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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
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Whole-brain Segmentation and Change-point Analysis of Anatomical Brain MRI—Application in Premanifest Huntington's Disease
Published on: June 9, 2018
Levels of error processing in Huntington's disease: a combined study using event-related potentials and voxel-based
Christian Beste1, Carsten Saft, Carsten Konrad
1Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany. beste@ifado.de
Human Brain Mapping
|May 15, 2007
Summary
Huntington's Disease (HD) impairs error processing, particularly the error negativity (Ne), linked to dopamine system changes. Despite reduced Ne, behavioral adaptation remains possible in HD patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Neurobiology
Background:
- Huntington's Disease (HD) is a neurogenetic disorder causing striatal atrophy and dopaminergic (DA) system degeneration.
- Error processing is thought to depend on the DA system, making it a potential marker for HD pathology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess error processing differences between manifest HD patients and presymptomatic HD-gene-mutation-carriers (pHD).
- To investigate the relationship between error processing, DA system integrity, and neuroanatomical changes in HD.
Main Methods:
- Event-related potentials (error negativity - Ne, error positivity - Pe) were recorded during a flanker task.
- Optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze grey matter volume.
- Behavioral error rates and adaptation were measured.
Main Results:
- A reduced Ne amplitude was observed in HD patients compared to pHD, indicating dopamine system pathology.
- Despite reduced Ne, behavioral adaptation occurred, and error rates did not differ between groups.
- Grey matter volume in the medial frontal gyrus correlated with Ne amplitude in HD patients, suggesting a neuroanatomical basis for the observed deficits.
Conclusions:
- Error processing, specifically the Ne component, is impaired in manifest HD compared to pHD, reflecting DA system deterioration.
- This impairment is associated with both neurofunctional and neuroanatomical changes, particularly in the medial frontal gyrus.
- The error positivity (Pe) appears decoupled from the DA system, while a late slow negativity reduction suggests impaired preparatory processes in HD.
