ArticleHuman brain mapping2018
Thinner retinal layers are associated with changes in the visual pathway: A population-based study.
Article in Human brain mapping, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on the ocular characteristics in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Retinal layer assessments as potential biomarkers for brain atrophy in the Rhineland Study.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Retinal proteomics in neurodegeneration: Insights into ocular and brain disorders.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Retinal and Choroidal Vascular Metrics Predict Cerebral Atrophy and Cognitive Impairment in Noninfarcted Large Artery Stenosis.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- The Retina as a Proxy for Brain Neurodegeneration: A Narrative Review on OCT-Based Retinal Imaging in the Early Detection of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.Journal of imaging · 2026Review
- Brain and retina in Alzheimer's disease: Pathological intersections and estimates from imaging.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Cortical functional and structural alterations in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a multimodal analysis using surface-based independent component analysis, morphometry, and machine learning.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2025Article
- Retinal imaging and tissue analysis for frontotemporal degeneration: recent advances and challenges for biomarker development.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2025Review
- Outer Retinal Thinning is Associated With Brain Atrophy in Early Age-Related Macular Degeneration.American journal of ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Retinal Microvasculature Changes Linked to Executive Function Impairment after COVID-19.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Edge Density Imaging Identifies White Matter Biomarkers of Late-Life Obesity and Cognition.Aging and disease · 2024Article
- Structural correlations between brain magnetic resonance image-derived phenotypes and retinal neuroanatomy.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Distinct alterations of retinal structure between thalamic and extra-thalamic subcortical infarction patients: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Article
- Potential ocular indicators to distinguish posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease: a cross-section study using optical coherence tomography angiography.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2024Article
- Retinal biomarkers for the risk of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
- The Association of Retinal Microvasculature With Gray Matter Changes and Structural Covariance Network: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2023Article
- Association of retinal nerve layers thickness and brain imaging in healthy young subjects from the i-Share-Bordeaux study.Human brain mapping · 2023Article
- Visual impairment and retinal and brain neurodegeneration: A population-based study.Human brain mapping · 2023Article
- Retinal Alterations as Potential Biomarkers of Structural Brain Changes in Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum Patients.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Increasing evidence shows that thinner retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL), assessed on optical coherence tomography (OCT), are reflecting global brain atrophy. Yet, little is known on the relation of these layers with specific brain regions. Using voxel-based analysis, we aimed to unravel specific brain regions associated with these retinal layers. We included 2,235 persons (mean age: 67.3 years, 55% women) from the Rotterdam Study (2007-2012) who had gradable retinal OCT images and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, including diffusion tensor (DT) imaging. Thicknesses of peripapillary RNFL and perimacular GCL were measured using an automated segmentation algorithm. Voxel-based morphometry protocols were applied to process DT-MRI data. We investigated the association between retinal layer thickness with voxel-wise gray matter density and white matter microstructure by performing linear regression models. We found that thinner RNFL and GCL were associated with lower gray matter density in the visual cortex, and with lower fractional anisotropy and higher mean diffusivity in white matter tracts that are part of the optic radiation. Furthermore, thinner GCL was associated with lower gray matter density of the thalamus. Thinner RNFL and GCL are associated with gray and white matter changes in the visual pathway suggesting that retinal thinning on OCT may be specifically associated with changes in the visual pathway rather than with changes in the global brain. These findings may serve as a basis for understanding visual symptoms in elderly patients, patients with Alzheimer's disease, or patients with posterior cortical atrophy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.