Changes in white matter may predict AD
What is it about?
This cross-sectional study investigated white matter function in patients with AD and further confirmed that ALFF and fALFF values in white matter can be used as predictors of disease classification in AD. Our results showed that ALFF values of the right anterior thalamic radiation, left frontal aslant tract, and left middle longitudinal fasciculus, as well as the fALFF values of two clumps of the right anterior thalamic radiation and left forceps minor were decreased in patients with AD, and were positively correlated with the neuropsychological scores. In addition, a classification framework integrating ALFF and fALFF values in white matter performed well in distinguishing patients with AD from controls (75% accuracy and 85% AUC).
Why is it important?
Abnormalities in white matter may be a crucial physiologic feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, neuroimaging’s ability to visualize the underlying functional degradation of the white matter region in AD is unclear. Our findings describe impaired white matter cellulose function in patients with AD and provide important information for understanding the pathophysiology of AD.Notably, we show for the first time that white matter fiber ALFF/fALFF value based on rs-fMRI BOLD signals also carries meaningful functional information in patients with AD. Future studies into the neurophysiology of white matter BOLD signals may further explain the findings of patients with AD.