Barban Francesco, Mancini Matteo, Cercignani Mara, Adriano Fulvia, Perri Roberta, Annicchiarico Roberta, Carlesimo Giovanni Augusto, Ricci Claudia, Lombardi Maria Giovanna, Teodonno Valeria, Serra Laura, Giulietti Giovanni, Fadda Lucia, Federici Alessia, Caltagirone Carlo, Bozzali Marco
Clinical and Behavioral Neurology Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome 00179, Italy.
Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome 00179, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2017 Apr 29;7(5):50. doi: 10.3390/brainsci7050050.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) alters the functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) but also the topological properties of the functional connectome. Cognitive training (CT) is a tool to slow down AD progression and is likely to impact on functional connectivity. In this pilot study, we aimed at investigating brain functional changes after a period of CT and active control (AC) in a group of 26 subjects with mild AD (mAD), 26 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and a control group of 29 healthy elderly (HE) people. They all underwent a CT and AC in a counterbalanced order following a crossover design. Resting-state functional MRI and neuropsychological testing were acquired before and after each period. We tested post-CT and post-AC changes of cognitive abilities, of the functional connectivity of the DMN, and of topological network properties derived from graph theory and network-based statistics. Only CT produced functional changes, increasing the functional connectivity of the posterior DMN in all three groups. mAD also showed functional changes in the medial temporal lobe and topological changes in the anterior cingulum, whereas aMCI showed more widespread topological changes involving the frontal lobes, the cerebellum and the thalamus. Our results suggest specific functional connectivity changes after CT for aMCI and mAD.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）不仅会改变默认模式网络（DMN）的功能连接，还会改变功能连接组的拓扑特性。认知训练（CT）是减缓AD进展的一种手段，并且可能会影响功能连接。在这项初步研究中，我们旨在调查26名轻度AD（mAD）患者、26名遗忘型轻度认知障碍（aMCI）患者以及29名健康老年人（HE）组成的对照组在接受一段时间的CT和主动对照（AC）后的脑功能变化。他们均按照交叉设计以平衡的顺序接受了CT和AC。在每个阶段前后均进行了静息态功能磁共振成像和神经心理学测试。我们测试了CT和AC后认知能力、DMN功能连接以及源自图论和基于网络的统计分析的拓扑网络特性的变化。只有CT产生了功能变化，增加了所有三组中后DMN的功能连接。mAD在内侧颞叶也表现出功能变化，在前扣带回表现出拓扑变化，而aMCI表现出更广泛的拓扑变化，涉及额叶、小脑和丘脑。我们的结果表明，CT后aMCI和mAD存在特定的功能连接变化。
