Contributions
Abstract: P1761
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: N/A
Introduction: Information processing speed is the most affected cognitive domain in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients however the underlying mechanism remains unclear. A key role of fronto-subcortical circuits in information processing speed has been demonstrated in healthy people and patients with brain injuries. The aim of this study is to investigate whether abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits are associated with CI in MS patients.
Methods: 58 MS patients and 42 healthy controls (HC) underwent 3T structural and functional MRI scans. All MS patients and 20 HCs completed the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). MS patients with Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) score below 1.5 SD of the mean PASAT score of HCs were classified as those with abnormal cognition (MS-CI). MS patients with a negative MSFC Z score (reference to NMSS Task Force database) were defined as those with worse disease severity. Local connectivity measured by regional homogeneity (ReHo) was compared at voxel level among HCs, MS-CI and MS patients with normal cognition (MS-nonCI) and was correlated with PASAT Z score within the whole cohort. Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) of fronto-subcortical circuit nodes extracted and normalised to grey matter CBF was compared among subgroups and correlated with cognition.
Results: 52 MS patients (MS-nonCI: n=30 [mean age: 43.8; 9 had worse disease severity]; MS-CI: n=22 [mean age: 49.4; 20 had worse disease severity]) and 36 HCs had good quality MRI data by following an automated quality control pipeline. MS-CI patients showed reduced ReHo in nodes within the fronto-subcortical circuits including bilateral caudate, bilateral thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left precentral gyrus compared with HCs. PASAT Z scores were correlated with ReHo value of bilateral caudate (r=0.338, P=0.005), bilateral thalamus (r=0.254, P=0.038) and ACC (r=0.414, P=0.001). Normalised CBF of bilateral caudate was different among HCs, MS-nonCI and MS-CI (P=0.001) and associated with PASAT Z scores (r=0.263, P=0.039).
Conclusion: We showed the abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits was related to CI in MS. Our study implies a role of the fronto-subcortical circuit in cognition in MS. The next step of this research will be specifically investigating whether the observed abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits are driven by underlying structural damage such as atrophy and MS lesion volumes.
Disclosure:
Dewen Meng: nothing to discloseThomas Welton: nothing to disclose
Afaf Elsarraj: nothing to disclose
Cris Constantinescu: nothing to disclose
Roshan das Nair: nothing to disclose
Dorothee Auer: nothing to disclose
Rob Dineen: nothing to disclose
Abstract: P1761
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: N/A
Introduction: Information processing speed is the most affected cognitive domain in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients however the underlying mechanism remains unclear. A key role of fronto-subcortical circuits in information processing speed has been demonstrated in healthy people and patients with brain injuries. The aim of this study is to investigate whether abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits are associated with CI in MS patients.
Methods: 58 MS patients and 42 healthy controls (HC) underwent 3T structural and functional MRI scans. All MS patients and 20 HCs completed the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). MS patients with Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) score below 1.5 SD of the mean PASAT score of HCs were classified as those with abnormal cognition (MS-CI). MS patients with a negative MSFC Z score (reference to NMSS Task Force database) were defined as those with worse disease severity. Local connectivity measured by regional homogeneity (ReHo) was compared at voxel level among HCs, MS-CI and MS patients with normal cognition (MS-nonCI) and was correlated with PASAT Z score within the whole cohort. Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) of fronto-subcortical circuit nodes extracted and normalised to grey matter CBF was compared among subgroups and correlated with cognition.
Results: 52 MS patients (MS-nonCI: n=30 [mean age: 43.8; 9 had worse disease severity]; MS-CI: n=22 [mean age: 49.4; 20 had worse disease severity]) and 36 HCs had good quality MRI data by following an automated quality control pipeline. MS-CI patients showed reduced ReHo in nodes within the fronto-subcortical circuits including bilateral caudate, bilateral thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left precentral gyrus compared with HCs. PASAT Z scores were correlated with ReHo value of bilateral caudate (r=0.338, P=0.005), bilateral thalamus (r=0.254, P=0.038) and ACC (r=0.414, P=0.001). Normalised CBF of bilateral caudate was different among HCs, MS-nonCI and MS-CI (P=0.001) and associated with PASAT Z scores (r=0.263, P=0.039).
Conclusion: We showed the abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits was related to CI in MS. Our study implies a role of the fronto-subcortical circuit in cognition in MS. The next step of this research will be specifically investigating whether the observed abnormalities of fronto-subcortical circuits are driven by underlying structural damage such as atrophy and MS lesion volumes.
Disclosure:
Dewen Meng: nothing to discloseThomas Welton: nothing to disclose
Afaf Elsarraj: nothing to disclose
Cris Constantinescu: nothing to disclose
Roshan das Nair: nothing to disclose
Dorothee Auer: nothing to disclose
Rob Dineen: nothing to disclose