Increased Resting-State Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity of Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus and Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Congenital Amusia.

Zhishuai Jin,Ming Xu,Daxing Wu,Qixiong Li,Sizhu Huyang,Jinyu Wang,Lichen Jiang,Yajun Yan

doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.653325

Abstract

Interhemispheric connectivity of the two cerebral hemispheres is crucial for a broad repertoire of cognitive functions including music and language. Congenital amusia has been reported as a neurodevelopment disorder characterized by impaired music perception and production. However, little is known about the characteristics of the interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) in amusia. In the present study, we used a newly developed voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method to investigate the interhemispheric FC of the whole brain in amusia at resting-state. Thirty amusics and 29 matched participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. An automated VMHC approach was used to analyze the fMRI data. Compared to the control group, amusics showed increased VMHC within the posterior part of the default mode network (DMN) mainly in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Correlation analyses revealed negative correlations between the VMHC value in pSTG/PCC and the music perception ability among amusics. Further ROC analyses showed that the VMHC value of pSTG/PCC showed a good sensibility/specificity to differentiate the amusics from the controls. These findings provide a new perspective for understanding the neural basis of congenital amusia and imply the immature state of DMN may be a credible neural marker of amusia.

Highlights

Interhemispheric connectivity is a prominent feature of macroscopic brain organization characterized by a high level of collaboration between bilateral brain regions (Serrien et al, 2006)
To test the hypothesis that whether the abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) was associated with the music perception ability, we extracted the mean voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) values of posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG)/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and conducted Pearson’s correlation analyses of pSTG/PCC with Montreal Battery Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) scores including global musical score, melodic subtest, temporal subtest, and memory subtest in all participants, amusia group, and control group
Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analyses showed that the VMHC value of pSTG/PCC showed a good sensibility/specificity to differentiate the amusics from the controls

Summary

Introduction

Interhemispheric connectivity is a prominent feature of macroscopic brain organization characterized by a high level of collaboration between bilateral brain regions (Serrien et al, 2006). Proper integration of the two cerebral hemispheres is crucial for a broad repertoire of cognitive functions including music and language (Gazzaniga, 1995; Gotts et al, 2013; Rosenthal, 2016). Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which has been characterized by impaired music perception and production by several seminal studies (Ayotte et al, 2002; Foxton et al, 2004; Peretz et al, 2002). The dominant theory of the neural basis of amusia focused on the superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the connectivity between them in structure and function in the right hemisphere (Hyde et al, 2006, 2007; Loui et al, 2009; Albouy et al, 2013; Peretz, 2016). An important open question regarding interhemispheric connectivity in amusia remains which can improve our understanding of the neural basis of amusia

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