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Pérot JB, Brouillet E, Flament J. The contribution of preclinical magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to Huntington's disease. Front Aging Neurosci 2024; 16:1306312. [PMID: 38414634 PMCID: PMC10896846 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1306312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is an inherited disorder characterized by psychiatric, cognitive, and motor symptoms due to degeneration of medium spiny neurons in the striatum. A prodromal phase precedes the onset, lasting decades. Current biomarkers include clinical score and striatal atrophy using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). These markers lack sensitivity for subtle cellular changes during the prodromal phase. MRI and MR spectroscopy offer different contrasts for assessing metabolic, microstructural, functional, or vascular alterations in the disease. They have been used in patients and mouse models. Mouse models can be of great interest to study a specific mechanism of the degenerative process, allow better understanding of the pathogenesis from the prodromal to the symptomatic phase, and to evaluate therapeutic efficacy. Mouse models can be divided into three different constructions: transgenic mice expressing exon-1 of human huntingtin (HTT), mice with an artificial chromosome expressing full-length human HTT, and knock-in mouse models with CAG expansion inserted in the murine htt gene. Several studies have used MRI/S to characterized these models. However, the multiplicity of modalities and mouse models available complicates the understanding of this rich corpus. The present review aims at giving an overview of results obtained using MRI/S for each mouse model of HD, to provide a useful resource for the conception of neuroimaging studies using mouse models of HD. Finally, despite difficulties in translating preclinical protocols to clinical applications, many biomarkers identified in preclinical models have already been evaluated in patients. This review also aims to cover this aspect to demonstrate the importance of MRI/S for studying HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Baptiste Pérot
- Laboratoire des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Molecular Imaging Research Center, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
- Institut du Cerveau – Paris Brain Institute – ICM, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel Brouillet
- Laboratoire des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Molecular Imaging Research Center, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Julien Flament
- Laboratoire des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Molecular Imaging Research Center, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
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Estevez-Fraga C, Elmalem MS, Papoutsi M, Durr A, Rees EM, Hobbs NZ, Roos RAC, Landwehrmeyer B, Leavitt BR, Langbehn DR, Scahill RI, Rees G, Tabrizi SJ, Gregory S. Progressive alterations in white matter microstructure across the timecourse of Huntington's disease. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e2940. [PMID: 36917716 PMCID: PMC10097137 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whole-brain longitudinal diffusion studies are crucial to examine changes in structural connectivity in neurodegeneration. Here, we investigated the longitudinal alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure across the timecourse of Huntington's disease (HD). METHODS We examined changes in WM microstructure from premanifest to early manifest disease, using data from two cohorts with different disease burden. The TrackOn-HD study included 67 controls, 67 premanifest, and 10 early manifest HD (baseline and 24-month data); the PADDINGTON study included 33 controls and 49 early manifest HD (baseline and 15-month data). Longitudinal changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity from baseline to last study visit were investigated for each cohort using tract-based spatial statistics. An optimized pipeline was employed to generate participant-specific templates to which diffusion tensor imaging maps were registered and change maps were calculated. We examined longitudinal differences between HD expansion-carriers and controls, and correlations with clinical scores, including the composite UHDRS (cUHDRS). RESULTS HD expansion-carriers from TrackOn-HD, with lower disease burden, showed a significant longitudinal decline in FA in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus and an increase in MD across subcortical WM tracts compared to controls, while in manifest HD participants from PADDINGTON, there were significant widespread longitudinal increases in diffusivity compared to controls. Baseline scores in clinical scales including the cUHDRS predicted WM microstructural change in HD expansion-carriers. CONCLUSION The present study showed significant longitudinal changes in WM microstructure across the HD timecourse. Changes were evident in larger WM areas and across more metrics as the disease advanced, suggesting a progressive alteration of WM microstructure with disease evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Estevez-Fraga
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Michael S Elmalem
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marina Papoutsi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Alexandra Durr
- Sorbonne Université, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), AP-HP, Inserm, CNRS, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, Paris, France
| | | | - Nicola Z Hobbs
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Blair R Leavitt
- Centre for Huntington's Disease at UBC Hospital, Department of Medical Genetics and Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Geraint Rees
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
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Casella C, Chamberland M, Laguna PL, Parker GD, Rosser AE, Coulthard E, Rickards H, Berry SC, Jones DK, Metzler‐Baddeley C. Mutation-related magnetization-transfer, not axon density, drives white matter differences in premanifest Huntington disease: Evidence from in vivo ultra-strong gradient MRI. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3439-3460. [PMID: 35396899 PMCID: PMC9248323 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
White matter (WM) alterations have been observed in Huntington disease (HD) but their role in the disease-pathophysiology remains unknown. We assessed WM changes in premanifest HD by exploiting ultra-strong-gradient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This allowed to separately quantify magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and hindered and restricted diffusion-weighted signal fractions, and assess how they drove WM microstructure differences between patients and controls. We used tractometry to investigate region-specific alterations across callosal segments with well-characterized early- and late-myelinating axon populations, while brain-wise differences were explored with tract-based cluster analysis (TBCA). Behavioral measures were included to explore disease-associated brain-function relationships. We detected lower MTR in patients' callosal rostrum (tractometry: p = .03; TBCA: p = .03), but higher MTR in their splenium (tractometry: p = .02). Importantly, patients' mutation-size and MTR were positively correlated (all p-values < .01), indicating that MTR alterations may directly result from the mutation. Further, MTR was higher in younger, but lower in older patients relative to controls (p = .003), suggesting that MTR increases are detrimental later in the disease. Finally, patients showed higher restricted diffusion signal fraction (FR) from the composite hindered and restricted model of diffusion (CHARMED) in the cortico-spinal tract (p = .03), which correlated positively with MTR in the posterior callosum (p = .033), potentially reflecting compensatory mechanisms. In summary, this first comprehensive, ultra-strong gradient MRI study in HD provides novel evidence of mutation-driven MTR alterations at the premanifest disease stage which may reflect neurodevelopmental changes in iron, myelin, or a combination of these.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Casella
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
- Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging SciencesKing's College London, St Thomas' HospitalLondonUK
| | - Maxime Chamberland
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviorRadboud UniversityNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Pedro L. Laguna
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
| | - Greg D. Parker
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
| | - Anne E. Rosser
- Department of Neurology and Psychological MedicineHayden Ellis BuildingCardiffUK
- School of BiosciencesCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
| | | | - Hugh Rickards
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation TrustBirminghamUK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental SciencesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Samuel C. Berry
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
| | - Derek K. Jones
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
| | - Claudia Metzler‐Baddeley
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
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Classification of Huntington's Disease Stage with Features Derived from Structural and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12050704. [PMID: 35629126 PMCID: PMC9143912 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12050704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to classify Huntington’s disease (HD) stage using support vector machines and measures derived from T1- and diffusion-weighted imaging. The effects of feature selection approach and combination of imaging modalities are assessed. Fourteen premanifest-HD individuals (Pre-HD; on average > 20 years from estimated disease onset), eleven early-manifest HD (Early-HD) patients, and eighteen healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. We compared three feature selection approaches: (i) whole-brain segmented grey matter (GM; voxel-based measure) or fractional anisotropy (FA) values; (ii) GM or FA values from subcortical regions-of-interest (caudate, putamen, pallidum); and (iii) automated selection of GM or FA values with the algorithm Relief-F. We assessed single- and multi-kernel approaches to classify combined GM and FA measures. Significant classifications were achieved between Early-HD and Pre-HD or HC individuals (accuracy: generally, 85% to 95%), and between Pre-HD and controls for the feature FA of the caudate ROI (74% accuracy). The combination of GM and FA measures did not result in higher performances. We demonstrate evidence on the high sensitivity of FA for the classification of the earliest Pre-HD stages, and successful distinction between HD stages.
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Gabery S, Kwa JE, Cheong RY, Baldo B, Ferrari Bardile C, Tan B, McLean C, Georgiou-Karistianis N, Poudel GR, Halliday G, Pouladi MA, Petersén Å. Early white matter pathology in the fornix of the limbic system in Huntington disease. Acta Neuropathol 2021; 142:791-806. [PMID: 34448021 PMCID: PMC8500909 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02362-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. The typical motor symptoms have been associated with basal ganglia pathology. However, psychiatric and cognitive symptoms often precede the motor component and may be due to changes in the limbic system. Recent work has indicated pathology in the hypothalamus in HD but other parts of the limbic system have not been extensively studied. Emerging evidence suggests that changes in HD also include white matter pathology. Here we investigated if the main white matter tract of the limbic system, the fornix, is affected in HD. We demonstrate that the fornix is 34% smaller already in prodromal HD and 41% smaller in manifest HD compared to controls using volumetric analyses of MRI of the IMAGE-HD study. In post-mortem fornix tissue from HD cases, we confirm the smaller fornix volume in HD which is accompanied by signs of myelin breakdown and reduced levels of the transcription factor myelin regulating factor but detect no loss of oligodendrocytes. Further analyses using RNA-sequencing demonstrate downregulation of oligodendrocyte identity markers in the fornix of HD cases. Analysis of differentially expressed genes based on transcription-factor/target-gene interactions also revealed enrichment for binding sites of SUZ12 and EZH2, components of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2, as well as RE1 Regulation Transcription Factor. Taken together, our data show that there is early white matter pathology of the fornix in the limbic system in HD likely due to a combination of reduction in oligodendrocyte genes and myelin break down.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanaz Gabery
- Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC D11, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Jing Eugene Kwa
- Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine (TLGM), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, 138648, Singapore
| | - Rachel Y Cheong
- Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC D11, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Barbara Baldo
- Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC D11, 22184, Lund, Sweden
- Evotec SE, HD Research and Translational Sciences, 22419, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Costanza Ferrari Bardile
- Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine (TLGM), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, 138648, Singapore
- Department of Medical Genetics, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V5Z 4H4, Canada
| | - Brendan Tan
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3180, Australia
| | - Catriona McLean
- Department of Pathology, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Govinda R Poudel
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3180, Australia
| | - Glenda Halliday
- The Brain and Mind Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Mahmoud A Pouladi
- Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine (TLGM), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, 138648, Singapore
- Department of Medical Genetics, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V5Z 4H4, Canada
- Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, 117597, Singapore
| | - Åsa Petersén
- Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC D11, 22184, Lund, Sweden.
