scholarly journals Repetitive T1 Imaging Influences Gray Matter Volume Estimations in Structural Brain Imaging

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Broessner ◽  
Isabel Ellerbrock ◽  
Mareike M. Menz ◽  
Florian Frank ◽  
Michael Verius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Signal Changes

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a widely used tool for studying structural patterns of brain plasticity, brain development and disease. The source of the T1-signal changes is not understood. Most of these changes are discussed to represent loss or possibly gain of brain gray matter and recent publications speculate also about non-structural changes affecting T1-signal. We investigated the potential of pain stimulation to ultra-short-term alter gray matter signal changes in pain relevant brain regions in healthy volunteers using a longitudinal design. Immediately following regional nociceptive input, we detected significant gray matter volume (GMV) changes in central pain processing areas, i.e. anterior cingulate and insula cortex. However, similar results were observed in a control group using the identical time intervals but without nociceptive painful input. These GMV changes could be reproduced in almost 100 scanning sessions enrolling 72 healthy individuals comprising repetitive magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (MPRAGE) sequences. These data suggest that short-term longitudinal repetitive MPRAGE may produce significant GMV changes without any intervention. Future studies investigating brain plasticity should focus and specifically report a consistent timing at which time-point during the experiment the T1-weighted scan is conducted. There is a necessity of a control group for longitudinal imaging studies.

scholarly journals Moderating Effect of Insulin Resistance on the Relationship between Gray Matter Volumes and Cognitive Function

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyeon Lee ◽  
Jihyeon Kim ◽  
Seong Shin ◽  
Soowon Park ◽  
Dong Yoon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Volume Loss ◽  
Matter Volume

Background: It is controversial whether exposure to insulin resistance accelerates cognitive deterioration. The present study aimed to investigate the association between insulin resistance and gray matter volume loss to predict the cognitive decline. Methods: We recruited 160 participants (78 with Alzheimer’s disease and 82 without Alzheimer’s disease). Insulin resistance, regional gray matter volume, and cognitive function were assessed. A hierarchical moderated multiple regression (MMR) model was used to determine any associations among insulin resistance, structural changes in the brain, and cognitive decline. Results: The volumes of 7 regions in the gray matter were negatively related to insulin resistance in Alzheimer’s disease (p =0.032). Hierarchical MMR analysis indicated that insulin resistance did not directly affect the cognitive decline but moderated the cognitive decline through the decrease in gray matter volume in the key brain regions, i.e., inferior orbitofrontal gyrus (left), middle cingulate gyrus (right), hippocampus (right), and precuneus (right) (p < 0.05 in each case). Conclusion: Insulin resistance appears to exacerbate the cognitive decline associated with several gray matter volume loss.

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

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.

scholarly journals Income is associated with hippocampal/amygdala and education with cingulate cortex grey matter volume

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lotze ◽  
M. Domin ◽  
C. O. Schmidt ◽  
N. Hosten ◽  
H. J. Grabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Income and education are both elements of a person’s socioeconomic status, which is predictive of a broad range of life outcomes. The brain’s gray matter volume (GMV) is influenced by socioeconomic status and mediators related to an unhealthy life style. We here investigated two independent general population samples comprising 2838 participants (all investigated with the same MRI-scanner) with regard to the association of indicators of the socioeconomic status and gray matter volume. Voxel-based morphometry without prior hypotheses revealed that years of education were positively associated with GMV in the anterior cingulate cortex and net-equivalent income with gray matter volume in the hippocampus/amygdala region. Analyses of possible mediators (alcohol, cigarettes, body mass index (BMI), stress) revealed that the relationship between income and GMV in the hippocampus/amygdala region was partly mediated by self-reported stressors, and the association of years of education with GMV in the anterior cingulate cortex by BMI. These results corrected for whole brain effects (and therefore not restricted to certain brain areas) do now offer possibilities for more detailed hypotheses-driven approaches.

scholarly journals Reduced anterior cingulate gray matter volume in treatment-naïve clinically depressed adolescents

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 336-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Nienke Pannekoek ◽  
Steven J.A. van der Werff ◽  
Bianca G. van den Bulk ◽  
Natasja D.J. van Lang ◽  
Serge A.R.B. Rombouts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Clinically Depressed ◽  
Treatment Naïve

scholarly journals The Association between Gray Matter Volume and Reading Proficiency: A Longitudinal Study of Beginning Readers

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janosch Linkersdörfer ◽  
Alina Jurcoane ◽  
Sven Lindberg ◽  
Jochen Kaiser ◽  
Marcus Hasselhorn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Measurement Time ◽  
Cortical Volume ◽  
Matter Volume

