Atrophy of reward-related striatal structures in fatigued MS patients is independent of physical disability

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Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
09:41

Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

Published on: July 19, 2019

12.2K

Alfredo Damasceno1, Benito Pereira Damasceno2, Fernando Cendes2

  • 1Department of Neurology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil alfredodamasceno@hotmail.com.

Multiple Sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)
|August 5, 2015
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue is linked to widespread gray matter loss, particularly in brain areas controlling effort and reward. This atrophy is partly due to physical disability but also independently affects specific brain structures.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Neurology
  • Multiple Sclerosis Research

Background:

  • Gray-matter abnormalities are observed in fatigued multiple sclerosis (MS) patients via MRI.
  • Physical disability often complicates the assessment of MS fatigue's impact on MRI findings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate gray-matter damage in mildly disabled MS patients.
  • Identify variables related to fatigue, controlling for physical disability and depression.

Main Methods:

  • MRI scans (3T) were performed on 49 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients and 30 controls.
  • Fatigue was measured using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
  • Multivariate logistic regression analyzed clinical and MRI metrics for fatigue, controlling for disability and depression.

Main Results:

  • Fatigue was present in 44.9% of patients, correlating strongly with physical disability (EDSS).
  • Fatigued patients showed reduced cortical and subcortical gray-matter volumes.
  • After controlling for disability, caudate and accumbens volumes remained significantly smaller in fatigued patients.

Conclusions:

  • Fatigued MS patients exhibit global gray-matter atrophy, largely associated with physical disability.
  • Striatal structure atrophy in fatigued patients is independent of physical disability and depression.
  • Findings support impaired cortico-striatal network function in MS fatigue.
Keywords:
Fatiguemultiple sclerosisrewardstriatum

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