Regional structural hypo- and hyperconnectivity of frontal–striatal and frontal–thalamic pathways in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

David Jakabek, Brian D. Power, Matthew D. Macfarlane, Mark Walterfang, Dennis Velakoulis, Danielle van Westen, Jimmy Lätt, Markus Nilsson, Jeffrey C.L. Looi, Alexander F. Santillo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) has been predominantly considered as a frontotemporal cortical disease, with limited direct investigation of frontal–subcortical connections. We aim to characterize the grey and white matter components of frontal–thalamic and frontal–striatal circuits in bvFTD. Twenty-four patients with bvFTD and 24 healthy controls underwent morphological and diffusion imaging. Subcortical structures were manually segmented according to published protocols. Probabilistic pathways were reconstructed separately from the dorsolateral, orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex to the striatum and thalamus. Patients with bvFTD had smaller cortical and subcortical volumes, lower fractional anisotropy, and higher mean diffusivity metrics, which is consistent with disruptions in frontal–striatal–thalamic pathways. Unexpectedly, regional volumes of the striatum and thalamus connected to the medial prefrontal cortex were significantly larger in bvFTD (by 135% in the striatum, p =.032, and 217% in the thalamus, p =.004), despite smaller dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connected regional volumes (by 67% in the striatum, p =.002, and 65% in the thalamus, p =.020), and inconsistent changes in orbitofrontal cortex connected regions. These unanticipated findings may represent compensatory or maladaptive remodeling in bvFTD networks. Comparisons are made to other neuropsychiatric disorders suggesting a common mechanism of changes in frontal–subcortical networks; however, longitudinal studies are necessary to test this hypothesis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4083-4093
Number of pages11
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume39
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Neurology

Free keywords

  • behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia
  • connectivity
  • DTI
  • MRI
  • probabilistic tractography

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Regional structural hypo- and hyperconnectivity of frontal–striatal and frontal–thalamic pathways in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this