Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24548606›Full record

ReviewProgress in neurobiology2014

What is normal in normal aging? Effects of aging, amyloid and Alzheimer's disease on the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus.

Anders M Fjell, Linda McEvoy, Dominic Holland, Anders M Dale, Kristine B Walhovd, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Progress in neurobiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 446 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
446citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
27.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

446 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 827 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. The Effects of Computerized Cognitive Training in Older Adults' Cognitive Performance and Biomarkers of Structural Brain Aging.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024
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  19. Prediction of cognitive outcome and progression to dementia using ω6-PUFA/ω3-PUFA ratio.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
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  20. Article

386 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Anders M FjellResearch Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: andersmf@psykologi.uio.no.
Linda McEvoyMultimodal Imaging Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Dominic HollandMultimodal Imaging Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Anders M DaleMultimodal Imaging Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Kristine B WalhovdResearch Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway.
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
University of California, San Diego · USUniversity of Oslo · NO

Funding

Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - SupplementU01AG024904 · NIA · NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE RES &EDUC · PI WEINER, MICHAEL W · 2004 to 2015
$121.0M
Structural & Metabolic Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Early Alzheimer's DiseaseR01AG031224 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DALE, ANDERS M · 2008 to 2012
$1.9M
Structure and Functional Imaging of Age-Related Changes in Working MemoryK01AG029218 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI MCEVOY, LINDA KATHLEEN · 2007 to 2011
$558k
NIA NIH HHS K01 AG029218NIA NIH HHS NIA K01AG029218NIA NIH HHS R01 AG031224NIA NIH HHS U01 AG024904
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

What can be expected in normal aging, and where does normal aging stop and pathological neurodegeneration begin? With the slow progression of age-related dementias such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is difficult to distinguish age-related changes from effects of undetected disease. We review recent research on changes of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus in aging and the borders between normal aging and AD. We argue that prominent cortical reductions are evident in fronto-temporal regions in elderly even with low probability of AD, including regions overlapping the default mode network. Importantly, these regions show high levels of amyloid deposition in AD, and are both structurally and functionally vulnerable early in the disease. This normalcy-pathology homology is critical to understand, since aging itself is the major risk factor for sporadic AD. Thus, rather than necessarily reflecting early signs of disease, these changes may be part of normal aging, and may inform on why the aging brain is so much more susceptible to AD than is the younger brain. We suggest that regions characterized by a high degree of life-long plasticity are vulnerable to detrimental effects of normal aging, and that this age-vulnerability renders them more susceptible to additional, pathological AD-related changes. We conclude that it will be difficult to understand AD without understanding why it preferably affects older brains, and that we need a model that accounts for age-related changes in AD-vulnerable regions independently of AD-pathology.

Indexed as

AgingAlzheimer DiseaseAmyloidAnimalsBrainCerebral CortexHippocampusHumansAmyloidAlzheimer's disease (AD)AmyloidCerebral cortexDefault mode network (DMN)HippocampusNormal aging

Identifiers

PMID24548606
PMCPMC4343307
OpenAlexW2081164888

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.