title: Functional neuroanatomy of spatial sound processing in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Deficits of auditory scene analysis accompany Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the functional neuroanatomy of spatial sound processing has not been defined in AD. We addressed this using a "sparse" fMRI virtual auditory spatial paradigm in 14 patients with typical AD in relation to 16 healthy age-matched individuals. Sound stimulus sequences discretely varied perceived spatial location and pitch of the sound source in a factorial design. AD was associated with loss of differentiated cortical profiles of auditory location and pitch processing at the prescribed threshold, and significant group differences were identified for processing auditory spatial variation in posterior cingulate cortex (controls > AD) and the interaction of pitch and spatial variation in posterior insula (AD > controls). These findings build on emerging evidence for altered brain mechanisms of auditory scene analysis and suggest complex dysfunction of network hubs governing the interface of internal milieu and external environment in AD. Auditory spatial processing may be a sensitive probe of this interface and contribute to characterization of brain network failure in AD and other neurodegenerative syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Hannah L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Agustus
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nicholas
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schott
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Sebastian J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crutch
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiological Academic Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, University, London, UK; Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: jason.warren@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010898:Pitch Perception; D065855:Spatial Processing
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Auditory scene analysis; Auditory space; Dementia; fMRI