Episodic Memory Network Architechture in Alzheimer’s Disease: Based on Multimodal MRI from Multicenters
Abstract: Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual who, what, when, where, why knowledge) that can be explicitly stated. It is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common progressive neurodegenerative disease that seriously affects human health. Converging pieces of evidence have suggested that the structural/functional alterations emerge more than 10 years before the onset of cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), especially amnestic MCI (aMCI), has been considered the prodromal stage of dementia and has a high risk of converting to AD. Impaired performance of episodic memory is one of the first cognitive functions impaired and one of the core features of a diagnosis of AD. Episodic memory requires the medial temporal lobe, a structure including the hippocampus parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex etc., which is also a region with the earliest neuropathologic changes associated with AD. The main aim of the present project is to identify brain regions characterizing episodic memory network, to investigate the impaired pattern of episodic memory network in aMCI and AD based on multi-center and multi-modal MRI．For this purpose, we will focus on the following three aspects: 1) the elucidation of the key brain regions characterizing episodic memory network; 2) the manifestation of episodic memory network in normal subjects; 3) the characterization of impaired episodic memory network architecture in aMCI and AD patients. Studying impaired patterns of episodic memory network from the perspective of network will benefit for finding potential biomarkers or predictors of AD progression. This profile will provide new insights into AD pathophysiology, which is critical to better understand the neural basis of AD.
Keywords: multimodal MRI; brain network; episodic memory network; Alzheimer's disease; amnestic mild cognitive impairment
Contact:
LIU Yong
E-mail: yliu@ia.ac.cn