Affiliations: Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK | Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK | Music Factory, Bristol University, Bristol, UK | Dementia and Cognitive Neurosciences, Bristol University, Bristol, UK | School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK | Experimental Psychology, Bristol University, Bristol, UK
Note: [] Correspondence to: Claudia Metzler-Baddeley, PhD, CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK. Tel.: +44 0 29 208 74867; Fax: +44 0 29 208 70339; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosominal dominant neurodegenerative condition that leads to progressive loss of motor and cognitive functions. Early symptoms in HD include subtle executive dysfunction related to white and grey matter loss in cortico-striatal-thalamic loops. There is no cure for HD and hence a significant need for early intervention with the potential to delay the clinical onset of the disease. Objective: The objective of the present pilot study was to devise a novel behavioural intervention involving drumming and rhythm exercises that targets early dysexecutive problems, such as difficulties in sequence and reversal learning, response speed, timing, and dual tasking. Method: One preclinical person and nine people with early to advanced stages of HD were recruited of whom five completed the two months intervention. The effects of rhythm exercise on executive function, basal ganglia volume, and white matter microstructure in the anterior corpus callosum, the anterior thalamic radiation, and the cortico-spinal tract were assessed post- relative to pre-training. Results: After two months training, improvements in executive function and changes in white matter microstructure, notably in the genu of the corpus callosum that connects prefrontal cortices of both hemispheres, were observed. No changes in basal ganglia volume were present. Conclusion: This pilot study provides novel preliminary evidence that carefully targeted behavioural stimulation in HD can result in cognitive enhancement and improvements in callosal white matter microstructure.
Keywords: Huntington's disease, training, rhythm exercise, brain plasticity, executive function, white matter microstructure, diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, corpus callosum, anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract
