Brain Perfusion and Neurocognitive Tasks in Patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia

EasyChair Preprint 6451

Abstract

Introduction: Cerebral blood flow (CBF) or brain perfusion is considered a marker of local brain activity and has been associated with performance in language and domain-general functions. Neurodegeneration in patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) decreases local blood flow affecting both language and domain-general performance. This study aims to model language vs. domain-general performance in PPA on frontal, parietal, and temporal brain areas based on their perfusion.

Methods: To investigate CBF in frontal, parietal, and temporal brain areas, we conducted perfusion analysis in 38 patients with PPA (13 with the logopenic PPA variant, 19 with the non-fluent PPA variant, 6 with the semantic PPA variant). We generated pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling (pCASL)  MRI images using ASL-MRICloud, the Johns Hopkins University’s cloud based on ASL analysis and calculated the Relative CBF.

Results: Core language areas of the left hemisphere (i.e., IFG triangularis, IFG opercularis, SMG, STG) correlated only with language tasks (naming, sentence comprehension, word fluency and spelling). Domain-general areas of the left hemisphere belonging to the multiple demands network (i.e., MFG, MFG_DLPFC, AG) correlated with both domain-general tasks (Trail A and B, Digit span forward and backwards, word fluency and RAVLT) AND with language tasks (BNT, sentence repetition, SOAP, and spelling).

Conclusions: The results show that areas in frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex representing the multiple demands’ network are associated with both domain-general and language functions, but core language areas are associated only with language functions. The results highlight the multifunctional role of the multiple demand network in both domain-general and language functions and can lead to improved intervention strategies in PPA and other communication disorders.

Keyphrases: brain perfusion, pCASL, primary progressive aphasia

@booklet{EasyChair:6451,
  author    = {Charalambos Themistocleous and Alexandros Afthinos and Olivia Hermann and Fan Hongli and Hanzhang Lu and Kyrana Tsapkini},
  title     = {Brain Perfusion and Neurocognitive Tasks in Patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 6451},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}