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Shekari E, Goudarzi S, Shahriari E, Joghataei MT. Extreme capsule is a bottleneck for ventral pathway. IBRO Neurosci Rep 2021; 10:42-50. [PMID: 33861816 PMCID: PMC8019950 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibneur.2020.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
As neuroscience literature suggests, extreme capsule is considered a whiter matter tract. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether extreme capsule itself is an association fiber pathway or only a bottleneck for other association fibers to pass. Via our review, investigating anatomical position, connectivity and cognitive role of the bundles in extreme capsule, and by analyzing data from the dissection, it can be argued that extreme capsule is probably a bottleneck for the passage of uncinated fasciculus (UF) and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and these fasciculi are responsible for the respective roles in language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Shekari
- Department of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sepideh Goudarzi
- Department of pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elahe Shahriari
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Taghi Joghataei
- Department of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
- Corresponding author.
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Estevez-Fraga C, Scahill RI, Durr A, Leavitt BR, Roos RAC, Langbehn DR, Rees G, Gregory S, Tabrizi SJ. Composite UHDRS Correlates With Progression of Imaging Biomarkers in Huntington's Disease. Mov Disord 2021; 36:1259-1264. [PMID: 33471951 DOI: 10.1002/mds.28489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (cUHDRS) is a multidimensional measure of progression in Huntington's disease (HD) being used as a primary outcome in clinical trials investigating potentially disease-modifying huntingtin-lowering therapies. OBJECTIVE Evaluating volumetric and structural connectivity correlates of the cUHDRS. METHODS One hundred and nineteen premanifest and 119 early-HD participants were included. Gray and white matter (WM) volumes were correlated with cUHDRS cross-sectionally and longitudinally using voxel-based morphometry. Correlations between baseline fractional anisotropy (FA); mean, radial, and axial diffusivity; and baseline cUHDRS were examined using tract-based spatial statistics. RESULTS Worse performance in the cUHDRS over time correlated with longitudinal volume decreases in the occipito-parietal cortex and centrum semiovale, whereas lower baseline scores correlated with decreased volume in the basal ganglia and surrounding WM. Lower cUHDRS scores were also associated with reduced FA and increased diffusivity at baseline. CONCLUSION The cUHDRS correlates with imaging biomarkers and tracks atrophy progression in HD supporting its biological relevance. © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Estevez-Fraga
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Alexandra Durr
- Sorbonne Université, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), AP-HP, Inserm, CNRS, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Blair R Leavitt
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Geraint Rees
- Wellcome Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
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Pal P, Kamble N, Saini J, George L, Ratna N, Bhattacharya A, Yadav R, Jain S. Neural substrates of psychiatric symptoms in patients with Huntington’s Disease. ANNALS OF MOVEMENT DISORDERS 2021. [DOI: 10.4103/aomd.aomd_39_20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
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Heim B, Peball M, Saft C, von Hein SM, Ellmerer P, Piater JM, Seppi K, Djamshidian A. Time will tell: Decision making in premanifest and manifest Huntington's disease. Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01843. [PMID: 32978893 PMCID: PMC7667290 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate cognitive flexibility in premanifest and manifest Huntington's disease (HD). BACKGROUND HD is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor, cognitive, and behavioral abnormalities with typical motor symptoms. In this study, we wanted to assess decision making in premanifest (pre-HD) and manifest HD patients. METHODS A total of 77 non-demented subjects including 29 pre-HD, 22 manifest HD patients, and 26 healthy controls (HC) were included. We stratified the pre-HD group based on their estimated years to disease onset into a far (FAR, n = 13) and a near (NEAR, n = 16) group. Furthermore, participants performed the Montreal cognitive assessment battery (MoCA), the trail making task part A and B (TMT A, TMT B), the Symbol digit modalities test (SDMT), and the beads task. RESULTS In the beads task, HD patients gathered less information than all other groups (all p-values < .001). Furthermore, the NEAR group gathered less information than the FAR group (p < .001) and HC (p = .001). There was no difference between the HC and the FAR group (p = 1.0). In the TMT and the SDMT, HD patients were slower than all other groups (all p-values < .01) but there were no other significant differences. CONCLUSIONS Decision making with a higher degree of uncertainty may be an early neuropsychological sign to indicate the disease process prior to reaching criteria for motor diagnosis of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Heim
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Marina Peball
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Carsten Saft
- Department of Neurology, Huntington - Center NRW, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sarah Maria von Hein
- Department of Neurology, Huntington - Center NRW, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Philipp Ellmerer
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Klaus Seppi
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Atbin Djamshidian
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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Gatto RG, Weissmann C. Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Preclinical and Human Studies of Huntington's Disease: What Have we Learned so Far? Curr Med Imaging 2020; 15:521-542. [PMID: 32008561 DOI: 10.2174/1573405614666181115113400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2018] [Revised: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Huntington's Disease is an irreversible neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive deterioration of specific brain nerve cells. The current evaluation of cellular and physiological events in patients with HD relies on the development of transgenic animal models. To explore such events in vivo, diffusion tensor imaging has been developed to examine the early macro and microstructural changes in brain tissue. However, the gap in diffusion tensor imaging findings between animal models and clinical studies and the lack of microstructural confirmation by histological methods has questioned the validity of this method. OBJECTIVE This review explores white and grey matter ultrastructural changes associated to diffusion tensor imaging, as well as similarities and differences between preclinical and clinical Huntington's Disease studies. METHODS A comprehensive review of the literature using online-resources was performed (Pub- Med search). RESULTS Similar changes in fractional anisotropy as well as axial, radial and mean diffusivities were observed in white matter tracts across clinical and animal studies. However, comparative diffusion alterations in different grey matter structures were inconsistent between clinical and animal studies. CONCLUSION Diffusion tensor imaging can be related to specific structural anomalies in specific cellular populations. However, some differences between animal and clinical studies could derive from the contrasting neuroanatomy or connectivity across species. Such differences should be considered before generalizing preclinical results into the clinical practice. Moreover, current limitations of this technique to accurately represent complex multicellular events at the single micro scale are real. Future work applying complex diffusion models should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo Gabriel Gatto
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, United States
| | - Carina Weissmann
- Insituto de Fisiología Biologia Molecular y Neurociencias-IFIBYNE-CONICET, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Estevez-Fraga C, Scahill R, Rees G, Tabrizi SJ, Gregory S. Diffusion imaging in Huntington's disease: comprehensive review. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2020; 92:jnnp-2020-324377. [PMID: 33033167 PMCID: PMC7803908 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2020-324377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a monogenic disorder with 100% penetrance. With the advent of genetic testing in adults, disease-related, structural brain changes can be investigated from the earliest, premorbid stages of HD. While examining macrostructural change characterises global neuronal damage, investigating microstructural alterations provides information regarding brain organisation and its underlying biological properties. Diffusion MRI can be used to track the progression of microstructural anomalies in HD decades prior to clinical disease onset, providing a greater understanding of neurodegeneration. Multiple approaches, including voxelwise, region of interest and tractography, have been used in HD cohorts, showing a centrifugal pattern of white matter (WM) degeneration starting from deep brain areas, which is consistent with neuropathological studies. The corpus callosum, longer WM tracts and areas that are more densely connected, in particular the sensorimotor network, also tend to be affected early during premanifest stages. Recent evidence supports the routine inclusion of diffusion analyses within clinical trials principally as an additional measure to improve understanding of treatment effects, while the advent of novel techniques such as multitissue compartment models and connectomics can help characterise the underpinnings of progressive functional decline in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Estevez-Fraga
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rachael Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Geraint Rees
- Wellcome Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
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Beyond Alzheimer's disease: Can bilingualism be a more generalized protective factor in neurodegeneration? Neuropsychologia 2020; 147:107593. [PMID: 32882240 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Bilingualism has been argued to have an impact on cognition and brain structure. Effects have been reported across the lifespan: from healthy children to ageing adults, including clinical (ageing) populations. It has been argued that active bilingualism may significantly contribute to the delaying of the expression of Alzheimer's disease symptoms. If bilingualism plays an ameliorative role against the expression of neurodegeneration in dementia, it is possible that it could have similar effects for other neurodegenerative disorders, including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and Huntington's Diseases. To date, however, direct relevant evidence remains limited, not least because the necessary scientific motivations for investigating this with greater depth have not yet been fully articulated. Herein, we provide a roadmap that reviews the relevant literatures, highlighting potential links across neurodegenerative disorders and bilingualism more generally.
