Frontal Anatomical Correlates of Cognitive and Speech Motor Deficits in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Frontal Anatomical Correlates of Cognitive and Speech Motor Deficits in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Behav Neurol. 2019;2019:9518309
Authors: Yunusova Y, Ansari J, Ramirez J, Shellikeri S, Stanisz GJ, Black SE, Gillingham SM, Kiss A, Stuss DT, Zinman L
Abstract
The goal of this study was to identify neurostructural frontal lobe correlates of cognitive and speaking rate changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 17 patients diagnosed with ALS and 12 matched controls underwent clinical, bulbar, and neuropsychological assessment and structural neuroimaging. Neuropsychological testing was performed via a novel computerized frontal battery (ALS-CFB), based on a validated theoretical model of frontal lobe functions, and focused on testing energization, executive function, emotion processing, theory of mind, and behavioral inhibition via antisaccades. The measure of speaking rate represented bulbar motor changes. Neuroanatomical assessment was performed using volumetric analyses focused on frontal lobe regions, postcentral gyrus, and occipital lobes as controls. Partial least square regressions (PLS) were used to predict behavioral (cognitive and speech rate) outcomes using volumetric measures. The data supported the overall hypothesis that distinct behavioral changes in cognition and speaking rate in ALS were related to specific regional neurostructural brain changes. These changes did not support a notion of a general dysexecutive ...

Source: Behavioural Neurology - April 21, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Yunusova Y, Ansari J, Ramirez J, Shellikeri S, Stanisz GJ, Black SE, Gillingham SM, Kiss A, Stuss DT, Zinman L Tags: Behav Neurol Source Type: research