Pubertal hormones and brain structure: Exploring the value of hair assays

Neuroimaging research has highlighted the role of puberty in structural brain development in humans, but studies investigating the mechanistic role of hormones in this association have produced inconsistent findings. Limitations of current approaches to hormonal assessments have long been recognized, as basal hormone levels are susceptible to momentary influences (in particular, circadian rhythmicity and menstrual cyclicity). However, emerging research suggests that a novel method of assaying pubertal hormone concentrations in hair may overcome some of these issues by capturing hormonal exposure across a longer period of time. This study is the first to compare associations between hormone concentrations measured via hair and saliva with brain structure in a sample of early adolescent females (N = 112, 10-13 years of age). Estradiol, testosterone, and DHEA concentrations were assayed from i) 5cm hair samples collected proximal to the scalp, reflecting approximately 5 months of hormonal exposure, and ii) repeated weekly saliva samples collected over the course of one month. Participants also underwent structural MRI scans, and estimates of cortical thickness and subcortical volume were obtained. Findings revealed that pubertal hormones in saliva samples exhibited strongest associations with parieto-occipital cortices. Comparatively, hair hormone concentrations exhibited stronger negative associations with cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortical thickness, which may reflect unique developmental processes that occur across longer periods of hormonal exposure. However, controlling for pubertal stage removed much of the cortical associations with hormones in saliva, and resulted in minimal change in cortical associations with hormones in hair. Thus hormone concentrations in hair may reflect biological processes not captured by self-reported pubertal stage that influence brain development. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of these potentially unique neurodevelopmental processes captured by saliva and hair hormone concentrations.

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Bayesian Causal Network Modeling Suggests Adolescent Cannabis Use Promotes Accelerated Prefrontal Cortical Thinning

10.31234/osf.io/2fzjp ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Max Michael Owens

Keyword(s):

Brain Development ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Recent Analysis ◽

Causal Network ◽

Cortical Thinning ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Brain Structure And Function

While there is substantial evidence that cannabis use is associated with differences in brain structure and function, most of this evidence is correlational in nature. This is particularly true regarding the association of adolescent cannabis use on human brain development, which cannot be tested in an experimental approach. Bayesian causal network (BCN) modeling attempts to identify probable causal associations in correlational data by using the conditional probabilities among a set of interrelated variables to estimate directional associations between those variables. The current report builds on a recent analysis conducted by Albaugh et al. (2021) that found an association between neurodevelopment and cannabis use in the IMAGEN study of adolescent brain development. Here, we employ BCN modeling on the same sample to provide evidence that the associations found previously are driven by cannabis use affecting neurodevelopment and not, for example, by a pre-existing neurodevelopmental trajectory that also promotes cannabis use. Structural MRI was acquired at ages 14 and 19, from which average cortical thickness was derived for a region of interest in the dorsal prefrontal cortex identified by Albaugh et al. as differing in adolescents who initiated cannabis use between ages 14 and 19. Adolescents were all cannabis naïve at age 14 and 46% had used cannabis at least once by age 19. We tested multiple learning algorithms with a variety of different parameters to build BCNs that would describe the relationship between cortical thickness and cannabis use. All BCN models strongly suggested a directional relationship from cannabis use between the ages of 14 and 19 to accelerated cortical thinning during that same period. Acknowledging that BCN modeling cannot prove a causal relationship between adolescent cannabis use and accelerated cortical thinning, these results are consistent with a body of preclinical and human research suggesting that adolescent cannabis use adversely affects brain development.

