Using advanced diffusion neuroimaging technology, Kessler Foundation researchers investigated the connection between the speed of cognitive fatigue to microstructural changes within the brain in individuals with multiple sclerosis. Their findings help fill a niche in the present understanding of how brain pathology influences the event of fatigue over time.

Their findings were reported in Frontiers in Neurology on July 04, 2022, within the open access article “Associations of White Matter and Basal Ganglia Microstructure to Cognitive Fatigue Rate in Multiple Sclerosis,” (doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.911012). The authors are Cristina Almeida Flores Román, PhD, Glenn Wylie, DPhil, John DeLuca, PhD, and Bing Yao, PhD, and of Kessler Foundation.

The study was conducted on the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation, which is devoted solely to rehabilitation research. Participants were 62 individuals with relapsing-remitting MS. All accomplished questionnaires measuring depression, state and trait anxiety, and trait fatigue. While within the scanner, participants underwent a cognitively fatiguing task. Along with measuring rate of cognitive fatigue, researchers measured whole brain lesion volume and performance through the fatigue-inducing task.

We found that the cognitive rate related to white matter tracts, many with associations with the basal ganglia or what we now have proposed because the ‘fatigue network’. These findings bring us closer to understanding how brain pathology impacts the experience within the moment. This is key to developing effective interventions for managing the disabling fatigue of MS and other neurological conditions.”

Dr. Cristina Almeida Flores Román, Lead Writer, National MS Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Kessler Foundation

Source:

Journal reference:

Román, C.A.F., et al. (2022) Associations of White Matter and Basal Ganglia Microstructure to Cognitive Fatigue Rate in Multiple Sclerosis. Frontiers in Neurology. doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.911012.