Disrupted thalamic prefrontal pathways in patients with idiopathic dystonia

Bonilha, Leonardo; de Vries, Paulien M.; Hurd, Mark W.; Rorden, Chris; Morgan, Paul S.; Besenski, Nada; Bergmann, Kenneth J.; Hinson, Vanessa K.

doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2008.01.018

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Volume 15, Issue 1 , Pages 64-67, January 2009

Disrupted thalamic prefrontal pathways in patients with idiopathic dystonia

Leonardo Bonilha
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Murray Center for Research on Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Paulien M. de Vries
- Department of Neurology, Neuroimaging Center, Institute of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Mark W. Hurd
- Department of Radiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Chris Rorden
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, SC, USA
Paul S. Morgan
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of South Carolina, SC, USA
Nada Besenski
- Department of Radiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Kenneth J. Bergmann
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Murray Center for Research on Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Vanessa K. Hinson
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Murray Center for Research on Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Corresponding author. Medical University of South Carolina, 326 Calhoun Street, Suite 308, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. Tel.: +1 843 792 3222; fax: +1 843 792 8626.

Received 12 October 2007; received in revised form 5 December 2007; accepted 25 January 2008.

Abstract

There are quantifiable abnormalities in water diffusion properties of the white matter in thalamic and prefrontal areas in patients with idiopathic dystonia (ID). However, it is unclear which pathways are disrupted in these patients. Using probabilistic tractography of high resolution DTI, we reconstructed thalamic prefrontal pathways in seven patients with ID and seven matched controls. Resulting fibers were registered onto the stereotaxic space and submitted to a voxel-wise statistical analysis comparing patients and controls. Patients with ID exhibited less thalamic prefrontal connections, particularly involving fibers traveling from the thalamus to the middle frontal gyrus. These results corroborate neurophysiologic findings of reduced and asynchronous thalamic prefrontal input, and emphasize the structural correlates of the pathophysiology of ID.

Keywords: Dystonia, Connectivity, MRI, DTI, White matter