scholarly journals White matter disconnection is related to age-related phonological deficits

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1555-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara B. W. Troutman ◽  
Michele T. Diaz
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Signal Transmission ◽  
Dorsal Stream ◽  
Cognitive Differences ◽  
Age Related ◽  
White Matter Connectivity ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Transmission Failures ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Older adults have more language production difficulties than younger adults but display largely comparable language comprehension abilities. The Transmission Deficit Hypothesis suggests that production difficulties stem from an age-related increase in phonological signal transmission failures, while the semantic system, being more redundant than the phonological system, allows comprehension to be relatively preserved despite signal failures. Though the neural instantiation of the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis remains an open question, white matter represents one important factor to investigate. Metrics indicative of white matter connectivity across the brain, namely, Radial Diffusivity (RD) and Fractional Anisotropy (FA) have also been linked to age-related cognitive differences including naming difficulties. Using a Picture-Word Interference (PWI) task with 18 younger and 19 older healthy adults, we found that, across ages, better picture naming in the presence of phonological distractors was associated with lower RD across dorsal (r = −.35, p = .03), ventral (r = −.34, p = .04), and fronto-striatal (r = −.33, p = .04) tracts, and higher FA along dorsal tracts (r = .43, p = .008). The pattern of lower RD and higher FA, which is thought to reflect better white matter structure, points to the dorsal stream tracts as critical for performance on the PWI task. Moreover, the effects of RD and FA on performance were attenuated by the effect of age, reflecting the shared variance between age and white matter as it relates to language production ability.

scholarly journals Amyloid burden and white matter hyperintensities mediate age-related cognitive differences

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 16-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pénélope Sévigny Dupont ◽  
Christian Bocti ◽  
Maude Joannette ◽  
Marie Maxime Lavallée ◽  
Jim Nikelski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensities ◽  
Amyloid Burden ◽  
Cognitive Differences ◽  
Age Related

Aging, cognition, and the brain: effects of age-related variation in white matter integrity on neuropsychological function

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 831-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang-Teng Fan ◽  
Ya-Wen Fang ◽  
Ya-Ping Chen ◽  
Eric D. Leshikar ◽  
Ching-Po Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
White Matter Integrity ◽  
Neuropsychological Function ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Brain

Brain connectivity in body dysmorphic disorder compared with controls: a diffusion tensor imaging study

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 2513-2521 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Buchanan ◽  
S. L. Rossell ◽  
J. J. Maller ◽  
W. L. Toh ◽  
S. Brennan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Tensor Imaging ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Caudate Nuclei ◽  
White Matter Connectivity ◽  
The Brain

BackgroundSeveral neuroimaging studies have investigated brain grey matter in people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), showing possible abnormalities in the limbic system, orbitofrontal cortex, caudate nuclei and temporal lobes. This study takes these findings forward by investigating white matter properties in BDD compared with controls using diffusion tensor imaging. It was hypothesized that the BDD sample would have widespread significantly reduced white matter connectivity as characterized by fractional anisotropy (FA).MethodA total of 20 participants with BDD and 20 healthy controls matched on age, gender and handedness underwent diffusion tensor imaging. FA, a measure of water diffusion within a voxel, was compared between groups on a voxel-by-voxel basis across the brain using tract-based spatial statistics within the FSL package.ResultsResults showed that, compared with healthy controls, BDD patients demonstrated significantly lower FA (p < 0.05) in most major white matter tracts throughout the brain, including in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and corpus callosum. Lower FA levels could be accounted for by increased radial diffusivity as characterized by eigenvalues 2 and 3. No area of higher FA was found in BDD.ConclusionsThis study provided the first evidence of compromised white matter integrity within BDD patients. This suggests that there are inefficient connections between different brain areas, which may explain the cognitive and emotion regulation deficits within BDD patients.

scholarly journals Edited Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Detects an Age-Related Decline in Nonhuman Primate Brain GABA Levels

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuanzi He ◽  
Bang-Bon Koo ◽  
Ronald J. Killiany
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Gaba Level ◽  
Inhibitory Neurotransmitter ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Brain

Recent research had shown a correlation between aging and decreasing Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. However, how GABA level varies with age in the medial portion of the brain has not yet been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the GABA level variation with age focusing on the posterior cingulate cortex, which is the “core hub” of the default mode network. In this study, 14 monkeys between 4 and 21 years were recruited, and MEGA-PRESS MRS was performed to measure GABA levels, in order to explore a potential link between aging and GABA. Our results showed that a correlation between age and GABA+/Creatine ratio was at the edge of significance (r=-0.523,p=0.081). There was also a near-significant trend between gray matter/white matter ratio and the GABA+/Creatine ratio (r=-0.518,p=0.0848). Meanwhile, the correlation between age and grey matter showed no significance (r=-0.028,p=0.93). Therefore, age and gray matter/white matter ratio account for different part ofR-squared (adjustedR-squared = 0.5187) as independent variables for predicting GABA levels. AdjustedR-squared is about 0.5 for two independent variables. These findings suggest that there is internal neurochemical variation of GABA levels in the nonhuman primates associated with normal aging and structural brain decline.

