Mondadori CR, Buchmann A, Mustovic H, Schmidt CF, Boesiger P, Nitsch RM, Hock C, Streffer J, Henke K. Enhanced brain activity may precede the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by 30 years. Brain. 2006 Nov;129(Pt 11):2908-22. PubMed.
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Kuopio University Hospital
This paper provides interesting data on familial AD, PS1 mutation carriers. Increased memory-related brain activity was detected in fMRI in young mutation carriers, suggesting a compensatory effort to overcome developing neural dysfunction, while middle-aged mutation carriers showed decreased activity. Interestingly, similar compensatory activations have been reported in subjects with MCI (see, e.g., Dickerson et al., 2005; Hämäläinen et al., 2006).
The paper supports the significance of imaging methods in early detection of dementia, but on the other hand points to dynamic changes in fMRI occurring during progression of disease pathology.
References:
Dickerson BC, Salat DH, Greve DN, Chua EF, Rand-Giovannetti E, Rentz DM, Bertram L, Mullin K, Tanzi RE, Blacker D, Albert MS, Sperling RA. Increased hippocampal activation in mild cognitive impairment compared to normal aging and AD. Neurology. 2005 Aug 9;65(3):404-11. PubMed.
Hämäläinen A, Pihlajamäki M, Tanila H, Hänninen T, Niskanen E, Tervo S, Karjalainen PA, Vanninen RL, Soininen H. Increased fMRI responses during encoding in mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiol Aging. 2007 Dec;28(12):1889-903. Epub 2006 Sep 25 PubMed.
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