Journal article
Preclinical Huntington's Disease: Compensatory Brain Responses during Learning
Annals of neurology, Vol.59(1), pp.53-59
01/2006
DOI: 10.1002/ana.20684
PMCID: PMC2519955
PMID: 16261565
Abstract
Motor sequence learning is abnormal in presymptomatic Huntington's disease (p-HD). The neural substrates underlying this early manifestation of HD are poorly understood. To study the mechanism of this cognitive abnormality in p-HD, we used positron emission tomography to record brain activity during motor sequence learning in these subjects. Eleven p-HD subjects (age, 45.8 ± 11.0 years; CAG repeat length, 41.6 ± 1.8) and 11 age-matched control subjects (age, 45.3 ± 13.4 years) underwent H
2
15
O positron emission tomography while performing a set of kinematically controlled motor sequence learning and execution tasks. Differences in regional brain activation responses between groups and conditions were assessed. In addition, we identified discrete regions in which learning-related activity correlated with performance. We found that sequence learning was impaired in p-HD subjects despite normal motor performance. In p-HD, activation responses during learning were abnormally increased in the left mediodorsal thalamus and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC; BA 11/47). Impaired learning performance in these subjects was associated with increased activation responses in the precuneus (BA 18/31). These data suggest that enhanced activation of thalamocortical pathways during motor learning can compensate for caudate degeneration in p-HD. Nonetheless, this mechanism may not be sufficient to sustain a normal level of task performance, even during the presymptomatic stage of the disease.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Preclinical Huntington's Disease: Compensatory Brain Responses during Learning
- Creators
- Andrew Feigin - Center for Neurosciences, Institute for Medical Research, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, ManhassetMaria-Felice Ghilardi - Motor Control Laboratory, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NYChaorui Huang - Center for Neurosciences, Institute for Medical Research, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, ManhassetYilong Ma - Center for Neurosciences, Institute for Medical Research, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, ManhassetMaren Carbon - Center for Neurosciences, Institute for Medical Research, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, ManhassetMark Guttman - Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaJane S Paulsen - Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IAClaude P Ghez - Motor Control Laboratory, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NYDavid Eidelberg - Center for Neurosciences, Institute for Medical Research, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Manhasset
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Annals of neurology, Vol.59(1), pp.53-59
- DOI
- 10.1002/ana.20684
- PMID
- 16261565
- PMCID
- PMC2519955
- NLM abbreviation
- Ann Neurol
- ISSN
- 0364-5134
- eISSN
- 1531-8249
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2006
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984083207202771
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