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New gene found linked to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer

Networks are present in many aspects of our lives, and networks in neuroscience have recently gained much attention leading to novel representations of brain connectivity. The integration of neuroimaging characteristics and genetics data allows a better understanding of the effects of the gene expression on brain structural and functional connections. Some researchers recently used an advanced magnetic resonance imaging approach able to track fibers inside the brain to relate changes driven by genetic that correlate to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s patients. This is accomplished by examining the effect of targeted genetic risk factors on the most common local and global brain connectivity measures.

They found for instance that the expression of PLAU gene increases the change of connectivity in the fusiform gyrus. And that dementia-related changes are related to distinct brain regions changes. These findings provide insights into the complex longitudinal interplay between genetics and brain characteristics and highlight the role of Alzheimer’s genetic risk factors in the estimation of regional brain connectivity alterations.


Original paper:


Relating Global and Local Connectome Changes to Dementia and Targeted Gene Expression in Alzheimer’s Disease Samar S. M. Elsheikh, Emile R. Chimusa, Nicola J. Mulder and Alessandro Crimi Front. Hum. Neurosci., 17 December 2021

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.761424

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