This analysis of patients with NMOSD provides data about how functional connectivity in specific cognitive networks impacts cognitive impairment symptoms.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) can manifest a variety of symptoms, some being more uncommon than others. Cognitive impairment is one of the common symptoms among patients with this disorder, but the mechanism by which it occurs is not clear. This study, published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, analyzed functional connectivity abnormalities among patients with NMOSD who exhibit cognitive impairment.
This study relied on data from 34 patients with NMOSD and 39 healthy controls. All participants underwent neuropsychological evaluations and fMRI scans, and patients were then categorized as cognitively impaired or cognitively preserved. Sixteen of the 34 patients were classified as exhibiting cognitive impairment. No difference was found among the groups for gender distribution, but other variations were found. The cognitively impaired group tended to be older, have a lower education level, lower MMSE and MoCA scores, and higher HAMD scores. Six main cognitive networks represented by seven components were selected by group-independent component analysis, and the relationship between functional connectivity values and neuropsychological data were then calculated.
The researchers found that the cognitively impaired group showed decreased connectivity in the posterior default mode network compared to the healthy control group. This group also exhibited decreased connectivity between the salience network and the posterior default mode network. Altered functional connectivity was significantly correlated to cognitive impairment in the NMOSD group as a whole, out of which 47.1% showed cognitive impairment. About half (47.1%) of the cognitive impairment group exhibited issues with attention, verbal memory, information processing speed, visuospatial function, and executive function, though demonstrated verbal fluency.
Reference
Yang, Y., Rui, Q., Wu, X., Chen, X., Han, S., Yang, Y., . . . Li, Y. (2022). Altered functional connectivity associated with cognitive impairment in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. Mult Scler Relat Disord, 68, 104113. doi:10.1016/j.msard.2022.104113