083 Response to immunosuppressive therapy in cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation

2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. A33.3-A34
Author(s):  
Jasmin Tilling ◽  
Benjamin Trewin ◽  
Stanley Levy
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensities ◽  
Neurological Deficits ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Dramatic Improvement ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid ◽  
The Brain

IntroductionCerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common age-related condition characterised by amyloid beta-peptide deposition affecting the medium sized cortical and leptomeningeal arteries, arterioles and capillaries. CAA-related Inflammation (CAA-I) is an increasingly recognised variant of CAA, which is thought to be due to perivascular auto-inflammation in response to amyloid deposition. We describe the clinical course of two cases of probable CAA-I.CasesA 71 year old man presented with new-onset seizures, headaches and subacute cognitive decline. MRI of the brain demonstrated confluent subcortical T2 white matter hyperintensities and cerebral oedema, with predominantly superimposed widespread cortico-subcortical micro-haemorrhages, in keeping with the diagnosis of CAA-I. A course of immunosuppresive therapy was commenced with five days of intravenous methylprednisolone, resulting in marked radiological and clinical improvement within two weeks.A 76 year old female presented with subacute cognitive dysfunction and apraxia, and transient left-sided weakness. MRI scan of the brain initially demonstrated a right temporo-occipital infarct, leading to primary treatment for stroke, but subsequently evolved to reveal diffuse multi-lobar T2 white matter hyperintensities with leptomeningeal involvement. A provisional diagnosis of CAA-I was made and following a poor clinical response to a trial of corticosteroid therapy, treatment with intravenous cyclophosphamide was commenced.ConclusionThese cases emphasise the importance of CAA-I as part of the differential diagnosis in patients presenting with symptoms of subacute cognitive decline, seizures, headaches and focal neurological deficits, given the potential for dramatic improvement with readily accessible immunosuppressive therapies.

Volumetric differences suggest involvement of cerebellum and brainstem in chronic migraine

Cephalalgia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Başar Bilgiç ◽  
Gülşen Kocaman ◽  
Ali Bilgin Arslan ◽  
Handan Noyan ◽  
Resul Sherifov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Chronic Migraine ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Episodic Migraine ◽  
White Matter Abnormalities ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Anatomical Mri ◽  
The Brain

Background Chronic migraine (CM) is a disabling neurologic condition that often evolves from episodic migraine. There has been mounting evidence on the volumetric changes detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique in migraineurs. These studies mainly focused on episodic migraine patients and less is known about the differences in CM patients. Method A total of 24 CM patients and 24 healthy control individuals (all females) were included in this study. All participants underwent neurological examination and MRI. High-resolution anatomical MRI images were processed with an automated segmentation method (FreeSurfer). White-matter abnormalities of the brain were also evaluated with the Age-Related White-Matter-Changes Scale. Results The volumes of the cerebellum and brainstem were found to be smaller in CM patients compared to healthy controls. White-matter abnormalities were also found in CM patients, specifically in the bilateral parieto-occipital areas. There was no correlation between the clinical variables and volume decrease in these regions. Conclusion CM patients showed significant volume differences in infratentorial areas and white-matter abnormalities in the posterior part of the brain. It is currently unclear whether the structural brain changes seen in migraine patients are the cause or the result of headaches. Longitudinal volumetric neuroimaging studies with larger groups, especially on the chronification of migraine, are needed to shed light on this topic.

scholarly journals Reduction in White Matter Connectivity, Revealed by Diffusion Tensor Imaging, May Account for Age-related Changes in Face Perception

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cibu Thomas ◽  
Linda Moya ◽  
Galia Avidan ◽  
Kate Humphreys ◽  
Kwan Jin Jung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Tensor Imaging ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Face Perception ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Right ◽  
White Matter Connectivity

An age-related decline in face processing, even under conditions in which learning and memory are not implicated, has been well documented, but the mechanism underlying this perceptual alteration remains unknown. Here, we examine whether this behavioral change may be accounted for by a reduction in white matter connectivity with age. To this end, we acquired diffusion tensor imaging data from 28 individuals aged 18 to 86 years and quantified the number of fibers, voxels, and fractional anisotropy of the two major tracts that pass through the fusiform gyrus, the pre-eminent face processing region in the ventral temporal cortex. We also measured the ability of a subset of these individuals to make fine-grained discriminations between pairs of faces and between pairs of cars. There was a significant reduction in the structural integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) in the right hemisphere as a function of age on all dependent measures and there were also some changes in the left hemisphere, albeit to a lesser extent. There was also a clear age-related decrement in accuracy of perceptual discrimination, especially for more challenging perceptual discriminations, and this held to a greater degree for faces than for cars. Of greatest relevance, there was a robust association between the reduction of IFOF integrity in the right hemisphere and the decline in face perception, suggesting that the alteration in structural connectivity between the right ventral temporal and frontal cortices may account for the age-related difficulties in face processing.

Changes in Brain White Matter Assessed Via Textural Features Using a Neural Network

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
R. Kalpana ◽  
S. Muttan ◽  
B. Agrawala
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Textural Features ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Brain White Matter ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Brain

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DTMRI) has proved useful for microstructure characterization of the brain. This technique also helps determining complex connectivity of fiber tracts. The brain white matter (BMW) changes with respect to age and corresponding appearance of white-matter lesions among the brain’s message-carrying axons affects cognitive functions in old age. In this paper, the observed morphology in BWM on ageing is analyzed using statistical parameters extracted from DTMR images of different age groups. The gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) obtained from the segmented images gives 14 textural features, subsets of which are adopted as the input sets in a backpropagation neural network classifier. The network is trained to predict the age based on BMW details used as the inputs. The proposed method helps in understanding the age-related changes in white matter. This is useful for the physician in understanding miscorrelation in motor activities and relevant causes in elderly subjects.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document