IMPAIRED DECISION-MAKING AND DIFFUSION ORIENTATIONAL COMPLEXITY IN PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Objective Difficulties with decision-making have been reported in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is however unclear what aspect of decision making is impaired, for example whether they are more impulsive, and how any impairments relate to grey matter pathology. In this study we assess grey matter microstructure using a novel measure of the number of diffusion orientations on diffusion MRI “diffusion orientation complexity (DOC)”. We studied DOC in cortical areas known to be associated with decision making and looked at its associations with performance on the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Method One hundred and five patients with MS (61 RR, 26 SP, 18 PP; mean age: 45.9 years) and …

Characteristics of frontal and temporal cortex in relation to cognitive dysfunction in Bipolar Disorders

IQ and the fronto-temporal cortex in bipolar disorder.

AbstractCognitive changes are documented in bipolar disorder (BP). Cortical volume loss, especially in prefrontal regions, has also been reported, but associations between cognition and cortical abnormalities have not been fully documented. This study explores associations between cognitive performance and cortical parameters (area, thickness and volume) of the fronto-temporal cortex in 36 BP patients (25 BPI and 11 BPII). T1-weighted volumetric MRI images were obtained using a 1.5 Tesla scanner. Cortical parameters were measured using surface-based morphometry and their associations with estimated premorbid, current IQ, visual memory, and executive function explored. Premorbid IQ was assoc…