Neuroinflammation and functional connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease: interactive influences on cognitive performance
Publication: The Journal of Neuroscience
L. Passamonti, K.A. Tsvetanov, P.S. Jones, W.R. Bevan-Jones, R. Arnold, R.J. Borchert, E. Mak, L. Su, J.T. O’Brien and J.B. Rowe
18 July 2019
Neuroinflammation is a key part of the etio-pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers tested the relationship between neuroinflammation and the disruption of functional connectivity in large-scale networks, and their joint influence on cognitive impairment.
Patients showed significantly higher [11C]PK11195 binding relative to controls, in a distributed spatial pattern including the hippocampus, medial, and inferior temporal cortex. Patients with enhanced loading on this [11C]PK11195 binding distribution displayed diffuse abnormal functional connectivity. The expression of a stronger association between such abnormal connectivity and higher levels of neuroinflammation correlated with worse cognitive deficits.
This study suggests that neuroinflammation relates to the pathophysiological changes in network function that underlie cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuroinflammation, and its association with functionally-relevant reorganisation of brain networks, is proposed as a target for emerging immuno-therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing or slowing the emergence of dementia.
