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Study design

The researchers analyzed resting-state fMRI and biomarker data from 973 BioFINDER-2 participants and tested key patterns in 129 ADNI participants. They mapped connectivity changes against two broad axes of cortical organization and tracked tau-PET change in a longitudinal subset.

What the study found

Alzheimer’s pathology and related cognitive decline aligned mainly with a sensory-to-association gradient, while age-related connectivity changes aligned with a separate representational-to-executive gradient. The distinction appeared in both cohorts; within-person tau-PET increases were also associated with gradient-aligned connectivity changes.

Limits and interpretation

The work is observational and uses complex, group-level MRI summaries; association does not show that connectivity changes cause cognitive decline. The ADNI replication included 129 participants with complete data, and the gradients are research measures rather than validated clinical tests.

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