scholarly journals Chronic, Mild Vestibulopathy Leads to Deficits in Spatial Tasks that Rely on Vestibular Input While Leaving Other Cognitive Functions and Brain Volumes Intact

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1369
Author(s):  
Milos Dordevic ◽  
Sabrina Sulzer ◽  
Doreen Barche ◽  
Marianne Dieterich ◽  
Christoph Arens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Vestibular Input ◽  
Bilateral Vestibulopathy ◽  
Brain Volumes

Objectives: In this study, based on the known vestibulo-hippocampal connections, we asked whether mild chronic vestibulopathy leads only to vestibular-related deficits or whether there are effects on hippocampal function, structure, and cognition in general. In more detail, we assessed whether chronic vestibulopathy leads to (a) deficits in vestibular tasks without cognitive demand (balancing), (b) deficits in spatial cognitive tasks that require vestibular input (path integration, rotational memory), (c) deficits in spatial cognitive tasks that do not rely on vestibular input, (d) deficits in general cognitive function, and (e) atrophy in the brain. Methods: A total of 15 patients with chronic uni- or bilateral vestibulopathy (56.8 ± 10.1 years; 4 females) were included in this study and were age- and gender-matched by the control participants (57.6 ± 10.5) in a pairwise manner. Given their clinical symptoms and their deficits of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) the patients could be classified as being mildly affected. All participants of the underwent the following tests: clinical balance (CBT), triangle completion (TCT) for path integration, rotational memory (RM), the visuo-spatial subset of the Berlin intelligence structure test (BIS-4) and d2-R for attention and concentration, and a structural MRI for gray matter analysis using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Results: Compared to the healthy controls, the vestibulopathy patients performed significantly worse in terms of CBT, TCT, and RM but showed no differences in terms of the BIS-4 and d2-R. There were also no significant volumetric gray matter differences between the two groups. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that both non-cognitive and cognitive functions that rely on vestibular input (balancing, path integration, rotational memory) are impaired, even in mild chronic vestibulopathy, while other cognitive functions, which rely on visual input (visuo-spatial memory, attention), are unimpaired in this condition, together with an overall intact brain structure. These findings may reflect a segregation between vestibular- and visual-dependent processes in the medial temporal lobe on the one hand and a structure–function dissociation on the other.

scholarly journals Association of body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio with brain structure

Neurology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. e594-e600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hamer ◽  
G. David Batty
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Fat Mass ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Brain Images ◽  
Brain Volumes ◽  
Waist To Hip Ratio

ObjectiveTo examine the association of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with brain volume.MethodsWe used cross-sectional data from the UK Biobank study (n = 9,652, age 55.4 ± 7.5 years, 47.9% men). Measures included BMI, WHR, and total fat mass as ascertained from bioimpedance. Brain images were produced with structural MRI.ResultsAfter adjustment for a range of covariates, higher levels of all obesity measures were related to lower gray matter volume: BMI per 1 SD (β coefficient −4,113, 95% confidence interval [CI] −4,862 to −3,364), WHR (β coefficient −4,272, 95% CI −5,280 to −3,264), and fat mass (β coefficient −4,590, 95% CI −5,386 to −3,793). The combination of overall obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) and central obesity (WHR >0.85 for women, >0.90 for men) was associated with the lowest gray matter compared with that in lean adults. In hypothesis-free testing with a Bonferroni correction, obesity was also related to various regional brain volumes, including caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens. No associations between obesity and white matter were apparent.ConclusionThe combination of heightened BMI and WHR may be an important risk factor for gray matter atrophy.

scholarly journals Impairments in path integration, rotational memory and balancing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. e000077
Author(s):  
Milos Dordevic ◽  
Julia Gruber ◽  
Friedhelm C Schmitt ◽  
Notger Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Behavioural Tests ◽  
Behavioural Deficits

