Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is marked by progressive cognitive decline and memory loss, due to the abnormal accumulation of amyloid-beta ( Aβ ) plaques, which facilitate the spread of tau pathology, and a gradually spreading pattern of neuronal loss. Understanding how amyloid positivity affects the brain’s neural pathways is critical for understanding how the brain changes with AD pathology. Tractometry offers a powerful approach for the in vivo , 3D quantitative assessment of white matter tracts, enabling the localization of microstructural abnormalities in diseased populations and those at risk. In this study, we applied BUAN (Bundle Analytics) tractometry to multi-cohort diffusion MRI data from a total of 1,908 participants: 606 participants in ADNI3 (Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Phase 3) and 1,302 participants from the HABS-HD (Health and Aging Brain Study–Health Disparities). Using BUAN and along-tract statistical analysis, we assessed the localized effects of amyloid positivity on white-matter pathways, which may be further influenced by downstream tau accumulation. Amyloid positivity was quantified via amyloid-sensitive positron emission tomography (PET). BUAN enables tract-specific quantification of white matter microstructure and supports statistical testing along the full length of fiber bundles to detect subtle, spatially localized associations. We present 3D visualizations of tractwise amyloid associations, highlighting distinct patterns of white matter degeneration in AD.
Authors: Bramsh Qamar Chandio, Talia M. Nir, Julio E. Villalon-Reina, Sophia I. Thomopoulos, Yixue Feng, Robert I. Reid, Clifford R. Jack, Michael W. Weiner, Eleftherios Garyfallidis, Neda Jahanshad, Meredith N. Braskie, Sid O’Bryant, Paul M. Thompson, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the Health and Aging Brain Study (HABS-HD) Study Team
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1456082334, FiberNET: Deep learning to evaluate brain tract integrity worldwide and in AD, G2476446273, G2619161350, G3396685722, Health Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment among Mexican Americans, Worldwide Tractometry Initiative to Investigate Brain Microstructure, Cognitive Impairment & Dementia in Parkinsons Disease, Cortical dMRI microstructure as an early marker of AD pathology, G9000024702, G9000060504, G9000278956, G9000346919, Health and Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE-AT(N)) Study, Causal and Event Based Modeling of Brain Alterations in ADRD, Epigenetic Risk Factors for AD Age at Onset and Health Disparities: HABLE Epigenetics Study, Community-supported open-source software for computational neuroanatomy, Ultrascale Machine Learning to Empower Discovery in Alzheimers Disease Biobanks
OpenAlex ID: W4417473075