Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Loitfelder, M.
Cortical reorganization in the sensorimotor and the cognitive domain in patients with Multiple Sclerosis - An fMRI study -
[ Diplomarbeit/Master Thesis ] Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz; 2007. pp.74.
- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Koini Marisa
- Betreuer*innen:
- Enzinger Christian
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- As new imaging techniques have advanced our knowledge of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) concerning pathophysiological changes, it was the aim of the study to explain for possible cortical compensatory mechanisms, which might be reflected in higher cortical brain activation, in the course of disease, which ranges from a so-called clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) suggestive to MS to a relapsing-remitting course (RRMS) and further to a secondary progressive form (SPMS). These mechanisms, necessitating to increase with severity of disease, are thought to compensate for maintaining daily requirements. We therefore combined a motor and a cognitive fMRI paradigm to reflect cortical and subcortical changes in two domains in different phenotypes of the disease course. Further, we had the possibility to include a particular variant of MS (benign MS) for underscoring the importance of compensatory effects within the subgroups of disease. In addition to the fMRI paradigms used, cognitive and motor functions were assessed as well, using a neuropsychological test battery, including the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Zahlen-Verbindungs Test, the Nine-Hole Peg Test and the Maximal Finger Tapping Rate. Therefore 30 MS patients (CIS=4, RRMS=9, SPMS=8, and BMS=9) and 21 healthy controls were studied. Functional imaging data analyses were carried out using FEAT (fMRI Expert Analysis Tool) for the first and higher level analysis and SPSS for the neuropsychological test battery and the behavioural dataset. The latter analyses included Multivariate Analysis of Variances, t-Tests, Mann Whitney U-Tests and the Kruskal Wallis H-Test. A major finding of the study was detecting differences in cerebral activation patterns in motor functions with clinical severity of disease, with extensive activation in subjects with clinically benign disease despite high lesion load. However, as such differences in brain activation were not observed in the cognitive task, these findings reflect the theory of cortical reorganization within the motor system for limiting functional consequences.