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Abstract #0730

Intrinsic Visual Attention Networks and Their Structural Connectivity Reveal Structure-Function Changes of the Visual-Attention System in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Pin-Yu Chen1, Yung-Chin Hsu1, Chang-Le Chen1, Yu-Ling Chang2, Ming-Jang Chiu2,3,4,5, and Wen-Yih Tseng1,4,5

1Institute of Medical Device and Imaging, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 3Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 4Molecular Imaging Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 5Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

In addition to the memory problems, older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may suffer from visual-attention problems. We speculated that even at the very early stage such as subjective cognitive decline (SCD), visual-attention function may be affected. We investigated the control, SCD and MCI groups’ functional connectivity of the attention and visual networks and the five association fiber tracts responsible for long-range dorsal and ventral pathways. The ventral attention and ventral visual networks exhibit significant group differences in all functional, structural connectivity and cortical thickness. Our findings suggest that in contrast to the top-down goal-directed dorsal attention and the object location of dorsal visual functions, the ventral attention and ventral visual functions for processing unfamiliar stimuli and object recognition may be changed in SCD and MCI. In summary, the visual-attention functions may be affected in SCD and MCI.

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