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Striatal gray matter loss in Huntington's disease is leftward biased
Author(s) -
Mühlau Mark,
Gaser Christian,
Wohlschläger Afra M.,
Weindl Adolf,
Städtler Michael,
Valet Michael,
Zimmer Claus,
Kassubek Jan,
Peinemann Alexander
Publication year - 2007
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.21137
Subject(s) - psychology , voxel , gray (unit) , striatum , magnetic resonance imaging , huntington's disease , lateralization of brain function , voxel based morphometry , laterality , pathological , brain asymmetry , neuroscience , white matter , disease , pathology , medicine , nuclear medicine , radiology , dopamine
In Huntington's disease (HD), the distribution of pathological changes throughout the brain is incompletely understood. Some studies have identified leftward‐biased lateralization, whereas others did not. We performed magnetic resonance imaging and a voxel‐based asymmetry analysis in 44 right‐handed HD gene carriers (presymptomatic, n = 5; stage I, n = 28; stage II, n = 11) and 44 right‐handed healthy controls. The group comparison revealed leftward‐biased gray matter loss in the striatum. Further analyses showed no indication of asymmetry in presymptomatic HD patients but an increase in asymmetry in the course of the HD stages under examination. Our study demonstrates and discusses leftward‐biased gray matter loss in HD. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society