Functional brain changes in presymptomatic Huntington's disease.
Evidence suggests early structural brain changes in individuals with the Huntington's disease (HD) genetic mutation who are presymptomatic for the movement symptoms of the illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of functional brain changes in this same population using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects and matched controls underwent an functional magnetic resonance imaging "interference" protocol, a task known to be mediated in part by corticostriatal circuitry. In the setting of normal cognitive performance, presymptomatic HD subjects had significantly and specifically less activation in the left anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24, 32) compared with matched controls.
Reading
Sarah A J
SA
Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. sreading@jhmi.edu
Dziorny
Adam C
AC
Peroutka
Laura A
LA
Schreiber
Mathew
M
Gourley
Lisa M
LM
Yallapragada
Venu
V
Rosenblatt
Adam
A
Margolis
Russell L
RL
Pekar
James J
JJ
Pearlson
Godfrey D
GD
Aylward
Elizabeth
E
Brandt
Jason
J
Bassett
Susan S
SS
Ross
Christopher A
CA
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index