TY - JOUR
T1 - White matter correlates of slowed information processing speed in unimpaired multiple sclerosis patients with young age onset
AU - Govindarajan, Sindhuja Tirumalai
AU - Liu, Yilin
AU - Parra Corral, Maria Andrea
AU - Bangiyev, Lev
AU - Krupp, Lauren
AU - Charvet, Leigh
AU - Duong, Tim Q.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by The Lourie Foundation, Inc.; National Multiple Sclerosis Society (grant number 10020073405); NIH (grant UL1 TR000002); NIH (grant R01NS071463).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Slowed information processing speed is among the earliest markers of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) and has been associated with white matter (WM) structural integrity. Localization of WM tracts associated with slowing, but not significant impairment, on specific cognitive tasks in pediatric and young age onset MS can facilitate early and effective therapeutic intervention. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected on 25 MS patients and 24 controls who also underwent the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the computer-based Cogstate simple and choice reaction time tests. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean (MD), radial (RD) and axial (AD) diffusivities were correlated voxel-wise with processing speed measures. All DTI metrics of several white matter tracts were significantly different between groups (p < 0.05). Notably, higher MD, RD, and AD, but not FA, in the corpus callosum correlated with lower scores on both SDMT and simple reaction time. Additionally, all diffusivity metrics in the left corticospinal tract correlated negatively with SDMT scores, whereas only MD in the right superior fronto-occipital fasciculus correlated with simple reaction time. In conclusion, subtle slowing of processing speed is correlated with WM damage in the visual-motor processing pathways in patients with young age of MS onset.
AB - Slowed information processing speed is among the earliest markers of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) and has been associated with white matter (WM) structural integrity. Localization of WM tracts associated with slowing, but not significant impairment, on specific cognitive tasks in pediatric and young age onset MS can facilitate early and effective therapeutic intervention. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected on 25 MS patients and 24 controls who also underwent the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the computer-based Cogstate simple and choice reaction time tests. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean (MD), radial (RD) and axial (AD) diffusivities were correlated voxel-wise with processing speed measures. All DTI metrics of several white matter tracts were significantly different between groups (p < 0.05). Notably, higher MD, RD, and AD, but not FA, in the corpus callosum correlated with lower scores on both SDMT and simple reaction time. Additionally, all diffusivity metrics in the left corticospinal tract correlated negatively with SDMT scores, whereas only MD in the right superior fronto-occipital fasciculus correlated with simple reaction time. In conclusion, subtle slowing of processing speed is correlated with WM damage in the visual-motor processing pathways in patients with young age of MS onset.
KW - Cognitive impairment
KW - Diffusion tensor imaging
KW - Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis
KW - Processing speed
KW - White matter
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U2 - 10.1007/s11682-020-00345-z
DO - 10.1007/s11682-020-00345-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 32748319
AN - SCOPUS:85088934359
VL - 15
SP - 1460
EP - 1468
JO - Brain Imaging and Behavior
JF - Brain Imaging and Behavior
SN - 1931-7557
IS - 3
ER -