Abstract #1185

Cervical cord resting-state fMRI shows preserved functional connectivity in low disability relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Anna Combes^1,2, Baxter P. Rogers^1,2, Mereze Visagie², Kristin P. O'Grady^1,2, Richard D. Lawless^2,3, Sanjana Satish², Atlee Witt², Shekinah Malone⁴, Colin D. McKnight², Francesca R. Bagnato⁵, John C. Gore^1,2,3, and Seth A. Smith^1,2,3

¹Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Clinical Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States

Functional connectivity (FC) in the cervical spinal cord can be assessed with 3T resting-state fMRI. FC strength in the ventral and dorsal networks was measured in a group of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with low disability, high cervical lesion load, and mildly impaired sensorimotor function and was found similar to matched healthy controls. There was no impact of the presence of cord lesions, suggesting FC is preserved even in the presence of structural damage. Future work will explore the longitudinal trajectories of cord FC in support of intact or impaired sensorimotor function in MS.

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