Evidence mapPaperPMID 42381349Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2026

Human brain connectome profiles mediate the relationship between pathology burden and clinical phenotypes in Alzheimer's disease.

Yating Li, Dong Wang, Rongshen Zhou, Shaozhen Yan, Dawei Wang, Yongbin Wei, Hongxiang Yao, Bo Zhou, Jie Lu, Pan Wang and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Yating LiSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9749-6256
Dong WangSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.
Rongshen ZhouSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.
Shaozhen YanDepartment of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Dawei WangDepartment of Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Yongbin WeiSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.
Hongxiang YaoDepartment of Radiology, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Diseases, the Second Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Bo ZhouDepartment of Neurology, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Diseases, the Second Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Jie LuDepartment of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Pan WangDepartment of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.
Zhengluan LiaoDepartment of Psychiatry, People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Ying HanDepartment of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Xi ZhangDepartment of Neurology, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Diseases, the Second Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Yihe ZhangSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.
Yong LiuSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1862-3121
Kun ZhaoSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5196-100X
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 62201091National Natural Science Foundation of China 82401858National Natural Science Foundation of China T2425027Research Initiation Project for Introduced Talents of BUPT 2025KYQD22
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMild cognitive impairment (MCI), a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), shows pronounced clinical heterogeneity poorly explained by pathology burden, representing a gap complicating prognosis. As the brain operates as a complex network for information integration, we hypothesized that connectome architecture mediates the link between AD pathology and clinical expression.

methodsWe developed a framework integrating structural and functional connectomes from multi-center cohorts, performing connectome-based subtyping in MCI, with analyses of upstream pathology, downstream phenotypes, and transcriptomic associations.

resultsThis approach identified an "MCI-compromised" (MCI-C) subgroup characterized by extensive structural-functional connectomic disruption and an "MCI-preserved" (MCI-P) subgroup with relatively preserved connectome integrity. Despite comparable pathology, MCI-C demonstrated more severe neurodegeneration, accelerated cognitive decline, and elevated progression risk. Multiscale analyses linked these patterns to transcriptomic profiles of mitochondrial, synaptic, and neuroimmune processes. DISCUSSION: These findings demonstrate that the connectome acts as a critical mediator, rather than a passive endophenotype, shaping AD clinical expression.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseBrainCognitive DysfunctionConnectomeAgedDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMalePhenotypeAlzheimer's diseasebrain resilienceclinical heterogeneitymediatormultimodal brain network

Identifiers

PMID42381349
PMCPMC13319412

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.