Thalamocortical disconnection affects the somatic marker and social cognition: a case report

ABSTRACT

Thalamo-cortical connectivity was characterised in a patient with bilateral infarct of the thalami, without evidence of cognitive deficits in everyday life. Patient underwent social and emotional tests, Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), with and without concomitant heart rate variability (HRV) recording and at 3T-MRI to assess thalamo-cortical connectivity. Patient showed impairment at the IGT, in somatic marker, in emotions and theory of mind. MRI documented a bilateral damage of the centromedian-parafascicular complex. Patient’s thalamic lesions disconnected brain areas involved in decision-making and autonomic regulation, affecting the somatic marker and resulting in the neuropsychological deficit exhibited by L.C.

KEYWORDS:

• Thalamic lesions
• MRI
• connectivity
• social cognition
• somatic marker

Acknowledgments

The Neuroimaging Laboratory is in part supported by the Italian Ministry of Health.

Authors’ contribution

LS, MB, MB conceived the study;

LS MB, CO, CDD, LF performed neuropsychological tests;

LS, CDD, performed MRI acquisition;

LS, CDD, CO analyzed data;

LS, MB, CO, MB wrote the draft;

LS, CC, MC, GAC, MB wrote the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.