scholarly journals Gray-Matter Expansion of Social Brain Networks in Individuals High in Public Self-Consciousness

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
Tomoyo Morita ◽  
Minoru Asada ◽  
Eiichi Naito
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Japanese Version ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Public Self Consciousness

Self-consciousness is a personality trait associated with an individual’s concern regarding observable (public) and unobservable (private) aspects of self. Prompted by previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, we examined possible gray-matter expansions in emotion-related and default mode networks in individuals with higher public or private self-consciousness. One hundred healthy young adults answered the Japanese version of the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) questionnaire and underwent structural MRI. A voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed that individuals scoring higher on the public SCS showed expansions of gray matter in the emotion-related regions of the cingulate and insular cortices and in the default mode network of the precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex. In addition, these gray-matter expansions were particularly related to the trait of “concern about being evaluated by others”, which was one of the subfactors constituting public self-consciousness. Conversely, no relationship was observed between gray-matter volume in any brain regions and the private SCS scores. This is the first study showing that the personal trait of concern regarding public aspects of the self may cause long-term substantial structural changes in social brain networks.

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 Functional Activation-Informed Structural Changes during Stroke Recovery: A Longitudinal MRI Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Wu ◽  
Lin Cheng ◽  
Guo-Yuan Yang ◽  
Shanbao Tong ◽  
Junfeng Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Stroke Recovery ◽  
Functional Reorganization ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Mri Study

Objective. Neuroimaging studies revealed the functional reorganization or the structural changes during stroke recovery. However, previous studies did not combine the functional and structural information and the results might be affected by heterogeneous lesion. This study aimed to investigate functional activation-informed structural changes during stroke recovery. Methods. MRI data of twelve stroke patients were collected at four consecutive time points during the first 3 months after stroke onset. Functional activation during finger-tapping task was used to inform the analysis of structural changes of activated brain regions. Correlation between structural changes in motor-related activated brain regions and motor function recovery was estimated. Results. The averaged gray matter volume (aGMV) of contralesional activated brain regions and laterality index of gray matter volume (LIGMV) increased during stroke recovery, and LIGMV was positively correlated with Fugl-Meyer Index (FMI) at initial stage after stroke. The aGMV of bilateral activated brain regions was negatively correlated with FMI during the stroke recovery. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that combining the stroke-induced functional reorganization and structural change provided new insights into the underlying innate plasticity process during stroke recovery. Significance. This study proposed a new approach to integrate functional and structural information for investigating the innate plasticity after stroke.

Sleep Duration, Sleep Apnea, and Gray Matter Volume

2021 ◽  
pp. 089198872098891
Author(s):  
Regina Eun Young Kim ◽  
Robert Douglas Abbott ◽  
Soriul Kim ◽  
Robert Joseph Thomas ◽  
Chang-Ho Yun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Bootstrap Sampling ◽  
Matter Volume

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sleep duration on brain structures in the presence versus absence of sleep apnea in middle-aged and older individuals. The study investigated a population-based sample of 2,560 individuals, aged 49-80 years. The presence of sleep apnea and self-reported sleep duration were examined in relation to gray matter volume (GMV) in total and lobar brain regions. We identified ranges of sleep duration associated with maximal GMV using quadratic regression and bootstrap sampling. A significant quadratic association between sleep duration and GMV was observed in total and lobar brain regions of men with sleep apnea. In the fully adjusted model, optimal sleep durations associated with peak GMV between brain regions ranged from 6.7 to 7.0 hours. Shorter and longer sleep durations were associated with lower GMV in total and 4 sub-regions of the brain in men with sleep apnea.

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 Conditioned fear reactions are associated with gray matter density but not cortical microstructure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Fraenz ◽  
Dorothea Metzen ◽  
Christian J. Merz ◽  
Helene Selpien ◽  
Nikolai Axmacher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Fear Reaction ◽  
Gray Matter Density ◽  
Diffusion Weighted Images

AbstractResearch has shown that fear acquisition, in reaction to potentially harmful stimuli or situations, is characterized by pronounced interindividual differences. It is likely that such differences are evoked by variability in the macro- and microstructural properties of brain regions involved in the processing of threat or safety signals from the environment. Indeed, previous studies have shown that the strength of conditioned fear reactions is associated with the cortical thickness or volume of various brain regions. However, respective studies were exclusively targeted at single brain regions instead of whole brain networks. Here, we tested 60 young and healthy individuals in a differential fear conditioning paradigm while they underwent fMRI scanning. In addition, we acquired T1-weighted and multi-shell diffusion-weighted images prior to testing. We used task-based fMRI data to define global brain networks which exhibited increased BOLD responses towards CS+ or CS- presentations, respectively. From these networks, we obtained mean values of gray matter density, neurite density, and neurite orientation dispersion. We found that mean gray matter density averaged across the CS+ network was significantly correlated with the strength of conditioned fear reactions quantified via skin conductance response. Measures of neurite architecture were not associated with conditioned fear reaction in any of the two networks. Our results extend previous findings on the relationship between brain morphometry and fear learning. Most importantly, our study is the first to introduce neurite imaging to fear learning research and discusses how its implementation can be improved in future research.

