"MS, FMRI, ERP"

Assessment of cognitive dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis using the simultaneous acquisition of event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging during executive tasks

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one the most important neurological diseases by virtue of its frequency, chronicity and tendency to attack young adults. Cognitive impairment may affect approximately all patients with MS, and has been reported to negatively impact employment, social functioning, quality of life, and the ability to perform instrumental activities of daily living, with a high social cost. Nowadays, the way the brain of people affected with MS perform a cognitive task is an enigma still unsolved. On the other hand, the integration of simultaneous event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an emerging method in human brain mapping. Combining their complementary information both methods provide electrophysiological cerebral activity with high temporal resolution and hemodynamic response with high spatial resolution. Our purpose in this research will be to improve the assessment of cognitve dysfunction among MS patients with different stages of the disease using the simultaneous acquisition of ERP/fMRI to obtain physiological and pathological brain activity. In addiction, this temporal-spatial information will be correlated with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scores, a new imaging method that provide markers to assess the macroscopic and microscopic pathology. We have developed a detailed work plan including a first phase to verify the feasibility of co-recording of EEG and fMRI signals and a spatial-temporal description of the processing of stimuli. Thus, these achievements will allow us to obtain a powerful approach to assess performace of cognitive task in MS patients and further application in other neurolical disorders. Results of our ERP/fMRI study will provide unique insights on cognitive function in MS patients with different stages of the disease and the underlying neural basis, providing the first systematic investigation of simultaneous ERP/fMRI recording in these patients.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A team of EU-funded researchers have combined two technologies to study the brain and the effect of neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most debilitating neurological diseases affecting young adults. Constant relapses and loss of function in the early stages take their toll not only on quality of life but also on health care costs, and are responsible for loss of productivity at work.

European scientists in the MS, FMRI, ERP project have recently completed a study where they measured brain responses to a thought or a perception. To do this, they combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with event-related potentials (ERPs) to produce a real-time image of the neurological changes occurring in the human brain while performing tasks.

Project scientists were successful in their bid to record ERPs at the same time as imaging with fMRI. This provided evidence of time-recorded events in different brain regions during well-characterised cognitive tasks. The researchers observed compensatory mechanisms in the face of cognitive and motor abnormalities in MS patients. Importantly, there was evidence of plasticity or the ability to make new neural connections after damage.

The results also provided information on age-related changes and how selective areas are activated to compensate and optimise performance during tasks. This promises to provide a basis for future research into brain plasticity during the normal ageing process.

Integration of electrophysiological data from ERPs and functional scanning is set to answer many questions relating to brain function and compensatory mechanisms for damage due to disease and injury. Improved therapies will help to reduce the high social and medical cost of brain malfunction.