Neural systems involved in the processing of written language have been identified by a number of functional imaging studies. Structural changes in cortical anatomy that occur in the course of literacy acquisition, however, remain largely unknown. Here, we follow elementary school children over their first 2 years of formal reading instruction and use tensor-based morphometry to relate reading proficiency to cortical volume at baseline and follow-up measurement as well as to intraindividual longitudinal volume development between the two measurement time points. A positive relationship was found between baseline gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus and subsequent changes in reading proficiency. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between reading proficiency at the second measurement time point and intraindividual cortical volume development in the inferior parietal lobule and the precentral and postcentral gyri of the left hemisphere. These results are interpreted as evidence that reading acquisition is associated with preexisting structural differences as well as with experience-dependent structural changes involving dendritic and synaptic pruning.

scholarly journals Structural changes in secondary, but not primary, sensory cortex in individuals with congenital olfactory sensory loss

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moa G. Peter ◽  
Gustav Mårtensson ◽  
Elbrich M. Postma ◽  
Love Engström Nordin ◽  
Eric Westman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Sensory Loss ◽  
Morphological Alterations ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Primary Sensory Cortex

ABSTRACTIndividuals with congenital sensory loss usually demonstrate altered brain morphology in areas associated with early processing of the lost sense. Here, we aimed to establish whether this also applies to individuals born without a sense of smell (congenital anosmia) by comparing cortical morphology between 33 individuals with isolated congenital anosmia and matched controls. We detected no structural alterations in the primary olfactory (piriform) cortex. However, individuals with anosmia demonstrated gray matter volume atrophy in bilateral olfactory sulci, explained by decreased cortical area, curvature, and sulcus depth. They further demonstrated increased gray matter volume and cortical thickness in the medial orbital gyri; regions closely associated with olfactory processing, sensory integration, and value-coding. Our results suggest that a lifelong absence of sensory input does not necessarily lead to morphological alterations in primary sensory cortex and extend previous findings with divergent morphological alterations in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, indicating influences of different plastic processes.

scholarly journals Altered Default Mode Network Is Associated With Cognitive Impairment in Cadasil as Revealed by Multimodal Neuroimaging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panlong Li ◽  
Qi Huang ◽  
Shiyu Ban ◽  
Yuan Qiao ◽  
Jing Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Small Vessel Disease ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Matter Volume

Abstract Background: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) caused by mutations in NOTCH3 gene is a hereditary cerebral small vessel disease, manifesting with stroke, cognitive impairment and mood disturbances. Functional or structural changes in the default mode network (DMN), which plays important roles in cognitive and mental maintenance, have been found in a number of neurological and mental diseases. However, it is still unclear whether DMN is altered in CADASIL patients.Methods: Multimodal imaging methods, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), were applied to evaluate the functional, structural and metabolic characteristics of DMN in 25 CADASIL patients and 42 healthy controls.Results: Compared to controls, CADASIL patients had decreased nodal efficiency and degree centrality of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampal formation within DMN. Structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) showed decreased gray matter volume and fiber tracks presented in the bilateral hippocampal formation. Meanwhile, PET imaging showed decreased metabolism within the whole DMN in CADASIL. Furthermore, correlation analyses showed that these nodal characteristics, gray matter volume, and metabolic signals of DMN were related to cognitive scores in CADASIL.Conclusions: Our results suggested that altered network characteristics of DMN may play important roles in cognitive deficits of CADASIL.

scholarly journals Bariatric Surgery and Brain Health—A Longitudinal Observational Study Investigating the Effect of Surgery on Cognitive Function and Gray Matter Volume

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Prehn ◽  
Thorge Profitlich ◽  
Ida Rangus ◽  
Sebastian Heßler ◽  
A. Veronica Witte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bariatric Surgery ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Rapid Weight Loss ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Matter Volume

Dietary modifications leading to weight loss have been suggested as a means to improve brain health. In morbid obesity, bariatric surgery (BARS)—including different procedures, such as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), gastric banding (GB), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery—is performed to induce rapid weight loss. Combining reduced food intake and malabsorption of nutrients, RYGB might be most effective, but requires life-long follow-up treatment. Here, we tested 40 patients before and six months after surgery (BARS group) using a neuropsychological test battery and compared them with a waiting list control group. Subsamples of both groups underwent structural MRI and were examined for differences between surgical procedures. No substantial differences between BARS and control group emerged with regard to cognition. However, larger gray matter volume in fronto-temporal brain areas accompanied by smaller volume in the ventral striatum was seen in the BARS group compared to controls. RYGB patients compared to patients with restrictive treatment alone (VSG/GB) had higher weight loss, but did not benefit more in cognitive outcomes. In sum, the data of our study suggest that BARS might lead to brain structure reorganization at long-term follow-up, while the type of surgical procedure does not differentially modulate cognitive performance.

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