Brain Networks Route Neurodegeneration Patterns in Patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • The AL-108-231 Investigators, the PASSPORT Study Group - (Autor:in)
  • Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)
  • Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy)
  • Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE)
  • Magna Græcia University
  • Max Planck School of Cognition

Abstract

Background: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disease driven by 4-repeat τ pathology, which is thought to propagate across interconnected neurons. Objectives: We hypothesized that interconnected brain regions exhibit correlated atrophy, and that atrophy propagates network-like from fast-declining epicenters to connected regions in PSP. Methods: We combined resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) connectomics with two independent 12-month longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets of PSP-Richardson syndrome (PSP-RS) patients (ndiscovery/nvalidation = 114/90). MRI-based gray matter volumes were assessed for 246 regions of the Brainnetome atlas and converted to w-scores indicating local atrophy (ie, volumes adjusted for age, sex, and intracranial volume based on regression models determined in a sample of 377 healthy amyloid- and τ-negative controls from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI]). Annual volume changes were determined for each Brainnetome region of interest using longitudinal structural MRI. Resting-state fMRI from 69 ADNI healthy controls was used to determine a connectivity template. Results: We observed pronounced atrophy and volume decline in the frontal lobe and subcortical regions bilaterally. Correlated atrophy and volume changes were found among interconnected brain regions, with regions with severe atrophy or rapid decline being strongly connected to similarly affected areas, whereas minimally affected regions were connected to less affected areas. Connectivity patterns of atrophy epicenters predicted patient level atrophy and volume decline. Conclusions: Our findings show that key subcortical and frontal brain regions undergo atrophy in PSP-RS and that gray matter atrophy expands across interconnected brain regions, supporting the view that neurodegeneration patterns may follow the trans-neuronal τ propagation pattern in PSP-RS.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)2102-2115
Seitenumfang14
FachzeitschriftMovement disorders
Jahrgang40
Ausgabenummer10
Frühes Online-Datum9 Juni 2025
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Okt. 2025
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 40485628

Schlagworte

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Schlagwörter

  • functional connectivity, gray matter atrophy, imaging, PSP, tauopathies