title: Compensatory activations in patients with multiple sclerosis during preserved performance on the auditory N-back task.
abstract: Recent fMRI studies have suggested that multiple sclerosis (MS) patients show adaptive cortical changes (i.e., compensatory mechanisms) during motor and cognitive tasks to limit the clinical impact of tissue injury. In this study, we investigated the activation pattern during the auditory n-back working memory (WM) paradigm in a group of 17 MS patients and 10 healthy controls with preserved performance in WM tasks. Compared with healthy controls, MS patients showed significantly greater bilateral activation in prefrontal cortex (BA 44), and the insula. These findings were similar to those obtained in previous studies showing that compensatory mechanisms during WM tasks in MS may be based on the use of prefrontal areas adjacent to those involved in the task.
authors.affiliation: Dep. Psicología Bàsica, Clínica i Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Forn
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barros-Loscertales
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Escudero
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Benlloch
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antònia Parcet
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avila
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen