Memory loss-associated brain lesions in multiple sclerosis linked to common brain circuit

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a study to figure out which MS lesion locations are associated with memory issues. The team analyzed imaging and cognitive data from 431 people with MS enrolled in the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of MS at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, or CLIMB study.

Researchers mapped white matter lesion locations from each person and tested associations between memory dysfunction and a memory circuit previously derived from strokes causing memory problems. They found that MS lesions that were associated with memory problems intersected with this memory circuit centered on the hippocampus. The researchers also analyzed the MS lesion locations compared to large functional and structural brain atlases to identify unique MS memory circuits.

The team included researchers from the Brigham MS Center and from the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics

Reference: Journal of Neurology, DOI 10.1007/s00415-023-11907-8, Multiple sclerosis lesions that impair memory map to a connected memory circuit