Focal thalamus alterations and their associations with cognitive impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Qianqian Duan; Qiuli Zhang; Haining LI; Xinyi YU; Shan WU; Fangfang HU; Jiaoting Jin; Jingxia Dang; Ming Zhang

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Focal thalamus alterations and their associations with cognitive impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

VernacularTitle:肌萎缩侧索硬化患者丘脑局灶性损伤与认知功能障碍的相关性
Author: Qianqian DUAN ¹ ; Qiuli ZHANG ¹ ; Haining LI ¹ ; Xinyi YU ¹ ; Shan WU ¹ ; Fangfang HU ² ; Jiaoting JIN ² ; Jingxia DANG ² ; Ming ZHANG ¹
Author Information

1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061
2. Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; cognitive function; thalamus; magnetic resonance imaging
From: Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University(Medical Sciences) 2023;44(5):688-693
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: 【Objective】 To investigate changes in thalamus structure and function and their associations with cognitive impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 【Methods】 3D high-resolution structural imaging and resting-state fMRI were applied in 78 ALS patients and 49 healthy volunteers. The shape of the thalamus was assessed using a vortex analysis and functional connectivity between the thalamus subregion and cortex was evaluated by a seed-based correlation analysis. Partial correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between focal thalamus alterations and clinical assessments. 【Results】 Compared with the control group, vertex analysis showed significant atrophy in the prefrontal and temporal subregions of bilateral thalamus in the ALS group. Patients exhibited increased functional connectivity of motor-sensory ROI with the right motor cortex, of temporal ROI with the bilateral lateral occipital cortex, precuneus and right temporal subregion. In contrast, decreased function connectivity was found mainly between temporal ROI and paracingulate gyrus, left dorsomedial prefrontal lobe and left caudate. Partial correlation analysis showed that the functional connectivity of the precuneus, paracingulate cortex, left caudate nucleus and left prefrontal lobe was correlated with multiple cognitive performances. 【Conclusion】 Selective damage of thalamic structure and function in ALS plays an important role in cognitive and behavioral disorders.