Nucleus Basalis of Meynert Degeneration Predicts Cognitive Decline in Corticobasal Syndrome

Cognitive changes are common in corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and significantly impact quality of life and caregiver burden. However, relatively few studies have investigated the neural substrates of cognitive changes in CBS, and reliable predictors of cognitive impairment are currently lacking. The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NbM), which serves as the primary source of cortical cholinergic innervation, has been functionally associated with cognition. This study aimed to explore whether patients with CBS exhibit reduced NbM volumes compared with healthy control participants and whether NbM degeneration can serve as a predictor of cognitive impairment in patients with CBS.

In this study, we investigated in vivo volumetric changes of the NbM in 38 patients with CBS and 84 healthy control participants. Next, we assessed whether gray matter degeneration of the NbM evaluated at baseline could predict cognitive impairment during a 12-month follow-up period in patients with CBS. All volumetric analyses were performed using 3T T1-weighted images obtained from the 4-Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative.

Patients with CBS displayed significantly lower NbM volumes than control participants (p < .001). Structural damage of the NbM also predicted the development of cognitive impairment in patients with CBS as assessed by longitudinal measurements of the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (p < .001) and Mini-Mental State Examination (p = .035).

Our findings suggest that NbM atrophy may represent a promising noninvasive in vivo marker of cognitive decline in CBS and provide new insights into the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive impairment in CBS.