Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42157001›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

Genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease is associated with loss of brain network segregation in midlife.

Feng Deng, Richard N Henson, Graciela Muniz-Terrera, Paresh Malhotra, John T O'Brien, Craig W Ritchie, Brian Lawlor, Lorina Naci

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

8 authors.

Feng DengSchool of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Richard N HensonMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0712-2639
Graciela Muniz-TerreraEdinburgh Dementia Prevention, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Paresh MalhotraDepartment of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1897-0780
John T O'BrienDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0837-5080
Craig W RitchieEdinburgh Dementia Prevention, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Brian LawlorTrinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Lorina NaciTrinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. nacil@tcd.ie.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9630-3978

Funding

Health Research Board (HRB) ILP-POR-2024-057National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32400902
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology starts decades before clinical manifestations, but the early indicators of AD in midlife remain unclear. Functional segregation of brain networks is a key marker of brain health. It remains unknown, however, whether inherited risk of AD impacts network segregation from midlife in individuals who are cognitively healthy but carry inherited risk for late-life AD. To address this question, we investigate which brain networks show the strongest age-related segregation loss in the Cam-CAN lifespan cohort (18-88 years, N = 652), and whether APOE ε4 genotype impacts segregation of age-vulnerable networks in the midlife PREVENT cohort (40-59 years, N = 210), cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Higher-order networks showing the most significant age-related decline are the default mode (DMN), frontal-parietal control (FPN) and salience (SN) networks. Cognitively healthy midlife APOE ε4 carriers have higher segregation across the brain cross-sectionally, accompanied by greater longitudinal decline in the DMN over two years, relative to non-carriers. Higher DMN segregation is associated with better episodic and relational memory across the PREVENT cohort. These findings suggest that functional segregation may serve as a potential biomarker, providing insights into the mechanisms through which APOE influences brain function and cognition from healthy midlife, on average 23 years before dementia onset.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseBrainGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseNerve NetAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overApolipoprotein E4Cross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedApolipoprotein E4

Identifiers

PMID42157001
PMCPMC13454165

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Registered trials

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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.