Nucleus accumbens changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Ioannis N Mavridis; Efstratios-Stylianos Pyrgelis

Nucleus accumbens changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Am J Neurodegener Dis. 2023 Jun 15;12(3):85-88. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ioannis N Mavridis^{1

2}, Efstratios-Stylianos Pyrgelis^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ "C.N.S. Alliance" Research Group Athens, Greece.
² Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis Alexandroupolis, Greece.
³ 1st Department of Neurology, "Eginition" Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens, Greece.

PMID: 37457842
PMCID: PMC10349300

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a representative example of motor neuron disease, is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The nucleus accumbens (NA) is the ventral striatum's main part and is considered as a modulator of the human brain's reward network. The purpose of this article is to review the current knowledge regarding NA changes in ALS patients. The NA involvement in ALS includes volumetric, cellular and molecular changes. There are recent imaging and pathological studies revealing NA atrophy in ALS, a finding which seems to be related to neuronal loss and protein deposition in this area. The clinical significance of NA atrophy in these patients is not currently fully understood. Perhaps it could be correlated with apathy, behavioral disturbances and cognitive impairment that ALS patients sometimes manifest.

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; atrophy; dopamine; nucleus accumbens.

Publication types

Review