This method may thus be used for individual risk prediction.29 It has yet to be applied more extensively to a larger number of MRI scans. Analysis of cortical thickness Another interesting automated method involves determining the cortical thickness of the neocortical association areas and the entorhinal cortex.30 Group separation

showed an accuracy of more than 90% in distinguishing between AD patients and healthy controls.31 However, this method has yet to be evaluated in an independent group, and the accuracy of this method in predicting conversion to AD in MCI subjects has not yet been studied. Imaging the cholinergic Crizotinib mouse nuclei in the basal forebrain The imaging of structural changes in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the region of the cholinergic nuclei of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the basal forebrain was recentlyestablished using a combination of automated methods with regional information. The cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain to the cortex are affected early on in AD. An MRI-based method showed a signal reduction in the region of the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical lateral and medial nuclei of the basal nucleus of Meynert for the first time in vivo.32-34 Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) The utilization of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for the measurement of brain activation during cognitive

tasks at a high level of resolution without any radiation exposure to the patient. There have been many studies that have examined brain activation changes in MCI subjects compared with AD, for the development of a marker of early AD.35-37 One new approach has been to investigate changes in the functional connectivity between regions of an activated network.38 Functional Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical connectivity gives a measure of the linear association between two regions and is a function of the phase relationship between the regions’ signals.39 An investigation of functional connectivity in MCI subjects

have shown that there are widespread changes in functional Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical connectivity of the fusiform gyrus to other visual processing areas, and areas within the ventral and dorsal Thymidine kinase visual pathways.38 The changes in functional connectivity preceded differences in brain activation between the MCI and healthy control group. Given that cognitive function requires a high level of integration across the network subserving cognitive function, it suggests that the first factor that may be altered in the brain by the putative AD neuropathology is the integration across a neural network. In addition, it has been found that the activation level within the fusiform gyrus was more strongly correlated to the gray matter density in the ventral and dorsal visual pathways compared with the healthy controls, further suggesting that changes in the entire network affect activation within a network region.