scholarly journals Cognitive Development and Brain Gray Matter Susceptibility to Prenatal Adversities: Moderation by the Prefrontal Cortex Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene Co-expression Network

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euclides José de Mendonça Filho ◽  
Barbara Barth ◽  
Denise Ruschel Bandeira ◽  
Randriely Merscher Sobreira de Lima ◽  
Danusa Mar Arcego ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Neurotrophic Factor ◽  
Gene Network ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Factor Gene ◽  
Development Trajectories ◽  
The Brain

Background: Previous studies focused on the relationship between prenatal conditions and neurodevelopmental outcomes later in life, but few have explored the interplay between gene co-expression networks and prenatal adversity conditions on cognitive development trajectories and gray matter density.Methods: We analyzed the moderation effects of an expression polygenic score (ePRS) for the Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor gene network (BDNF ePRS) on the association between prenatal adversity and child cognitive development. A score based on genes co-expressed with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) BDNF was created, using the effect size of the association between the individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and the BDNF expression in the PFC. Cognitive development trajectories of 157 young children from the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) cohort were assessed longitudinally in 4-time points (6, 12, 18, and 36 months) using the Bayley-II mental scales.Results: Linear mixed-effects modeling indicated that BDNF ePRS moderates the effects of prenatal adversity on cognitive growth. In children with high BDNF ePRS, higher prenatal adversity was associated with slower cognitive development in comparison with those exposed to lower prenatal adversity. Parallel-Independent Component Analysis (pICA) suggested that associations of expression-based SNPs and gray matter density significantly differed between low and high prenatal adversity groups. The brain IC included areas involved in visual association processes (Brodmann area 19 and 18), reallocation of attention, and integration of information across the supramodal cortex (Brodmann area 10).Conclusion: Cognitive development trajectories and brain gray matter seem to be influenced by the interplay of prenatal environmental conditions and the expression of an important BDNF gene network that guides the growth and plasticity of neurons and synapses.

Prefrontal Cortex Dopamine Transporter Gene Network Moderates the Effect of Perinatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Conditions on Cognitive Flexibility and Brain Gray Matter Density in Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 621-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Maidana Miguel ◽  
Lenir Orlandi Pereira ◽  
Barbara Barth ◽  
Euclides José de Mendonça Filho ◽  
Irina Pokhvisneva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dopamine Transporter ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gene Network ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Transporter Gene ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Dopamine Transporter Gene

scholarly journals An Investigation of the Relationship Between Psychopathy and Greater Gray Matter Density in Lateral Prefrontal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Lasko ◽  
David Skylan Chester ◽  
Alexandra Martelli ◽  
Samuel James West ◽  
C. Nathan DeWall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Inhibitory Mechanisms ◽  
Antisocial Tendencies

Psychopathic traits predispose individuals toward antisocial behavior. Such antagonistic acts often result in 'unsuccessful’ outcomes such as incarceration. What mechanisms allow some people with relatively high levels of psychopathic traits to live ‘successful’, un-incarcerated lives, in spite of their antisocial tendencies? Using neuroimaging, we investigated the possibility that ‘successful’ psychopathic individuals exhibited greater development of neural structures that promote ‘successful’ self-regulation, focusing on the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Across two structural MRI studies of ‘successful’ participants (Study 1: N = 80 individuals in long-term romantic relationships; Study 2: N = 64 undergraduates), we observed that gray matter density in the left and right VLPFC was positively associated with psychopathic traits. These preliminary results support a compensatory model of psychopathy, in which ‘successful’ psychopathic individuals develop inhibitory mechanisms to compensate for their antisocial tendencies. Traditional models of psychopathy that emphasize deficits may be aided by such compensatory models that identify surfeits in neural and psychological processes.

scholarly journals An Investigation of the Relationship Between Psychopathy and Greater Gray Matter Density in Lateral Prefrontal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Lasko ◽  
David Skylan Chester ◽  
Alexandra Martelli ◽  
Samuel James West ◽  
C. Nathan DeWall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Inhibitory Mechanisms ◽  
Antisocial Tendencies

Psychopathic traits predispose individuals toward antisocial behavior. Such antagonistic acts often result in ‘unsuccessful’ outcomes such as incarceration. What mechanisms allow some people with relatively high levels of psychopathic traits to live ‘successful’, un-incarcerated lives, in spite of their antisocial tendencies? Using neuroimaging, we investigated the possibility that ‘successful’ psychopathic individuals exhibited greater development of neural structures that promote ‘successful’ self-regulation, focusing on the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Across two structural MRI studies of ‘successful’ participants (Study 1: N = 80 individuals in long-term romantic relationships; Study 2: N = 64 undergraduates), we observed that gray matter density in the left and right VLPFC was positively associated with psychopathic traits. These preliminary results support a compensatory model of psychopathy, in which ‘successful’ psychopathic individuals develop inhibitory mechanisms to compensate for their antisocial tendencies. Traditional models of psychopathy that emphasize deficits may be aided by such compensatory models that identify surfeits in neural and psychological processes.