ObjectivesThe vestibulo-medial temporal lobe (MTL) axis model proposes that the vestibular system and the MTL are tightly linked both structurally and functionally so that alterations of one structure should entail disturbances in the other. Accordingly, patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with their functional and possible structural temporal lobe pathology should show deficits in vestibular-related behaviour. This study aimed at assessing behavioural deficits related to a suspected disturbance of the vestibulo-MTL axis in patients with TLE.MethodsTwenty patients with TLE (46.7±15.1 years, seven females) and their age-matched and gender-matched controls (46.7±15.1, seven females) underwent three test batteries that challenged vestibular and MTL functions: balancing, path integration (triangle completion test) and rotational memory. In addition, participants underwent a structural MRI for grey matter analysis using voxel-based morphometry.ResultsCompared with controls, patients with TLE showed significantly inferior performance in all three behavioural tests, with large effect sizes. There were no significant grey matter differences between the two groups.ConclusionThese results indicate a potential disturbance in the vestibulo-MTL axis in TLE; these are to be verified by future large-scale studies. In the current study, these behavioural deficits emerged without evidence of any brain volume differences between the patients and their controls as depicted by high-resolution MRI. This speaks for a dissociation between functional and structural alterations in TLE.

Association between COMT gene polymorphisms, clinical symptoms, and cognitive functions in Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuoli Sun ◽  
Zhengrong Zhang ◽  
Peixian Mao ◽  
Yun Ma ◽  
Wenbiao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Gene Polymorphisms ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Han Chinese ◽  
Comt Gene ◽  
Chinese Patients

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 Preserved representations and decodability of diverse cognitive functions across the cortex, cerebellum, and subcortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoya Nakai ◽  
Shinji Nishimoto
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Functional Representations ◽  
Model Training ◽  
Task Representations ◽  
The Brain

Which part of the brain contributes to our complex cognitive processes? Studies have revealed contributions of the cerebellum and subcortex to higher-order cognitive functions; however it is unclear whether such functional representations are preserved across the cortex, cerebellum, and subcortex. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging data with 103 cognitive tasks and constructed three voxel-wise encoding and decoding models independently using cortical, cerebellar, and subcortical voxels. Representational similarity analysis revealed that the structure of task representations is preserved across the three brain parts. Principal component analysis visualized distinct organizations of abstract cognitive functions in each part of the cerebellum and subcortex. More than 90% of the cognitive tasks were decodable from the cerebellum and subcortical activities, even for the novel tasks not included in model training. Furthermore, we discovered that the cerebellum and subcortex have sufficient information to reconstruct activity in the cerebral cortex.

scholarly journals Egocentric Navigation Abilities Predict Episodic Memory Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Committeri ◽  
Agustina Fragueiro ◽  
Maria Maddalena Campanile ◽  
Marco Lagatta ◽  
Ford Burles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Egocentric Navigation

The medial temporal lobe supports both navigation and declarative memory. On this basis, a theory of phylogenetic continuity has been proposed according to which episodic and semantic memories have evolved from egocentric (e.g., path integration) and allocentric (e.g., map-based) navigation in the physical world, respectively. Here, we explored the behavioral significance of this neurophysiological model by investigating the relationship between the performance of healthy individuals on a path integration and an episodic memory task. We investigated the path integration performance through a proprioceptive Triangle Completion Task and assessed episodic memory through a picture recognition task. We evaluated the specificity of the association between performance in these two tasks by including in the study design a verbal semantic memory task. We also controlled for the effect of attention and working memory and tested the robustness of the results by including alternative versions of the path integration and semantic memory tasks. We found a significant positive correlation between the performance on the path integration the episodic, but not semantic, memory tasks. This pattern of correlation was not explained by general cognitive abilities and persisted also when considering a visual path integration task and a non-verbal semantic memory task. Importantly, a cross-validation analysis showed that participants' egocentric navigation abilities reliably predicted episodic memory performance. Altogether, our findings support the hypothesis of a phylogenetic continuity between egocentric navigation and episodic memory and pave the way for future research on the potential causal role of egocentric navigation on multiple forms of episodic memory.

