Cognitive functions and white matter tract damage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a diffusion tensor tractography study.
OBJECTIVE
ALS is predominantly a disease of the motor system, but cognitive and behavioral symptoms also are observed. DT MR imaging is sensitive to microstructural changes occurring in WM tracts of patients with ALS. In this study, we investigated the association between cognitive functions and extramotor WM tract abnormalities in ALS patients.


METHODS
DT MR imaging was obtained from 16 nondemented patients with ALS and 15 healthy controls. Patients with ALS underwent a neuropsychologic and behavioral evaluation. DT tractography was used to asses the integrity of the CST, corpus callosum, and the major long-range association tracts. The relationship between DT MR imaging metrics and cognitive functions was tested by using linear model analyses, adjusting for age and clinical disability.


RESULTS
Eleven patients (69%) scored below the fifth percentile in at least 1 cognitive test, and 2 of them had a mild executive impairment. Performances at tests assessing attention and executive functions correlated with DT MR imaging metrics of the corpus callosum, CST, and long association WM tracts bilaterally, including the cingulum, inferior longitudinal, inferior fronto-occipital, and uncinate fasciculi. Verbal learning and memory test scores were associated with fornix DT MR imaging values, whereas visual-spatial abilities correlated with left uncinate fractional anisotropy.


CONCLUSIONS
WM tract degeneration is associated with neuropsychologic deficits in patients with ALS. DT tractography holds promise to gain insight into the role of the brain WM network abnormalities in the development of cognitive impairment in patients with ALS.
Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
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Sarro
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Agosta
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Canu
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Riva
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Prelle
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Copetti
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Riccitelli
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Comi
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Filippi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity