Brain network organization predicts social executive performance in frontotemporal dementia

LUCAS SEDEÑO; BLAS COUTO ; INDIRA GARCÍA CORDERO ; MARGHERITA MELLONI ; SANDRA BAEZ; JUAN PABLO MORALES SEPÚLVEDA ; DANIEL FRAIMAN; DAVID HUEPE ; DIANA MATALLANA; RODRIGO KULJIS ; TERESA TORRALVA; DANTE CHIALVO; MARIANO SIGMAN; OLIVIER PIGUET; FACUNDO MANES; AGUSTIN IBANEZ

JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY : JINS.

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2016 vol. 22 p. 250 - 262

1355-6177

Objective: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is characterized by early atrophy in the frontotemporoinsular regions. These regions overlap with networks that are engaged in social cognition-executive functions, two hallmarks deficits of bvFTD. We examine (i) whether Network Centrality (a graph theory metric that measures how important a node is in the brain network) in the frontotemporoinsular network is disrupted in bvFTD, and (ii) the level of involvement of this network in social-executive performance. Method: Patients with probable bvFTD, healthy controls, and frontoinsular stroke patients completed social-executive behavioral measures and underwent fMRI resting-state recordings. Results Relative to the controls and the stroke group, the bvFTD patients presented decreased Network Centrality. In all participants, this measure was associated with social cognition and executive functions. To test the specificity of these results for the Network Centrality of the frontotemporoinsular network, we assessed six other resting-state networks. No group differences or behavioral associations were found in these networks. Finally, Network Centrality and behavior distinguished bvFTD patients from the other groups with a high classification rate. Conclusions: Thus, bvFTD selectively affects Network Centrality in the frontotemporoinsular network, which is associated with high-level social and executive profile.