DOI: 10.1002/mds.29655 ISSN: 0885-3185

Baseline Large‐Scale Network Dynamics Associated with Disease Progression in Huntington's Disease

Ignacio Aracil‐Bolaños, Jesús Pérez‐Pérez, Saül Martínez‐Horta, Andrea Horta‐Barba, Arnau Puig‐Davi, Júlia García‐Cornet, Gonzalo Olmedo‐Saura, Antonia Campolongo, Javier Pagonabarraga, Jaime Kulisevsky
  • Neurology (clinical)
  • Neurology

Abstract

Background

Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetically determined disease with motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the links between clinical progression and disruptions to dynamics in motor and cognitive large‐scale networks are not well established.

Objective

To investigate changes in dynamic and static large‐scale networks using an established tool of disease progression in Huntington's disease, the composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (cUHDRS).

Methods

Sixty‐four mutation carriers were included. Static and dynamic baseline functional connectivity as well as topological features were correlated to 2‐year follow‐up clinical assessments using the cUHDRS.

Results

Decline in cUHDRS scores was associated with higher connectivity between frontal default‐mode and motor networks, whereas higher connectivity in posterior, mainly visuospatial regions was associated with a smaller decline in cUHDRS scores.

Conclusions

Structural disruptions in HD were evident both in posterior parietal/occipital and frontal motor regions, with reciprocal increases in functional connectivity. However, although higher visuospatial network connectivity was tied to a smaller cUHDRS decline, increased motor and frontal default‐mode connections were linked to a larger cUHDRS decreases. Therefore, divergent functional compensation mechanisms might be at play in the clinical evolution of HD. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

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