Problems with Interhemispheric Transfer of Information in Complete or Partial Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.N. Joseph ◽  
C.M. Bannister

Objective: We assessed the presence of poor interhemispheric communication in agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) and hydrocephalus. Methods: With spe cially designed tests, nine children with ACC were investigated and compared with 11 controls to see the degree of impairment present. Two subjects with a stretched cor pus callosum due to hydrocephalus also were tested. A subject with the corpus callo sum divided was tested for comparison. Results: Significant differences were found in tests of coordination and stereognosis both with ACC patients and the calloso tomy subject. No impairments were found in the hydrocephalics. Conclusions: When compared with controls, ACC patients perform poorly in several tests. The calloso tomy patient also showed evidence of impairment similar to that of the ACC patients.

Author(s):  
Massimo Piccirilli ◽  
Maria Teresa Palermo ◽  
Alessandro Germani ◽  
Maria Laura Bertoli ◽  
Viola Ancarani ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: Numerous investigations have documented that age-related changes in the integrity of the corpus callosum are associated with age-related decline in the interhemispheric transfer of information. Conversely, there is accumulating evidence for more efficient white matter organization of the corpus callosum in individuals with extensive musical training. However, the relationship between making music and accuracy in interhemispheric transfer remains poorly explored. Methods: To test the hypothesis that musicians show enhanced functional connectivity between the two hemispheres, 65 professional musicians (aged 56–90 years) and 65 age- and sex-matched non-musicians performed the fingertip cross-localization test. In this task, subjects must respond to a tactile stimulus presented to one hand using the ipsilateral (intra-hemispheric test) or contralateral (inter-hemispheric test) hand. Because the transfer of information from one hemisphere to another may imply a loss of accuracy, the value of the difference between the intrahemispheric and interhemispheric tests can be utilized as a reliable measure of the effectiveness of hemispheric interactions. Results: Older professional musicians show significantly greater accuracy in tactile interhemispheric transfer than non-musicians who suffer from age-related decline. Conclusions: Musicians have more efficient interhemispheric communication than age-matched non-musicians. This finding is in keeping with studies showing that individuals with extensive musical training have a larger corpus callosum. The results are discussed in relation to relevant data suggesting that music positively influences aging brain plasticity.


Cortex ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra A. Benavidez ◽  
Jack M. Fletcher ◽  
H. Julia Hannay ◽  
Sondra T. Bland ◽  
Susan E. Caudle ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 184 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany M. Chaim ◽  
Maristela S. Schaufelberger ◽  
Luiz K. Ferreira ◽  
Fábio L.S. Duran ◽  
Adriana M. Ayres ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
L. N. Brown ◽  
Y. Zhang ◽  
J. R. Mitchell ◽  
R. Zabad ◽  
L. M. Metz

Background:The corpus callosum (CC) is frequently compromised in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Structural and functional measurements of the CC may be useful to monitor the progression of the disease. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if bimanual tactile temporal thresholds correlates with CC volume. A tactile temporal threshold is the longest temporal interval that separates the onsets of two tactile stimuli when they are judged by the observer as simultaneous. Judgments to bimanual stimulations require interhemispheric transfer via the CC.Methods:Thresholds were examined in MS patients and matched controls. Magnetic resonance (MR) images were acquired on a 3T MR system within 48 hours of clinical assessment and measurement of thresholds.Results:Corpus callosum volume was assessed by using a semiautomatic livewire algorithm. The CC volume was smaller (by 21% on average, p < 0.01) and thresholds were higher (by 49% on average, p < 0.03) in MS patients when compared to controls. A significant correlation (r = -0.66, p = 0.01) between CC volume and thresholds emerged for the MS patients.Conclusion:Measuring treatment benefits of neuroprotective and repair therapies is a well recognized challenge in MS research. The overall findings of this study suggest that these measurements, which involve the transfer of information interhemispherically via the CC, may be promising outcome measures that warrant further scientific exploration to develop a model to measure recovery.


2000 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Ortiz ◽  
Michael Reicherts ◽  
Alan J. Pegna ◽  
Encarni Garran ◽  
Michel Chofflon ◽  
...  

Patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have frequently been found to suffer from damage to callosal fibers. Investigations have shown that this damage is associated with signs of hemisphere disconnections. The aim of our study was to provide evidence for the first signs of interhemispheric dysfunction in a mildly disabled MS population. Therefore, we explored whether the Interhemispheric Transfer (IT) deficit is multi-modal and sought to differentiate two MS evolution forms, on the basis of an interhemispheric disconnection index. Twenty-two patients with relapsing-remitting form of MS (RRMS) and 14 chronic-progressive (CPMS) were compared with matched controls on four tasks: a tachistoscopic verbal and non-verbal decision task, a dichotic listening test, cross tactile finger localization and motor tapping. No overall impairment was seen. The dichotic listening and lexical decision tasks were the most sensitive to MS. In addition, CPMS patients' IT was more impaired and was related to the severity of neurological impairment. The different sizes of the callosal fibers, which determine their vulnerability, may explain the heterogeneity of transfer through the Corpus Callosum. Therefore, evaluation of IT may be of value as an index of evolution in MS.


2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1818) ◽  
pp. 20151535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley A. Phillips ◽  
Cheryl D. Stimpson ◽  
Jeroen B. Smaers ◽  
Mary Ann Raghanti ◽  
Bob Jacobs ◽  
...  

Interhemispheric communication may be constrained as brain size increases because of transmission delays in action potentials over the length of axons. Although one might expect larger brains to have progressively thicker axons to compensate, spatial packing is a limiting factor. Axon size distributions within the primate corpus callosum (CC) may provide insights into how these demands affect conduction velocity. We used electron microscopy to explore phylogenetic variation in myelinated axon density and diameter of the CC from 14 different anthropoid primate species, including humans. The majority of axons were less than 1 µm in diameter across all species, indicating that conduction velocity for most interhemispheric communication is relatively constant regardless of brain size. The largest axons within the upper 95th percentile scaled with a progressively higher exponent than the median axons towards the posterior region of the CC. While brain mass among the primates in our analysis varied by 97-fold, estimates of the fastest cross-brain conduction times, as conveyed by axons at the 95th percentile, varied within a relatively narrow range between 3 and 9 ms across species, whereas cross-brain conduction times for the median axon diameters differed more substantially between 11 and 38 ms. Nonetheless, for both size classes of axons, an increase in diameter does not entirely compensate for the delay in interhemispheric transmission time that accompanies larger brain size. Such biophysical constraints on the processing speed of axons conveyed by the CC may play an important role in the evolution of hemispheric asymmetry.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Bayard ◽  
Nadia Gosselin ◽  
Manon Robert ◽  
Maryse Lassonde

Interhemispheric differences of the N100 latency in visual evoked potentials have been used to estimate interhemispheric transfer time (e.g., Saron & Davidson, 1989). Recent work has also suggested that the P300 component could reflect the efficacy of interhemispheric transmission (Polich & Hoffman, 1998). The purpose of the present study was to study the differential role of the corpus callosum (CC) and anterior commissure (AC) in the interhemispheric propagation of these two electrophysiological components. Thus, the amplitude and latency distribution of the N100 and P300 components were analyzed using high-density electrical mapping in a subject with agenesis of CC but preservation of AC, a subject with agenesis of both CC and AC, and 10 neurologically intact control subjects. The task consisted of a modified visual oddball paradigm comprising one frequent and two rare stimuli, one presented on the same and the other on the opposite side of the frequent stimulus. Interhemispheric differences in latency were found for the N100 component in controls. However, in the acallosal subjects, this component was not identifiable in the indirectly stimulated hemisphere. In controls, no interhemispheric differences were observed in the distribution of the P300 latency and amplitude to rare and frequent stimuli. The distribution of the P300 amplitude in the acallosal subject with an AC was identical to that of the controls, whereas in the acallosal subject lacking the AC, the amplitude was greater in the hemisphere receiving the frequent stimuli, regardless of the visual hemifield in which the rare stimuli were presented. In both acallosal subjects, hemispheric differences in the P300 latency were observed, the latencies being shorter in the hemisphere directly stimulated for all categories of stimuli. These results suggest that the interhemispheric transfer of both the N100 and P300 components relies on the integrity of cortical commissures. Possible P300 generator sources are discussed.


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