Brain endophenotype of extremity and bulbar onset ALS in diffusion tensor imaging

In ALS, recent MRI voxel based analyses have characterized the disease process early in vivo. Widespread cortical atrophy was found extending from the sensorimotor cortex to the dorsolateralprefrontal cortex into frontal cortical areas. White matter abormalities were found along the corticospinal tract (CST) and in frontal projections in diffusion imaging. It is as yet unclear whether extremity or bulbar onset ALS display different brain endophenotypes. We examined 17 mildly affected (ALSFRS ˜40) ALS patients and 17 age-matched controls in a GE 1.5 T scanner. Diffusion tensor image sets were generated from 12 pl…