Distinct spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal functional connectivity in primary progressive aphasia variants.

TitleDistinct spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal functional connectivity in primary progressive aphasia variants.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsRanasinghe KG, Hinkley LB, Beagle AJ, Mizuiri D, Honma SM, Welch AE, H Hubbard I, Mandelli MLuisa, Miller ZA, Garrett C, La A, Boxer AL, Houde JF, Miller BL, Vossel KA, Gorno-Tempini MLuisa, Nagarajan SS
JournalBrain
Volume140
Issue10
Pagination2737-2751
Date Published2017 Oct 01
ISSN1460-2156
KeywordsAged, Aged, 80 and over, Aphasia, Primary Progressive, Atrophy, Brain, Brain Mapping, Brain Waves, Cognition Disorders, Female, Functional Laterality, Gray Matter, Humans, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetoencephalography, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, ROC Curve
Abstract

Primary progressive aphasia is a syndrome characterized by progressive loss of language abilities with three main phenotypic clinical presentations, including logopenic, non-fluent/agrammatic, and semantic variants. Previous imaging studies have shown unique anatomic impacts within language networks in each variant. However, direct measures of spontaneous neuronal activity and functional integrity of these impacted neural networks in primary progressive aphasia are lacking. The aim of this study was to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of resting state neuronal synchronizations in primary progressive aphasia syndromes. We hypothesized that resting state brain oscillations will show unique deficits within language network in each variant of primary progressive aphasia. We examined 39 patients with primary progressive aphasia including logopenic variant (n = 14, age = 61 ± 9 years), non-fluent/agrammatic variant (n = 12, age = 71 ± 8 years) and semantic variant (n = 13, age = 65 ± 7 years) using magnetoencephalographic imaging, compared to a control group that was matched in age and gender to each primary progressive aphasia subgroup (n = 20, age = 65 ± 5 years). Each patient underwent a complete clinical evaluation including a comprehensive battery of language tests. We examined the whole-brain resting state functional connectivity as measured by imaginary coherence in each patient group compared to the control cohort, in three frequency oscillation bands-delta-theta (2-8 Hz); alpha (8-12 Hz); beta (12-30 Hz). Each variant showed a distinct spatiotemporal pattern of altered functional connectivity compared to age-matched controls. Specifically, we found significant hyposynchrony of alpha and beta frequency within the left posterior temporal and occipital cortices in patients with the logopenic variant, within the left inferior frontal cortex in patients with the non-fluent/agrammatic variant, and within the left temporo-parietal junction in patients with the semantic variant. Patients with logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia also showed significant hypersynchrony of delta-theta frequency within bilateral medial frontal and posterior parietal cortices. Furthermore, region of interest-based analyses comparing the spatiotemporal patterns of variant-specific regions of interest identified in comparison to age-matched controls showed significant differences between primary progressive aphasia variants themselves. We also found distinct patterns of regional spectral power changes in each primary progressive aphasia variant, compared to age-matched controls. Our results demonstrate neurophysiological signatures of network-specific neuronal dysfunction in primary progressive aphasia variants. The unique spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal synchrony signify diverse neurophysiological disruptions and pathological underpinnings of the language network in each variant.

DOI10.1093/brain/awx217
Alternate JournalBrain
PubMed ID28969381
PubMed Central IDPMC5841154
Grant ListP50 AG023501 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
K23 AG038357 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG038791 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
U01 AG052943 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
K23 AG048291 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R21 NS076171 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
P01 AG019724 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 NS100440 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
R01 NS050915 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
R01 DC013979 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States
R01 DC010145 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States
U54 NS092089 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
K24 DC015544 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States
F32 AG050434 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 NS066654 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States