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Benear SL, Ngo CT, Olson IR. Dissecting the Fornix in Basic Memory Processes and Neuropsychiatric Disease: A Review. Brain Connect 2020; 10:331-354. [PMID: 32567331 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2020.0749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The fornix is the primary axonal tract of the hippocampus, connecting it to modulatory subcortical structures. This review reveals that fornix damage causes cognitive deficits that closely mirror those resulting from hippocampal lesions. Methods: We reviewed the literature on the fornix, spanning non-human animal lesion research, clinical case studies of human patients with fornix damage, as well as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) work that evaluates fornix microstructure in vivo. Results: The fornix is essential for memory formation because it serves as the conduit for theta rhythms and acetylcholine, as well as providing mnemonic representations to deep brain structures that guide motivated behavior, such as when and where to eat. In rodents and non-human primates, fornix lesions lead to deficits in conditioning, reversal learning, and navigation. In humans, damage to the fornix manifests as anterograde amnesia. DWI research reveals that the fornix plays a key role in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease, and can potentially predict conversion from the former to the latter. Emerging DWI findings link perturbations in this structure to schizophrenia, mood disorders, and eating disorders. Cutting-edge research has investigated how deep brain stimulation of the fornix can potentially attenuate memory loss, control epileptic seizures, and even improve mood. Conclusions: The fornix is essential to a fully functioning memory system and is implicated in nearly all neurological functions that rely on the hippocampus. Future research needs to use optimized DWI methods to study the fornix in vivo, which we discuss, given the difficult nature of fornix reconstruction. Impact Statement The fornix is a white matter tract that connects the hippocampus to several subcortical brain regions and is pivotal for episodic memory functioning. Functionally, the fornix transmits essential neurotransmitters, as well as theta rhythms, to the hippocampus. In addition, it is the conduit by which memories guide decisions. The fornix is biomedically important because lesions to this tract result in irreversible anterograde amnesia. Research using in vivo imaging methods has linked fornix pathology to cognitive aging, mild cognitive impairment, psychosis, epilepsy, and, importantly, Alzheimer's Disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan L Benear
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Chi T Ngo
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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14
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Sweidan W, Bao F, Bozorgzad NS, George E. White and Gray Matter Abnormalities in Manifest Huntington's Disease: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis. J Neuroimaging 2020; 30:351-358. [PMID: 32128927 DOI: 10.1111/jon.12699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Early white matter (WM) changes and cortical atrophy in Huntington's disease (HD) are often evident before disease onset and extend through the brain during manifest stages. The trajectory of these brain abnormalities in symptomatic stages remains relatively unexplored. The aim of this study is to investigate how the pattern of WM and gray matter (GM) alterations progress over time. METHODS We investigated alterations in brain WM, cortical thickness, and subcortical structures using diffusion and structural magnetic resonance imaging, in manifest HD patients (n = 13) compared to age-matched healthy controls (n = 11). Imaging and clinical data for the HD group were collected at follow-up (7 months) to explore possible longitudinal changes. RESULTS Cross-sectional analyses identified significant posterior cortical thinning (P < .05) and symmetric fractional anisotropy (FA) reduction (P < .01) in brain WM of HD group compared to HC. These changes were strongly correlated with impairment in motor symptoms and processing speed. Subcortical atrophy was significant in caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and thalamus (P < .001). Regions of interest analysis revealed a significant reduction in FA of the corpus callosum (CC) (-2.19%, P < .05) upon follow-up, whereas no significant cortical thinning and subcortical atrophy was found. CONCLUSIONS This study showed broad GM and WM abnormalities in manifest HD patients. Reductions in FA and cortical thinning correlated significantly with the disturbances of motor and cognitive processing that describe HD. Follow-up assessment showed that the CC is compromised in the absence of detectable GM changes or motor decline, suggesting it plays an important role in disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wafaa Sweidan
- Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
| | - Fen Bao
- Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
| | | | - Edwin George
- Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
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15
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Discriminating chorea-acanthocytosis from Huntington's disease with single-case voxel-based morphometry analysis. J Neurol Sci 2020; 408:116545. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2019.116545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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16
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Pflanz CP, Charquero-Ballester M, Majid DSA, Winkler AM, Vallée E, Aron AR, Jenkinson M, Douaud G. One-year changes in brain microstructure differentiate preclinical Huntington's disease stages. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 25:102099. [PMID: 31865023 PMCID: PMC6931230 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To determine whether brain imaging markers of tissue microstructure can detect the effect of disease progression across the preclinical stages of Huntington's disease. METHODS Longitudinal microstructural changes in diffusion imaging metrics (mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy) were investigated in participants with presymptomatic Huntington's disease (N = 35) stratified into three preclinical subgroups according to their estimated time until onset of symptoms, compared with age- and gender-matched healthy controls (N = 19) over a 1y period. RESULTS Significant differences were found over the four groups in change of mean diffusivity in the posterior basal ganglia and the splenium of the corpus callosum. This overall effect was driven by significant differences between the group far-from-onset (FAR) of symptoms and the groups midway- (MID) and near-the-onset (NEAR) of symptoms. In particular, an initial decrease of mean diffusivity in the FAR group was followed by a subsequent increase in groups closer to onset of symptoms. The seemingly counter-intuitive decrease of mean diffusivity in the group furthest from onset of symptoms might be an early indicator of neuroinflammatory process preceding the neurodegenerative phase. In contrast, the only clinical measure that was able to capture a difference in 1y changes between the preclinical stages was the UHDRS confidence in motor score. CONCLUSIONS With sensitivity to longitudinal changes in brain microstructure within and between preclinical stages, and potential differential response to distinct pathophysiological mechanisms, diffusion imaging is a promising state marker for monitoring treatment response and identifying the optimal therapeutic window of opportunity in preclinical Huntington's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Patrick Pflanz
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Marina Charquero-Ballester
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK
| | - D S Adnan Majid
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, California, USA
| | - Anderson M Winkler
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Emmanuel Vallée
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Adam R Aron
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, California, USA
| | - Mark Jenkinson
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Gwenaëlle Douaud
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK.
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17
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D’Souza S, Ormond DR, Costabile J, Thompson JA. Fiber-tract localized diffusion coefficients highlight patterns of white matter disruption induced by proximity to glioma. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225323. [PMID: 31751402 PMCID: PMC6874090 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas account for 26.5% of all primary central nervous system tumors. Recent studies have used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to extract white matter fibers and the diffusion coefficients derived from MR processing to provide useful, non-invasive insights into the extent of tumor invasion, axonal integrity, and gross differentiation of glioma from metastasis. Here, we extend this work by examining whether a tract-based analysis can improve non-invasive localization of tumor impact on white matter integrity. This study retrospectively analyzed preoperative magnetic resonance sequences highlighting contrast enhancement and DTI scans of 13 subjects that were biopsy-confirmed to have either high or low-grade glioma. We reconstructed the corticospinal tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus by applying atlas-based regions of interest to fibers derived from whole-brain deterministic streamline tractography. Within-subject comparison of hemispheric diffusion coefficients (e.g., fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity) indicated higher levels of white matter degradation in the ipsilesional hemisphere. Novel application of along-tract analyses revealed that tracts traversing the tumor region showed significant white matter degradation compared to the contralesional hemisphere and ipsilesional tracts displaced by the tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shawn D’Souza
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States of America
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - D. Ryan Ormond
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - Jamie Costabile
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - John A. Thompson
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America
- Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America
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18
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Buksakowska I, Szabó N, Martinkovič L, Faragó P, Király A, Vrána J, Kincses ZT, Meluzín J, Šulc V, Kynčl M, Roček M, Tichý M, Charvát F, Hořínek D, Marusič P. Distinctive Patterns of Seizure-Related White Matter Alterations in Right and Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Front Neurol 2019; 10:986. [PMID: 31632330 PMCID: PMC6779711 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: We hypothesized that right and left temporal lobe epilepsy (RTLE and LTLE, respectively) have distinctive spatial patterns of white matter (WM) changes that can be differentiated and interpreted with the use of multiple diffusion parameters. We compared the global microstructure of fiber bundles with regard to WM alterations in both RTLE and LTLE, addressing some of the methodological issues of previous studies. Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging data from 17 patients with RTLE (age: 40.7 ± 10.4), 15 patients with LTLE (age: 37.3 ± 10.4), and 15 controls (age: 34.8 ± 11.2) were used in the study. WM integrity was quantified by fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), longitudinal diffusivity (LD), and radial diffusivity (RD). The diffusion parameters were compared between the groups in tracts representing the core of the fiber bundles. The volumes of hippocampi and amygdala were subsequently compared across the groups, while the data were adjusted for the effect of hippocampal sclerosis. Results: Significantly reduced FA and increased MD, LD, and RD were found bilaterally over widespread brain regions in RTLE. An increase in MD and RD values was observed in widespread WM fiber bundles ipsilaterally in LTLE, largely overlapping with regions where FA was lower, while no increase in LD was observed. We also found a difference between the LTLE and RTLE groups for the right hippocampal volume (with and without adjustment for HS), whereas no significant volume differences were found between patients and controls. Conclusions: It appears that patients with RTLE exhibit a more widespread pattern of WM alterations that extend far beyond the temporal lobe in both ipsilateral and contralateral hemisphere; furthermore, these changes seem to reflect more severe damage related to chronic degeneration. Conversely, more restrained changes in the LTLE may imply a pattern of less severe axonal damage, more restricted to ipsilateral hemisphere. Comprehensive finding of more prominent hippocampal atrophy in the RTLE raises an interesting issue of seizure-induced implications on gray matter and WM microstructure that may not necessarily mean a straightforward causal relationship. Further correlations of diffusion-derived metrics with neuropsychological and functional imaging measures may provide complementary information on underlying WM abnormalities with regard to functional hemispheric specialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Buksakowska
- Department of Radiology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Nikoletta Szabó
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of General Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Lukáš Martinkovič
- Department of Neurology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Péter Faragó
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of General Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - András Király
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of General Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Jiří Vrána
- Department of Radiodiagnostics, University Central Military Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Zsigmond Tamás Kincses
