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Domínguez-Alvaro MAuthorBlazquez-Llorca LAuthorAlonso-Nanclares LCorresponding AuthorThree-dimensional analysis of synapses in the transentorhinal cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients
Publicated to:Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 6 (1): 20- - 2018-03-02 6(1), DOI: 10.1186/s40478-018-0520-6
Authors: Dominguez-Alvaro, M; Dominguez-Alvaro, M; Montero-Crespo, M; Montero-Crespo, M; Blazquez-Llorca, L; Blazquez-Llorca, L; Insausti, R; Insausti, R; DeFelipe, J; DeFelipe, J; Alonso-Nanclares, L; Alonso-Nanclares, L
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Abstract
Synaptic dysfunction or loss in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to be a major structural correlate of cognitive dysfunction. Early loss of episodic memory, which occurs at the early stage of AD, is closely associated with the progressive degeneration of medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures of which the transentorhinal cortex (TEC) is the first affected area. However, no ultrastructural studies have been performed in this region in human brain samples from AD patients. In the present study, we have performed a detailed three-dimensional (3D) ultrastructural analysis using focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) to investigate possible synaptic alterations in the TEC of patients with AD. Surprisingly, the analysis of the density, morphological features and spatial distribution of synapses in the neuropil showed no significant differences between AD and control samples. However, light microscopy studies showed that cortical thickness of the TEC was severely reduced in AD samples, but there were no changes in the volume occupied by neuronal and glial cell bodies, blood vessels, and neuropil. Thus, the present results indicate that there is a dramatic loss of absolute number of synapses, while the morphology of synaptic junctions and synaptic spatial distribution are maintained. How these changes affect cognitive impairment in AD remains to be elucidated.
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Quality index
Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel
The work has been published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2018, it was in position 33/267, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Neurosciences.
From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.28. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)
This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:
- Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.56 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
- Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.25 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)
Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-09, the following number of citations:
- WoS: 39
- Scopus: 40
- Europe PMC: 34
Impact and social visibility
Leadership analysis of institutional authors
There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (DOMÍNGUEZ ÁLVARO, MARTA) and Last Author (ALONSO NANCLARES, LIDIA).
the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been ALONSO NANCLARES, LIDIA.