Involvement of the caudate nucleus head and its networks in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia continuum.
We investigated common structural and network changes across the sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-frontotemporal dementia (FTD) continuum. Based on cluster analysis using the frontotemporal assessment battery, 51 patients with sporadic ALS were subdivided into three groups: 25 patients with ALS with cognitive deficiency (ALS-CD); seven patients who satisfied FTD criteria (ALS-FTD), and 19 patients with ALS with normal cognitive function (ALS-NC). Compared with the controls, gray matter images from patients with ALS-FTD showed atrophic changes in the following order of severity: caudate head, medial frontal gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, putamen, and cingulate gyrus (peak level, uncorrected p < 0.001). The caudate head was significant at the cluster level using FWE correction (p < 0.05). Diffusion tensor imaging with tract-based spatial statistics revealed white matter changes in the areas surrounding the caudate head, the internal capsule, and the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in the ALS-CD and ALS-FTD. Probabilistic diffusion tractography showed a significant decrease in structural connectivity between the caudate head and the dorsomedial frontal cortex and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, even in the ALS-NC. Our results indicated that the caudate head and its networks were the most vulnerable to lesion in sporadic ALS-FTD-spectrum patients associated with cognitive decline with FTD features.
a Department of Neurology and.
Michihito
M
Masuda
a Department of Neurology and.
Joe
J
Senda
a Department of Neurology and.|d Brain and Mind Research Center , Nagoya University , Nagoya.
Hirohisa
H
Watanabe
d Brain and Mind Research Center , Nagoya University , Nagoya.
Bagarinao
B
Epifanio
a Department of Neurology and.
Yasuhiro
Y
Tanaka
a Department of Neurology and.
Kazunori
K
Imai
a Department of Neurology and.
Yuchi
Y
Riku
c Department of Neurology , Juntendo University School of Medicine , Tokyo , Japan , and.
Yuanzhe
Y
Li
a Department of Neurology and.
Ryoichi
R
Nakamura
a Department of Neurology and.
Mizuki
M
Ito
a Department of Neurology and.
Shinsuke
S
Ishigaki
a Department of Neurology and.
Naoki
N
Atsuta
a Department of Neurology and.
Haruki
H
Koike
a Department of Neurology and.
Masahisa
M
Katsuno
c Department of Neurology , Juntendo University School of Medicine , Tokyo , Japan , and.
Nobutaka
N
Hattori
b Department of Radiology , Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine , Nagoya , Japan.
Shinji
S
Naganawa
a Department of Neurology and.|d Brain and Mind Research Center , Nagoya University , Nagoya.
Gen
G
Sobue
D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016880:Anisotropy; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
Voxel-based morphometry (VBM); amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); frontotemporal dementia (FTD); probabilistic diffusion tractography; tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS)