automated-segmentation-cortical-grey-matter-from-t1-weighted-mri

Automated Segmentation of Cortical Grey Matter from T1-Weighted MRI Images

Within neuroimaging research, a number of recent studies have discussed the impact of between-study differences in volumetric findings that are thought to ...

UCL Institute of Neurology

Recognition of negative emotions is impaired in Huntington׳s Disease (HD). It is unclear whether these emotion-specific problems are driven by dissociable cognitive deficits, emotion complexity, test cue difficulty, or visuoperceptual impairments. This study set out to further characterise emotion recognition in HD by comparing patterns of deficits across stimulus modalities; notably including for the first time in HD, the more ecologically and clinically relevant modality of film clips portraying dynamic facial expressions.

Inconsistent emotion recognition deficits across stimulus modalities in Huntington׳s disease.

The occipital lobe is an important visual processing region of the brain. Following consistent findings of early neural changes in the occipital lobe in Huntington's Disease (HD), we examined cortical thickness across four occipital regions in premanifest (preHD) and early HD groups compared with controls. Associations between cortical thickness in gene positive individuals and performance on six cognitive tasks, each with a visual component, were examined. In addition, the association between cortical thickness in gene positive participants and one non-visual motor task was also examined for comparison.

The impact of occipital lobe cortical thickness on cognitive task performance: An investigation in Huntington's Disease.

Huntington's disease is an inherited neurodegenerative condition characterized by motor dysfunction, cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric disturbance. The effects of the underlying pathology on brain morphology are relatively well understood. Numerous structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated macrostructural change with widespread striatal and cortical atrophy and microstructural white matter loss in premanifest and manifest HD gene carriers. However, disease effects on brain function are less well characterized. Functional MRI provides an opportunity to examine differences in brain activity either in response to a particular task or in the brain at rest. There is increasing evidence that HD gene carriers exhibit altered activation patterns and functional connectivity between brain regions in response to the neurodegenerative process. Here we review the growing literature in this area and critically evaluate the utility of this imaging modality.

Article	Year
Inconsistent emotion recognition deficits across stimulus modalities in Huntington׳s disease. Neuropsychologia\| PubMed ID: 25250707	2014
The impact of occipital lobe cortical thickness on cognitive task performance: An investigation in Huntington's Disease. Neuropsychologia\| PubMed ID: 26519555	2015
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Huntington's Disease. International review of neurobiology\| PubMed ID: 30409260	2018

Rachael I. Scahill

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