Marco
Bozzali1, Tommaso Gili2,3, Laura Serra1, Bruno
Maraviglia1,3, Carlo Caltagirone4,5, Karl Embleton6,
Geoff J. M. Parker7, Mara Cercignani1
1Neuorimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia
Foundation, Rome, Italy; 2MarbiLab, Enrico Fermi Centre, Rome,
Italy; 3Dept of Physics, University of Rome "La
Sapienza", Rome, Italy; 4Department of Clinical and
Behavioural Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; 5Dept
of Neuroscience, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"; 6Cognition
and Cognitive Neuroscience Group, School of Psychological Sciences,
University of Manchester, United Kingdom; 7Imaging Science &
Biomedical Engineering and the Biomedical Imaging Institute, University of
Manchester, United Kingdom
This
study assesses WM structural connectivity based on an index derived from
diffusion MRI in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), in a
group of patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and in a group of healthy control, in order to
investigate whether structural connectivity is altered in AD. The unexpected
finding of increased anatomical connectivity in several subcortical areas of
patients with AD but not in those with mild cognitive impairment might be
explained by the neurotrophic and neurorestorative properties of the
cholinesterase inhibitors assumed by these patients, although more investigations
are needed.