Structural and Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Vascular Risk Factors in the Alzheimer's Continuum: A Systematic Literature Review

Findings from this systematic literature review reveal that the effect of vascular burden is not uniform and region specific. Rather, it tends to have an effect at the macro level, affecting both AD-susceptible region, regions of the sensorimotor and visual networks, as well as deeper subcortical regions such as the thalamus, brainstem and cerebellum. Two distinct imaging patterns were observed between cognitive impaired and unimpaired individuals: one is that of widespread cortical thinning, volume loss and weaker functional connectivity between brain regions in impaired individuals; in cognitively unimpaired individuals an opposite pattern was instead detected, with greater regional cortical thickness, larger volumes and stronger functional connectivity.