P1‐334: Functional brain networks integrity in patients with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment

Aim of this work was to investigate the functional organization of large-scale brain networks in subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and network analysis. Thirteen AD patients (MMSE: 20+6 SD), 12 aMCI patients (26+1) and 13 healthy controls (HC, 29+1) underwent rs-fMRI and structural MRI. The functional correlations between 90 brain regions defined by the AAL anatomical template were computed. Significant pair-wise correlations were extracted from the whole sample (p<0.05 FDR-corrected, one-sample t-test) and used to construct the functional network. Between-group differences in network connectivity were investigated with ANOVA and post-hoc Bonferroni tests. Functional networks show both regions of increased and reduced connectivity in AD and aMCI. These functional changes may reflect a suboptimal reorganization of brain networks following tissue injury.