Motor neuron disease connectome (Milan, Turin, Naples)

A multicentre Italian cohort of people with sporadic motor neuron disease and matched healthy controls, scanned to compare how the structural and functional brain networks are organized in three disease variants: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) and progressive muscular atrophy (PMA). Participants were recruited between 2009 and 2017 at ALS centres in Milan, Turin and Naples, and all images were analysed in Milan with graph analysis and connectomics. The images are not public; the authors share the data on request with researchers at universities, research institutes or hospitals. The linked Dryad record only holds supplementary tables and figures.

Composition

There are 318 participants: 173 with classic ALS, 38 with PLS, 28 with PMA and 79 healthy controls. PLS and PMA patients all come from Milan and Turin, while ALS patients (42) and controls (18) also come from Naples. Across the four groups there are 146 women and 172 men. Mean age is close to 60 in every group, and ages range from 28 to 86 years. All patients took riluzole at study entry.

Acquisition

Every participant had T1-weighted, T2-weighted, FLAIR, diffusion tensor and resting-state functional MRI at 3 T. Milan and Turin used a Philips Intera scanner and Naples a GE Signa HDxt. Sequence parameters are listed in a supplementary table on Dryad.

Annotations

Each participant has demographic data, motor ratings (ALS Functional Rating Scale revised, upper motor neuron score, Medical Research Council strength score, progression rate) and a neuropsychological battery. Not every patient completed every cognitive test. Grey matter was split into 220 regions to build the networks. No image labels are described.

Known limitations

The images were never deposited, so access depends on the authors. Two scanner models from two vendors are mixed, and the Naples site contributed only ALS patients and controls, so site and diagnosis are partly confounded. Healthy controls were recruited by word of mouth.