Structural and functional brain connectome in motor neuron diseases: a multicenter MRI study

Objective. To investigate structural and functional neural organization in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) and progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) patients.
Methods. 173 ALS, 38 PLS, 28 PMA sporadic patients and 79 healthy controls were recruited from three Italian centers. Subjects underwent clinical, neuropsychological and brain MRI evaluations. Using graph analysis and connectomics, global and lobar topological network properties and regional structural and functional brain connectivity were assessed. The association between structural and functional network organization and clinical/cognitive data was investigated.
Results. Compared to healthy controls, ALS and PLS patients showed altered structural global network properties, as well as local topological alterations and decreased structural connectivity in sensorimotor, basal ganglia, frontal and parietal areas. PMA patients showed preserved global structure. Patient groups did not show significan...