scholarly journals Neural correlates of prenatal stress in young women

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2533-2543 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Favaro ◽  
E. Tenconi ◽  
D. Degortes ◽  
R. Manara ◽  
P. Santonastaso
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Prenatal Stress ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Postnatal Stress

BackgroundPrenatal stress is hypothesized to have a disruptive impact on neurodevelopmental trajectories, but few human studies have been conducted on the long-term neural correlates of prenatal exposure to stress. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between prenatal stress exposure and gray-matter volume and resting-state functional connectivity in a sample of 35 healthy women aged 14–40 years.MethodVoxel-based morphometry and functional connectivity analyses were performed on the whole brain and in specific regions of interest (hippocampus and amygdala). Data about prenatal/postnatal stress and obstetric complications were obtained by interviewing participants and their mothers, and reviewing obstetric records.ResultsHigher prenatal stress was associated with decreased gray-matter volume in the left medial temporal lobe (MTL) and both amygdalae, but not the hippocampus. Variance in gray-matter volume of these brain areas significantly correlated with depressive symptoms, after statistically adjusting for the effects of age, postnatal stress and obstetric complications. Prenatal stress showed a positive linear relationship with functional connectivity between the left MTL and the pregenual cortex. Moreover, connectivity between the left MTL and the left medial-orbitofrontal cortex partially explained variance in the depressive symptoms of offspring.ConclusionsIn young women, exposure to prenatal stress showed a relationship with the morphometry and functional connectivity of brain areas involved in the pathophysiology of depressive disorders. These data provide evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early exposure to stress affects brain development and identified the MTL and amygdalae as possible targets of such exposure.

scholarly journals Childhood Sexual Abuse Is Associated with Reduced Gray Matter Volume in Visual Cortex of Young Women

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 642-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akemi Tomoda ◽  
Carryl P. Navalta ◽  
Ann Polcari ◽  
Norihiro Sadato ◽  
Martin H. Teicher
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Matter Volume

23-Prenatal stress, mood, and gray matter volume in young adulthood

2018 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. e12
Author(s):  
K. Marečková ◽  
A. Klasnja ◽  
P. Bencurova ◽  
L. Andrýsková ◽  
M. Brázdil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Prenatal Stress ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Matter Volume

scholarly journals Effects of Meditation on Structural Changes of the Brain in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhukar Dwivedi ◽  
Neha Dubey ◽  
Aditya Jain Pansari ◽  
Raju Surampudi Bapi ◽  
Meghoranjani Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Hippocampal Subfields ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Previous cross-sectional studies reported positive effects of meditation on the brain areas related to attention and executive function in the healthy elderly population. Effects of long-term regular meditation in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD) have rarely been studied. In this study, we explored changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volume in meditation-naïve persons with MCI or mild AD after long-term meditation intervention. MCI or mild AD patients underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessment and were assigned into meditation or non-meditation groups. High resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) were acquired at baseline and after 6 months. Longitudinal symmetrized percentage changes (SPC) in cortical thickness and gray matter volume were estimated. Left caudal middle frontal, left rostral middle frontal, left superior parietal, right lateral orbitofrontal, and right superior frontal cortices showed changes in both cortical thickness and gray matter volume; the left paracentral cortex showed changes in cortical thickness; the left lateral occipital, left superior frontal, left banks of the superior temporal sulcus (bankssts), and left medial orbitofrontal cortices showed changes in gray matter volume. All these areas exhibited significantly higher SPC values in meditators as compared to non-meditators. Conversely, the left lateral occipital, and right posterior cingulate cortices showed significantly lower SPC values for cortical thickness in the meditators. In hippocampal subfields analysis, we observed significantly higher SPC in gray matter volume of the left CA1, molecular layer HP, and CA3 with a trend for increased gray matter volume in most other areas. No significant changes were found for the hippocampal subfields in the right hemisphere. Analysis of the subcortical structures revealed significantly increased volume in the right thalamus in the meditation group. The results of the study point out that long-term meditation practice in persons with MCI or mild AD leads to salutary changes in cortical thickness and gray matter volumes. Most of these changes were observed in the brain areas related to executive control and memory that are prominently at risk in neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals Brain structural and functional anomalies associated with simultanagnosia in patients with posterior cortical atrophy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Cui ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Caishui Yang ◽  
Chunlei Cui ◽  
Donglai Jing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Cortical Atrophy ◽  
Posterior Cortical Atrophy ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Intrinsic Functional Connectivity ◽  
Middle Occipital Gyrus ◽  
The Right ◽  
Left Middle

