Frontotemporal networks and behavioral symptoms in primary progressive aphasia

Lucio D'Anna, Marsel M. Mesulam, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Flavio Dell'Acqua, Declan Murphy, Christina Wieneke, Adam Martersteck, Derin Cobia, Emily Rogalski, Marco Catani
Neurology. 2016-03-18; 86(15): 1393-1399
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002579

PubMed
Read on PubMed



1. Neurology. 2016 Apr 12;86(15):1393-1399. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002579. Epub
2016 Mar 18.

Frontotemporal networks and behavioral symptoms in primary progressive aphasia.

D’Anna L(1), Mesulam MM(2), Thiebaut de Schotten M(2), Dell’Acqua F(2), Murphy
D(2), Wieneke C(2), Martersteck A(2), Cobia D(2), Rogalski E(2), Catani M(1).

Author information:
(1)From Natbrainlab, Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences
(L.D., M.T.d.S., F.D., M.C.), Department of Neuroimaging (F.D.), and Sackler
Institute of Translational Neurodevelopment (D.M.), Institute of Psychiatry,
Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, UK; Neurology Clinic,
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medical Sciences (L.D.), University of
Udine Medical School; Department of Neurosciences (L.D.), “S. Maria della
Misericordia” University Hospital, Udine, Italy; Cognitive Neurology and
Alzheimer’s Disease Center (M.M.M., C.W., A.M., D.C., E.R.) and Department of
Neurology (M.M.M., A.M., D.C.), Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine, Chicago, IL; and Brain Connectivity and Behaviour, Brain and Spine
Institute (M.T.d.S.), CNRS UMR 7225 INSERM-UPMC UMRS 1127 La Salpêtrière, Paris,
France. lucio.d’.
(2)From Natbrainlab, Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences
(L.D., M.T.d.S., F.D., M.C.), Department of Neuroimaging (F.D.), and Sackler
Institute of Translational Neurodevelopment (D.M.), Institute of Psychiatry,
Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, UK; Neurology Clinic,
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medical Sciences (L.D.), University of
Udine Medical School; Department of Neurosciences (L.D.), “S. Maria della
Misericordia” University Hospital, Udine, Italy; Cognitive Neurology and
Alzheimer’s Disease Center (M.M.M., C.W., A.M., D.C., E.R.) and Department of
Neurology (M.M.M., A.M., D.C.), Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine, Chicago, IL; and Brain Connectivity and Behaviour, Brain and Spine
Institute (M.T.d.S.), CNRS UMR 7225 INSERM-UPMC UMRS 1127 La Salpêtrière, Paris,
France.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if behavioral symptoms in patients with primary
progressive aphasia (PPA) were associated with degeneration of a ventral
frontotemporal network.
METHODS: We used diffusion tensor imaging tractography to quantify abnormalities
of the uncinate fasciculus that connects the anterior temporal lobe and the
ventrolateral frontal cortex. Two additional ventral tracts were studied: the
inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. We
also measured cortical thickness of anterior temporal and orbitofrontal regions
interconnected by these tracts. Thirty-three patients with PPA and 26 healthy
controls were recruited.
RESULTS: In keeping with the PPA diagnosis, behavioral symptoms were distinctly
less prominent than the language deficits. Although all 3 tracts had structural
pathology as determined by tractography, significant correlations with scores on
the Frontal Behavioral Inventory were found only for the uncinate fasciculus.
Cortical atrophy of the orbitofrontal and anterior temporal lobe cortex was also
correlated with these scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that damage to a frontotemporal network
mediated by the uncinate fasciculus may underlie the emergence of behavioral
symptoms in patients with PPA.

© 2016 American Academy of Neurology.

DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002579
PMCID: PMC4831038
PMID: 26992858 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Know more about