Fingerprints of brain disease: connectome identifiability in Alzheimer's disease

Sara Stampacchia; Saina Asadi; Szymon Tomczyk; Federica Ribaldi; Max Scheffler; Karl-Olof Lövblad; Michela Pievani; Aïda B. Fall; Maria Giulia Preti; Paul G. Unschuld; Dimitri Van De Ville; Olaf Blanke; Giovanni B. Frisoni; Valentina Garibotto; Enrico Amico

doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06829-8

Fingerprints of brain disease: connectome identifiability in Alzheimer's disease

Sara Stampacchia^*, Saina Asadi, Szymon Tomczyk, Federica Ribaldi, Max Scheffler, Karl-Olof Lövblad, Michela Pievani, Aïda B. Fall, Maria Giulia Preti, Paul G. Unschuld, Dimitri Van De Ville, Olaf Blanke, Giovanni B. Frisoni, Valentina Garibotto, Enrico Amico^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Functional connectivity patterns in the human brain, like the friction ridges of a fingerprint, can uniquely identify individuals. Does this "brain fingerprint" remain distinct even during Alzheimer's disease (AD)? Using fMRI data from healthy and pathologically ageing subjects, we find that individual functional connectivity profiles remain unique and highly heterogeneous during mild cognitive impairment and AD. However, the patterns that make individuals identifiable change with disease progression, revealing a reconfiguration of the brain fingerprint. Notably, connectivity shifts towards functional system connections in AD and lower-order cognitive functions in early disease stages. These findings emphasize the importance of focusing on individual variability rather than group differences in AD studies. Individual functional connectomes could be instrumental in creating personalized models of AD progression, predicting disease course, and optimizing treatments, paving the way for personalized medicine in AD management.

Original language	English
Article number	1169
Number of pages	16
Journal	Communications Biology
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06829-8
Publication status	Published - 18 Sept 2024

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Alzheimer Disease/diagnostic imaging
Humans
Connectome
Aged
Brain/diagnostic imaging
Male
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Female
Cognitive Dysfunction/physiopathology
Aged, 80 and over
Disease Progression
Middle Aged

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s42003-024-06829-8Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

StampacchiaS2024FingerprintsFinal published version, 8.12 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

Stampacchia, S., Asadi, S., Tomczyk, S., Ribaldi, F., Scheffler, M., Lövblad, K.-O., Pievani, M., Fall, A. B., Preti, M. G., Unschuld, P. G., Van De Ville, D., Blanke, O., Frisoni, G. B., Garibotto, V., & Amico, E. (2024). Fingerprints of brain disease: connectome identifiability in Alzheimer's disease. Communications Biology, 7(1), Article 1169. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06829-8

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AU - Scheffler, Max

AU - Lövblad, Karl-Olof

AU - Pievani, Michela

AU - Fall, Aïda B.

AU - Preti, Maria Giulia

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AU - Van De Ville, Dimitri

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