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Related Experiment Videos

Brain structure in preclinical Huntington's disease.

Jane S Paulsen1, Vince A Magnotta, Ania E Mikos

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Roy and Lucille Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. jane-paulsen@uiowa.edu

Biological Psychiatry
|August 23, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Individuals with the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation show significant brain morphology differences, even before symptoms appear. Preclinical HD brains exhibit enlarged cerebral cortex alongside reduced basal ganglia and white matter volumes.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Genetics
  • Neurology

Background:

  • Huntington's disease (HD) is traditionally viewed as a striatal degenerative disorder.
  • Emerging evidence suggests neurodevelopmental factors and extrastriatal abnormalities in HD.
  • This study investigates brain morphology in preclinical HD individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess brain morphology in individuals with the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation who are asymptomatic.
  • To compare brain structure between preclinical HD subjects and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • 24 preclinical HD participants and 24 matched healthy controls underwent brain MRI.
  • Morphological differences were analyzed between the two groups.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Preclinical HD participants displayed significant cerebral morphological differences compared to controls.
  • Increased cerebral cortex volume was observed in preclinical HD.
  • Decreased volumes of the basal ganglia and cerebral white matter were noted in preclinical HD.

Conclusions:

  • Individuals with the HD gene mutation show substantial brain alterations before clinical diagnosis.
  • Reduced striatal and white matter volumes may indicate early degeneration.
  • Enlarged cerebral cortex suggests a potential neurodevelopmental component in HD pathogenesis.