Microstructural analyses of the posterior cerebellar lobules in relapsing-onset multiple sclerosis and their implication in cognitive impairment.
PLoS ONE. 2017-08-08; 12(8): e0182479
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182479
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1. PLoS One. 2017 Aug 8;12(8):e0182479. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182479.
eCollection 2017.
Microstructural analyses of the posterior cerebellar lobules in relapsing-onset
multiple sclerosis and their implication in cognitive impairment.
Moroso A(1)(2)(3), Ruet A(1)(2)(3), Lamargue-Hamel D(1)(3), Munsch F(1)(3),
Deloire M(2), Coupé P(1)(4), Charré-Morin J(2), Saubusse A(2), Ouallet JC(2),
Planche V(1)(3), Tourdias T(1)(2)(3), Dousset V(1)(2)(3), Brochet B(1)(2)(3).
Author information:
(1)Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(2)CHU de Bordeaux, INSERM-CHU CIC-P 0005, & Services de Neurologie et
Neuroradiologie, Bordeaux, France.
(3)Neurocentre Magendie, INSERM U1215, Bordeaux, France.
(4)LaBRI, UMR 5800, PICTURA, Talence, France.
BACKGROUND: The posterior cerebellar lobules seem to be the anatomical substrate
of cognitive cerebellar processes, but their microstructural alterations in
multiple sclerosis (MS) remain unclear.
OBJECTIVES: To correlate diffusion metrics in lobules VI to VIIIb in persons with
clinically isolated syndrome (PwCIS) and in cognitively impaired persons with MS
(CIPwMS) with their cognitive performances.
METHODS: Sixty-nine patients (37 PwCIS, 32 CIPwMS) and 36 matched healthy
subjects (HS) underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging, including 3D T1-weighted
and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean
diffusivity (MD) were calculated within each lobule and in the cerebellar
peduncles. We investigated the correlations between cognitive outcomes and the
diffusion parameters of cerebellar sub-structures and performed multiple linear
regression analysis to predict cognitive disability.
RESULTS: FA was generally lower and MD was higher in the cerebellum and
specifically in the vermis Crus II, lobules VIIb and VIIIb in CIPwMS compared
with PwCIS and HS. In hierarchical regression analyses, 31% of the working memory
z score variance was explained by FA in the left lobule VI and in the left
superior peduncle. Working memory was also associated with MD in the vermis Crus
II. FA in the left lobule VI and right VIIIa predicted part of the information
processing speed (IPS) z scores.
CONCLUSION: DTI indicators of cerebellar microstructural damage were associated
with cognitive deficits in MS. Our results suggested that cerebellar lobular
alterations have an impact on attention, working memory and IPS.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182479
PMCID: PMC5549727
PMID: 28792528 [Indexed for MEDLINE]