scholarly journals SLC25A24 gene methylation and gray matter volume in females with and without conduct disorder: an exploratory epigenetic neuroimaging study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Farrow ◽  
Andreas G. Chiocchetti ◽  
Jack C. Rogers ◽  
Ruth Pauli ◽  
Nora M. Raschle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Conduct Disorder ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Chromosome 1 ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Cu Traits ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors

AbstractConduct disorder (CD), a psychiatric disorder characterized by a repetitive pattern of antisocial behaviors, results from a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The clinical presentation of CD varies both according to the individual’s sex and level of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, but it remains unclear how genetic and environmental factors interact at the molecular level to produce these differences. Emerging evidence in males implicates methylation of genes associated with socio-affective processes. Here, we combined an epigenome-wide association study with structural neuroimaging in 51 females with CD and 59 typically developing (TD) females to examine DNA methylation in relation to CD, CU traits, and gray matter volume (GMV). We demonstrate an inverse pattern of correlation between CU traits and methylation of a chromosome 1 region in CD females (positive) as compared to TD females (negative). The identified region spans exon 1 of the SLC25A24 gene, central to energy metabolism due to its role in mitochondrial function. Increased SLC25A24 methylation was also related to lower GMV in multiple brain regions in the overall cohort. These included the superior frontal gyrus, prefrontal cortex, and supramarginal gyrus, secondary visual cortex and ventral posterior cingulate cortex, which are regions that have previously been implicated in CD and CU traits. While our findings are preliminary and need to be replicated in larger samples, they provide novel evidence that CU traits in females are associated with methylation levels in a fundamentally different way in CD and TD, which in turn may relate to observable variations in GMV across the brain.

scholarly journals Higher Social Rejection Sensitivity in Opioid-Dependent Patients Is Related to Smaller Insula Gray Matter Volume: A Voxel-Based Morphometric Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 1187-1195
Author(s):  
Patrick Bach ◽  
Ulrich Frischknecht ◽  
Svenja Klinkowski ◽  
Melanie Bungert ◽  
Damian Karl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Phobia ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Rejection Sensitivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Social Feedback ◽  
Social Ostracism

Abstract Opioid-dependent patients are highly sensitized to negative social feedback, and increased social rejection sensitivity was linked to adverse treatment outcome, but its neurobiological underpinnings have not been understood yet. The present study investigated gray matter (GM) volume differences between 19 opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) patients and 20 healthy controls using magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry. Associations of GM volumes with subjective feelings of exclusion and inclusion during a social ostracism (Cyberball) paradigm, with rejection sensitivity, social interaction anxiety and social phobia were explored. OMT patients displayed smaller GM volume in the bilateral insula and inferior frontal gyri. Psychometric and task data showed that patients reported significantly higher rejection sensitivity, social anxiety and social phobia scores and felt more excluded and less included during the social ostracism paradigm. Smaller GM volume in the insula was associated with higher subjective exclusion, lower subjective inclusion and higher rejection sensitivity, social anxiety and social phobia scores. Findings indicate that structural deficits in emotion- and anxiety-processing brain regions in OMT patients are associated with increased social rejection sensitivity. As social rejection is a potential trigger for relapse, patients might benefit from therapeutic strategies that promote social integration.

scholarly journals Association between cytomegalovirus infection, reduced gray matter volume, and resting-state functional hypoconnectivity in major depressive disorder: a replication and extension

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixia Zheng ◽  
Bart N. Ford ◽  
Rayus Kuplicki ◽  
Kaiping Burrows ◽  
Peter W. Hunt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Affective Processing ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Matter Volume

AbstractHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a neurotropic herpes virus known to cause neuropathology in patients with impaired immunity. Previously, we reported a reduction in the gray matter volume (GMV) of several brain regions in two independent samples of participants who were seropositive for HCMV (HCMV+) compared to matched participants who were seronegative for HCMV (HCMV−). In addition to an independent replication of the GMV findings, this study aimed to examine whether HCMV+ was associated with differences in resting-state functional connectivity (rsfMRI-FC). After balancing on 11 clinical/demographic variables using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), GMV and rsfMRI-FC were obtained from 99 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were classified into 42 HCMV+ and 57 HCMV− individuals. Relative to the HCMV− group, the HCMV+ group showed a significant reduction of GMV in nine cortical regions. Volume reduction in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (standardized beta coefficient (SBC) = −0.32, [95%CI, −0.62 to −0.02]) and the left pars orbitalis (SBC = −0.34, [95%CI, −0.63 to −0.05]) in the HCMV+ group was also observed in the previous study. Regardless of the parcellation method or analytical approach, relative to the HCMV− group, the HCMV+ group showed hypoconnectivity between the hubs of the sensorimotor network (bilateral postcentral gyrus) and the hubs of the salience network (bilateral insula) with effect sizes ranging from SBC = −0.57 to −0.99. These findings support the hypothesis that a positive HCMV serostatus is associated with altered connectivity of regions that are important for stress and affective processing and further supports a possible etiological role of HCMV in depression.

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.

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