Imagine a camera that can capture not only the world around you, but also your brain. That’s what researchers did in a groundbreaking study on Alzheimer’s disease (AD). By examining the retinal structure and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of AD patients, they discovered a strong correlation between changes in the retina and changes in the brain. It’s like finding a direct link between a beautifully painted portrait and the artist’s painting process! Through advanced technology, scientists were able to identify specific alterations in retinal thickness and MRI findings in AD patients compared to healthy controls. They also found intriguing connections between retinal parameters and different brain regions involved in vision processing. This suggests that changes in retinal structure may reflect underlying brain abnormalities related to AD. The researchers even built a classification model combining retinal imaging and MRI data, which showed promising results for identifying AD patients. This groundbreaking study opens up a new avenue for early diagnosis and understanding the mechanism of retinal changes in AD. If you want to dive deeper into the fascinating world of the retina-brain connection, check out the full article!

BackgroundThe retina imaging and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can both reflect early changes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and may serve as potential biomarker for early diagnosis, but their correlation and the internal mechanism of retinal structural changes remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the possible correlation between retinal structure and visual pathway, brain structure, intrinsic activity changes in AD patients, as well as to build a classification model to identify AD patients.MethodsIn the study, 49 AD patients and 48 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Retinal images were obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Multimodal MRI sequences of all subjects were collected. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression models were used to assess the correlation between OCT parameters and multimodal MRI findings. The diagnostic value of combination of retinal imaging and brain multimodal MRI was assessed by performing a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ResultsCompared with HCs, retinal thickness and multimodal MRI findings of AD patients were significantly altered (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were presented between the fractional anisotropy (FA) value of optic tract and mean retinal thickness, macular volume, macular ganglion cell layer (GCL) thickness, inner plexiform layer (IPL) thickness in AD patients (p < 0.01). The fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) value of primary visual cortex (V1) was correlated with temporal quadrant peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness (p < 0.05). The model combining thickness of GCL and temporal quadrant pRNFL, volume of hippocampus and lateral geniculate nucleus, and age showed the best performance to identify AD patients [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.936, sensitivity = 89.1%, specificity = 87.0%].ConclusionOur study demonstrated that retinal structure change was related to the loss of integrity of white matter fiber tracts in the visual pathway and the decreased LGN volume and functional metabolism of V1 in AD patients. Trans-synaptic axonal retrograde lesions may be the underlying mechanism. Combining retinal imaging and multimodal MRI may provide new insight into the mechanism of retinal structural changes in AD and may serve as new target for early auxiliary diagnosis of AD.

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