title: Subarachnoid hemorrhage and visuospatial and visuoperceptive impairment: disruption of the mirror neuron system.
abstract: Nearly 20 % of patients who suffer a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) still display cognitive impairment even a year after follow-up. Visuospatial and visuoperceptive domains may be impaired in this cognitive impairment and may not have been fully studied in these patients. Furthermore, these cognitively impaired domains have been associated with activity in the so-called mirror neuron system (MNS). The aim of the study is to analyze the pattern of brain activity with an MNS task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in SAH patients. A complete neuropsychological assessment and fMRI study (with observation and execution conditions) were performed in patients with a history of SAH registered in the database of the Hospital Universitario de Canarias and a healthy control group. The patients had to meet all the following inclusion criteria for the study (less than 50 years old; SAH with a Fisher score 1-3; no vasospasm or ischemia; minimum follow-up of one year). Twelve SAH patients were studied. Three of which displayed visuospatial/visuoperceptive impairment. fMRI study showed the presence of higher activity in MNS regions in these patients than in patients with normal visuospatial/visuoperceptive functions. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the test scores and brain activity in premotor regions of the studied patients. SAH patients with visuospatial/visuoperceptive impairment have greater activity in the MNS regions. This finding may be associated with a subcortical dysfunction, leading to a disruption of neural activity and less efficient behavior of this brain network.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain. jplata5@hotmail.com.|Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, Spain. jplata5@hotmail.com.|Neuroscience department, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Calle Ofra s/n La Cuesta, 38320, La Laguna, S/C de Tenerife, CP, Spain. jplata5@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plata-Bello
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristián
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Modroño
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acosta-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Yaiza
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pérez-Martín
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marcano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: García-Marín
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: González-Mora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059167:Mirror Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cognitive; Mirror neuron system; Subarachnoid haemorrhage; Visuoperception; Visuospatial