Abstract #3424

7T fMRI connectivity analysis reveals decreased cerebellar motor function in MS patients

Emma J P Brouwer ^1,2, Nikos Priovoulos^1,2,3, Renan Mukerjee¹, Myrte Strik ^1,2,4, Mark Wessels⁴, Eva M M Strijbis ⁴, Frederik Barkhof ^4,5, Menno Schoonheim ⁴, and Wietske van der Zwaag ^1,2

¹Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ²Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ³Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁴Neurology, MS Center Amsterdam UMC location VUmc, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁵Institutes of Neurology and Healthcare Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Synopsis

Keywords: Functional Connectivity, Multiple Sclerosis, cerebellum

Motivation: The cerebellum is a prevalent lesion site in Multiple Sclerosis but due to lack of acquisition methods its function remains understudied in MS.

Goal(s): Our goal was to compare the cerebellar motor (network) function of Multiple Sclerosis patients to Healthy Controls using 7T fMRI.

Approach: We employed a B1-shimmed 7T fMRI protocol and submillimetre anatomical acquisitions. This enabled us to identify cerebellar function during a motor task and identify subject specific regions of interest to analyse cerebellar motor network connectivity.

Results: Our methods revealed decreased connectivity as well as lower motor task activation in Multiple Sclerosis patients compared to Healthy Controls.

Impact: Our results demonstrate the use of 7T-fMRI to study cerebellar function in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. The differences found in motor and resting state activation may contribute to the overall understanding of the role of cerebellar function in Multiple Sclerosis.

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