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of General Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Jan Meluzín
- Department of Radiology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Vlastimil Šulc
- Department of Neurology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Martin Kynčl
- Department of Radiology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Miloslav Roček
- Department of Radiology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Michal Tichý
- Department of Neurosurgery, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - František Charvát
- Department of Radiodiagnostics, University Central Military Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Daniel Hořínek
- Department of Neurosurgery, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Petr Marusič
- Department of Neurology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
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19
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Seo CH, Park CH, Jung MH, Baek S, Song J, Cha E, Ohn SH. Increased white matter diffusivity associated with phantom limb pain. Korean J Pain 2019; 32:271-279. [PMID: 31569919 PMCID: PMC6813898 DOI: 10.3344/kjp.2019.32.4.271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background We utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate the cerebral white matter changes that are associated with phantom limb pain in patients with unilateral arm amputation. It was anticipated that this would complement previous research in which we had shown that changes in cerebral blood volume were associated with the cerebral pain network. Methods Ten patients with phantom limb pain due to unilateral arm amputation and sixteen healthy age-matched controls were enrolled. The intensity of phantom limb pain was measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and depressive mood was assessed by the Hamilton depression rating scale. Diffusion tensor-derived parameters, including fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD), were computed from the DTI. Results Compared with controls, the cases had alterations in the cerebral white matter as a consequence of phantom limb pain, manifesting a higher AD of white matter in both hemispheres symmetrically after adjusting for individual depressive moods. In addition, there were associations between the RD of white matter and VAS scores primarily in the hemispheres related to the missing hand and in the corpus callosum. Conclusions The phantom limb pain after unilateral arm amputation induced plasticity in the white matter. We conclude that loss of white matter integrity, particularly in the hemisphere connected with the missing hand, is significantly correlated with phantom limb pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheong Hoon Seo
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Chang-Hyun Park
- Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Myung Hun Jung
- Department of Psychiatry, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea
| | - Seungki Baek
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea
| | - Jimin Song
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea
| | - Eunsil Cha
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea
| | - Suk Hoon Ohn
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea
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20
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Zeun P, Scahill RI, Tabrizi SJ, Wild EJ. Fluid and imaging biomarkers for Huntington's disease. Mol Cell Neurosci 2019; 97:67-80. [PMID: 30807825 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2019.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there is no disease-modifying treatment. The known genetic cause of Huntington's disease makes it possible to identify individuals destined to develop the disease and instigate treatments before the onset of symptoms. Multiple trials are already underway that target the cause of HD, yet clinical measures are often insensitive to change over typical clinical trial duration. Robust biomarkers of drug target engagement, disease severity and progression are required to evaluate the efficacy of treatments and concerted efforts are underway to achieve this. Biofluid biomarkers have potential advantages of direct quantification of biological processes at the molecular level, whilst imaging biomarkers can quantify related changes at a structural level in the brain. The most robust biofluid and imaging biomarkers can offer complementary information, providing a more comprehensive evaluation of disease stage and progression to inform clinical trial design and endpoints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Zeun
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
| | - Edward J Wild
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
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21
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Multivariate pattern classification of brain white matter connectivity predicts classic trigeminal neuralgia. Pain 2019; 159:2076-2087. [PMID: 29905649 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a severe form of chronic facial neuropathic pain. Increasing interest in the neuroimaging of pain has highlighted changes in the root entry zone in TN, but also group-level central nervous system gray and white matter (WM) abnormalities. Group differences in neuroimaging data are frequently evaluated with univariate statistics; however, this approach is limited because it is based on single, or clusters of, voxels. By contrast, multivariate pattern analyses consider all the model's neuroanatomical features to capture a specific distributed spatial pattern. This approach has potential use as a prediction tool at the individual level. We hypothesized that a multivariate pattern classification method can distinguish specific patterns of abnormal WM connectivity of classic TN from healthy controls (HCs). Diffusion-weighted scans in 23 right-sided TN and matched controls were processed to extract whole-brain interregional streamlines. We used a linear support vector machine algorithm to differentiate interregional normalized streamline count between TN and HC. This algorithm successfully differentiated between TN and HC with an accuracy of 88%. The structural pattern emphasized WM connectivity of regions that subserve sensory, affective, and cognitive dimensions of pain, including the insula, precuneus, inferior and superior parietal lobules, and inferior and medial orbital frontal gyri. Normalized streamline counts were associated with longer pain duration and WM metric abnormality between the connections. This study demonstrates that machine-learning algorithms can detect characteristic patterns of structural alterations in TN and highlights the role of structural brain imaging for identification of neuroanatomical features associated with neuropathic pain disorders.
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22
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23
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Gregory S, Crawford H, Seunarine K, Leavitt B, Durr A, Roos RAC, Scahill RI, Tabrizi SJ, Rees G, Langbehn D, Orth M. Natural biological variation of white matter microstructure is accentuated in Huntington's disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:3516-3527. [PMID: 29682858 PMCID: PMC6099203 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a monogenic neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG‐repeat expansion in the Huntingtin gene. Presence of this expansion signifies certainty of disease onset, but only partly explains age at which onset occurs. Genome‐wide association studies have shown that naturally occurring genetic variability influences HD pathogenesis and disease onset. Investigating the influence of biological traits in the normal population, such as variability in white matter properties, on HD pathogenesis could provide a complementary approach to understanding disease modification. We have previously shown that while white matter diffusivity patterns in the left sensorimotor network were similar in controls and HD gene‐carriers, they were more extreme in the HD group. We hypothesized that the influence of natural variation in diffusivity on effects of HD pathogenesis on white matter is not limited to the sensorimotor network but extends to cognitive, limbic, and visual networks. Using tractography, we investigated 32 bilateral pathways within HD‐related networks, including motor, cognitive, and limbic, and examined diffusivity metrics using principal components analysis. We identified three independent patterns of diffusivity common to controls and HD gene‐carriers that predicted HD status. The first pattern involved almost all tracts, the second was limited to sensorimotor tracts, and the third encompassed cognitive network tracts. Each diffusivity pattern was associated with network specific performance. The consistency in diffusivity patterns across both groups coupled with their association with disease status and task performance indicates that naturally‐occurring patterns of diffusivity can become accentuated in the presence of the HD gene mutation to influence clinical brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Crawford
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kiran Seunarine
- Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom
| | - Blair Leavitt
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4H4, Canada
| | - Alexandra Durr
- APHP Department of Genetics, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, and Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle, INSERM U1127, CNRS UMR7225, Sorbonne Universités - UPMC Université Paris VI UMR_S1127, Paris, France
| | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, 2300RC, The Netherlands
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Geraint Rees
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Douglas Langbehn
- Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Michael Orth
- Department of Neurology, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany
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24
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Baez S, Pino M, Berrío M, Santamaría-García H, Sedeño L, García AM, Fittipaldi S, Ibáñez A. Corticostriatal signatures of schadenfreude: evidence from Huntington's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2018; 89:112-116. [PMID: 28765320 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2017-316055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Schadenfreude-pleasure at others' misfortunes-is a multidetermined social emotion which involves reward processing, mentalising and perspective-taking abilities. Patients with Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit reductions of this experience, suggesting a role of striatal degeneration in such impairment. However, no study has directly assessed the relationship between regional brain atrophy in HD and reduced schadenfreude. Here, we assessed whether grey matter (GM) atrophy in patients with HD correlates with ratings of schadenfreude. First, we compared the performance of 20 patients with HD and 23 controls on an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude and envy (another social emotion acting as a control condition). Second, we compared GM volume between groups. Third, we examined brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in the patients. While both groups showed similar ratings of envy, patients with HD reported lower schadenfreude. The latter pattern was related to atrophy in regions of the reward system (ventral striatum) and the mentalising network (precuneus and superior parietal lobule). Our results shed light on the intertwining of reward and socioemotional processes in schadenfreude, while offering novel evidence about their neural correlates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Baez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Deparment of Psychology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.,Grupo de Investigación Cerebro y Cognición Social, Bogotá, Colombia.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariana Pino
- Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - Mildred Berrío
- Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - Hernando Santamaría-García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Grupo de Investigación Cerebro y Cognición Social, Bogotá, Colombia.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Sol Fittipaldi
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council, Sydney, Australia
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25
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Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive technique used routinely to image the body in both clinical and research settings. Through the manipulation of radio waves and static field gradients, MRI uses the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance to produce images with high spatial resolution, appropriate for the investigation of brain structure and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Geraint Rees
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Sarah Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
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Staffaroni AM, Elahi FM, McDermott D, Marton K, Karageorgiou E, Sacco S, Paoletti M, Caverzasi E, Hess CP, Rosen HJ, Geschwind MD. Neuroimaging in Dementia. Semin Neurol 2017; 37:510-537. [PMID: 29207412 PMCID: PMC5823524 DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1608808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Although the diagnosis of dementia still is primarily based on clinical criteria, neuroimaging is playing an increasingly important role. This is in large part due to advances in techniques that can assist with discriminating between different syndromes. Magnetic resonance imaging remains at the core of differential diagnosis, with specific patterns of cortical and subcortical changes having diagnostic significance. Recent developments in molecular PET imaging techniques have opened the door for not only antemortem but early, even preclinical, diagnosis of underlying pathology. This is vital, as treatment trials are underway for pharmacological agents with specific molecular targets, and numerous failed trials suggest that earlier treatment is needed. This article provides an overview of classic neuroimaging findings as well as new and cutting-edge research techniques that assist with clinical diagnosis of a range of dementia syndromes, with an emphasis on studies using pathologically proven cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam M. Staffaroni
