The Structural Brain Networks In Patients With Cognitive Impairment Following Cerebellar Infarction

Background: Cerebellar lesions can lead to a series of cognitive and emotional disorders by influencing cerebral activity via cerebro-cerebellar loops.The study of the brain structural network may be important for the discovery of the mechanism of cognitive impairment after cerebellar infarction.Purpose: Diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)technique was used to further explore the changes in brain structure network and its correlation with clinical symptoms in patients with cognitive impairment after cerebellar infarction.Method: DTI data were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging of 32 patients with cerebellar infarction and 29 healthy controls matched in age,gender and education level.The brain structural network and network parameters of all subjects were obtained using deterministic tractography and graph theory.Subjects were subjected to a series of neuropsychological testing.The brain network parameters and neuropsychological scores between the two groups were compared,and the relationship between network parameters and clinical symptoms were analyzed.Results: Cognitive impairment after cerebellar infarction involves multiple cognitive domains,including memory,executive function,processing speed,and language function.The patients with cerebellar infarction have brain topological abnormalities,including clustering coefficients,shortest path lengths,global efficiency,local efficiencies,betweenness centrality and nodal efficiencies;and the significant reduction of nodal efficiency is mainly located in the precuneus,cingulate gyrus and frontal-temporal cortex.The topological abnormalities of the brain structure network after cerebellar infarction are significantly correlated with clinical symptoms.Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated disruptions in structural brain networks after cerebellar lesions,and the brain topological abnormalities may play a core role in the cognitive impairment following cerebellar lesions.The differences in topological features of the structural brain networks within the cerebro-cerebellar circuits may provide a new way to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of cognitive impairment following cerebellar infarction.