Functional disconnection of thalamic and cerebellar dentate nucleus networks in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome

Abstract Aim To assess functional rearrangement following neurodegeneration in the thalamus and dentate nucleus in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). Methods We recruited 19 patients with PSP, 11 with CBS and 14 healthy subjects. All the subjects underwent resting-state (rs) fMRI using a 3T system. Whole brain functional connectivity of the thalamus and dentate nucleus were calculated by means of a seed-based approach with FEAT script in FSL toolbox. Thalamic volume was calculated by means of FIRST, and the dentate area by means of Jim software. Results Both thalamic volume and dentate area were significantly smaller in PSP and CBS patients than in healthy subjects. No significant difference emerged in thalamic volume between PSP and CBS patients, whereas dentate area was significantly smaller in PSP than in CBS. Thalamic functional connectivity was significantly reduced in both patient groups in various cortical, subcortical and cerebellar areas. By contrast, changes in dentate nucleus functional connectivity differed in PSP and CBS: it decreased in subcortical and prefrontal cortical areas in PSP, but increased asymmetrically in the frontal cortex in CBS. Conclusions Evaluating the dentate nucleus size and its functional connectivity may help to differentiate patients with PSP from those with CBS.