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
| | - Fanny M. Elahi
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
| | - Dana McDermott
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
| | - Kacey Marton
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
| | - Elissaios Karageorgiou
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
- Neurological Institute of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Simone Sacco
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
- Institute of Radiology, Department of Clinical Surgical Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Matteo Paoletti
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
- Institute of Radiology, Department of Clinical Surgical Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Eduardo Caverzasi
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Christopher P. Hess
- Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), California
| | - Howard J. Rosen
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
| | - Michael D. Geschwind
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California
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Wu D, Faria AV, Younes L, Mori S, Brown T, Johnson H, Paulsen JS, Ross CA, Miller MI. Mapping the order and pattern of brain structural MRI changes using change-point analysis in premanifest Huntington's disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:5035-5050. [PMID: 28657159 PMCID: PMC5766002 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Revised: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that progressively affects motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Structural MRI studies have demonstrated brain atrophy beginning many years prior to clinical onset ("premanifest" period), but the order and pattern of brain structural changes have not been fully characterized. In this study, we investigated brain regional volumes and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurements in premanifest HD, and we aim to determine (1) the extent of MRI changes in a large number of structures across the brain by atlas-based analysis, and (2) the initiation points of structural MRI changes in these brain regions. We adopted a novel multivariate linear regression model to detect the inflection points at which the MRI changes begin (namely, "change-points"), with respect to the CAG-age product (CAP, an indicator of extent of exposure to the effects of CAG repeat expansion). We used approximately 300 T1-weighted and DTI data from premanifest HD and control subjects in the PREDICT-HD study, with atlas-based whole brain segmentation and change-point analysis. The results indicated a distinct topology of structural MRI changes: the change-points of the volumetric measurements suggested a central-to-peripheral pattern of atrophy from the striatum to the deep white matter; and the change points of DTI measurements indicated the earliest changes in mean diffusivity in the deep white matter and posterior white matter. While interpretation needs to be cautious given the cross-sectional nature of the data, these findings suggest a spatial and temporal pattern of spread of structural changes within the HD brain. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5035-5050, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Wu
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological ScienceJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Andreia V. Faria
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological ScienceJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Laurent Younes
- Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
- Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
- Department of Applied Mathematics and StatisticsJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Susumu Mori
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological ScienceJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMaryland
- F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger InstituteBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Timothy Brown
- Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Hans Johnson
- Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | - Jane S. Paulsen
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Psychology and NeurosciencesUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | - Christopher A. Ross
- Division of Neurobiology, Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, and Program in Cellular and Molecular MedicineJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMaryland
| | - Michael I. Miller
- Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
- Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreMaryland
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Zhou T, Ahmad TK, Gozda K, Truong J, Kong J, Namaka M. Implications of white matter damage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Review). Mol Med Rep 2017; 16:4379-4392. [PMID: 28791401 PMCID: PMC5646997 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2017.7186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2017] [Accepted: 06/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, which involves the progressive degeneration of motor neurons. ALS has long been considered a disease of the grey matter; however, pathological alterations of the white matter (WM), including axonal loss, axonal demyelination and oligodendrocyte death, have been reported in patients with ALS. The present review examined motor neuron death as the primary cause of ALS and evaluated the associated WM damage that is guided by neuronal‑glial interactions. Previous studies have suggested that WM damage may occur prior to the death of motor neurons, and thus may be considered an early indicator for the diagnosis and prognosis of ALS. However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying early‑onset WM damage in ALS have yet to be elucidated. The present review explored the detailed anatomy of WM and identified several pathological mechanisms that may be implicated in WM damage in ALS. In addition, it associated the pathophysiological alterations of WM, which may contribute to motor neuron death in ALS, with similar mechanisms of WM damage that are involved in multiple sclerosis (MS). Furthermore, the early detection of WM damage in ALS, using neuroimaging techniques, may lead to earlier therapeutic intervention, using immunomodulatory treatment strategies similar to those used in relapsing‑remitting MS, aimed at delaying WM damage in ALS. Early therapeutic approaches may have the potential to delay motor neuron damage and thus prolong the survival of patients with ALS. The therapeutic interventions that are currently available for ALS are only marginally effective. However, early intervention with immunomodulatory drugs may slow the progression of WM damage in the early stages of ALS, thus delaying motor neuron death and increasing the life expectancy of patients with ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Zhou
- College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada
| | - Tina Khorshid Ahmad
- College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada
| | - Kiana Gozda
- College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada
| | - Jessica Truong
- College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada
| | - Jiming Kong
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada
| | - Michael Namaka
- College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada
- College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China
- Department of Medical Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T6, Canada
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 1R9, Canada
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Harada K, Matsuo K, Nakashima M, Hobara T, Higuchi N, Higuchi F, Nakano M, Otsuki K, Shibata T, Watanuki T, Matsubara T, Fujita Y, Shimoji K, Yamagata H, Watanabe Y. Disrupted orbitomedial prefrontal limbic network in individuals with later-life depression. J Affect Disord 2016; 204:112-9. [PMID: 27344619 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2016] [Revised: 06/09/2016] [Accepted: 06/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression in old age is an increasing contributor to poor health and accompanying health care costs. Although there is an abundance of literature on later-life depression (LLD), the neural correlates have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with LLD show abnormal gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter integrity by using multiple image analysis methods. METHODS The study included 45 patients with LLD and 61 healthy participants who were matched for age, sex, years of education, and vascular risk factors. GMV was examined using voxel-based morphometry, while the white matter integrity was determined by tract-based spatial statistics and tract-specific analysis, which were obtained from high-resolution magnetic resonance images. RESULTS Patients with LLD showed significantly less GMV in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, and temporal regions, as well as higher fractional anisotropy in the uncinate fasciculus, compared with healthy participants. Patients with LLD who had reduced orbitofrontal and insular GMV had more severe clinical variables. The reduced orbitofrontal GMV was associated with higher fractional anisotropy in the uncinate fasciculus. LIMITATION The effects of medication should also be considered when interpreting the results of this study. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that regional GMV is linked to white matter integrity of the uncinate fasciculus in the orbitomedial prefrontal limbic network, and the disruption of this network may be involved in the pathophysiology of LLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenichiro Harada
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Koji Matsuo
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
| | - Mami Nakashima
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Nagato-ichinomiya Hospital, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Teruyuki Hobara
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Yamaguchi Grand Medical Center, Hofu, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Naoko Higuchi
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Fumihiro Higuchi
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Masayuki Nakano
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Katakura Hospital, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Koji Otsuki
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Konan Hospital, Matsue, Shimane, Japan
| | - Tomohiko Shibata
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Shinwaen Hospital, Onoda, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Toshio Watanuki
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Toshio Matsubara
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; Health Administration Center, Yamaguchi University Organization for University Education, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Yusuke Fujita
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Applied Molecular Bioscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Keigo Shimoji
- Department of Radiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Yamagata
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Watanabe
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
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Baez S, Santamaría-García H, Orozco J, Fittipaldi S, García AM, Pino M, Ibáñez A. Your misery is no longer my pleasure: Reduced schadenfreude in Huntington's disease families. Cortex 2016; 83:78-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 07/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Hernandez-Castillo CR, Vaca-Palomares I, Barrios F, Martinez L, Boll MC, Fernandez-Ruiz J. Ataxia Severity Correlates with White Matter Degeneration in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2016; 37:2050-2054. [PMID: 27516240 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a4903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is a scarcity of information on the effect of white matter degeneration in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 7. Therefore, we investigated the WM integrity in a large group of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 by using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-three patients with a molecular diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 and their age- and sex-matched healthy controls participated in this study. The patients' ataxia severity was evaluated with the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia. Voxelwise analyses of diffusion metrics, including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity, were performed with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. The correlation between WM abnormalities and ataxia severity was then calculated. RESULTS Tract-Based Spatial Statistics analysis revealed WM abnormalities in the cerebellum and the cerebellar peduncles, as well as in other major cortical and subcortical pathways. Further analysis between the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia score and WM mean diffusivity showed significant associations only in key areas related to motor control and visuospatial processing, including the cerebellar WM, the middle occipital WM, the superior cerebellar peduncle, and bilateral anterior thalamic radiation. No significant associations between fractional anisotropy and the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia were found. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest a significant contribution of local cerebellar and cerebellar-midbrain connections to ataxic impairment in spinocerebellar ataxia type 7. The results also suggest an involvement of cortical WM abnormalities including tracts within the occipital and frontal cortices. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive view of the clinical impact of the white matter degeneration in spinocerebellar ataxia type 7.
