Network centrality in atrophy regions of frontotemporal dementia and social executive performance

REYNALDO LUCILA; GARCÍA CORDERO INDIRA; SEDEÑO LUCAS; BAEZ SANDRA; COUTO BLAS; DE LA FUENTE LAURA; ABREVAYA SOFIA; MARCOTTI AIDA; TORRALVA TERESA; MANES FACUNDO; IBAÑEZ AGUSTIN

Congreso; Neurocog, Primer Encuentro de Neurociencia Cognitiva; 2015

The behavioral variant of the frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is characterized by early atrophy in the frontotemporoinsular regions. These areas are engaged in social cognition and executive functions, two hallmarks deficits of bvFTD. In this study, we examined (i) whether Network Centrality (NC, a graph theory metric which measures how important a node is in a network) in the fronto-temporo-insular network is disrupted in bvFTD, and (ii) the level of involvement of this network in social/executive performance. Our results suggest that NC alterations in the frontotemporoinsular network are a distinctive connectivity hallmark of neurodegeneration in bvFTD. Moreover, such alterations were absent in stroke patients.