title: Anatomical substrates and neurocognitive predictors of daily numerical abilities in mild cognitive impairment.
abstract: Patients with mild cognitive impairment experience difficulties in mathematics that affect their functioning in the activities of everyday life. What are the associated anatomical brain changes and the cognitive correlates underlying such deficits? In the present study, 33 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairments (MCI) and 29 cognitively normal controls underwent volumetric MRI, and completed the standardized battery of Numerical Activities of Daily Living (NADL) along with a comprehensive clinical neuropsychological assessment. Group differences were examined on the numerical tasks and volumetric brain measures. The gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volume correlates were also evaluated. The results showed that relative to controls, the MCI group had impairments in number comprehension, transcoding, written operations, and in daily activities involving time estimation and money usage. In the volumetric measures, group differences emerged for the transcoding subtask in the left insula and left superior temporal gyrus. Among MCI patients, number comprehension and formal numerical performance were correlated with volumetric variability in the right middle occipital areas and right frontal gyrus. Money-usage scores showed significant correlations with left mesial frontal cortex, right superior frontal and right superior temporal cortex. Regression models revealed that neuropsychological measures of long-term memory, language, visuo-spatial abilities, and abstract reasoning were predictive of the patients' decline in daily activities. The present findings suggest that early neuropathology in distributed cortical regions of the brain including frontal, temporal and occipital areas leads to a breakdown of cognitive abilities in MCI that impacts on numerical daily functioning. The findings have implications for diagnosis, clinical and domestic care of patients with MCI.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy; Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Italy. Electronic address: silviabenavides@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benavides-Varela
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy; Neuroscience Department, University of Padova, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.burgio@ospedalesancamillo.net.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Burgio
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.meneghello@ospedalesancamillo.net.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meneghello
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. Electronic address: m.demarco@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, University of Padova, Italy. Electronic address: giorgio.arcara@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcara
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy. Electronic address: jessica.rigon@ospedalesancamillo.net.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigon
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy. Electronic address: cristina.pilosio@ospedalesancamillo.net.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pilosio
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: b.butterworth@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Butterworth
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Neuropsychology Unit, Lido-Venice, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. Electronic address: a.venneri@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Annalena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venneri
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, University of Padova, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.semenza@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Semenza
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Cognitive aging; Compensatory reorganization; MCI mild cognitive impairment; Money usage and time estimation deficit; Numerical deficits in ecological contexts