Department of Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University; Qilu Medical Imaging Institute of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Research Institute of Shandong University, Magnetic Field-Free Medicine & Functional Imaging, Jinan, China.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2024 Oct 15;45(15):e70046. doi: 10.1002/hbm.70046.
Macroscale functional gradient techniques provide a continuous coordinate system that extends from unimodal regions to transmodal higher-order networks. However, the alterations of these functional gradients in AD and their correlations with cognitive terms and gene expression profiles remain to be established. In the present study, we directly studied the functional gradients with functional MRI data from seven scanners. We adopted data-driven meta-analytic techniques to unveil AD-associated changes in the functional gradients. The principal primary-to-transmodal gradient was suppressed in AD. Compared to NCs, AD patients exhibited global connectome gradient alterations, including reduced gradient range and gradient variation, increased gradient scores in the somatomotor, ventral attention, and frontoparietal regions, and decreased in the default mode network. More importantly, the Gene Ontology terms of biological processes were significantly enriched in the potassium ion transport and protein-containing complex remodeling. Our compelling evidence provides a new perspective in understanding the connectome alterations in AD.
宏观功能梯度技术提供了一个连续的坐标系，从单峰区域延伸到跨模态高阶网络。然而，AD 中这些功能梯度的变化及其与认知术语和基因表达谱的相关性仍有待确定。在本研究中，我们直接使用来自七台扫描仪的功能磁共振成像数据研究功能梯度。我们采用数据驱动的元分析技术揭示了功能梯度中与 AD 相关的变化。AD 中主要的初级到跨模态梯度被抑制。与 NC 相比，AD 患者表现出全局连接组梯度改变，包括梯度范围和梯度变化减小，躯体运动、腹侧注意力和额顶叶区域的梯度分数增加，默认模式网络的梯度分数减小。更重要的是，生物学过程的基因本体术语在钾离子转运和含有蛋白质的复合物重构中显著富集。我们的有力证据为理解 AD 中的连接组改变提供了一个新的视角。
