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. 2022 Nov 4:13:982964.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.982964. eCollection 2022.

Performance in information processing speed is associated with parietal white matter tract integrity in multiple sclerosis

Matthias Grothe  1 , Katharina Jochem  1 , Sebastian Strauss  1 , Sönke Langner  2 , Michael Kirsch  2 , Kai Hoffeld  1 , Iris Katharina Penner  3   4   5 , Guy Nagels  6   7 , Kai Klepzig  8 , Martin Domin  8 , Martin Lotze  8
Affiliations

Performance in information processing speed is associated with parietal white matter tract integrity in multiple sclerosis

Matthias Grothe et al. Front Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is most frequently used to test processing speed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Functional imaging studies emphasize the importance of frontal and parietal areas for task performance, but the influence of frontoparietal tracts has not been thoroughly studied. We were interested in tract-specific characteristics and their association with processing speed in MS patients.

Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging was obtained in 100 MS patients and 24 healthy matched controls to compare seed-based tract characteristics descending from the superior parietal lobule [Brodman area 7A (BA7A)], atlas-based tract characteristics from the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and control tract characteristics from the corticospinal tract (CST) and their respective association with ability on the SDMT.

Results: Patients had decreased performance on the SDMT and decreased white matter volume (each p < 0.05). The mean fractional anisotropy (FA) for the BA7A tract and CST (p < 0.05), but not the SLF, differed between MS patients and controls. Furthermore, only the FA of the SLF was positively associated with SDMT performance even after exclusion of the lesions within the tract (r = 0.25, p < 0.05). However, only disease disability and total white matter volume were associated with information processing speed in a linear regression model.

Conclusions: Processing speed in MS is associated with the structural integrity of frontoparietal white matter tracts.

Keywords: SDMT; brain mapping; cognition; diffusion tensor imaging; multiple sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

MG received honoraria or speaking fees from Biogen, Celgene, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi Genzyme, and Teva. IP has received honoraria for speaking at scientific meetings, serving on scientific advisory boards, and consulting activities from Adamas Pharma, Almirall, Bayer Pharma, Biogen, BMS, Celgene, Desitin, Sanofi-Genzyme, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and Teva. She has also received research support from the German MS Society, Celgene, Novartis, Roche, and Teva. ML is a paid editor for the Thieme Verlag. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Example for the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). (B–D) Slices showing the three tracts from the diffusion-weighted imaging data for all participants. The direction of tractography is encoded in standardized colors: z, blue; y, green; x, red. (B) coronal slices depicting the tract originating in M1; (C) coronal slices showing the tract originating in BA7A; and (D) axial slices showing SLF. Slice position is indicated in the respective direction below slice.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Heatmap of the individual multiple sclerosis lesion maps, which were transformed into MNI template space, averaged voxel-wise, thresholded to 25% and color-coded (white 100% overlap, red 25% overlap). Axial slice position is indicated below the MRI respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
3D-tractogram of all three tracts investigated (top) and the plotted correlation of behavioral data (SDMT) with the weighted mean FA of the tracts after lesion exclusion (bottom). (A) superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF); (B) BA7A tract; (C) corticospinal tract (CST).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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