Objective: Increasing evidence suggests that cerebellar damage impacts on cognitive functions. Frontotemporal dementias (FTDs) are neurodegenerative brain conditions, primarily affecting the frontal and/or temporal lobe. Three main phenotypes are recognized, each with a distinct clinical and cognitive profile: behavioral-variant FTD (bvFTD), semantic dementia (SD), and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA). The severity of cerebellar changes and their relation to cognition in FTD, however, remain unclear. This study aimed to establish cerebellar gray matter changes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and their relation to profiles of cognitive deficits in FTD subtypes.
Methods: Ninety-six FTD patients (45 bvFTD, 28 SD, and 23 PNFA), meeting current clinical diagnostic criteria, and 35 age-, sex-, and education-matched controls underwent brain MRI and cognitive assessment. Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter integrity were investigated using voxel-based morphometry.
Results: Compared with controls, widespread bilateral cerebellar changes were observed in all FTD subtypes, with the greatest atrophy present in bvFTD. Significant associations were found between cerebellar integrity and cognitive performance in attention and working memory in bvFTD, visuospatial function in SD, and language-motor function in PNFA. Bilateral atrophy of crus and lobule VI were most commonly associated with cognitive deficits, irrespective of FTD phenotype.
Interpretation: This study is the first to identify distinct patterns of cerebellar atrophy across FTD syndromes, which in turn relate to discrete cognitive dysfunctions, after accounting for the effect of cerebral atrophy. These findings extend our understanding of the cerebellum and point to its involvement across an array of processes beyond the domain of motor function. Ann Neurol 2018;83:98-109.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.25271 | DOI Listing |
Ther Adv Respir Dis
January 2025
Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, 4800 Sand Point Way NE, OC 7.730, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
Background: Joubert syndrome (JS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with a distinctive mid-hindbrain malformation known as the "molar tooth sign" which involves the breathing control center and its connections with other structures. Literature has reported significant respiratory abnormalities which included hyperpnea interspersed with apneic episodes during wakefulness. Larger-scale studies looking at polysomnographic findings or subjective reports of sleep problems in this population have not yet been published.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging Cell
January 2025
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Healthy brain aging involves changes in both brain structure and function, including alterations in cellular composition and microstructure across brain regions. Unlike diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI), diffusion-weighted MR spectroscopy (dMRS) can assess cell-type specific microstructural changes, providing indirect information on both cell composition and microstructure through the quantification and interpretation of metabolites' diffusion properties. This work investigates age-related changes in the higher-order diffusion properties of total N-Acetyl-aspartate (neuronal biomarker), total choline (glial biomarker), and total creatine (both neuronal and glial biomarker) beyond the classical apparent diffusion coefficient in cerebral and cerebellar gray matter of healthy human brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychiatry Clin Neurosci
January 2025
Department of Radiology, and Functional and Molecular Imaging key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Aim: As a central component of schizophrenia psychopathology, negative symptoms result in detrimental effects on long-term functional prognosis. However, the neurobiological mechanism underlying negative symptoms remains poorly understood, which limits the development of novel treatment interventions. This study aimed to identify the specific neural fingerprints of negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntern Med J
January 2025
Department of Neurology, St Vincent's Health Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
World J Biol Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Objective: Facial emotion recognition is central to successful social interaction. People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in this area. However, neuroimaging evidence on facial emotion processing in ASD has been diverse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!
© LitMetric 2025. All rights reserved.