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Memon A, Moore JA, Kang C, Ismail Z, Forkert ND. Visual Functions Are Associated with Biomarker Changes in Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2024; 99:623-637. [PMID: 38669529 DOI: 10.3233/jad-231084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Background While various biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been associated with general cognitive function, their association to visual-perceptive function across the AD spectrum warrant more attention due to its significant impact on quality of life. Thus, this study explores how AD biomarkers are associated with decline in this cognitive domain. Objective To explore associations between various fluid and imaging biomarkers and visual-based cognitive assessments in participants across the AD spectrum. Methods Data from participants (N = 1,460) in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative were analyzed, including fluid and imaging biomarkers. Along with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), three specific visual-based cognitive tests were investigated: Trail Making Test (TMT) A and TMT B, and the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Locally estimated scatterplot smoothing curves and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine associations. Results MMSE showed the strongest correlations with most biomarkers, followed by TMT-B. The p-tau181/Aβ1-42 ratio, along with the volume of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, had the strongest associations among the biomarkers. Conclusions Several biomarkers are associated with visual processing across the disease spectrum, emphasizing their potential in assessing disease severity and contributing to progression models of visual function and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashar Memon
- Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Jasmine A Moore
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Chris Kang
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Zahinoor Ismail
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Departments of Clinical Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences, and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Nils D Forkert
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Departments of Clinical Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences, and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Departments of Clinical Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences, and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Moore JA, Wilms M, Gutierrez A, Ismail Z, Fakhar K, Hadaeghi F, Hilgetag CC, Forkert ND. Simulation of neuroplasticity in a CNN-based in-silico model of neurodegeneration of the visual system. Front Comput Neurosci 2023; 17:1274824. [PMID: 38105786 PMCID: PMC10722164 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2023.1274824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this work was to enhance the biological feasibility of a deep convolutional neural network-based in-silico model of neurodegeneration of the visual system by equipping it with a mechanism to simulate neuroplasticity. Therefore, deep convolutional networks of multiple sizes were trained for object recognition tasks and progressively lesioned to simulate neurodegeneration of the visual cortex. More specifically, the injured parts of the network remained injured while we investigated how the added retraining steps were able to recover some of the model's object recognition baseline performance. The results showed with retraining, model object recognition abilities are subject to a smoother and more gradual decline with increasing injury levels than without retraining and, therefore, more similar to the longitudinal cognition impairments of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, with retraining, the injured model exhibits internal activation patterns similar to those of the healthy baseline model when compared to the injured model without retraining. Furthermore, we conducted this analysis on a network that had been extensively pruned, resulting in an optimized number of parameters or synapses. Our findings show that this network exhibited remarkably similar capability to recover task performance with decreasingly viable pathways through the network. In conclusion, adding a retraining step to the in-silico setup that simulates neuroplasticity improves the model's biological feasibility considerably and could prove valuable to test different rehabilitation approaches in-silico.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine A. Moore
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Matthias Wilms
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Alejandro Gutierrez
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Zahinoor Ismail
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Kayson Fakhar
- Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Fatemeh Hadaeghi
- Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Claus C. Hilgetag
- Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nils D. Forkert
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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