This is another very interesting paper from David Holtzman's lab, continuing a very interesting theme that suggests neural function (or dysfunction, in this case) affects Aβ deposition. Previous work (a nice paper by in Nature Neuroscience last year, Bero et al., 2011) showed that neural activity was related to subsequent development of plaques in transgenic animals. This paper breaks new ground by applying a method this lab developed that uses optical imaging to measure functional connectivity. It's motivated by studies in humans with fMRI that show disruption of functional connectivity in normal older people with Aβ deposition. In this case, through the use of transgenic animals, the authors were able to demonstrate regional loss of connectivity in young animals, prior to Aβ deposition.

This is quite a novel finding, and extends the theme that the lab has been working on relating neural activity to Aβ to include measures of functional connectivity. The functional connectivity measures in this paper are especially interesting...  Read more

This is another very interesting paper from David Holtzman's lab, continuing a very interesting theme that suggests neural function (or dysfunction, in this case) affects Aβ deposition. Previous work (a nice paper by in Nature Neuroscience last year, Bero et al., 2011) showed that neural activity was related to subsequent development of plaques in transgenic animals. This paper breaks new ground by applying a method this lab developed that uses optical imaging to measure functional connectivity. It's motivated by studies in humans with fMRI that show disruption of functional connectivity in normal older people with Aβ deposition. In this case, through the use of transgenic animals, the authors were able to demonstrate regional loss of connectivity in young animals, prior to Aβ deposition.

This is quite a novel finding, and extends the theme that the lab has been working on relating neural activity to Aβ to include measures of functional connectivity. The functional connectivity measures in this paper are especially interesting because of their relevance to similar human functional connectivity data.

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