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Review
. 2023 Apr 5:17:1133758.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1133758. eCollection 2023.

Basal ganglia alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Veronica Castelnovo  1 , Elisa Canu  1 , Filippo De Mattei  2 , Massimo Filippi  1   3   4   5   6 , Federica Agosta  1   3   6
Affiliations
Review

Basal ganglia alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Veronica Castelnovo et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has traditionally been associated with brain damage involving the primary motor cortices and corticospinal tracts. In the recent decades, most of the research studies in ALS have focused on extra-motor and subcortical brain regions. The aim of these studies was to detect additional biomarkers able to support the diagnosis and to predict disease progression. The involvement of the frontal cortices, mainly in ALS cases who develop cognitive and/or behavioral impairment, is amply recognized in the field. A potential involvement of fronto-temporal and fronto-striatal connectivity changes in the disease evolution has also been reported. On this latter regard, there is still a shortage of studies which investigated basal ganglia (BG) alterations and their role in ALS clinical manifestation and progression. The present review aims to provide an overview on the magnetic resonance imaging studies reporting structural and/or functional BG alterations in patients with ALS, to clarify the role of BG damage in the disease clinical evolution and to propose potential future developments in this field.

Keywords: MRI; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; basal ganglia; biomarkers; caudate; connectivity; globus pallidus; putamen.

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Conflict of interest statement

EC has received research supports from the Italian Ministry of Health. MF is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurology, Associate Editor of Human Brain Mapping, Neurological Sciences, and Radiology; received compensation for consulting services from Alexion, Almirall, Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi; speaking activities from Bayer, Biogen, Celgene, Chiesi Italia SpA, Eli Lilly, Genzyme, Janssen, Merck Serono, Neopharmed Gentili, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda, and Teva; participation in Advisory Boards for Alexion, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Sanofi-Aventis, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Takeda; scientific direction of educational events for Biogen, Merck, Roche, Celgene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly, Novartis, and Sanofi-Genzyme; and he receives research support from Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Italian Ministry of Health, and Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla. FA is Section Editor of NeuroImage: Clinical; has received speaker honoraria from Biogen Idec, Italfarmaco, Roche, and Zambon; and receives or has received research supports from the Italian Ministry of Health, AriSLA (Fondazione Italiana di Ricerca per la SLA), the European Research Council, and the Foundation Research on Alzheimer Disease. 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
Flow chart of the reviewing process. MND, motor neuron disorders; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Overview on the 53 reported studies which observed alterations of BG in ALS patients. The color shades and size of the dots represent the amount of studies which observed structural and/or functional alterations in each structure. Bigger and red dots mean ≥60% studies, orange and medium dots mean ≥40% studies, and small and yellow dots mean ≥20% studies. L, left.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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