Compositional brain scores capture Alzheimer's disease–specific structural brain patterns along the disease continuum

作者：Patricia Genius, M. Luz Calle, Blanca Rodríguez‐Fernández, Carolina Minguillón, Raffaele Cacciaglia, Diego Garrido-Martín, Manel Esteller, Arcadi Navarro, Juan Domingo Gispert, Natàlia Vilor‐Tejedor, for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, for the ALFA study · 发表于：Alzheimer s & Dementia · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1002/alz.14490 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research、Alzheimer's disease research and treatments

INTRODUCTION: Traditional multivariate methods for neuroimaging studies overlook the interdependent relationship between brain features. This study addresses this gap by analyzing relative brain volumetric patterns to capture how Alzheimer's disease (AD) and genetics influence brain structure along the disease continuum. METHODS: This study analyzed data from participants across the AD continuum from the Alzheimer's and Families (ALFA) and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) studies. Compositional data analysis (CoDA) was exploited to examine relative brain volumetric variations that (1) were linked to different AD stages compared to cognitively unimpaired amyloid-β-negative (CU A-) individuals and (2) varied by AD genetic risk. RESULTS: Disease stage-specific compositional brain scores were identified, differentiating CU A- individuals from those in more advanced stages. Genetic risk-stratified models revealed a broader genetic landscape affecting brain morphology in AD, beyond the well-known apolipoprotein E ε4 allele. DISCUSSION: CoDA emerges as an alternative multivariate framework to deepen understanding of AD-related structural changes and support targeted interventions for those at higher genetic risk. HIGHLIGHTS: Compositional data analysis (CoDA) revealed the relative variation of brain region volumes, captured in compositional brain scores, capable of discerning between cognitively unimpaired amyloid-β-negative individuals and subjects within other di...