Functional impairment of the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus in Multiple Sclerosis

Visual impairment is one of the early symptoms of Multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. The objective of this study is evaluating function of Lateral geniculate nucleus, which bridges visual information from retina to other higher order visual processing areas. We collected BOLD fMRI data from 19 MS and 19 control subjects by employing selective visual stimulation tasks to provoke the whole LGN, Magnocellular, Parvocellular, and Koniocellular pathways as part of LGN multilayer structure. Through statistical analysis, we observed a significant reduction (p<0.05) of the average BOLD signal from the whole LGN structure in MS group. Further investigations showed a significant reduction of BOLD signal (p<0.05) in response to Magno and Parvo stimuli compared to healthy controls that suggested a selective functional impairment emerging in primary visual pathways in MS. In summary, we showed functional abnormalities in LGN structure and its M and P subdivisions based on functional MRI.