Pardini Matteo, Bonzano Laura, Bergamino Maurizio, Bommarito Giulia, Feraco Paola, Murugavel Abitha, Bove Marco, Brichetto Giampaolo, Uccelli Antonio, Mancardi Gianluigi, Roccatagliata Luca
Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Italy/Magnetic Resonance Research Centre on Nervous System Diseases, University of Genoa, Italy.
Section of Human Physiology and Centro Polifunzionale di Scienze Motorie, University of Genoa, Italy.
Mult Scler. 2015 Apr;21(4):442-7. doi: 10.1177/1352458514546791. Epub 2014 Aug 21.
To evaluate the neural basis of subjective fatigue in subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS) using a connectionist framework.
Seventy seven subjects with relapsing-remitting MS were recruited in the study and underwent subjective fatigue evaluations and a diffusion MRI scan. Firstly, local white matter Fractional Anisotropy values were correlated with subjective fatigue scores using a voxel-wise approach. The long-range loss of connectivity due to structural damage in the white matter voxels thus associated with subjective fatigue was then assessed using the Network Modification (NeMo) package.
A voxel-wise regression analysis with fatigue scores revealed a significant association between structural damage and fatigue levels in two discrete white matter clusters, both included in the left cingulate bundle. The connectivity analysis revealed that damage in these clusters was associated with loss of structural connectivity in the anterior and medial cingulate cortices, dorsolateral prefrontal areas and in the left caudate.
Our data point to the cingulum bundle and its projections as the key network involved in subjective fatigue perception in MS. More generally, these results suggest the potential of the connectionist framework to generate coherent models of the neural basis of complex symptomatology in MS.
使用联结主义框架评估多发性硬化症（MS）患者主观疲劳的神经基础。
本研究招募了77名复发缓解型MS患者，他们接受了主观疲劳评估和扩散磁共振成像扫描。首先，采用体素-wise方法将局部白质分数各向异性值与主观疲劳评分进行关联。然后使用网络修正（NeMo）软件包评估与主观疲劳相关的白质体素结构损伤导致的长程连接丧失。
对疲劳评分进行体素-wise回归分析发现，在两个离散的白质簇中，结构损伤与疲劳水平之间存在显著关联，这两个白质簇均包含在左侧扣带束中。连接性分析显示，这些簇中的损伤与前扣带回和内侧扣带回皮质、背外侧前额叶区域以及左侧尾状核的结构连接丧失有关。
我们的数据表明扣带束及其投射是MS患者主观疲劳感知所涉及的关键网络。更普遍地说，这些结果表明联结主义框架有潜力生成MS复杂症状学神经基础的连贯模型。
