Advanced imaging studies in neurodegenerative disease have yielded new insights into subtypes of disease, progression of disease in various brain regions, and changes in structural and functional connectivity between brain regions related to symptom progression. However, few studies have revealed imaging markers at baseline that correlate with rate or degree of decline in function. Here we tested the hypothesis that imaging features at baseline correlate with outcome of naming in primary progressive aphasia. We obtained longitudinal multimodal imaging in 15 individuals with primary progressive aphasia at the same time points as assessment of naming. We found that functional connectivity between particular brain regions (measured with resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging) is strongly associated with accuracy of naming 21 months later, independently of baseline severity of naming impairment. These data indicate that functional connectivity may carry information about later performance in naming, and is potentially useful for refining prognosis.

中文翻译：

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基线 MRI 与原发性进行性失语症的后期命名状态相关

神经退行性疾病的高级成像研究对疾病的亚型、不同大脑区域的疾病进展以及与症状进展相关的大脑区域之间的结构和功能连接的变化产生了新的见解。然而，很少有研究显示基线影像标记与功能下降的速度或程度相关。在这里，我们测试了基线成像特征与原发性进行性失语症命名结果相关的假设。我们在评估命名的同一时间点获得了 15 名原发性进行性失语患者的纵向多模态成像。我们发现特定大脑区域之间的功能连接（通过静息状态功能连接磁共振成像测量）与 21 个月后命名的准确性密切相关，与命名障碍的基线严重程度无关。这些数据表明，功能连接可能携带有关命名后期表现的信息，并可能对改善预后有用。