Speaker: Dr. Nils Muhlert

Topic: Does resting state fMRI provide reliable correlates of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis? And how can we interpret changes?

Date: 2019.10.18 (Fri.)  15:00-17:00 pm

Location: 12F Conference room, Daan Campus, Taipei Medical University

Abstract: 

Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been linked with alterations of both structural and functional neural connectivity. The interaction between structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities is not well understood, but recent evidence has demonstrated a direct effect of altered SC on FC, suggesting that FC changes may be caused by SC damage. In addition, a prevailing interpretation of FC changes across numerous neurological conditions is that resting-state network nodes integrate information from disparate regions. MS-related pathology could therefore increase metabolic stress, leading to FC changes in these hub regions. Here I will present a study in which we tested this ‘nodal stress’ hypothesis, by assessing whether FC hub regions show altered SC on diffusion MRI between MS patients and controls or between cognitively-impaired and -preserved patients.