A joint study of whole exome sequencing and structural MRI analysis in major depressive disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamin Zhang ◽  
Mingli Li ◽  
Qiang Wang ◽  
Jacob Shujui Hsu ◽  
Wei Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Rare Variants ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Genetic Component ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Genetic Components ◽  
Burden Test

AbstractBackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide and influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. Genetic studies of MDD have focused on common variants and have been constrained by the heterogeneity of clinical symptoms.MethodsWe sequenced the exome of 77 cases and 245 controls of Han Chinese ancestry and scanned their brain. Burden tests of rare variants were performed first to explore the association between genes/pathways and MDD. Secondly, parallel Independent Component Analysis was conducted to investigate genetic underpinnings of gray matter volume (GMV) changes of MDD.ResultsTwo genes (CSMD1, p = 5.32×10−6; CNTNAP5, p = 1.32×10−6) and one pathway (Neuroactive Ligand Receptor Interactive, p = 1.29×10−5) achieved significance in burden test. In addition, we identified one pair of imaging-genetic components of significant correlation (r = 0.38, p = 9.92×10−6). The imaging component reflected decreased GMV in cases and correlated with intelligence quotient (IQ). IQ mediated the effects of GMV on MDD. The genetic component enriched in two gene sets, namely Singling by G-protein coupled receptors [false discovery rate (FDR) q = 3.23×10−4) and Alzheimer Disease Up (FDR q = 6.12×10−4).ConclusionsBoth rare variants analysis and imaging–genetic analysis found evidence corresponding with the neuroinflammation and synaptic plasticity hypotheses of MDD. The mediation of IQ indicates that genetic component may act on MDD through GMV alteration and cognitive impairment.

Cognitive Impairment in Children with Arachnoid Cyst of Sylvian Fissure: Does it Justify the Neurosurgical Treatment?

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (04) ◽  
pp. 362-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Kwiatkowska ◽  
Magdalena Dębicka ◽  
Agnieszka Maryniak ◽  
Stanisław Kwiatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Intracranial Hypertension ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Neurological Deficits ◽  
Neurosurgical Treatment ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis report discusses the relationship between arachnoid cysts (ACs) and cognitive deficits, and we ask if cognitive impairments could justify neurosurgical treatment. In clinical practice, only AC patients with symptoms of intracranial hypertension or focal neurological deficits are referred to surgery. Occasionally, one might assume that nonspecific problems such as impairment of learning, speech, or cognitive functions are caused by an AC and can be improved by surgery. We describe three patients, in which surgery was indicated on the basis of clinical symptoms such as headaches and the size of the cysts. A neuropsychological examination before AC surgery revealed reduced cognitive potential, and the same examination repeated after surgery showed improvement. We have not found any other reason for this change, except for the decompression of the AC.

The Effect of Cognitive Tasks During Electroencephalography Recording in Patients With Reflex Seizures

2020 ◽  
pp. 155005942098362
Author(s):  
Eser Buluş ◽  
Yasin Abanoz ◽  
Yeşim Gülen Abanoz ◽  
Seher Naz Yeni
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Verbal Task ◽  
Photic Stimulation ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Arithmetic Task ◽  
Cognitive Activation ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
Patients With Epilepsy ◽  
Group 1

Objective We aimed to research the effect of cognitive tasks on interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in patients with epilepsy who had reported cognitive functions as a seizure trigger. We investigated the usefulness of cognitive function tasks as a method of activation in standard-awake EEG in daily practice. Methods Standard-awake EEG with cognitive activation tasks consisting of verbal and arithmetic tasks was administered to 35 (11.7%) of 299 patients with epilepsy who reported cognitive functions as a reflex seizure stimulus. During the background EEG, patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (17 patients) with interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), and group 2 (18 patients) without IEDs. Results IEDs were activated by a verbal task in 11.4% of patients and by an arithmetic task in 5.7%. All activated patients were in the genetic/idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) group. In group 1, IEDs were activated in 17.6% of patients by a verbal task and in 5.9% by an arithmetic task. Both verbal and arithmetic tasks showed provocative effect in one patient in group 2. Hyperventilation was the most effective activation method, followed by cognitive activation tasks and photic stimulation. The provocative effects of verbal and arithmetic tasks were comparable to those of photic stimulation. Conclusion Cognitive tasks might activate the IEDs in patients reporting cognitive functions as a seizure trigger, particularly in IGE. Brief and standardized cognitive activation tasks should be developed and applied as a method of activation during standard-awake EEG recordings to increase the diagnostic yield of EEG.

Etiology and clinical symptoms of bilateral vestibulopathy

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
N.L. Kunelskaya ◽  
E.V. Baybakova ◽  
A.L. Guseva ◽  
M.A. Chugunova ◽  
E.A. Kulakova
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Bilateral Vestibulopathy
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