scholarly journals Dimensions of Attention Associated With the Microstructure of Corona Radiata White Matter

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 458-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise A. Stave ◽  
Michael D. De Bellis ◽  
Steven R. Hooper ◽  
Donald P. Woolley ◽  
Suk Ki Chang ◽  
...  

Mirsky proposed a model of attention that included these dimensions: focus/execute, sustain, stabilize, encode, and shift. The neural correlates of these dimensions were investigated within corona radiata subregions in healthy youth. Diffusion tensor imaging and neuropsychological assessments were conducted in 79 healthy, right-handed youth aged 4-17 years. Diffusion tensor imaging maps were analyzed using standardized parcellation methods. Partial Pearson correlations between neuropsychological standardized scores, representing these attention dimensions, and diffusion tensor imaging measures of corona radiata subregions were calculated after adjusting for gender and IQ. Significant correlations were found between the focus/execute, sustain, stabilize, and shift dimensions and imaging metrics in hypothesized corona radiata subregions. Results suggest that greater microstructural white matter integrity of the corona radiata is partly associated with attention across 4 attention dimensions. Findings suggest that white matter microstructure of the corona radiata is a neural correlate of several, but not all, attention dimensions.

2014 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 882-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Sasaki ◽  
Ofer Pasternak ◽  
Michael Mayinger ◽  
Marc Muehlmann ◽  
Peter Savadjiev ◽  
...  

Object The aim of this study was to examine the brain's white matter microstructure by using MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in ice hockey players with a history of clinically symptomatic concussion compared with players without a history of concussion. Methods Sixteen players with a history of concussion (concussed group; mean age 21.7 ± 1.5 years; 6 female) and 18 players without a history of concussion (nonconcussed group; mean age 21.3 ± 1.8 years, 10 female) underwent 3-T DTI at the end of the 2011–2012 Canadian Interuniversity Sports ice hockey season. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to test for group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), and the measure “trace,” or mean diffusivity. Cognitive evaluation was performed using the Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) and the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool–2 (SCAT2). Results TBSS revealed a significant increase in FA and AD, and a significant decrease in RD and trace in several brain regions in the concussed group, compared with the nonconcussed group (p < 0.05). The regions with increased FA and decreased RD and trace included the right posterior limb of the internal capsule, the right corona radiata, and the right temporal lobe. Increased AD was observed in a small area in the left corona radiata. The DTI measures correlated with neither the ImPACT nor the SCAT2 scores. Conclusions The results of the current study indicate that a history of concussion may result in alterations of the brain's white matter microstructure in ice hockey players. Increased FA based on decreased RD may reflect neuroinflammatory or neuroplastic processes of the brain responding to brain trauma. Future studies are needed that include a longitudinal analysis of the brain's structure and function following a concussion to elucidate further the complex time course of DTI changes and their clinical meaning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 270 ◽  
pp. 8-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Vitolo ◽  
Mona Karina Tatu ◽  
Claudia Pignolo ◽  
Franco Cauda ◽  
Tommaso Costa ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 396-409
Author(s):  
Alexandrine Morand ◽  
Shailendra Segobin ◽  
Grégory Lecouvey ◽  
Julie Gonneaud ◽  
Francis Eustache ◽  
...  

Abstract Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) allows us to remember to perform intended actions at a specific time in the future. TBPM is sensitive to the effects of age, but the neural substrates of this decline are still poorly understood. The aim of the present study was thus to better characterize the brain substrates of the age-related decline in TBPM, focusing on macrostructural gray matter and microstructural white matter integrity. We administered a TBPM task to 22 healthy young (26 ± 5.2 years) and 23 older (63 ± 5.9 years) participants, who also underwent volumetric magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging scans. Neuroimaging analyses revealed lower gray matter volumes in several brain areas in older participants, but these did not correlate with TBPM performance. By contrast, an age-related decline in fractional anisotropy in several white-matter tracts connecting frontal and occipital regions did correlate with TBPM performance, whereas there was no significant correlation in healthy young subjects. According to the literature, these tracts are connected to the anterior prefrontal cortex and the thalamus, 2 structures involved in TBPM. These results confirm the view that a disconnection process occurs in aging and contributes to cognitive decline.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document