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Structure and Dynamics of Large‐Scale Cognitive Networks in Huntington's Disease
Author(s) -
AracilBolaños Ignacio,
MartínezHorta Saül,
GonzálezdeEchávarri Jose M.,
Sampedro Frederic,
PérezPérez Jesús,
HortaBarba Andrea,
Campolongo Antonia,
Izquierdo Cristina,
GómezAnsón Beatriz,
Pagonabarraga Javier,
Kulisevsky Jaime
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.28839
Subject(s) - huntington's disease , cognition , disease , default mode network , cognitive decline , medicine , psychology , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , neuroscience , dementia
Background Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by clinical alterations in the motor, behavioral, and cognitive domains. However, the structure and disruptions to large‐scale brain cognitive networks have not yet been established. Objective We aimed to profile changes in large‐scale cognitive networks in premanifest and symptomatic patients with Huntington's disease. Methods We prospectively recruited premanifest and symptomatic Huntington's disease mutation carriers as well as healthy controls. Clinical and sociodemographic data were obtained from all participants, and resting‐state functional connectivity data, using both time‐averaged and dynamic functional connectivity, was acquired from whole‐brain and cognitively oriented brain parcellations. Results A total of 64 gene mutation carriers and 23 healthy controls were included; 21 patients with Huntington's disease were classified as premanifest and 43 as symptomatic Huntington's disease. Compared with healthy controls, patients with Huntington's disease showed decreased network connectivity within the posterior hubs of the default‐mode network and the medial prefrontal cortex, changes that correlated with cognitive ( t = 2.25, P = 0.01) and disease burden scores ( t = −2.42, P = 0.009). The salience network showed decreased functional connectivity between insular and supramarginal cortices and also correlated with cognitive ( t = 2.11, P = 0.02) and disease burden scores ( t = −2.35, P = 0.01). Dynamic analyses showed that network variability was decreased for default‐central executive networks, a feature already present in premanifest mutation carriers (dynamic factor 8, P = 0.02). Conclusions Huntington's disease shows an early and widespread disruption of large‐scale cognitive networks. Importantly, these changes are related to cognitive and disease burden scores, and novel dynamic functional analyses uncovered subtler network changes even in the premanifest stages.