The Mirror Neuron System in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Low Disability

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system.
• Visuospatial and visuoperceptive functions can be impaired in MS.
• The mirror neuron system (MNS) is involved in action understanding and imitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate visuospatial/visuoperceptive function in MS patients using a mirror neuron system (MNS) based approach.
• To compare brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) within the MNS between MS patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Two task-based fMRIs (execution and observation of index-thumb opposition task) and one resting-fMRI were conducted.
• Participants included 24 MS patients and 15 healthy controls.
• Statistical parametric mapping and neuropsychological tests were employed.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in brain activity were found between MS patients and controls during execution or observation tasks.
• Healthy controls exhibited higher functional connectivity (FC) between MNS regions (inferior parietal lobule and inferior frontal gyrus) compared to MS patients.
• Neuropsychological tests did not reveal global differences between groups.

Conclusions:

• MS patients demonstrate decreased functional connectivity within the MNS, indicating potential subclinical disability.
• This subclinical MNS dysfunction may not be detectable through standard neuropsychological assessments.
• The findings suggest that MNS-based approaches can reveal subtle neurological changes in MS.