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Volume 33, Issue 1 , Pages 197.e1-197.e9 , January 2012

White matter hyperintensities alter functional organization of the motor system

Patricia Linortner
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz Institute of Technology Graz, Graz, Austria
- Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens University Graz, Graz, Austria
Franz Fazekas
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Reinhold Schmidt
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Stefan Ropele
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Barbara Pendl
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Katja Petrovic
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Marisa Loitfelder
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens University Graz, Graz, Austria
Christa Neuper
- Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Graz Institute of Technology Graz, Graz, Austria
- Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens University Graz, Graz, Austria
Christian Enzinger
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Corresponding author at: Department of Neurology, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 22, A-8036 Graz, Austria. Tel.: +43 316 385 82180; fax: +43 316 385 6808

Received 20 April 2010 ,Revised 6 June 2010 ,Accepted 9 June 2010.

Activation maps associated with (A) finger movements versus rest and (B) ankle movements versus rest. Selected slices (z-coordinates) of higher level group contrasts show areas of significant activati

Activation maps associated with (A) finger movements versus rest and (B) ankle movements versus rest. Selected slices (z-coordinates) of higher level group contrasts show areas of significant activation difference for the contrasts white matter hyperintensities (WMH) 2 and 3 > WMH 0 and 1 and WMH 0 and 1 > WMH 2 and 3, including age as a covariate. For explanations please see text. All images shown are in radiological convention (see Table 2 for cluster coordinates and activation significance for contrasts).
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Region of interest (ROI) analyses to illustrate quantitatively the magnitude of the activation differences for the 2 subject groups based on white matter hyperintensities (WMH) grade, using functional

Region of interest (ROI) analyses to illustrate quantitatively the magnitude of the activation differences for the 2 subject groups based on white matter hyperintensities (WMH) grade, using functional data from individual subjects. Exclusively stronger pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) and SMA proper activation depending on WMH grade becomes evident with ankle movements only.
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Influence of frontal white matter hyperintensities (WMH) load on brain activation elicited by the motor paradigms. Upper panel: brain regions (selected slices, z-coordinates) in which finger movement-

Influence of frontal white matter hyperintensities (WMH) load on brain activation elicited by the motor paradigms. Upper panel: brain regions (selected slices, z-coordinates) in which finger movement-associated brain activation shows a significant positive correlation with frontal lesion load (mixed effects analysis; Z > 2.3; corrected cluster significance threshold p = 0.05). Lower panel: analogue results for ankle movements.
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