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9) Residual/Long Term Effects
9.1 White matter microstructure of the cingulum bundle is associated with visuospatial memory in former professional American football players
  1. Elena Bonke1,2,
  2. Janna Kochsiek1,
  3. Fanny Dégeilh1,3,
  4. Fan Zhang4,5,
  5. Lauren O’Donnell4,5,
  6. Yorghos Tripodis6,7,
  7. Michael Coleman3,
  8. Yogesh Rathi3,
  9. Michael Alosco7,
  10. Sylvain Bouix3,
  11. Ofer Pasternak3,5,
  12. Nikos Makris8,9,
  13. Robert Stern7,10,11,
  14. Martha Shenton3,5,
  15. Inga Koerte1,3,13
  1. 1BRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
  2. 2Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
  3. 3Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory (PNL), Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
  4. 4Laboratory of Mathematics in Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
  5. 5Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
  6. 6Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, USA
  7. 7Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
  8. 8Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
  9. 9Center for Morphometric Analysis, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
  10. 10Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
  11. 11Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
  12. 12VA Boston Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Brockton, USA
  13. 13Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Abstract

Objective Impaired visuospatial memory is a clinical feature in individuals with neuropathologically confirmed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) post-mortem. Altered white matter microstructure in the cingulum bundle (CB) has previously been associated with impaired visuospatial memory in other neurodegenerative disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate whether white matter microstructure of the CB is associated with visuospatial memory in individuals at high risk for CTE.

Design Cohort study.

Setting The DETECT study includes former professional National Football League (NFL) players with cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Participants underwent neuropsychological testing and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI).

Participants 73 male 49-to-60-year-old (M=54.93; SD=8.03) former professional NFL players.

Outcome Measures The CB was manually segmented into the subgenual, retrosplenial, and parahippocampal region and fractional anisotropy (FA) was extracted. Visuospatial memory was assessed using the Delay Presence and Accuracy T score of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test.

Main Results Partial correlations (adjusted for age and corrected for multiple comparisons) revealed that lower FA in the left parahippocampal sub-region is associated with lower Delay Presence and Accuracy T score (r=.359; p=.012). No other significant associations were found.

Conclusions Results from this study suggest that visuospatial memory performance is associated with altered microstructure in the parahippocampal part of the CB in individuals at high risk to develop CTE. Future studies need to investigate potential differences between those at risk for CTE and other neurodegenerative diseases.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-concussion.117

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