Biology subjects

Naegele, F. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Naegele, F. L..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

A Latent Clinical-anatomical Dimension Relating Metabolic Syndrome to Brain Morphology - Evidence from a Multivariate Imaging Analysis of 40,087 Individuals

The link between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and neurodegenerative as well cerebrovascular conditions holds substantial implications for brain health in at-risk populations. This study elucidates the complex relationship between MetS and brain health by conducting a comprehensive examination of cardiometabolic risk factors, cortical morphology, and cognitive function in 40,087 individuals. Multivariate, data-driven statistics identified a latent dimension linking more severe MetS to widespread brain morphological abnormalities, accounting for up to 71% of shared variance in the data. This dimension was replicable across sub-samples. In a mediation analysis we could demonstrate that MetS-related brain morphological abnormalities mediated the link between MetS severity and cognitive performance in multiple domains. Employing imaging transcriptomics and connectomics, our results also suggest that MetS-related morphological abnormalities are linked to the regional cellular composition and macroscopic brain network organization. By leveraging extensive, multi-domain data combined with a dimensional stratification approach, our analysis provides profound insights into the association of MetS and brain health. These findings can inform effective therapeutic and risk mitigation strategies aimed at maintaining brain integrity.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Brain Network Architecture Constrains Age-related Cortical Thinning

Age-related cortical atrophy, approximated by cortical thickness measurements from magnetic resonance imaging, follows a characteristic pattern over the lifespan. Although its determinants remain unknown, mounting evidence demonstrates correspondence between the connectivity profiles of structural and functional brain networks and cortical atrophy in health and neurological disease. Here, we performed a cross-sectional multimodal neuroimaging analysis of 2633 individuals from a large population-based cohort to characterize the association between age-related differences in cortical thickness and functional as well as structural brain network topology. We identified a widespread pattern of age-related cortical thickness differences including "hotspots" of strong age effects located in brain areas with high centrality (structural network hubs). Regional age-related differences were furthermore strongly correlated within the structurally defined node neighborhood. The overall pattern of thickness differences as well as its change throughout the later lifespan was found to be anchored in the functional network hierarchy as encoded by macroscale functional connectivity gradients. Lastly, the identified difference pattern covaried significantly with cognitive and motor performance. Our findings indicate that connectivity profiles of functional and structural brain networks might act as organizing principles behind age-related cortical thinning as an imaging surrogate of cortical atrophy.

neuroscience↗