# Sensory and Motor Streams in Preclinical and Clinical Stages of Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $336,000

## Abstract

Project Summary (Abstract)
 Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes alterations in sensory systems –such as olfaction or hearing-, and
motor domains that sometimes precede cognitive symptoms, as shown in longitudinal studies. However, it
remains largely unknown the specific role of sensory and motor disruptions within the AD neurodegeneration
process and its clinical use for predicting future dementia onset. In this proposal, we focus on the network
nature of sensory and motor changes in the aging brain. We postulate that AD neurodegeneration transversally
affects connectivity streams across neuronal systems involving multiple domains of network integration, from
sensory-motor to high-order cognitive brain centers. Thus, we will investigate the functional streams
connecting sensory and motor regions with associative cortex to disentangle the role of sensory-motor
disruption in the disease and its relationship with tau and amyloid accumulation at the brain circuit level.
Particularly, we will use functional connectivity MRI, multimodal PET neuroimaging (tau and amyloid tracers),
and graph theory metrics to reliably quantify the sensory and motor circuit changes in the cerebral tissue of
preclinical and clinical AD samples from our local Harvard Aging Brain Study at Massachusetts General
Hospital. Our preliminary data has demonstrated that network analysis can provide a highly accurate
quantitative map of the sensory-motor systems connectivity in aging populations, offering a firm basis for
assessment of AD related changes in brain function. In this multi-disciplinary investigation we will 1) quantify
sensory and motor functional streams in aging and AD (Aim 1); 2) investigate the association of sensory and
motor functional streams with tau and amyloid deposits (Aim 2); and 3) investigate the sensory and motor
connectivity changes in the follow-up (Aim 3).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9997775
- **Project number:** 5R01AG061811-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Jorge Sepulcre
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $336,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9997775

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9997775, Sensory and Motor Streams in Preclinical and Clinical Stages of Alzheimer's Disease (5R01AG061811-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9997775. Licensed CC0.

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