Neural Mechanism of Cognitive Control Impairment in Patients with Hepatic Cirrhosis: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

• Published in: Acta radiologica (1987) 2007-06, Vol.48 (5), p.577-587
• Main Authors: Zhang, Long Jiang, Yang, Guifen, Yin, Jianzhong, Liu, Yawu, Qi, Ji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - physiopathology; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis - complications; Liver Cirrhosis - physiopathology; Liver. Biliary tract. Portal circulation. Exocrine pancreas; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Other diseases. Semiology; Reading
• ISSN: 0284-1851; 1600-0455
• DOI: 10.1080/02841850701308378

Background: Many studies have claimed the existence of attention alterations in cirrhotic patients without overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE). No functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in this respect has been published. Purpose: To investigate the neural basis of cognitive control deficiency in cirrhotic patients using fMRI. Material and Methods: 14 patients with hepatic cirrhosis and 14 healthy volunteers were included in the study. A modified Stroop task with Chinese characters was used as the target stimulus, and block-design fMRI was used to acquire resource data, including four stimulus blocks and five control blocks, each presented alternatively. Image analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping 99. After fMRI examinations were complete, behavior tests of Stroop interference were performed for all subjects. Overall reaction time and error numbers were recorded. Results: Both healthy volunteers and patients with hepatic cirrhosis had Stroop interference effects. Patients with hepatic cirrhosis had more errors and longer reaction time in performing an incongruous color-naming task than healthy volunteers (P