Resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) detects functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities that occur in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). FC of the default mode network (DMN), which is involved in memory consolidation, is commonly impaired in AD and MCI. We aimed to determine the diagnostic power of rs-fMRI to identify FC abnormalities in the DMN, which help to distinguish patients with AD or MCI from healthy controls (HCs). We searched articles in PubMed and Scopus databases using the search terms such as AD, MCI, resting-state fMRI, sensitivity and specificity through to 27th March 2020 and removed duplicate papers. We screened 390 published articles, and shortlisted 12 articles for the final analysis. The range of sensitivity of DMN FC at the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) for diagnosing AD was between 65.7% - 100% and specificity ranged from 66 - 95%. Reduced DMN FC between the PCC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the frontal lobes was observed in MCI patients. AD patients had impaired FC in most regions of the DMN; particularly the PCC in early AD. This indicates that DMN's rs-fMRI FC can offer moderate to high diagnostic power to distinguish AD and MCI patients. fMRI detected abnormal DMN FC, particularly in the PCC that helps to differentiate AD and MCI patients from healthy controls (HCs). Combining multivariate method of analysis with other MRI parameters such as structural changes improve the diagnostic power of rs-fMRI in distinguishing patients with AD or MCI from HCs.
Effective connectivity in the default mode network is distinctively disrupted in Alzheimer's disease-A simultaneous resting-state FDG-PET/fMRI study
