Brain network connectivity assessed using graph theory in frontotemporal dementia

Agosta, Federica; Sala, Stefania; Valsasina, Paola; Meani, Alessandro; Canu, Elisa; Magnani, Giuseppe; Cappa, Stefano F.; Scola, Elisa; Quatto, Piero; Horsfield, Mark A.; Falini, Andrea; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e31829a33f8

Cited by 152 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In line with these results, studies assessing cognitive impairments of different etiology (e.g., developmental or neurodegenerative; Itahashi et al, 2014;Agosta et al, 2013;Van den Heuvel et al, 2013;Buckner et al, 2009) suggest that hub connectivity plays a role in cognition ( Van den Heuvel & Sporns, 2013b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Rich Club Organization and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Participants

Baggio

Segura

Junqué

et al. 2015

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Abstract■ The human brain is a complex network that has been noted to contain a group of densely interconnected hub regions. With a putative "rich club" of hubs hypothesized to play a central role in global integrative brain functioning, we assessed whether hub and rich club organizations are associated with cognitive performance in healthy participants and whether the rich club might be differentially involved in cognitive functions with a heavier dependence on global integration. A group of 30 relatively older participants (range = 39-79 years of age) underwent extensive neuropsychological testing, combined with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to reconstruct individual structural brain networks. Rich club connectivity was found to be associated with general cognitive performance. More specifically, assessing the relationship between the rich club and performance in two specific cognitive domains, we found rich club connectivity to be differentially associated with attention/executive functions-known to rely on the integration of distributed brain areas-rather than with visuospatial/visuoperceptual functions, which have a more constrained neuroanatomical substrate. Our findings thus provide first empirical evidence of a relevant role played by the rich club in cognitive processes. ■

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Rich Club Organization and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Participants

Baggio

Segura

Junqué

et al. 2015

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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“…28 Interestingly, hubs seem to be especially sensitive to such a network pathology across many different neurologic disorders, stressing the clinical relevance of normal hub functioning. [28][29][30] To ensure comparison with other studies, we defined the hub-rich DMN and FPN on the basis of an anatomic atlas. However, future studies are needed to select hub and nonhub regions in a fully data driven way.…”

Section: Structural Brain Measures White Matter (Wm) Lesions Werementioning

confidence: 99%

Increased connectivity of hub networks and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

et al. 2017

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Objective: To investigate default-mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) dysfunction in cognitively impaired (CI) patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) because these networks strongly relate to cognition and contain most of the hubs of the brain.Methods: Resting-state fMRI and neuropsychological assessments were performed in 322 patients with MS and 96 healthy controls (HCs). Patients with MS were classified as CI (z score , 22.0 on at least 2 tests; n 5 87), mildly cognitively impaired (z score , 21.5 on at least 2 tests and not CI; n 5 65), and cognitively preserved (CP; n 5 180). Within-network connectivity, connectivity with the rest of the brain, and between-network connectivity were calculated and compared between groups. Connectivity values were normalized for individual means and SDs.Results: Only in CI, both the DMN and FPN showed increased connectivity with the rest of the brain compared to HCs and CP, with no change in within-or between-network connectivity. Regionally, this increased connectivity was driven by the inferior parietal, posterior cingulate, and angular gyri. Increased connectivity with the rest of the brain correlated with worse cognitive performance, namely attention for the FPN as well as information processing speed and working memory for both networks.Conclusions: In CI patients with MS, the DMN and FPN showed increased connectivity with the rest of the brain, while normal within-and between-network connectivity levels were maintained. These findings indicate that cognitive impairment in MS features disturbed communication of hub-rich networks, but only with the more peripheral (i.e., nonhub) regions of the brain. Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly experience cognitive decline, which is most likely driven by functional network changes. 1-3 Across neurologic disorders, changes in connectivity of especially the default-mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) have been linked to cognitive deficits. [4][5][6] This preferential relationship might be explained by the fact that these networks contain the majority of highly connected regions, commonly described as functional hubs. 7,8 In fact, such hub regions are essential for optimal cognitive function because they ensure efficient integration of information between different brain regions. 9 Previous studies have reported both increased 1,10,11 and decreased 3,12,13 global connectivity levels of the DMN and FPN in relation to cognitive dysfunction in MS. This creates confusion about how these functional connectivity changes, either increased or decreased, may actually influence cognition. 14 Apart from the directionality of these changes, it remains unclear whether these effects are due specifically to changes in within-network connectivity, connectivity with the rest of the brain, or changes in between-network connectivity.

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“…It has been postulated that decreased functional integrity of the salience network may contribute to the failure to deactivate the DMN [46]. A recent study employing small world analysis (assessment of clustering of regions and their connectivity in the brain) detected a lack of cortical hubs in the frontal cortices in bvFTD [57]. A study focusing on functional connectivity and the genetic background in bvFTD has shown that there was no significant difference in frontoinsular connectivity within the salience network between nonsymptomatic MAPT, and GRN carriers and healthy participants.…”

Section: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

Diehl‐Schmid

Onur

Kuhn

et al. 2014

Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep

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The term frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) refers to a group of neurodegenerative disorders that target the frontal and temporal lobes. It accounts for approximately 10 % of pathologically confirmed dementias but has been demonstrated to be as prevalent as Alzheimer's disease in patients below the age of 65. The 3 major clinical syndromes associated with FTLD include behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic and nonfluent variants of primary progressive aphasia. The more recently introduced term logopenic variant appears to represent an atypical form of Alzheimer's disease in the majority of cases. The neuropathology underlying these clinical syndromes is very heterogeneous and does not correlate well with the clinical phenotype. This causes great difficulties in early and reliable diagnosis and treatment of FTLD. However, significant advances have been made in recent years via the application of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography imaging methods as biomarkers. The current review aims to provide a synopsis on the value of magnetic resonance imaging-based and molecular imaging procedures in FTLD.

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Brain network connectivity assessed using graph theory in frontotemporal dementia

Cited by 152 publications

References 40 publications

Rich Club Organization and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Participants

Rich Club Organization and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Participants

Increased connectivity of hub networks and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

Imaging Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

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