocognitive functioning and in clinical variables associated with MCI
No significant differences were found between the two groups by gender (χ2 test p-value = 0.63, χ2 = 0.23), age (p-value = 0.95, t-tests t = 0.69), and years of education (t-tests p-value = 0.09, t = 0.88) (Table 1)
Summary
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is recognized as cognitive decline more significant than the expectation of an individual’s age and education level [1]. Still, it does not obviously interfere with individuals’ daily activities. Among people with MCI, approximately one third to half of them have an accelerated rate of progression to dementia within 5 years [1, 4]. Recent researches demonstrated that people who suffer MCI tended to develop to AD at a rate of about 10–15% per year [5]. Current evidence suggests that abnormalities within the default-mode network (DMN) play a key role in the broad-scale cognitive problems that characterize mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Little is known about the alterations of DMN network homogeneity (NH) in MCI
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