Abstract
BackgroundSubjective cognitive decline (SCD) was considered to be the preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, less is known about the altered rich-club organizations of the morphological networks in individuals with SCD.MethodsThis study included 53 individuals with SCD and 54 well-matched healthy controls (HC) from the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Individual-level brain morphological networks were constructed by estimating the Jensen-Shannon distance-based similarity in the distribution of regional gray matter volume. Rich-club properties were then detected, followed by statistical comparison.ResultsThe characteristic rich-club organization of morphological networks (normalized rich-club coefficients > 1) was observed for both the SCD and HC groups under a range of thresholds. The SCD group showed a reduced normalized rich-club coefficient compared with the HC group. The SCD group exhibited the decreased strength and degree of rich-club connections than the HC group (strength: HC = 79.93, SCD = 74.37, p = 0.028; degree: HC = 85.28, SCD = 79.34, p = 0.027). Interestingly, the SCD group showed an increased strength of local connections than the HC group (strength: HC = 1982.16, SCD = 2003.38, p = 0.036).ConclusionRich-club organization disturbances of morphological networks in individuals with SCD reveal a distinct pattern between the rich-club and peripheral regions. This altered rich-club organization pattern provides novel insights into the underlying mechanism of SCD and could be used to investigate prevention strategies at the preclinical stage of AD.
Highlights
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid plaques (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles in gray matter (GM)
Data used in this research were obtained from the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database,1 and all subjects included in this study were from the ADNI-2 and ADNI-3
The Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) group displayed significantly increased Cognitive Change Index (CCI) scores compared with the healthy controls (HC) group (p < 0.001)
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid plaques (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles in gray matter (GM). Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) has been recognized as a risk in individuals who have subjective memory complaints but have no evidence of objective cognitive impairment It might be the preclinical stage of AD and increase. Recent neuroimaging studies indicated that SCD has exhibited an abnormal pattern of functional and structural network disruptions, which are similar to the alterations in MCI and AD (Chen et al, 2020; Gao et al, 2020; Xu et al, 2021). It is largely unknown whether the individuals with SCD show the altered topological organization of the morphological networks. Less is known about the altered rich-club organizations of the morphological networks in individuals with SCD
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