Abstract #2970

Functional MRI Revealed the Decrease of Working-Memory Capacity and the Impaired Function of Working-Memory Circuits in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

Ling Zou¹,², Waverly Harrel³, Zoe A. Englander⁴, Micah Johnson⁵, Allen W. Song⁵, Vandana Shashi³

¹CMRRC,Radiology Department, West China Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; ²Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC) , Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC , United States; ³Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States; ⁴Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; ⁵Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States

Patients with 22q11.2 deletion have significant neurocognitive deficits. Childhood cognitive difficulties such as working memory (WM) are universal in patients. Structure MRI studies have found multiple brain parenchyma abnormalities, most of which are inside the brain WM circuits. But brain activities under hierarchical WM loads in patients have not been explored so far. In the present study we explored the hierarchical impairment patterns of WM deficits of the disorder using consecutive n-back task based fMRI, which may potentially serve as functional imaging biomarkers of the disorder and contribute to the evaluation of cognitive remediation in patients.