• Lucas M T Branco, Thiago J R de Rezende, Caroline de O Roversi, Tamires Zanao, Raphael F Casseb, Brunno M de Campos, and Marcondes C França.
• Departments of Neurology and Neuroimaging Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
• Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2018 Feb 28; 272: 58-64.

AbstractWe aimed to assess the brain signature of cognitive and behavioral impairment in C9orf72-negative non-demented ALS patients. The study included 50 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients (out of 75 initially recruited) and 38 healthy controls. High-resolution T1-weighted and spin-echo diffusion tensor images were acquired in a 3T MRI scanner. The multi atlas-based analysis protocol and the FreeSurfer tool were employed for gray matter assessment, and fiber tractography for white matter evaluation. Cognitively impaired ALS patients (n = 12) had bilateral amygdalae and left thalamic volumetric reduction compared to non-impaired ALS patients. Behaviorally impaired ALS patients (n = 14) had lower fractional anisotropy (FA) at the fornix in comparison with healthy subjects. These parameters did correlate with cognitive/behavioral scores, but not with motor-functional parameters in the ALS cohort. We believe that basal ganglia and fornix damage might be related to cognitive and behavioral impairment across ALS-frontotemporal dementia continuum. Also, distinct anatomical areas seem to influence the behavioral and cognitive status of these individuals.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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