Maria A. Rocca1, Paola Valsasina, Maria Pia Amato2, Martina Absinta, Angelo Ghezzi3, Lucia Moiola4, Agnese Fiorino4, Pierangelo Veggiotti5, Andrea Falini6, Giancarlo Comi4, Massimo Filippi, the MS and Neuroimaging Study Groups of the Italian Neurological Society7
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy; 2Department of Neurology, University of Florence; 3MS Centre, Ospedale di Gallarate; 4Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; 5Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C Mondino, Pavia, Italy; 6Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; 7.....
In this study, we assessed functional connectivity (FC) at resting state (RS) within and among cognitive networks in 34 patients with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and 18 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Decreased FC was found in regions of the posterior lobes, as well as in the cerebellum of the attention network, salience network (SN) and executive control network (ECN). Conversely, increased FC was found in frontal regions of the SN and of the default mode network (DMN). A decreased FC was associated with cognitive impairment, whereas increased FC was correlated with a lower structural damage.
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