Abstract #0627

Neurodegeneration simulation in the connectome: a heuristic approach to unfold the key white matter pathways in Alzheimer’s disease

Matteo Mancini¹, Marcel A. de Reus², Laura Serra³, Marco Bozzali³, Martijn van den Heuvel², Mara Cercignani^3,4, and Silvia Conforto¹

¹Department of Engineering, University of Rome "Roma Tre", Rome, Italy, ²Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, ⁴Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

In order to identify the white matter impairment that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we combined computational simulations with a graph theoretical approach. We reconstructed the structural connectome of AD patients and healthy controls by means of diffusion tensor imaging, and characterized the differences between the two groups using graph theoretical measures. We then simulated neurodegeneration processes in the controls using two different heuristic algorithms. We were able to reproduce the AD disruption pattern in the controls, and we observed a relevant role of the connections between hubs and peripheral regions in the simulated damaging process.

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