Brain compensation during response inhibition in premanifest Huntington's disease

Abstract

Premanifest Huntington's disease (pre-HD) individuals typically show increased task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), suggested to reflect compensatory strategies. Despite the evidence, no study has attempted to understand the compensatory process in light of ‘formal’ models of compensation. We used a quantitative model of compensation – the Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH), to characterise compensation in pre-HD using fMRI. Pre-HD individuals (n = 15) and controls (n = 15) performed a modified stop-signal task that incremented in four levels of stop difficulty. Our results did not support the critical assumption of the CRUNCH model ..