Objective: To explore the neural correlates that accompanies arithmetic deficits in HD.

Background: Arithmetic word-problem solving deficits can be evident in premanifest (preHD) and early symptomatic HD (HD) individuals. However, the neural correlates of these arithmetic deficits in HD are poorly understood.

Method: We explored the structural (gray-matter volume; GMV) and metabolic (18F-FDG PET; SUVr) brain correlates of arithmetic performance using the recently developed HD-Word problem arithmetic task (HD-WPA) in a sample of seventeen preHD and sixteen HD.

Results: Symptomatic participants performed significantly lower in the HD-WPA than preHD participants. Lower performance in the HD-WPA was associated with reduced GMV in subcortical, medial frontal and several posterior-cortical clusters in HD participants. No significant GMV loss was found in preHD participants. 18F-FDG data revealed a widespread pattern of hipometabolism in association with lower arithmetic performance. In preHD participants this pattern was restricted to the ventrolateral and orbital prefrontal cortex, the insula and the precentral gyrus. In HD participants, the pattern extended to several parietal-temporal regions.

Conclusion: Word-problem solving arithmetic deficits in HD is subserved by a pattern of asynchronous metabolic and structural compromise across the cerebral cortex in HD as a function of disease stage. In preHD, arithmetic deficits obey to brain changes in regions of the prefrontal cortex, whereas in symptomatic HD, more severe arithmetic deficits are associated with the compromise of several frontal-subcortical and temporo-parietal regions. Our results reinforce the idea that cognitive deficits of HD are not exclusively dominated by frontal-striatal dysfunctions and involve fronto-temporal and parieto-occipital damage.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/structural-and-metabolic-brain-correlates-of-arithmetic-word-problem-solving-in-huntingtons-disease/