Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42360506›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology2026

The relationship between cerebellar functional connectivity alterations and hand dexterity impairment in multiple sclerosis.

Emma Gangemi, Claudia Piervincenzi, Silvia Tommasin, Abhineet Ojha, Costanza Giannì, Nikolaos Petsas, Antonio Gallo, Alessandro d'Ambrosio, Nicola De Stefano, Rosa Cortese and 6 more

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Article in Journal of neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Emma Gangemi *Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Claudia Piervincenzi *Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Silvia TommasinDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. silvia.tommasin@uniroma1.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9088-7968
Abhineet OjhaDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Costanza GiannìDepartment of Neurosciences, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Nikolaos PetsasDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Antonio GalloDepartment of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, and 3 T MRI‑Center, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.
Alessandro d'AmbrosioDepartment of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, and 3 T MRI‑Center, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.
Nicola De StefanoDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Rosa CorteseDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Paola ValsasinaNeuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Nicolò TedoneNeuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Maria A RoccaNeuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Massimo FilippiNeuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Patrizia PantanoDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
INNI Network

Funding

Associazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla 2025/S/02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeAltered cerebellar resting-state functional connectivity (FC) may contribute to hand motor impairment in People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). We aimed to assess whether: 1. FC abnormalities of the sensorimotor and cognitive cerebellum (smCb, cCb) are associated with impaired hand dexterity; 2. these alterations contribute to impaired hand dexterity beyond structural brain and spinal cord damage.

methodsSix hundred and sixty-seven subjects from the Italian Neuroimaging Network Initiative database were included: two hundred forty-eight PwMS with impaired (iPwMS) and two hundred forty-eight with preserved hand dexterity (pPwMS), and one hundred seventy-one healthy controls (HC). We obtained measures of white matter lesion load, cortical, deep gray matter and cerebellar volumes, and C2-C3 spinal cord area. Cerebellar FC of the smCb and cCb was evaluated using voxel-wise seed-based analyses. Group comparisons were performed using ANCOVA models, with and without adjusting for global and regional structural measures.

resultsCompared to HC and pPwMS, iPwMS showed widespread FC reductions of both smCb and cCb in several cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar regions (p < 0.05, FDR-corrected), whereas pPwMS did not differ significantly from HC. After adjusting for structural measures, FC reductions in iPwMS persisted, although to a lesser extent, particularly in cortical and cerebellar regions.

conclusionCerebellar FC reductions involving both sensorimotor and cognitive domains are robustly associated with impaired hand dexterity in PwMS and remain significant even after controlling for brain and spinal cord structural damage. This suggests that cerebellar FC alterations are a key, only partly structure-dependent contributor to dexterity impairment, highlighting cerebellar connectivity as a promising target for motor rehabilitation in MS.

Indexed as

CerebellumHandMotor SkillsMultiple SclerosisAdultFemaleGray MatterHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeural PathwaysCognitive cerebellum (cCb)Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)Multiple sclerosis (MS)Nine-Hole Peg Test (9HPT)Sensorimotor cerebellum (smCb)

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.