TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive Slowing in Gulf War Illness Predicts Executive Network Hyperconnectivity
T2 - Study in a Population-Representative Sample
AU - Turner, Monroe P.
AU - Hubbard, Nicholas A.
AU - Himes, Lyndahl M.
AU - Faghihahmadabadi, Shawheen
AU - Hutchison, Joanna L.
AU - Bennett, Ilana J.
AU - Motes, Michael A.
AU - Haley, Robert W
AU - Rypma, Bart
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Cognitive slowing is a prevalent symptom observed in Gulf War Illness (GWI). The present study assessed the extent to which functional connectivity between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and other task-relevant brain regions was predictive of GWI-related cognitive slowing. GWI patients (n = 54) and healthy veteran controls (n = 29) were assessed on performance of a processing speed task (the Digit Symbol Substitution Task; DSST) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). GWI patients were slower on the DSST relative to controls. Bilateral DLPFC connectivity with task-relevant nodes was altered in GWI patients compared to healthy controls during DSST performance. Moreover, hyperconnectivity in these networks predicted GWI-related increases in reaction time on the DSST, whereas hypoconnectivity did not. These results suggest that GWI-related cognitive slowing reflects reduced efficiency in cortical networks.
AB - Cognitive slowing is a prevalent symptom observed in Gulf War Illness (GWI). The present study assessed the extent to which functional connectivity between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and other task-relevant brain regions was predictive of GWI-related cognitive slowing. GWI patients (n = 54) and healthy veteran controls (n = 29) were assessed on performance of a processing speed task (the Digit Symbol Substitution Task; DSST) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). GWI patients were slower on the DSST relative to controls. Bilateral DLPFC connectivity with task-relevant nodes was altered in GWI patients compared to healthy controls during DSST performance. Moreover, hyperconnectivity in these networks predicted GWI-related increases in reaction time on the DSST, whereas hypoconnectivity did not. These results suggest that GWI-related cognitive slowing reflects reduced efficiency in cortical networks.
KW - Gulf War Illness
KW - cognitive efficiency
KW - dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
KW - functional connectivity
KW - functional magnetic resonance imaging
KW - processing speed
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84987923175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84987923175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.08.022
DO - 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.08.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 27672557
AN - SCOPUS:84987923175
SN - 2213-1582
VL - 12
SP - 535
EP - 541
JO - NeuroImage: Clinical
JF - NeuroImage: Clinical
ER -