Reduced cerebello-cerebral functional connectivity correlates with disease severity and impaired white matter integrity in Friedreich ataxia.

ABSTRACT: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disease characterised in most cases by progressive and debilitating motor dysfunction. Degeneration of cerebellar white matter pathways have been previously reported, alongside indications of cerebello-cerebral functional alterations. In this work, we examine resting-state functional connectivity changes within cerebello-cerebral circuits, and their associations with disease severity (Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia [SARA]), psychomotor function (speeded and paced finger tapping), and white matter integrity (diffusion tensor imaging) in 35 adults with FRDA and 45 age and sex-matched controls. Voxel-wise seed-based functional connectivity was assessed for three cerebellar cortical regions (anterior lobe, lobules I

SUBMITTER: Kerestes R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10130106 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature