Network spread determines severity of degeneration and disconnection in Huntington's disease.

ABSTRACT: Trans-neuronal propagation of mutant huntingtin protein contributes to the organised spread of cortico-striatal degeneration and disconnection in Huntington's disease (HD). We investigated whether the network diffusion model, which models transneuronal spread as diffusion of pathological proteins via the brain connectome, can determine the severity of neural degeneration and disconnection in HD. We used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high-angular resolution diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) data from symptomatic Huntington's disease (HD) (N = 26) and age-matched healthy controls (N = 26) to measure neural degeneration and disconnection in HD. The network diffusion model was used to test whether disease spread, via the human brain connectome, is a viable mechanism to explain

SUBMITTER: Poudel GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6865500 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature