title: Prefrontal cortical blood flow and cognitive function in Huntington's disease.
abstract: To examine the relationship between cortical physiology and dementia in Huntington's disease, rCBF during three different behavioural conditions, one of which emphasised prefrontal cognition, was determined by xenon-133 inhalation in 14 patients with Huntington's disease and in matched controls. Cortical rCBF was not reduced in Huntington's disease patients even while they manifested overt prefrontal-type cognitive deficits. Caudate atrophy on CT and rCBF were significantly correlated, but only during the prefrontal behaviour where the correlation was positive. These results suggest a qualification of the subcortical dementia concept as applied to Huntington's disease and implicate an interaction between pathology that is subcortical and cognitive function that is cortical.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington DC 20032.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Weinberger
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iadarola
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Driesen
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Zec
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes
chemical_list: D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes