Ultra-high field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a pilot study

Robert L Barry; Suma Babu; Sheeba Arnold Anteraper; Christina Triantafyllou; Boris Keil; Olivia E Rowe; D Rangaprakash; Sabrina Paganoni; Robert Lawson; Christina Dheel; Paul M Cernasov; Bruce R Rosen; Eva-Maria Ratai; Nazem Atassi

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102648

Ultra-high field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a pilot study

Neuroimage Clin. 2021:30:102648. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102648. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health Sciences & Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: Robert.Barry@mgh.Harvard.edu.
² Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: sbabu@mgh.Harvard.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany.
⁵ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Department of Life Science Engineering, Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, Giessen, Germany.
⁶ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
⁷ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁹ Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁰ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health Sciences & Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹¹ Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Neuroradiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
¹² Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Sanofi Genzyme, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that results in a progressive loss of motor function and ultimately death. It is critical, yet also challenging, to develop non-invasive biomarkers to identify, localize, measure and/or track biological mechanisms implicated in ALS. Such biomarkers may also provide clues to identify potential molecular targets for future therapeutic trials. Herein we report on a pilot study involving twelve participants with ALS and nine age-matched healthy controls who underwent high-resolution resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging at an ultra-high field of 7 Tesla. A group-level whole-brain analysis revealed a disruption in long-range functional connectivity between the superior sensorimotor cortex (in the precentral gyrus) and bilateral cerebellar lobule VI. Post hoc analyses using atlas-derived left and right cerebellar lobule VI revealed decreased functional connectivity in ALS participants that predominantly mapped to bilateral postcentral and precentral gyri. Cerebellar lobule VI is a transition zone between anterior motor networks and posterior non-motor networks in the cerebellum, and is associated with a wide range of key functions including complex motor and cognitive processing tasks. Our observation of the involvement of cerebellar lobule VI adds to the growing number of studies implicating the cerebellum in ALS. Future avenues of scientific investigation should consider how high-resolution imaging at 7T may be leveraged to visualize differences in functional connectivity disturbances in various genotypes and phenotypes of ALS along the ALS-frontotemporal dementia spectrum.

Keywords: 7 Tesla; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Cerebellum; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Ultra-high field.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis* / diagnostic imaging
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Neurodegenerative Diseases*
Pilot Projects

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding