Genetics Modulate Gray Matter Variation Beyond Disease Burden in Prodromal Huntington's Disease.

ABSTRACT: Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion mutation of the cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) trinucleotide in the HTT gene. Decline in cognitive and motor functioning during the prodromal phase has been reported, and understanding genetic influences on prodromal disease progression beyond CAG will benefit intervention therapies. From a prodromal HD cohort (N = 715), we extracted gray matter (GM) components through independent component analysis and tested them for associations with cognitive and motor functioning that cannot be accounted for by CAG-induced disease burden (cumulative effects of CAG expansion and age). Furthermore, we examined genetic associations (at the genomic, HD pathway, and candidate region levels) with the GM components

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5884935 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature