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Structural connectivity-defined thalamic subregions have different functional connectivity abnormalities in multiple
Alessandro d'Ambrosio1, Milagros Hidalgo de la Cruz1, Paola Valsasina1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
Human Brain Mapping
|September 8, 2017
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients exhibit altered thalamic functional connectivity (FC). Specific subregion changes in MS may relate to cognitive and motor impairments, with some potentially indicating compensatory mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- The thalamus plays a critical role in multiple sclerosis (MS), yet detailed information on its functional connectivity (FC) changes, particularly at the subregional level, remains limited.
- Understanding these alterations is crucial for elucidating the neurobiological underpinnings of MS-related clinical and cognitive deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate subregional thalamic resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) alterations in MS patients using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for structural parcellation.
- To explore the relationship between these altered thalamic RS-FC patterns and clinical/cognitive measures in MS.
Main Methods:
- Structural connectivity-based parcellation of the thalamus into five subregions using DTI data from healthy controls (HC).
- Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) analysis of each thalamic subregion in 187 MS patients and 94 HC.
- Correlation analyses between thalamic RS-FC and clinical/cognitive variables.
Main Results:
- MS patients exhibited increased intra- and inter-thalamic RS-FC across most subregions compared to HC.
- Increased RS-FC was observed between all thalamic subregions and the left insula in MS patients.
- Reduced RS-FC was found between frontal/motor thalamic subregions and the caudate nucleus, and between temporal thalamic subregions and the cingulate cortex and cerebellum.
- Cognitively impaired MS patients showed higher temporal thalamic RS-FC compared to cognitively preserved patients.
- Lower RS-FC with caudate/cingulate correlated with worse motor performance, while higher RS-FC with the insula correlated with better motor performance in MS.
Conclusions:
- Distinct subregional thalamic RS-FC abnormalities are present in MS patients.
- Increased thalamic RS-FC with the insula may represent a compensatory mechanism.
- Elevated RS-FC with temporal areas in cognitively impaired MS patients might indicate maladaptive processes.
