"Compared with activation in the medial temporal lobe, deactivation in the posteromedial cortices could be a more sensitive marker of early Alzheimer's disease at functional magnetic resonance imaging," they wrote.
The authors noted several limitations of the study.
- They cited a differential loss rate of participants from the initial recruiting pool (total 23.5% [23 of 98], control group 17.6% [six of 34], mild cognitive impairment group 22.7% [10 of 44], and Alzheimer's disease group 35% [seven of 20]). "It is therefore possible that subjects were not lost at random (e.g., exclusion for excessive motion may have been more prevalent in the Alzheimer's disease group)."
- There was also a "significant difference in education levels between subject groups," with the mild Alzheimer's group having significantly fewer years of education.
| The funding source for the study was not listed. The authors declared that they had no financial conflicts of interest, however. |
