%0 Journal Article
%T Plasma Neurofilament Light Relates to Divergent Default and Salience Network Connectivity in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.
%A Chong JSX
%A Tan YJ
%A Koh AJ
%A Ting SKS
%A Kandiah N
%A Ng ASL
%A Zhou JH
%J J Alzheimers Dis
%V 99
%N 3
%D 2024 May 11
%M 38759005
%F 4.16
%R 10.3233/JAD-231251
%X <B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) show differential vulnerability to large-scale brain functional networks. Plasma neurofilament light (NfL), a promising biomarker of neurodegeneration, has been linked in AD patients to glucose metabolism changes in AD-related regions. However, it is unknown whether plasma NfL would be similarly associated with disease-specific functional connectivity changes in AD and bvFTD.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Our study examined the associations between plasma NfL and functional connectivity of the default mode and salience networks in patients with AD and bvFTD.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Plasma NfL and neuroimaging data from patients with bvFTD (n = 16) and AD or mild cognitive impairment (n = 38; AD + MCI) were analyzed. Seed-based functional connectivity maps of key regions within the default mode and salience networks were obtained and associated with plasma NfL in these patients.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>We demonstrated divergent associations between NfL and functional connectivity in AD + MCI and bvFTD patients. Specifically, AD + MCI patients showed lower default mode network functional connectivity with higher plasma NfL, while bvFTD patients showed lower salience network functional connectivity with higher plasma NfL. Further, lower NfL-related default mode network connectivity in AD + MCI patients was associated with lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and higher Clinical Dementia Rating sum-of-boxes scores, although NfL-related salience network connectivity in bvFTD patients was not associated with Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire scores.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Our findings indicate that plasma NfL is differentially associated with brain functional connectivity changes in AD and bvFTD.