Open AccessResting‐state functional connectivity and cognitive dysfunction correlations in spinocerebelellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6)
Author(s) -
Pereira Licia,
Airan Raag D.,
Fishman Ann,
Pillai Jay J.,
Kansal Kalyani,
Onyike Chiadi U.,
Prince Jerry L.,
Ying Sarah H.,
Sair Haris I.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.23568
Subject(s) - resting state fmri , cognition , psychology , neuropsychology , neuroscience , spinocerebellar ataxia , correlation , audiology , ataxia , connectome , physical medicine and rehabilitation , functional connectivity , medicine , geometry , mathematics
Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between resting state functional MRI (RS‐fMRI) activity and motor and cognitive impairment in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6). Methods Twelve patients with genetically confirmed SCA6 and 14 age matched healthy controls were imaged with RS‐fMRI. Whole brain gray matter was automatically parcellated into 1000 regions of interest (ROIs). For each ROI, the first eigenvariate of voxel time courses was extracted. For each patient, Pearson correlation coefficients between each pair of ROI time courses were calculated across the 1000 ROIs. The set of average control correlation coefficients were fed as an undirected weighted adjacency matrix into the Rubinov and Sporns (2010) modularity algorithm. The intranetwork global efficiency of the thresholded adjacency sub‐matrix was calculated and correlated with ataxia scores and cognitive performance. Results SCA6 patients showed mild cognitive impairments in executive function and visual‐motor processing compared to control subjects. These neuropsychological impairments were correlated with decreased RS functional connectivity (FC) in the attention network. Conclusions Mild cognitive executive functions and visual‐motor coordination impairments seen in SCA6 patients correlate with decreased resting‐state connectivity in the attention network, suggesting a possible metric for the study of cognitive dysfunction in cerebellar disease. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3001–3010, 2017 . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.