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Affiliation(s)
- C R Hernandez-Castillo
- From the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia-Instituto de Neuroetologia (C.R.H.-C.), Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - I Vaca-Palomares
- Departamento de Fisiologia (I.V.-P., J.F.-R.), Facultad de Medicina
| | - F Barrios
- Instituto de Neurobiologia (F.B.), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - L Martinez
- Departamento de Neurogenética y Biologıa Molecular (L.M.)
| | - M-C Boll
- Laboratorio de Investigacion Clinica (M.-C.B.), Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, "Manuel Velasco Suárez," Mexico City, México
| | - J Fernandez-Ruiz
- Departamento de Fisiologia (I.V.-P., J.F.-R.), Facultad de Medicina
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Lanzafame S, Giannelli M, Garaci F, Floris R, Duggento A, Guerrisi M, Toschi N. Differences in Gaussian diffusion tensor imaging and non-Gaussian diffusion kurtosis imaging model-based estimates of diffusion tensor invariants in the human brain. Med Phys 2016; 43:2464. [DOI: 10.1118/1.4946819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
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de Tommaso M, Franco G, Ricci K, Montemurno A, Sciruicchio V. Laser Evoked Potentials in Early and Presymptomatic Huntington's Disease. Behav Neurol 2016; 2016:8613729. [PMID: 27087746 PMCID: PMC4819083 DOI: 10.1155/2016/8613729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2015] [Revised: 02/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain was rarely studied in Huntington's disease (HD). We presently aimed to extend our previous study on pain pathways functions by laser evoked potentials (LEPs) to a larger cohort of early unmedicated HD patients and a small group of presymptomatic HD (PHD) subjects. Forty-two early HD patients, 10 PHD patients, and 64 controls were submitted to LEPs by right-hand stimulation. Two series of 30 laser stimuli were delivered, and artifact-free responses were averaged. The N1, N2, and P2 latencies were significantly increased and the N2P2 amplitude significantly reduced in HD patients compared to controls. In the HD group, the LEPs abnormalities correlated with functional decline. PHD subjects showed a slight and insignificant increase in LEPs latencies, which was inversely correlated with the possible age of HD clinical onset. Data of the present study seem to suggest that the functional state of nociceptive pathways as assessed by LEPs may be a potential biomarker of disease onset and progression. The assessment of pain symptoms in premanifest and manifest HD may also open a new scenario in terms of subtle disturbances of pain processing, which may have a role in the global burden of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina de Tommaso
- Apulian Referral Center for Huntington's Disease, Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory System Department (SMBNOS), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
| | - Giovanni Franco
- Apulian Referral Center for Huntington's Disease, Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory System Department (SMBNOS), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
| | - Katia Ricci
- Apulian Referral Center for Huntington's Disease, Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory System Department (SMBNOS), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
| | - Anna Montemurno
- Apulian Referral Center for Huntington's Disease, Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory System Department (SMBNOS), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
| | - Vittorio Sciruicchio
- Apulian Referral Center for Huntington's Disease, Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory System Department (SMBNOS), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
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Faria AV, Ratnanather JT, Tward DJ, Lee DS, van den Noort F, Wu D, Brown T, Johnson H, Paulsen JS, Ross CA, Younes L, Miller MI. Linking white matter and deep gray matter alterations in premanifest Huntington disease. Neuroimage Clin 2016; 11:450-460. [PMID: 27104139 PMCID: PMC4827723 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Revised: 02/17/2016] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is a fatal progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which only symptomatic treatment is available. A better understanding of the pathology, and identification of biomarkers will facilitate the development of disease-modifying treatments. HD is potentially a good model of a neurodegenerative disease for development of biomarkers because it is an autosomal-dominant disease with complete penetrance, caused by a single gene mutation, in which the neurodegenerative process can be assessed many years before onset of signs and symptoms of manifest disease. Previous MRI studies have detected abnormalities in gray and white matter starting in premanifest stages. However, the understanding of how these abnormalities are related, both in time and space, is still incomplete. In this study, we combined deep gray matter shape diffeomorphometry and white matter DTI analysis in order to provide a better mapping of pathology in the deep gray matter and subcortical white matter in premanifest HD. We used 296 MRI scans from the PREDICT-HD database. Atrophy in the deep gray matter, thalamus, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens was analyzed by surface based morphometry, and while white matter abnormalities were analyzed in (i) regions of interest surrounding these structures, using (ii) tractography-based analysis, and using (iii) whole brain atlas-based analysis. We detected atrophy in the deep gray matter, particularly in putamen, from early premanifest stages. The atrophy was greater both in extent and effect size in cases with longer exposure to the effects of the CAG expansion mutation (as assessed by greater CAP-scores), and preceded detectible abnormalities in the white matter. Near the predicted onset of manifest HD, the MD increase was widespread, with highest indices in the deep and posterior white matter. This type of in-vivo macroscopic mapping of HD brain abnormalities can potentially indicate when and where therapeutics could be targeted to delay the onset or slow the disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia V Faria
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - J Tilak Ratnanather
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Daniel J Tward
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David Soobin Lee
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Frieda van den Noort
- MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Dan Wu
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Timothy Brown
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Hans Johnson
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Jane S Paulsen
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Christopher A Ross
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry, and Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Laurent Younes
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Michael I Miller
- Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Müller HP, Gorges M, Grön G, Kassubek J, Landwehrmeyer GB, Süßmuth SD, Wolf RC, Orth M. Motor network structure and function are associated with motor performance in Huntington's disease. J Neurol 2016; 263:539-49. [PMID: 26762394 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-015-8014-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 12/25/2015] [Accepted: 12/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In Huntington's disease, the relationship of brain structure, brain function and clinical measures remains incompletely understood. We asked how sensory-motor network brain structure and neural activity relate to each other and to motor performance. Thirty-four early stage HD and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor, and intrinsic functional connectivity MRI. Diffusivity patterns were assessed in the cortico-spinal tract and the thalamus-somatosensory cortex tract. For the motor network connectivity analyses the dominant M1 motor cortex region and for the basal ganglia-thalamic network the thalamus were used as seeds. Region to region structural and functional connectivity was examined between thalamus and somatosensory cortex. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was higher in HD than controls in the basal ganglia, and lower in the external and internal capsule, in the thalamus, and in subcortical white matter. Between-group axial and radial diffusivity differences were more prominent than differences in FA, and correlated with motor performance. Within the motor network, the insula was less connected in HD than in controls, with the degree of connection correlating with motor scores. The basal ganglia-thalamic network's connectivity differed in the insula and basal ganglia. Tract specific white matter diffusivity and functional connectivity were not correlated. In HD sensory-motor white matter organization and functional connectivity in a motor network were independently associated with motor performance. The lack of tract-specific association of structure and function suggests that functional adaptation to structural loss differs between participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans-Peter Müller
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45/1, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Martin Gorges
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45/1, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Georg Grön
- Section Neuropsychology and Functional Imaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Jan Kassubek
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45/1, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Sigurd D Süßmuth
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45/1, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Robert Christian Wolf
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Michael Orth
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45/1, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
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Gregory S, Cole JH, Farmer RE, Rees EM, Roos RA, Sprengelmeyer R, Durr A, Landwehrmeyer B, Zhang H, Scahill RI, Tabrizi SJ, Frost C, Hobbs NZ. Longitudinal Diffusion Tensor Imaging Shows Progressive Changes in White Matter in Huntington’s Disease. J Huntingtons Dis 2015; 4:333-46. [DOI: 10.3233/jhd-150173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Gregory
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - James H. Cole
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK
- Computational, Cognitive & Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
| | - Ruth E. Farmer
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine London, UK
| | - Elin M. Rees
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK
| | - Raymund A.C. Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, 2300RC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Alexandra Durr
- Department of Genetics and Cytogenetics, INSERM UMR S679, APHP Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | | | - Hui Zhang
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, UK
| | | | | | - Chris Frost
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine London, UK
| | - Nicola Z. Hobbs
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK
- IXICO Plc., London, UK
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Matsui JT, Vaidya JG, Wassermann D, Kim RE, Magnotta VA, Johnson HJ, Paulsen JS. Prefrontal cortex white matter tracts in prodromal Huntington disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:3717-32. [PMID: 26179962 PMCID: PMC4583330 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2014] [Revised: 04/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is most widely known for its selective degeneration of striatal neurons but there is also growing evidence for white matter (WM) deterioration. The primary objective of this research was to conduct a large-scale analysis using multisite diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) tractography data to quantify diffusivity properties along major prefrontal cortex WM tracts in prodromal HD. Fifteen international sites participating in the PREDICT-HD study collected imaging and neuropsychological data on gene-positive HD participants without a clinical diagnosis (i.e., prodromal) and gene-negative control participants. The anatomical prefrontal WM tracts of the corpus callosum (PFCC), anterior thalamic radiations (ATRs), inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi (IFO), and uncinate fasciculi (UNC) were identified using streamline tractography of DWI. Within each of these tracts, tensor scalars for fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity coefficients were calculated. We divided prodromal HD subjects into three CAG-age product (CAP) groups having Low, Medium, or High probabilities of onset indexed by genetic exposure. We observed significant differences in WM properties for each of the four anatomical tracts for the High CAP group in comparison to controls. Additionally, the Medium CAP group presented differences in the ATR and IFO in comparison to controls. Furthermore, WM alterations in the PFCC, ATR, and IFO showed robust associations with neuropsychological measures of executive functioning. These results suggest long-range tracts essential for cross-region information transfer show early vulnerability in HD and may explain cognitive problems often present in the prodromal stage. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3717-3732, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joy T. Matsui
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- John A. Burns School of MedicineUniversity of HawaiiHonoluluHawaii
| | - Jatin G. Vaidya
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | | | - Regina Eunyoung Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | - Vincent A. Magnotta
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of Radiology, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of EngineeringUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | - Hans J. Johnson
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of EngineeringUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of EngineeringUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
| | - Jane S. Paulsen
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of Neurology, Carver College of MedicineUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of IowaIowa CityIowa
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Eddy CM, Rickards HE. Interaction without intent: the shape of the social world in Huntington's disease. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 10:1228-35. [PMID: 25680992 PMCID: PMC4560946 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2014] [Revised: 12/02/2014] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative condition. Patients with this movement disorder can exhibit deficits on tasks involving Theory of Mind (ToM): the ability to understand mental states such as beliefs and emotions. We investigated mental state inference in HD in response to ambiguous animations involving geometric shapes, while exploring the impact of symptoms within cognitive, emotional and motor domains. Forty patients with HD and twenty healthy controls described the events in videos showing random movements of two triangles (i.e. floating), simple interactions (e.g. following) and more complex interactions prompting the inference of mental states (e.g. one triangle encouraging the other). Relationships were explored between animation interpretation and measures of executive functioning, alexithymia and motor symptoms. Individuals with HD exhibited alexithymia and a reduced tendency to spontaneously attribute intentions to interacting triangles on the animations task. Attribution of intentions on the animations task correlated with motor symptoms and burden of pathology. Importantly, patients without motor symptoms showed similar ToM deficits despite intact executive functions. Subtle changes in ToM that are unrelated to executive dysfunction could therefore feature in basal ganglia disorders prior to motor onset.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare M Eddy
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, BSMHFT The Barberry National Centre for Mental Health, Birmingham, UK and School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Hugh E Rickards
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, BSMHFT The Barberry National Centre for Mental Health, Birmingham, UK and School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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Odish OFF, Caeyenberghs K, Hosseini H, van den Bogaard SJA, Roos RAC, Leemans A. Dynamics of the connectome in Huntington's disease: A longitudinal diffusion MRI study. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2015; 9:32-43. [PMID: 26288754 PMCID: PMC4536305 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2015.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Revised: 07/03/2015] [Accepted: 07/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Objectives To longitudinally investigate the connectome in different stages of Huntington's disease (HD) by applying graph theoretical analysis to diffusion MRI data. Experimental design We constructed weighted structural networks and calculated their topological properties. Twenty-two premanifest (preHD), 10 early manifest HD and 24 healthy controls completed baseline and 2 year follow-up scans. We stratified the preHD group based on their predicted years to disease onset into a far (preHD-A) and near (preHD-B) to disease onset group. We collected clinical and behavioural measures per assessment time point. Principle observations We found a significant reduction over time in nodal betweenness centrality both in the early manifest HD and preHD-B groups as compared to the preHD-A and control groups, suggesting a decrease of importance of specific nodes to overall network organization in these groups (FDR adjusted ps < 0.05). Additionally, we found a significant longitudinal decrease of the clustering coefficient in preHD when compared to healthy controls (FDR adjusted p < 0.05), which can be interpreted as a reduced capacity for internodal information processing at the local level. Furthermore, we demonstrated dynamic changes to hub-status loss and gain both in preHD and early manifest HD. Finally, we found significant cross-sectional as well as longitudinal relationships between graph metrics and clinical and neurocognitive measures. Conclusions This study demonstrates divergent longitudinal changes to the connectome in (pre) HD compared to healthy controls. This provides novel insights into structural correlates associated with clinical and cognitive functions in HD and possible compensatory mechanisms at play in preHD. Investigates characteristics of the connectome in Huntington's disease (HD). HD patients showed longitudinal changes in their structural connectome. Connectome dynamics correlated with changes in clinical and cognitive measures. Connectomics provides novel insights into compensatory strategies of the diseased brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar F F Odish
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Karen Caeyenberghs
- Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Hadi Hosseini
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander Leemans
- Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Goveas J, O'Dwyer L, Mascalchi M, Cosottini M, Diciotti S, De Santis S, Passamonti L, Tessa C, Toschi N, Giannelli M. Diffusion-MRI in neurodegenerative disorders. Magn Reson Imaging 2015; 33:853-76. [PMID: 25917917 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2015.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2014] [Revised: 04/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The ability to image the whole brain through ever more subtle and specific methods/contrasts has come to play a key role in understanding the basis of brain abnormalities in several diseases. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), "diffusion" (i.e. the random, thermally-induced displacements of water molecules over time) represents an extraordinarily sensitive contrast mechanism, and the exquisite structural detail it affords has proven useful in a vast number of clinical as well as research applications. Since diffusion-MRI is a truly quantitative imaging technique, the indices it provides can serve as potential imaging biomarkers which could allow early detection of pathological alterations as well as tracking and possibly predicting subtle changes in follow-up examinations and clinical trials. Accordingly, diffusion-MRI has proven useful in obtaining information to better understand the microstructural changes and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying various neurodegenerative disorders. In this review article, we summarize and explore the main applications, findings, perspectives as well as challenges and future research of diffusion-MRI in various neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease and degenerative ataxias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Goveas
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and Institute for Health and Society, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Laurence O'Dwyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Mario Mascalchi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; Quantitative and Functional Neuroradiology Research Program at Meyer Children and Careggi Hospitals of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Mirco Cosottini
- Department of Translational Research and New Surgical and Medical Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Unit of Neuroradiology, Pisa University Hospital "Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana", Pisa, Italy
| | - Stefano Diciotti
- Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi", University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Silvia De Santis
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Luca Passamonti
- Institute of Bioimaging and Molecular Physiology, National Research Council, Catanzaro, Italy; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Carlo Tessa
- Division of Radiology, "Versilia" Hospital, AUSL 12 Viareggio, Lido di Camaiore, Italy
| | - Nicola Toschi
- Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, Medical Physics Section, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy; Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marco Giannelli
- Unit of Medical Physics, Pisa University Hospital "Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana", Pisa, Italy.
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Mascalchi M, Toschi N, Giannelli M, Ginestroni A, Della Nave R, Nicolai E, Bianchi A, Tessa C, Salvatore E, Aiello M, Soricelli A, Diciotti S. Progression of microstructural damage in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2: a longitudinal DTI study. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2015; 36:1096-101. [PMID: 25882284 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a4343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The ability of DTI to track the progression of microstructural damage in patients with inherited ataxias has not been explored so far. We performed a longitudinal DTI study in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 and 16 healthy age-matched controls were examined twice with DTI (mean time between scans, 3.6 years [patients] and 3.3 years [controls]) on the same 1.5T MR scanner. Using tract-based spatial statistics, we analyzed changes in DTI-derived indices: mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, fractional anisotropy, and mode of anisotropy. RESULTS At baseline, the patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2, as compared with controls, showed numerous WM tracts with significantly increased mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity and decreased fractional anisotropy and mode of anisotropy in the brain stem, cerebellar peduncles, cerebellum, cerebral hemisphere WM, corpus callosum, and thalami. Longitudinal analysis revealed changes in axial diffusivity and mode of anisotropy in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 that were significantly different than those in the controls. In patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2, axial diffusivity was increased in WM tracts of the right cerebral hemisphere and the corpus callosum, and the mode of anisotropy was extensively decreased in hemispheric cerebral WM, corpus callosum, internal capsules, cerebral peduncles, pons and left cerebellar peduncles, and WM of the left paramedian vermis. There was no correlation between the progression of changes in DTI-derived indices and clinical deterioration. CONCLUSIONS DTI can reveal the progression of microstructural damage of WM fibers in the brains of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2, and mode of anisotropy seems particularly sensitive to such changes. These results support the potential of DTI-derived indices as biomarkers of disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Mascalchi
- From the Quantitative and Functional Neuroradiology Research Unit (M.M.), Meyer Children and Careggi Hospitals of Florence, Florence, Italy "Mario Serio" Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences (M.M., A.B.), University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - N Toschi
- Medical Physics Section (N.T.), Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome "Tor Vergata," Rome, Italy Department of Radiology (N.T.), Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, Massachusetts Harvard Medical School (N.T.), Boston, Massachusetts
| | - M Giannelli
- Unit of Medical Physics (M.G.), Pisa University Hospital "Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana," Pisa, Italy
| | - A Ginestroni
- Neuroradiology Unit (A.G.), Careggi General Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | | | - E Nicolai
- IRCSS SDN Foundation (E.N., M.A., A.S.), Naples, Italy
| | - A Bianchi
- From the Quantitative and Functional Neuroradiology Research Unit (M.M.), Meyer Children and Careggi Hospitals of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - C Tessa
- Unit of Radiology (C.T.), Versilia Hospital, Lido di Camaiore, Italy
| | - E Salvatore
- Department of Neurological Sciences (E.S.), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - M Aiello
- IRCSS SDN Foundation (E.N., M.A., A.S.), Naples, Italy
| | - A Soricelli
- IRCSS SDN Foundation (E.N., M.A., A.S.), Naples, Italy University of Naples Parthenope (A.S.), Naples, Italy
| | - S Diciotti
- Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi" (S.D.), University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
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Odish OFF, Leemans A, Reijntjes RHAM, van den Bogaard SJA, Dumas EM, Wolterbeek R, Tax CMW, Kuijf HJ, Vincken KL, van der Grond J, Roos RAC. Microstructural brain abnormalities in Huntington's disease: A two-year follow-up. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:2061-74. [PMID: 25644819 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2014] [Revised: 12/05/2014] [Accepted: 01/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To investigate both cross-sectional and time-related changes of striatal and whole-brain microstructural properties in different stages of Huntington's disease (HD) using diffusion tensor imaging. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN From the TRACK-HD study, premanifest gene carriers (preHD), early manifest HD and controls were scanned at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Stratification of the preHD group into a far (preHD-A) and near (preHD-B) to predicted disease onset was performed. Age-corrected histograms of whole-brain white matter (WM), gray matter (GM) and striatal diffusion measures were computed and normalised by the number of voxels in each subject's data set. PRINCIPLE OBSERVATIONS Higher cross-sectional mean, axial and radial diffusivities were found in both WM (P ≤ 0.001) and GM (P ≤ 0.001) of the manifest HD compared to the preHD and control groups. In preHD, only WM axial diffusivity (AD) was higher than in controls (P ≤ 0.01). This finding remained valid only in preHD-B (P ≤ 0.001). AD was also higher in the striatum of preHD-B compared to controls and preHD-A (P ≤ 0.01). Fractional anisotropy (FA) lacked sensitivity in differentiating between the groups. Histogram peak heights were generally lower in manifest HD compared to the preHD and control groups. No longitudinal differences were found in the degree of diffusivity change between the groups in the two year follow-up. There was a significant relationship between diffusivity and neurocognitive measures. CONCLUSIONS Alterations in cross-sectional diffusion profiles between manifest HD subjects and controls were evident, both in whole-brain and striatum. In the preHD stage, only AD alterations were found, a finding suggesting that this metric is a sensitive marker for early change in HD prior to disease manifestation. The individual diffusivities were superior to FA in revealing pathologic microstructural brain alterations. Diffusion measures were well related to clinical functioning and disease stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar F F Odish
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Impairments in negative emotion recognition and empathy for pain in Huntington's disease families. Neuropsychologia 2015; 68:158-67. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2014] [Revised: 01/06/2015] [Accepted: 01/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Novak MJU, Seunarine KK, Gibbard CR, McColgan P, Draganski B, Friston K, Clark CA, Tabrizi SJ. Basal ganglia-cortical structural connectivity in Huntington's disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:1728-40. [PMID: 25640796 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2014] [Revised: 11/04/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is an incurable neurodegenerative disease caused by inheritance of an expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) trinucleotide repeat within the Huntingtin gene. Extensive volume loss and altered diffusion metrics in the basal ganglia, cortex and white matter are seen when patients with Huntington's disease (HD) undergo structural imaging, suggesting that changes in basal ganglia-cortical structural connectivity occur. The aims of this study were to characterise altered patterns of basal ganglia-cortical structural connectivity with high anatomical precision in premanifest and early manifest HD, and to identify associations between structural connectivity and genetic or clinical markers of HD. 3-Tesla diffusion tensor magnetic resonance images were acquired from 14 early manifest HD subjects, 17 premanifest HD subjects and 18 controls. Voxel-based analyses of probabilistic tractography were used to quantify basal ganglia-cortical structural connections. Canonical variate analysis was used to demonstrate disease-associated patterns of altered connectivity and to test for associations between connectivity and genetic and clinical markers of HD; this is the first study in which such analyses have been used. Widespread changes were seen in basal ganglia-cortical structural connectivity in early manifest HD subjects; this has relevance for development of therapies targeting the striatum. Premanifest HD subjects had a pattern of connectivity more similar to that of controls, suggesting progressive change in connections over time. Associations between structural connectivity patterns and motor and cognitive markers of disease severity were present in early manifest subjects. Our data suggest the clinical phenotype in manifest HD may be at least partly a result of altered connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianne J U Novak
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
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Tract-specific fractional anisotropy predicts cognitive outcome in a community sample of middle-aged participants with white matter lesions. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2014; 34:861-9. [PMID: 24549185 PMCID: PMC4013764 DOI: 10.1038/jcbfm.2014.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2013] [Revised: 12/23/2013] [Accepted: 01/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) have been consistently related to cognitive dysfunction but the role of white matter (WM) damage in cognitive impairment is not fully determined. Diffusion tensor imaging is a promising tool to explain impaired cognition related to WMLs. We investigated the separate association of high-grade periventricular hyperintensities (PVHs) and deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMHs) with fractional anisotropy (FA) in middle-aged individuals. We also assessed the predictive value to cognition of FA within specific WM tracts associated with high-grade WMLs. One hundred participants from the Barcelona-AsIA Neuropsychology Study were divided into groups based on low- and high-grade WMLs. Voxel-by-voxel FA were compared between groups, with separate analyses for high-grade PVHs and DWMHs. The mean FA within areas showing differences between groups was extracted in each tract for linear regression analyses. Participants with high-grade PVHs and participants with high-grade DWMHs showed lower FA in different areas of specific tracts. Areas showing decreased FA in high-grade DWMHs predicted lower cognition, whereas areas with decreased FA in high-grade PVHs did not. The predictive value to cognition of specific WM tracts supports the involvement of cortico-subcortical circuits in cognitive deficits only in DWMHs.
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Phillips O, Squitieri F, Sanchez-Castaneda C, Elifani F, Griguoli A, Maglione V, Caltagirone C, Sabatini U, Di Paola M. The Corticospinal Tract in Huntington's Disease. Cereb Cortex 2014; 25:2670-82. [PMID: 24706734 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhu065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by progressive motor impairment. Therefore, the connectivity of the corticospinal tract (CST), which is the main white matter (WM) pathway that conducts motor impulses from the primary motor cortex to the spinal cord, merits particular attention. WM abnormalities have already been shown in presymptomatic (Pre-HD) and symptomatic HD subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the present study, we examined CST microstructure using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based tractography in 30-direction DTI data collected from 100 subjects: Pre-HD subjects (n = 25), HD patients (n = 25) and control subjects (n = 50), and T2*-weighted (iron sensitive) imaging. Results show decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased axial (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in the bilateral CST of HD patients. Pre-HD subjects had elevated iron in the left CST, regionally localized between the brainstem and thalamus. CAG repeat length in conjunction with age, as well as motor (UHDRS) assessment were correlated with CST FA, AD, and RD both in Pre-HD and HD. In the presymptomatic phase, increased iron in the inferior portion supports the "dying back" hypothesis that axonal damage advances in a retrograde fashion. Furthermore, early iron alteration may cause a high level of toxicity, which may contribute to further damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Phillips
- Clinical and Behavioral Neurology Department, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - F Elifani
- IRCCS Neuromed (Pozzilli), Pozzilli, Italy
| | - A Griguoli
- IRCCS Neuromed (Pozzilli), Pozzilli, Italy
| | - V Maglione
- IRCCS Neuromed (Pozzilli), Pozzilli, Italy
| | - C Caltagirone
- Clinical and Behavioral Neurology Department, Rome, Italy Neuroscience Department, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy
| | - U Sabatini
- Radiology Department, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - M Di Paola
- Clinical and Behavioral Neurology Department, Rome, Italy Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, University of L'Aquila, Rome, Italy
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Wolf RC, Sambataro F, Vasic N, Baldas EM, Ratheiser I, Bernhard Landwehrmeyer G, Depping MS, Thomann PA, Sprengelmeyer R, Süssmuth SD, Orth M. Visual system integrity and cognition in early Huntington's disease. Eur J Neurosci 2014; 40:2417-26. [PMID: 24698429 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 02/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Posterior cortical volume changes and abnormal visuomotor performance are present in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). However, it is unclear whether posterior cortical volume loss contributes to abnormal neural activity, and whether activity changes predict cognitive dysfunction. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we investigated brain structure and visual network activity at rest in patients with early HD (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). The symbol digit modalities test (SDMT) and subtests of the Visual Object and Space Perception Battery were completed offline. For functional MRI data, a group independent component analysis was used. Voxel-based morphometry was employed to assess regional brain atrophy, and 'biological parametric mapping' analyses were included to investigate the impact of atrophy on neural activity. Patients showed significantly worse visuomotor and visual object performance than controls. Structural analyses confirmed occipitotemporal atrophy. In patients and controls, two spatiotemporally distinct visual systems were identified. Patients showed decreased activity in the left fusiform cortex, and increased left cerebellar activity. These findings remained stable after correction for brain atrophy. Lower fusiform cortex activity was associated with lower SDMT performance and with higher disease burden scores. These associations were absent when cerebellar function was related to task performance and disease burden. The results of this study suggest that regionally specific functional abnormalities of the visual system can account for the worse visuomotor cognition in HD patients. However, occipital volume changes cannot sufficiently explain abnormal neural function in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Wolf
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstraße 4, Heidelberg, 69115, Germany
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Cole JH, Farmer RE, Rees EM, Johnson HJ, Frost C, Scahill RI, Hobbs NZ. Test-Retest Reliability of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Huntington's Disease. PLOS CURRENTS 2014; 6. [PMID: 24672743 PMCID: PMC3962450 DOI: 10.1371/currents.hd.f19ef63fff962f5cd9c0e88f4844f43b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has shown microstructural abnormalities in patients with Huntington's Disease (HD) and work is underway to characterise how these abnormalities change with disease progression. Using methods that will be applied in longitudinal research, we sought to establish the reliability of DTI in early HD patients and controls. Test-retest reliability, quantified using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), was assessed using region-of-interest (ROI)-based white matter atlas and voxelwise approaches on repeat scan data from 22 participants (10 early HD, 12 controls). T1 data was used to generate further ROIs for analysis in a reduced sample of 18 participants. The results suggest that fractional anisotropy (FA) and other diffusivity metrics are generally highly reliable, with ICCs indicating considerably lower within-subject compared to between-subject variability in both HD patients and controls. Where ICC was low, particularly for the diffusivity measures in the caudate and putamen, this was partly influenced by outliers. The analysis suggests that the specific DTI methods used here are appropriate for cross-sectional research in HD, and give confidence that they can also be applied longitudinally, although this requires further investigation. An important caveat for DTI studies is that test-retest reliability may not be evenly distributed throughout the brain whereby highly anisotropic white matter regions tended to show lower relative within-subject variability than other white or grey matter regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Cole
- Huntington's Disease Research Group, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Computational, Cognitive & Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK
| | - Ruth E Farmer
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Elin M Rees
- Huntington's Disease Research Group, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Hans J Johnson
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Chris Frost
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Research Group, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Nicola Z Hobbs
- Huntington's Disease Research Group, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
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