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World J Radiol. Dec 28, 2015; 7(12): 475-483
Published online Dec 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i12.475
Amyloid positron emission tomography and cognitive reserve
Matteo Bauckneht, Agnese Picco, Flavio Nobili, Silvia Morbelli
Matteo Bauckneht, Silvia Morbelli, Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Agnese Picco, Flavio Nobili, Clinical Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Genoa and IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Author contributions: Morbelli S designed the reivew; Bauckneht M performed literature search and draft the manuscript; Picco A, Nobili F and Morbelli S made critical revisions related to important intellectual content of the manuscript; Morbelli S have given final approval of the version of the article to be published; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Silvia Morbelli, MD, PhD, Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy. silviadaniela.morbelli@hsanmartino.it
Telephone: +39-10-5552027 Fax: +39-10-5556911
Received: July 28, 2015
Peer-review started: July 29, 2015
First decision: August 14, 2015
Revised: September 1, 2015
Accepted: October 16, 2015
Article in press: October 19, 2015
Published online: December 28, 2015
Processing time: 153 Days and 3 Hours
Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a non-linear progressive course and several aspects influence the relationship between cerebral amount of AD pathology and the clinical expression of the disease. Brain cognitive reserve (CR) refers to the hypothesized capacity of an adult brain to cope with brain damage in order to minimize symptomatology. CR phenomenon contributed to explain the disjunction between the degree of neurodegeneration and the clinical phenotype of AD. The possibility to track brain amyloidosis (Aβ) in vivo has huge relevance for AD diagnosis and new therapeutic approaches. The clinical repercussions of positron emission tomography (PET)-assessed Aβ load are certainly mediated by CR thus potentially hampering the prognostic meaning of amyloid PET in selected groups of patients. Similarly, amyloid PET and cerebrospinal fluid amyloidosis biomarkers have recently provided new evidence for CR. The present review discusses the concept of CR in the framework of available neuroimaging studies and specifically deals with the reciprocal influences between amyloid PET and CR in AD patients and with the potential consequent interventional strategies for AD.

Keywords: Cognitive reserve; Amyloid positron emission tomography; Mild cognitive impairment; Alzheimer disease; Brain

Core tip: Given the large population of aging individuals and the consequent huge, progressive Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related healthcare costs, it is critical to find effective therapeutic strategies to mitigate the AD cognitive dysfunction. Accordingly, understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive reserve (CR) is of utmost importance. Instead, Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) has recently improved our knowledge in the field of CR. The present review discusses the concept of CR in the framework of available neuroimaging studies and specifically deals with the reciprocal influences between Amyloid PET and CR in AD patients and with the potential consequent interventional strategies for AD.