| 1. |
- Baker, Chaya Rochel, et al.
(author)
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Subjective sleep problems in Huntington's disease : A pilot investigation of the relationship to brain structure, neurocognitive, and neuropsychiatric function
- 2016
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In: Journal of the Neurological Sciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-510X. ; 364, s. 148-153
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Subjective reports of sleep disturbance are a common feature of Huntington's disease (HD); however, there is limited research investigating the relationship between sleep problems with changes in brain and behaviour. This study aimed to investigate whether subjective reports of sleep problems in HD are associated with brain volume, neurocognitive decline, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. This retrospective pilot study used brain volume, neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric data from premanifest (pre-HD) and symptomatic HD (symp-HD). Subjective sleep problem was measured using the sleep item of the Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Pre-HD individuals reporting sleep problems had significantly poorer neuropsychiatric outcomes compared to those not reporting sleep problems. In the symp-HD group, those with sleep problems had significantly accelerated thalamic degeneration and poorer neuropsychiatric outcomes compared to those without sleep problems. There was no relationship between subjective sleep problems and neurocognitive measures. These findings suggest an association between subjective sleep disturbance, neuropathology, and development of neuropsychiatric symptoms in HD. Further studies using quantitative EEG-based monitoring of sleep in HD and changes in the brain and behaviour will be necessary to establish the causal nature of this relationship.
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| 2. |
- Gabery, Sanaz, et al.
(author)
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Volumetric analysis of the hypothalamus in Huntington Disease using 3T MRI: the IMAGE-HD Study.
- 2015
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Huntington disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. Non-motor symptoms and signs such as psychiatric disturbances, sleep problems and metabolic dysfunction are part of the disease manifestation. These aspects may relate to changes in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain involved in the regulation of emotion, sleep and metabolism. Neuropathological and imaging studies using both voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as positron emission tomography (PET) have demonstrated pathological changes in the hypothalamic region during early stages in symptomatic HD. In this investigation, we aimed to establish a robust method for measurements of the hypothalamic volume in MRI in order to determine whether the hypothalamic dysfunction in HD is associated with the volume of this region. Using T1-weighted imaging, we describe a reproducible delineation procedure to estimate the hypothalamic volume which was based on the same landmarks used in histologically processed postmortem hypothalamic tissue. Participants included 36 prodromal HD (pre-HD), 33 symptomatic HD (symp-HD) and 33 control participants who underwent MRI scanning at baseline and 18 months follow-up as part of the IMAGE-HD study. We found no evidence of cross-sectional or longitudinal changes between groups in hypothalamic volume. Our results suggest that hypothalamic pathology in HD is not associated with volume changes.
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| 3. |
- Looi, Jefferey Chee Leong, et al.
(author)
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Shape analysis of the neostriatum in frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, and controls
- 2010
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In: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 51:3, s. 970-986
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: Frontostriatal circuit mediated cognitive dysfunction has been implicated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), but not Alzheimer's disease, or healthy aging. We measured the neostriatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) volume in FTLD (n=34), in comparison with controls (n=27) and Alzheimer's disease (AD, n=19) subjects. Methods: Diagnoses were based on international consensus criteria. Manual bilateral segmentation of the caudate nucleus and putamen was conducted blind to diagnosis by a single analyst, on MRI scans using a standardized protocol. Intra-cranial volume was calculated via a stereological point counting technique and was used for scaling the shape analysis. The manual segmentation binaries were analyzed using UNC Shape Analysis tools (University of North Carolina) to perform comparisons among FTLD, AD, and controls for global shape, local p-value significance maps, and mean magnitude of shape displacement. Results: Shape analysis revealed that there was significant shape difference between FTLD, AD, and controls, consistent with the predicted frontostriatal dysfunction and of significant magnitude, as measured by displacement maps. There was a lateralized difference in shape for the left caudate for FTLD compared to AD; non-specific global atrophy in AD compared to controls; while FTLD showed a more specific pattern in regions relaying fronto- and corticostriatal circuits. Conclusions: Shape analysis shows regional specificity of atrophy, manifest as shape deflation, with implications for frontostriatal and corticostriatal motoric circuits, in FTLD, AD, and controls.
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| 4. |
- Looi, Jeffrey Chee Leong, et al.
(author)
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Shape analysis of the neostriatum in subtypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration : neuroanatomically significant regional morphologic change
- 2011
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In: Psychiatry Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4927 .- 1872-7506 .- 0165-1781. ; 191:2, s. 98-111
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Frontostriatal circuit mediated cognitive dysfunction has been implicated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and may differ across subtypes of FTLD. We manually segmented the neostriatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) in FTLD subtypes: behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, FTD, n=12; semantic dementia, SD, n=13; and progressive non-fluent aphasia, PNFA, n=9); in comparison with controls (n=27). Diagnoses were based on international consensus criteria. Manual bilateral segmentation of the caudate nucleus and putamen was conducted blind to diagnosis by a single analyst, on MRI scans using a standardized protocol. Intracranial volume was calculated via a stereological point counting technique and was used for normalizing the shape analysis. Segmented binaries were analyzed using the Spherical Harmonic (SPHARM) Shape Analysis tools (University of North Carolina) to perform comparisons between FTLD subtypes and controls for global shape difference, local significance maps and mean magnitude maps of shape displacement. Shape analysis revealed that there was significant shape difference between FTLD subtypes and controls, consistent with the predicted frontostriatal dysfunction and of significant magnitude, as measured by displacement maps. These differences were not significant for SD compared to controls; lesser for PNFA compared to controls; whilst FTD showed a more specific pattern in regions relaying fronto- and corticostriatal circuits. Shape analysis shows regional specificity of atrophy, manifest as shape deflation, with a differential between FTLD subtypes, compared to controls.
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