Cortico-Cerebellar White Matter Integrity is Related to Naming Outcome in Post-Stroke Aphasia

Abstract Studies have shown that the integrity of white matter tracts connecting different regions in left cerebral hemisphere is important for aphasia recovery after stroke. However, impact underlying structural connection between cortex and cerebellum post-stroke poorly understood. We studied microstructural corticocerebellar connections their role picture naming. Fifty-six patients with infarcts (sparing cerebellum) underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) Boston Naming Test. compared fractional anisotropy (FA) mean diffusivity (MD) values right (lobular gray structures) cerebellocortical connections. Recursive feature elimination Spearman correlation analyses were performed to evaluate relationship naming performance found right, relative left, cerebellar structures cerebrum showed lower FA higher MD values, both reflecting integrity. This trend was not observed healthy controls. Higher major outflow tract associated poorer performance. Our study provides first DTI data demonstrating critical importance ascending descending outcomes