Minimum spanning tree analysis of unimpaired individuals at risk of Alzheimer’s disease 

Alejandra García Colomo

We are super excited to share our newest publication, in collaboration with Amsterdam UMC and Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur in Brain Communications!
https://lnkd.in/dTc5pdJT
In this work, we explore the relationship between plasma p-tau231 and network topology of cognitively unimpaired individuals.
We knew from previous studies that this plasma protein begins to rise very early on in the course of Alzheimer’s disease, many years before clinical manifestations. Additionally, in past studies, we have confirmed that elevated levels of this protein affect brain function. However, to this day, no study had addressed how it influences the organization of our functional connectivity network!
In our study we found that individuals with elevate plasma p-tau231 also presented a more interconnected network that relies more on hubs, making them more vulnerable to overload and failure over time. This is congruent with previous literature and expands our knowledge on the early changes on brain function that take place many years before clinical manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease emerge.
It is also worth mentioning the relevance of the measures used in this study, which are sensitive to early changes and minimally-invasive, for the development of screening tools and disease-modifying treatments.