AbstractSimultanagnosia is a common symptom of posterior cortical atrophy, and its association with brain structural and functional changes remains unclear. In our study, 18 posterior cortical atrophy patients with simultanagnosia, 29 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 20 cognitively normal controls were recruited and subjected to full neuropsychological evaluation, including simultanagnosia tests, and structural and resting-state functional MRI. The gray matter volume was assessed by voxel-based morphometry, while the intrinsic functional connectivity was evaluated using the reduced gray matter volume regions of interest as the seed. In contrast to the patients with Alzheimer’s disease, those with posterior cortical atrophy showed the following: (1) markedly lower simultanagnosia test scores, (2) an altered regional gray matter volume of the left middle occipital gyrus and ventral occipital areas, and (3) lowered intrinsic functional connectivity with the left middle occipital gyrus, left lingual gyrus and right middle occipital gyrus separately. Additionally, the gray matter volume of the left middle occipital gyrus and left inferior occipital gyrus were each correlated with simultanagnosia in posterior cortical atrophy patients. The intrinsic functional connectivity of the left middle occipital gyrus with the right superior occipital gyrus and that of the right middle occipital gyrus with the left superior parietal gyrus were also correlated with simultanagnosia in posterior cortical atrophy patients. In summary, this study indicated that simultanagnosia is associated with gray matter reductions and decreased functional connectivity in the left middle occipital gyrus and the left inferior occipital gyrus in patients with posterior cortical atrophy.

Cortical Alterations Are Associated with Depression in Subcortical Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment Revealed by Surface-Based Morphometry

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 673-681
Author(s):  
Jianjun Wang ◽  
Hanqing Lyu ◽  
Jianxiang Chen ◽  
Songjun Lin ◽  
Haotao Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Surface Based Morphometry

Background: Late-life depression often coexists with vascular cognitive impairment and affects the quality of life for elders. However, little is known about cortical morphometric interactions between subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI) and concomitant mild depressive symptoms at the early stage. Objective: We aimed to investigate cortical alterations of svMCI with and without depressive symptoms and determine whether these parameters are associated with depression symptoms and/or cognitive impairments. Methods: Surface based morphometry was performed on 18 svMCI patients with depressive symptoms (svMCI + D), 16 svMCI patients without depressive symptoms (svMCI–D), and 23 normal controls (NC). Results: Compared to NC, both svMCI + D and svMCI–D patients exhibited significantly decreased surface area (SA) in many cortical areas. Interestingly, svMCI + D patients showed significantly increased rather than decreased SA in right lateral occipital gyrus (LOG.R), and a consistent trend of increased SA in these areas compared to svMCI–D. In addition, the svMCI + D showed increased gray matter volume of left pericalcarine (periCAL.L) than svMCI–D, whereas svMCI–D showed decreased gray matter volume of periCAL.L than NC. Further correlation analyses revealed that the SA of left superior temporal gyrus (STG.L) and right lateral orbital part of frontal gyrus (lorbFG.R) were significantly correlated with Hamilton depression rating scale of svMCI + D. Conclusion: In conclusion, these results extend our insight into svMCI and add weight to reevaluation of concomitant early stage depressive symptoms. Moreover, we suggest that LOG.R∖periCAL.L∖STG.L∖lorbFG.R might serve as sensitive and trait-dependent biomarkers to detect concomitant depressive symptoms in svMCI patients.

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