Linking planning performance and gray matter density in mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: Moderating effects of age and sex

NeuroImage ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 1454-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph P. Kaller ◽  
Katharina Heinze ◽  
Irina Mader ◽  
Josef M. Unterrainer ◽  
Benjamin Rahm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Age And Sex

Multilingualism and the Brain

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 68-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve Higby ◽  
Jungna Kim ◽  
Loraine K. Obler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Control Language ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Language Representation ◽  
The Brain

Over the last decade, research on multilingualism has grown and has provided researchers with new insights into the mechanisms at work in the multilingual brain. While some studies of multilinguals have shown similar results to what has been seen in studies of bilinguals, certain unique properties of multilinguals are beginning to be noticed, particularly regarding early language representation, gray matter density, and speed of lexical retrieval. In addition, research on cognitive control, language switching, working memory, and certain consequences of multilingualism (advantages and disadvantages) are reviewed in terms of their effects on the brains of bilinguals and multilinguals. Although there is little agreement among papers concerning specific regions that are structurally different in monolinguals and multilinguals, publications do show differences. Similarly, there are studies reporting somewhat different regions called upon for processing a given language in multilinguals compared to monolinguals.

Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem

Neuroreport ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Vestergaard-Poulsen ◽  
Martijn van Beek ◽  
Joshua Skewes ◽  
Carsten R. Bjarkam ◽  
Michael Stubberup ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Physical Aggressiveness and Gray Matter Deficits in Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Skylan Chester ◽  
Donald Lynam ◽  
Richard Milich ◽  
C. Nathan DeWall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Physical Aggression ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Verbal Aggression ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Normal Female ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Normal Individuals

What causes individuals to hurt others? Since the famous case of Phineas Gage, lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) have been reliably linked to physically aggressive behavior. However, it is unclear whether naturally-occurring deficits in VMPFC, among normal individuals, might have widespread consequences for aggression. Using voxel based morphometry, we regressed gray matter density from the brains of 138 normal female and male adults onto their dispositional levels of physical aggression, verbal aggression, and sex, simultaneously. Physical, but not verbal, aggression was associated with reduced gray matter volume in the VMPFC and to a lesser extent, frontopolar cortex. Participants with less gray matter density in this VMPFC cluster were much more likely to engage in real-world violence. These findings suggest that even granular deficits in normal individuals’ VMPFC gray matter can promote physical aggression.

scholarly journals Voxel-based morphometry and arterial spin labeling fMRI reveal neuropathic and neuroplastic features of brain processing of itch in end-stage renal disease

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 1729-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru D. P. Papoiu ◽  
Nichole M. Emerson ◽  
Tejesh S. Patel ◽  
Robert A. Kraft ◽  
Rodrigo Valdes-Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Volunteers ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
End Stage Renal Disease ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Stage Renal Disease ◽  
End Stage ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Esrd Patients

Pruritus of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a multifactorial symptom of complex etiology not yet fully understood. In this study we have investigated the cerebral perfusion patterns at rest in ESRD patients on hemodialysis, compared with those in healthy volunteers. We have also studied the brain responses evoked by experimental itch induction in ESRD, after stimulating the two distinct histamine and cowhage itch pathways, and compared them with the responses evoked in healthy volunteers. To identify potential structural alterations in ESRD patients compared with a group of age-matched healthy volunteers, we calculated the density of gray matter for the entire brain using a voxel-based morphometric analysis. Our results indicated that gray matter density was significantly reduced in ESRD patients in the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital cortices, as well as in the S1, precuneus, and insula, whereas the brain stem, hippocampus, amygdala, midcingulate cortex, and nucleus accumbens displayed an increased gray matter density. Functionally, we found a significantly higher brain perfusion at baseline associated with ESRD pruritus in the anterior cingulate, insula, claustrum, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens. The brain responses evoked by cowhage itch, which are mediated by protease-activated receptors (PAR2), displayed significant differences compared with responses in healthy individuals and were correlated with perceived itch intensity in a dual, complex manner. The inverse correlations in particular suggested that a negative feedback mechanism modulated itch intensity, when elicited in a preexistent chronic itch background.

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