On the highway to dementia: How early changes in brain connectivity can be a potential biomarker of later disease onset Date: Wednesday, 8th December 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m Speaker: Professor Marcus Kaiser, Professor of Neuroinformatics, Precision Imaging Beacon, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham Presentation via Microsoft Teams (you must register to receive the invitation - see below) Abstract: The pathophysiological process of Alzheimer’s disease is thought to begin years before clinical decline, with evidence suggesting prion-like spreading processes of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques along fibre tracts across the brain. At what point do normal brain connectivity changes in healthy ageing and changes along the path towards dementia differ? Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database, we first identified relevant features for dementia diagnosis. We then created dynamic models with the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample database to estimate the earliest detectable stage associated with dementia in the simulated disease progression.  A classifier based on centrality measures provides informative predictions.   Strength and closeness centralities are the most discriminative features, which are associated with the medial temporal lobe and subcortical regions, together with posterior and occipital brain regions. Our model simulations suggest that changes associated with dementia begin to manifest structurally at early stages. Finally, I will outline how brain stimulation might provide a way to change connectomes. In summary, our findings suggest that structural connectivity changes, observed with diffusion tensor imaging, can offer a tool for early disease detection before clinical dementia onset. Please note that you will need to register in order to access the seminar, and you will need to have access to Microsoft Teams. To register your attendance please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  by no later than 9.00 a.m. Tuesday 7th December, to be added to the electronic teams invitation list