title: Cortical control of vertical and horizontal saccades in progressive supranuclear palsy: An exploratory fMRI study.
abstract: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder showing predominant brainstem involvement, characterized by marked slowing of rapid eye movements (saccades), particularly along the vertical plane. While the contribution of the brainstem damage for the saccadic disturbance in PSP has been extensively studied, much less is known about its cortical and subcortical pathomechanisms. We measured reflexive (prosaccades) and voluntary (antisaccades) saccades in the vertical and horizontal plane in PSP patients (n=8) and controls (n=10) in an eye tracking study, followed by the measurement of blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) activation (PSP, n=6; controls, n=10) during similar saccade paradigms. Behaviorally, PSP patients evidenced slower and lower amplitude prosaccades (horizontal and vertical) and lower amplitude antisaccades (vertical) than controls. Functionally, patients showed decreased frontostriatal BOLD activation during prosaccades (horizontal and vertical) and antisaccades (vertical), relative to controls. Additionally, PSP patients showed less default mode network (DMN) deactivation than controls for all types of saccades. Within groups, controls showed no BOLD differences between horizontal and vertical prosaccades while PSP patients demonstrated greater DMN deactivation during vertical prosaccades. Both groups evidenced greater DMN deactivation during vertical antisaccades when compared to their horizontal counterpart and patients further showed relative frontostriatal BOLD hypoactivity during vertical antisaccades. We found fMRI evidence of frontostriatal hypoactivity in PSP patients relative to controls, especially during vertical saccades. These new findings highlight the impact of cortical impairment in saccadic disturbance of PSP.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: merrin72@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal; Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Almendra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rebelo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Health/Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patrício
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castelhano
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal; Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal; Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Januário
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal; Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Coimbra University Hospital Center, Coimbra, Portugal; Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freire
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal; Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castelo-Branco
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Basal ganglia; Eye movement measurements; Functional MRI; Progressive supranuclear palsy; Saccades