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„Nie popadajmy w przesadę z tą równością” – płeć mózgu, heteronorma i mistyka naukowości

Adeptus ◽

10.11649/a.1502 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ludmiła Janion

Keyword(s):

Brain Development ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Right Wing ◽

Significant Aspect ◽

Popular Book ◽

Scientific Justification ◽

The Brain

„Let’s not be too eager about equality” – brain sex, heteronormativity, and the scientific mystiqueThe article analyses the role of brain sex in Polish public discourse of the last years. The authors of a popular book Brain Sex claim that differences between women and men stem from differences in the brain structure, and because of that they are universal and unchangeable; feminism is based on misrepresentation of science. This thesis was overtaken by right-wing journalists, as it gave scientific justification to conservative gender politics and contemplementarity – the gender ontology of the Catholic church. However, in the rightwing journalism a significant aspect of brain sex theory is silenced, namely, the claim that homo- and transsexuality result from disorders in brain development; they are unchangeable and should be accepted. Despite its conservative roots, brain sex was popularized in liberal media as well. The aura of science that accompanied this popular theory allowed to naturalize its anti-feminism and heteronormativity. This phenomenon is discussed on the basis of media activity of two Polish scientists who are popular both in right-wing and liberal media: Anna Grabowska and Jerzy Vetulani. Both present brain sex theory as objective, universally accepted truth, which is attacked in the name of the leftist ideology by ignorant activists who deny science. „Nie popadajmy w przesadę z tą równością” – płeć mózgu, heteronorma i mistyka naukowościArtykuł analizuje rolę płci mózgu w polskim dyskursie publicznym ostatnich lat. Autorzy niezwykle popularnej w Polsce książki Płeć mózgu twierdzą, że różnice między kobietami i mężczyznami wynikają z różnic w budowie mózgów, a przez to są uniwersalne i niezmienne, feminizm zaś jest oparty na fałszowaniu nauki. Teza ta została podchwycona przez prawicowych publicystów, ponieważ nadawała naukową legitymację konserwatywnej polityce płci oraz komplementaryzmowi – ontologii płci przyjętej przez Kościół katolicki. W prawicowym piśmiennictwie przemilcza się jednak istotny aspekt płci mózgu, mianowicie twierdzenie, że homo- i transseksualność wynikają z wad w rozwoju mózgu, są niezmienne i powinny być akceptowane. Mimo swoich konserwatywnych korzeni płeć mózgu była popularyzowana także w mediach liberalnych. Nimb naukowości, którym otaczany był popularny pogląd, pozwalał naturalizować związane z nim antyfeminizm i heteronormatywność. Zjawisko to omówione jest na podstawie działalności popularyzatorskiej dwojga naukowców, cieszących się popularnością zarówno w prawicowych, jak i liberalnych mediach: Anny Grabowskiej i Jerzego Vetulaniego. Oboje przedstawiali płeć mózgu jako obiektywną, powszechnie uznawaną naukową prawdę, z którą w imię lewicowej ideologii próbują walczyć nieakceptujący ustaleń nauki aktywiści.

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The Role of MRI Biomarkers and Their Interactions with Cognitive Status and APOE ε4 in Nondemented Elderly Subjects

Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽

10.1159/000495754 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (5-6) ◽

pp. 270-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Xue Liang ◽

Zhenyu Yin ◽

Renyuan Liu ◽

Hui Zhao ◽

Sichu Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cortical Thickness ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Elderly Subjects ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Hippocampal Subfields ◽

Apoe Ε4 ◽

Group 3 ◽

The Brain

Purpose: (1) To investigate atrophy patterns of hippocampal subfield volume and Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-signature cortical thickness in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients; (2) to explore the association between the neuropsychological (NP) and the brain structure in the MCI and older normal cognition group; (3) to determine whether these associations were modified by the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 gene and cognitive status. Methods: The FreeSurfer software was used for automated segmentation of hippocampal subfields and AD-signature cortical thickness for 22 MCI patients and 23 cognitive normal controls (NC). The volume, cortical thickness, and the neuropsychological scale were compared with two-sample t tests. Linear regression models were used to determine the association between the NP and the brain structure. Results: Compared with the NC group, MCI patients showed a decreased volume of the left presubiculum, subiculum and right CA2_3 and CA4_DG (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). The volume of these regions was positively correlated with NP scores. Of note, these associations depended on the cognitive status but not on the APOE ε4 status. The left subiculum and presubiculum volume were positively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores only in the MCI patients. Conclusion: Atrophy of the hippocampal subfields may be a powerful biomarker for MCI in the Chinese population.

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Estimation of in-scanner head pose changes during structural MRI using a convolutional neural network trained on eye tracker video

10.1101/2021.03.04.433975 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Heath R Pardoe ◽

Samantha P Martin ◽

Yijun Zhao ◽

Allan George ◽

Hui Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Predictive Model ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Video Data ◽

Head Motion ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Head Pose ◽

Mri Scans ◽

Volume Estimates ◽

Subcortical Volume

Introduction In-scanner head motion is a common cause of reduced image quality in neuroimaging, and causes systematic brain-wide changes in cortical thickness and volumetric estimates derived from structural MRI scans. There are currently no widely available methods for measuring head motion during structural MRI. Here, we train a deep learning predictive model to estimate changes in head pose using video obtained from an in-scanner eye tracker during an EPI-BOLD acquisition with participants undertaking deliberate in-scanner head movements. The predictive model was used to estimate head pose changes during structural MRI scans, and correlated with cortical thickness and subcortical volume estimates. Methods 21 healthy controls (age 32 ± 13 years, 11 female) were studied. Participants carried out a series of stereotyped prompted in-scanner head motions during acquisition of an EPI-BOLD sequence with simultaneous recording of eye tracker video. Motion-affected and motion-free whole brain T1-weighted MRI were also obtained. Image coregistration was used to estimate changes in head pose over the duration of the EPI-BOLD scan, and used to train a predictive model to estimate head pose changes from the video data. Model performance was quantified by assessing the coefficient of determination (R²). We evaluated the utility of our technique by assessing the relationship between video-based head pose changes during structural MRI and (i) vertex-wise cortical thickness and (ii) subcortical volume estimates. Results Video-based head pose estimates were significantly correlated with ground truth head pose changes estimated from EPI-BOLD imaging in a hold-out dataset. We observed a general brain-wide overall reduction in cortical thickness with increased head motion, with some isolated regions showing increased cortical thickness estimates with increased motion. Subcortical volumes were generally reduced in motion affected scans. Conclusions We trained a predictive model to estimate changes in head pose during structural MRI scans using in-scanner eye tracker video. The method is independent of individual image acquisition parameters and does not require markers to be to be fixed to the patient, suggesting it may be well suited to clinical imaging and research environments. Head pose changes estimated using our approach can be used as covariates for morphometric image analyses to improve the neurobiological validity of structural imaging studies of brain development and disease.

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Non-linear effects of socioeconomic status on brain development: associations between parental occupation, cortical thickness and language skills in childhood and adolescence

10.1101/575993 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Budhachandra Khundrakpam ◽

Suparna Choudhury ◽

Uku Vainik ◽

Noor Al-Sharif ◽

Neha Bhutani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Cognitive Development ◽

Brain Development ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Early Adolescence ◽

Life Outcomes ◽

Parental Occupation ◽

The Impact ◽

The Brain

AbstractStudies have pointed to the role of the brain in mediating the effects of the social environment of the developing child on life outcomes. Since brain development involves nonlinear trajectories, these effects of the child’s social context will likely have age-related differential associations with the brain. However, there is still a dearth of integrative research investigating the interplay between neurodevelopmental trajectories, social milieu and life outcomes. We set out to fill this gap, focusing specifically on the role of socioeconomic status, SES (indexed by parental occupation) on brain and cognitive development by analyzing MRI scans from 757 typically-developing subjects (age = 3-21 years). We observed nonlinear interaction of age and SES on cortical thickness, specifically a significant positive association between SES and thickness around 9-13 years at several cortical regions. Using a moderated mediation model, we observed that cortical thickness mediated the link between SES and language abilities, and this mediation was moderated by ‘age’ in a quadratic pattern, indicating a pronounced SES-effect during early adolescence. Our results, drawn from cross-sectional data, provide a basis for further longitudinal studies to test whether early adolescence may be a sensitive time window for the impact of SES on brain and cognitive development.

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Bottom-of-sulcus dysplasia: the role of 18F-FDG PET in identifying a focal surgically remedial epileptic lesion

European Journal of Hybrid Imaging ◽

10.1186/s41824-020-00092-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

S. U. Berlangieri ◽

R. Mito ◽

M. Semmelroch ◽

M. Pedersen ◽

G. Jackson

Keyword(s):

Fdg Pet ◽

Focal Cortical Dysplasia ◽

Intractable Epilepsy ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Structural Abnormality ◽

Clinical Value ◽

Mri Features ◽

Before And After ◽

Mri Scans

Abstract Purpose Bottom-of-sulcus dysplasia (BOSD) is a type of focal cortical dysplasia and an important cause of intractable epilepsy. While the MRI features of BOSD have been well documented, the contribution of PET to the identification of these small lesions has not been widely explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET in the identification of BOSD. Methods Twenty patients with BOSD underwent both 18F-FDG PET and structural MRI scans as part of preoperative planning for surgery. Visual PET analysis was performed, and patients were classified as positive if they exhibited a focal or regional hypometabolic abnormality, or negative in the absence of a hypometabolic abnormality. MRI data were reviewed to determine if any structural abnormality characteristic of BOSD were observed before and after co-registration with PET findings. Results PET detected hypometabolic abnormalities consistent with the seizure focus location in 95% (19/20) of cases. Focal abnormalities were detected on 18F-FDG PET in 12/20 (60%) patients, while regional hypometabolism was evident in 7/20 (35%). BOSD lesions were missed in 20% (4/20) of cases upon initial review of MRI scans. Co-registration of 18F-FDG PET with MRI enabled detection of the BOSD in all four cases where the lesion was initially missed. Conclusion Our findings show that 18F-FDG PET provides additional clinical value in the localisation and detection of BOSD lesions, when used in conjunction with MRI.

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Abnormal Brain Development in Huntington’ Disease Is Recapitulated in the zQ175 Knock-In Mouse Model

Cerebral Cortex Communications ◽

10.1093/texcom/tgaa044 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chuangchuang Zhang ◽

Qian Wu ◽

Hongshuai Liu ◽

Liam Cheng ◽

Zhipeng Hou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brain Development ◽

Brain Volume ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Potential Effect ◽

Postnatal Period ◽

System Level ◽

Gene Therapies ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Mri Scans

Abstract Emerging cellular and molecular studies are providing compelling evidence that altered brain development contributes to the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease (HD). There has been lacking longitudinal system-level data obtained from in vivo HD models supporting this hypothesis. Our human MRI study in children and adolescents with HD indicates that striatal development differs between the HD and control groups, with initial hypertrophy and more rapid volume decline in HD group. In this study, we aimed to determine whether brain development recapitulates the human HD during the postnatal period. Longitudinal structural MRI scans were conducted in the heterozygous zQ175 HD mice and their littermate controls. We found that male zQ175 HD mice recapitulated the region-specific abnormal volume development in the striatum and globus pallidus, with early hypertrophy and then rapidly decline in the regional volume. In contrast, female zQ175 HD mice did not show significant difference in brain volume development with their littermate controls. This is the first longitudinal study of brain volume development at the system level in HD mice. Our results suggest that altered brain development may contribute to the HD pathogenesis. The potential effect of gene therapies targeting on neurodevelopmental event is worth to consider for HD therapeutic intervention.

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Narcissistic personality traits and prefrontal brain structure

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94920-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Igor Nenadić ◽

Carsten Lorenz ◽

Christian Gaser

Keyword(s):

Brain Structure ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Caudate Nuclei ◽

Brain Volumes ◽

Functional Studies ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Narcissistic Personality ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Mri Scans

AbstractNarcissistic traits have been linked to structural and functional brain networks, including the insular cortex, however, with inconsistent findings. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that subclinical narcissism is associated with variations in regional brain volumes in insular and prefrontal areas. We studied 103 clinically healthy subjects, who were assessed for narcissistic traits using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI, 40-item version) and received high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging. Voxel-based morphometry was used to analyse MRI scans and multiple regression models were used for statistical analysis, with threshold-free cluster enhancement (TFCE). We found significant (p < 0.05, family-wise error FWE corrected) positive correlations of NPI scores with grey matter in multiple prefrontal cortical areas (including the medial and ventromedial, anterior/rostral dorsolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, subgenual and mid-anterior cingulate cortices, insula, and bilateral caudate nuclei). We did not observe reliable links to particular facets of NPI-narcissism. Our findings provide novel evidence for an association of narcissistic traits with variations in prefrontal and insular brain structure, which also overlap with previous functional studies of narcissism-related phenotypes including self-enhancement and social dominance. However, further studies are needed to clarify differential associations to entitlement vs. vulnerable facets of narcissism.

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Meta-analysis of structural MRI studies in anorexia nervosa and the role of recovery: a systematic review protocol

Systematic Reviews ◽

10.1186/s13643-021-01799-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Melissa J Dreier ◽

Avery L. Van De Water ◽

Danielle L. Kahn ◽

Kendra R. Becker ◽

Kamryn T. Eddy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Brain Abnormalities ◽

Course Of Illness ◽

Structural Brain

Abstract Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with structural brain abnormalities. Studies have reported less cerebral tissue and more cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in individuals with AN relative to healthy controls, although findings are variable and inconsistent due to variations in sample size, age, and disease state (e.g., active AN, weight-recovered AN). Further, it remains unclear if structural brain abnormalities observed in AN are a consequence of specific brain pathologies or malnutrition, as very few longitudinal neuroimaging studies in AN have been completed. Methods To overcome this issue, this comprehensive meta-analysis will combine region-of-interest (ROI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approaches to understand how regional and global structural brain abnormalities differ among individuals with AN and healthy controls (HCs). Additionally, we aim to understand how clinical characteristics and physiological changes during the course of illness, including acute illness vs. weight recovery, may moderate these structural abnormalities. We will create an online database of studies that have investigated structural brain abnormalities in AN. Data will be reviewed independently by two members of our team using MEDLINE databases, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and CINAHL. We will conduct ROI and VBM meta-analysis using seed-based d mapping in AN and HCs. We will include all studies that include structural neuroimaging of individuals with AN (both acute and weight-recovered) and HCs between January 1997 and 2020. Discussion This systematic review will assess the effects of AN compared to HC on brain structure. Futhermore, it will explore the role of acute AN and weight-recovered AN on brain structure. Findings will help researchers and clinicians to better understand the course of illness in AN and the nature of recovery, in terms of weight, malnutrition, and the state of the brain. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020180921

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Executive function deficit in betel-quid-dependent chewers: Mediating role of prefrontal cortical thickness

Journal of Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1177/0269881118806299 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (12) ◽

pp. 1362-1368 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Xueling Zhu ◽

Shaohui Liu ◽

Weihua Liao ◽

Lingyu Kong ◽

Canhua Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Betel Quid ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Betel Quid Chewing ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Brain Structure And Function

Background: Betel quid is the fourth most popular psychoactive agent worldwide. Neuroimaging studies have suggested betel-quid dependence is accompanied by abnormality in brain structure and function. However, the neural correlates of executive function deficit and prefrontal cortical thickness associated with betel-quid chewing still remain unclear. Objective: The present study aimed to examine the relationship between executive function deficit and prefrontal cortical thickness in chronic betel-quid chewers. Methods: Twenty-three betel-quid-dependent chewers and 26 healthy controls were recruited to participate in this study. Executive function was tested using three tasks. Cortical thickness analysis was analyzed with the FreeSurfer software package. Results: Behavioral results suggested a profound deficit of executive function in betel-quid-dependent chewers. Cortical thickness analysis revealed thinner cortex in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in betel-quid-dependent chewers. Further analysis suggested that cortical thickness of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex mediated the correlation of betel-quid chewing and executive function. Conclusions: These results suggest the important role of executive function and cortical thickness of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with betel-quid chewing. Our findings provide evidence that executive function deficit may be mediated by the cortical thickness of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These results could potentially help us develop novel ways to diagnose and prevent betel-quid dependence.

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