Tackling frontal lobe-related functions in PKU through functional brain imaging: a Stroop task in adult patients.
J Inherit Metab Dis
; 34(3): 711-21, 2011 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21491106
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Profound mental retardation in phenylketonuria (PKU) can be prevented by a low phenylalanine (Phe) diet. However, even patients treated early have inconsistently shown deficits in several frontal lobe-related neuropsychological tasks such as the widely accepted Stroop task. The goal of this study was to investigate whether adult patients exhibit altered brain activation in Stroop-related locations in comparison to healthy controls and if an acute increase in blood Phe levels in patients has an effect on activation patterns.METHODS:
Seventeen male, early-treated patients with classic PKU (mean ± SD age 31.0 ± 5.2 years) and 15 male healthy controls (32.1 ± 6.4 years) were compared using a color-word matching Stroop task in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study at 3T. Participants were scanned twice, and an oral Phe load (100 mg/kg body weight) was administered to patients prior to one of the fMRI sessions (placebo-controlled). Activity in brain regions that are known to be involved in Stroop tasks was assessed.RESULTS:
PKU patients exhibited poorer accuracy in incongruent trials. Reaction times were not significantly different. There were no consistent differences in BOLD activations in Stroop-associated brain regions. The oral Phe administration had no significant effect on brain activity.CONCLUSIONS:
Neither a generally slower task performance nor distinctively altered functioning of brain networks involved in a task representing a subset of dopamine-dependent executive functions could be proven. Decreased accuracy and inconsistent findings in posterior areas necessitate further study of frontal-lobe functioning in PKU patients in larger study samples.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fenilcetonúrias
/
Encéfalo
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Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética
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Lobo Frontal
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
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Diagnostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2011
Tipo de documento:
Article