Regional Gray Matter Volume Identifies High Risk of Unsafe Driving in Healthy Older People

In developed countries, the number of traffic accidents caused by older drivers is increasing. Approximately half of the older drivers who cause fatal accidents are cognitively normal. Thus, it is important to identify older drivers who are cognitively normal but at high risk of causing fatal traffic accidents. However, no standardized method for assessing the driving ability of older drivers has been established. We aimed to establish an objective assessment of driving ability and to clarify the neural basis of unsafe driving in healthy older people. We enrolled 32 healthy older individuals aged over 65 years and classified unsafe drivers using an on-road driving test. We then utilized a machine learning approach to distinguish unsafe drivers from safe drivers based on clinical features and gray matter volume data. Twenty-one participants were classified as safe drivers and 11 participants as unsafe drivers. A linear support vector machine classifier successfully distinguished unsafe drivers from safe drivers with 87.5% accuracy (sensitivity of 63.6% and specificity of 100%). Five parameters (age and gray matter volume in four cortical regions, including the left superior part of the precentral sulcus, the left sulcus intermedius primus [of Jensen], the right orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus, and the right superior frontal sulcus), were consistently selected as features for the final classification model. Our findings indicate that the cortical regions implicated in voluntary orienting of attention, decision making, and working memory may constitute the essential neural basis of driving behavior.

Download Full-text

Major Thought Restructuring: The Roles of Different Prefrontal Cortical Regions

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01109 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (7) ◽

pp. 1147-1161 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shima Seyed-Allaei ◽

Zahra Nasiri Avanaki ◽

Bahador Bahrami ◽

Tim Shallice

Keyword(s):

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Cognitive Restructuring ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Morphometry Analysis ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

The Right

An important question for understanding the neural basis of problem solving is whether the regions of human prefrontal cortices play qualitatively different roles in the major cognitive restructuring required to solve difficult problems. However, investigating this question using neuroimaging faces a major dilemma: either the problems do not require major cognitive restructuring, or if they do, the restructuring typically happens once, rendering repeated measurements of the critical mental process impossible. To circumvent these problems, young adult participants were challenged with a one-dimensional Subtraction (or Nim) problem [Bouton, C. L. Nim, a game with a complete mathematical theory. The Annals of Mathematics, 3, 35–39, 1901] that can be tackled using two possible strategies. One, often used initially, is effortful, slow, and error-prone, whereas the abstract solution, once achieved, is easier, quicker, and more accurate. Behaviorally, success was strongly correlated with sex. Using voxel-based morphometry analysis controlling for sex, we found that participants who found the more abstract strategy (i.e., Solvers) had more gray matter volume in the anterior medial, ventrolateral prefrontal, and parietal cortices compared with those who never switched from the initial effortful strategy (i.e., Explorers). Removing the sex covariate showed higher gray matter volume in Solvers (vs. Explorers) in the right ventrolateral prefrontal and left parietal cortex.

Download Full-text

Commonalities for Numerical and Continuous Quantity Skills at Temporo-parietal Junction

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00546 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 986-999 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Marinella Cappelletti ◽

Rebecca Chamberlain ◽

Elliot D. Freeman ◽

Ryota Kanai ◽

Brian Butterworth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gray Matter ◽

Parietal Lobe ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Time And Space ◽

Continuous Quantity ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Magnitude Processing ◽

Continuous Quantities ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

The Right

How do our abilities to process number and other continuous quantities such as time and space relate to each other? Recent evidence suggests that these abilities share common magnitude processing and neural resources, although other findings also highlight the role of dimension-specific processes. To further characterize the relation between number, time, and space, we first examined them in a population with a developmental numerical dysfunction (developmental dyscalculia) and then assessed the extent to which these abilities correlated both behaviorally and anatomically in numerically normal participants. We found that (1) participants with dyscalculia showed preserved continuous quantity processing and (2) in numerically normal adults, numerical and continuous quantity abilities were at least partially dissociated both behaviorally and anatomically. Specifically, gray matter volume correlated with both measures of numerical and continuous quantity processing in the right TPJ; in contrast, individual differences in number proficiency were associated with gray matter volume in number-specific cortical regions in the right parietal lobe. Together, our new converging evidence of selective numerical impairment and of number-specific brain areas at least partially distinct from common magnitude areas suggests that the human brain is equipped with different ways of quantifying the outside world.

