title: Low performance in attention testing is associated with reduced grey matter density of the left inferior frontal gyrus in euthyroid patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
abstract: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) can casually co-occur with an encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroid disease. Recently we found an increased occurrence of weaknesses in sustained attention and response inhibition in a subgroup of euthyroid patients with HT as obtained by the d2 attention test. Previous studies in healthy subjects and patients with brain lesions demonstrated a pivotal role for the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) in these skills. Therefore, we studied the association between the performance in the d2 test and grey matter (GM) density of the LIFG in 13 euthyroid patients with HT compared to a control group of 12 euthyroid patients with other thyroid diseases. A significant correlation between GM density and d2 test total score was detected for the opercular part of the LIFG in patients with HT (p<0.001), but not in the control group (p=0.94). Regression in patients with HT was significantly stronger than in the control group (p=0.02). Moreover, GM density was significantly reduced when comparing HT patients with control patients that scored in the lower third during d2 attention testing (p<0.05). It can be concluded that in HT performance in the d2 test correlated with GM density of the LIFG. Particularly low achievement was associated with reduced GM density of this brain region suggesting an influence of autoimmune processes on the frontal cortex in this disease. This could be due to not yet known antibodies affecting brain morphology or an influence of thyroid antibodies themselves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany. thomas.leyhe@med.uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leyhe
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ethofer
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bretscher
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Künle
authors.forename: Anna-Laura
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Säuberlich
authors.forename: Reinhild
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Baptist
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gallwitz
authors.forename: Hans-Ulrich
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Häring
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fallgatter
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klingberg
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saur
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müssig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D036421:Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies