The Influence of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease on Static and Dynamic Functional Network Connectivity in Subjects Along Alzheimer's Disease Continuum

Abstract

Background:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder frequently accompanied by cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). However, the influence of CSVD on the brain functional connectivity in subjects along the AD continuum is still largely unknown. The current study combined the static and dynamic functional network connectivity (FNC) to explore the underlying mechanism.

Materials and Methods:

In this study, we included 182 healthy controls, 27 individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 27 with SCD+CSVD, 104 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 123 with MCI+CSVD, 16 with AD, and 62 with AD+CSVD. We examined the static and dynamic FNC within the default mode, salience, and cognitive control domains. We also assessed the association between atypical FNC patterns and cognitive impairments, as well as the pathologies.

Results:

Static FNC results showed progressively increased within-domain connectivity and decreased between-domain connectivity along the AD continuum, especially in CSVD subjects. Dynamic FNC in CSVD subjects showed more occurrences in a highly modularized state and fewer occurrences in the diffusely connected state. Further analysis showed that neuropathology and CSVD burden divergently affect the FNC changes.

Conclusions:

The overall results demonstrate divergent abnormalities of FNC in CSVD and non-CSVD individuals along the AD continuum, which were divergently affected by neuropathology and CSVD burden. Specifically, those with CSVD show more static and dynamic FNC impairments, associated with cognitive decline. These findings may advance our understanding of the effect of CSVD on AD onset and progression, and provide potential hints for clinical treatment.

Impact statement

By combining the static and dynamic brain functional network connectivity (FNC), our study explored the effect of vascular pathology on FNC in subjects along the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. Results demonstrate divergent FNC abnormalities in individuals with/without cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) along the AD continuum, which could be divergently affected by neuropathology (amyloid and tau) and CSVD burden. Notably, AD-continuum subjects with CSVD show more static and dynamic FNC impairments, associated with cognitive decline. Conclusively, these findings may advance our understanding of the effect of vascular pathology on AD onset and progression, and provide potential hints for clinical treatment.