Download Full-text

Voxel-based correlation of 18F-THK5351 accumulation and gray matter volume in the brain of cognitively normal older adults

EJNMMI Research ◽

10.1186/s13550-019-0552-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yoko Shigemoto ◽

Daichi Sone ◽

Miho Ota ◽

Norihide Maikusa ◽

Masayo Ogawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Matter Volume ◽

The Brain

Download Full-text

The gray matter volume of the right insula mediates the relationship between symptoms of depression/anxiety and sleep quality among college students

Journal of Health Psychology ◽

10.1177/1359105319869977 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 135910531986997 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Huazhan Yin ◽

Li Zhang ◽

Dan Li ◽

Lu Xiao ◽

Mei Cheng

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Critical Role ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Matter Volume ◽

The Right ◽

The Relationship

This study investigated the neuroanatomical basis of the association between depression/anxiety and sleep quality among 370 college students. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between sleep quality and depression/anxiety. Moreover, mediation results showed that the gray matter volume of the right insula mediated the relationship between depression/anxiety and sleep quality, which suggested that depression/anxiety may affect sleep quality through the right insula volume. These findings confirmed a strong link between sleep quality and depression/anxiety, while highlighting the volumetric variation in the right insula associated with emotional processing, which may play a critical role in improving sleep quality.

Download Full-text

A preliminary study of gray matter volume differences related to context-dependent and independent decision-making

10.31234/osf.io/k6jpx ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zhang Jinbo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Decision Maker ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Cognitive Bias ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Decision Styles ◽

Context Dependent ◽

Independent Decision

Facing the high degree of uncertainty of the environment, we have evolved two kinds of decision-making styles: context-dependent and context-independent decision. However, the underlying neural basis of these two kinds of decision styles was mostly unknown. Here, the cognitive bias task was applied to split participants into the context-independent decision-maker and context-dependent decision-maker based on the cognitive bias task scores. Then, we used voxel-based morphometry to directly investigate its underlying differences in gray matter volume. We found that the gray matter volume of the prefrontal cortex and parietal regions, such as inferior parietal lobule, was larger in context-dependent decision-makers than that of the context-independent decision-maker.

Download Full-text

Attentional bias to threat and gray mater volume morphology in high anxious individuals

10.1101/2020.10.20.346981 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joshua M. Carlson ◽

Lin Fang

Keyword(s):

Attentional Bias ◽

Parietal Cortex ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Brain Morphology ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

The Right

AbstractIn a sample of highly anxious individuals, the relationship between gray matter volume brain morphology and attentional bias to threat was assessed. Participants performed a dot-probe task of attentional bias to threat and gray matter volume was acquired from whole brain structural T1-weighted MRI scans. The results replicate previous findings in unselected samples that elevated attentional bias to threat is linked to greater gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and striatum. In addition, we provide novel evidence that elevated attentional bias to threat is associated with greater gray matter volume in the right posterior parietal cortex, cerebellum, and other distributed regions. Lastly, exploratory analyses provide initial evidence that distinct sub-regions of the right posterior parietal cortex may contribute to attentional bias in a sex-specific manner. Our results illuminate how differences in gray matter volume morphology relate to attentional bias to threat in anxious individuals. This knowledge could inform neurocognitive models of anxiety-related attentional bias to threat and targets of neuroplasticity in anxiety interventions such as attention bias modification.

Download Full-text

What factors explain racial differences in memory‐related gray matter volume regions of interest among cognitively normal older adults?

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1002/alz.047637 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (S10) ◽

Author(s):

Sara L Godina ◽

Caterina Rosano ◽

Peter Gianaros ◽

Howard J Aizenstein ◽

Michelle C Carlson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Regions Of Interest ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Matter Volume

Download Full-text

Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals alterations of sensorimotor circuits in restless legs syndrome

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsz171 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (12) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ambra Stefani ◽

Thomas Mitterling ◽

Anna Heidbreder ◽

Ruth Steiger ◽

Christian Kremser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Disease Duration ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Iron Storage ◽

Matter Volume ◽

The Right

Abstract Study Objectives Integrated information on brain microstructural integrity and iron storage and its impact on the morphometric profile is not available in restless legs syndrome (RLS). We applied multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including diffusion tensor imaging, the transverse relaxation rate (R2*), a marker for iron storage, as well as gray and white matter volume measures to characterize RLS-related MRI signal distribution patterns and to analyze their associations with clinical parameters. Methods Eighty-seven patients with RLS (mean age 51, range 20–72 years; disease duration, mean 13 years, range 1–46 years, of those untreated n = 30) and 87 healthy control subjects, individually matched for age and gender, were investigated with multimodal 3T MRI. Results Volume of the white matter compartment adjacent to the post- and precentral cortex and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the frontopontine tract were both significantly reduced in RLS compared to healthy controls, and these alterations were associated with disease duration (r = 0.25, p = 0.025 and r = 0.23, p = 0.037, respectively). Corresponding gray matter volume increases of the right primary motor cortex in RLS (p < 0.001) were negatively correlated with the right FA signal of the frontopontine tract (r = −0.22; p < 0.05). Iron content evaluated with R2* was reduced in the putamen as well as in temporal and occipital compartments of the RLS cohort compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Conclusions Multimodal MRI identified progressing white matter decline of key somatosensory circuits that may underlie the perception of sensory leg discomfort. Increases of gray matter volume of the premotor cortex are likely to be a consequence of functional neuronal reorganization.

Download Full-text