Cerebral Gray Matter Changes Research Articles

Adenosine A2A receptor availability in cerebral gray and white matter of patients with Parkinson's disease

ObjectiveAtrophic changes in cerebral gray matter of patients with PD have been reported extensively. There is evidence suggesting an association between cortical gyrification changes and white matter abnormalities. Adenosine A2A receptors have been shown to be upregulated in cerebral white matter and on reactive astrocytes in preclinical models of neurodegenerative diseases. We, therefore, sought to investigate in vivo changes in A2A receptor availability in cerebral gray and white matter of PD patients and its association with gray matter atrophy. MethodsEighteen patients with PD without dyskinesia and seven healthy controls were enrolled for this study. Brain MRI and dynamic PET scan was acquired with [11C]TMSX radioligand which binds selectively to A2A receptors. FreeSurfer software was used to segment cerebral gray and white matter structures. The resulting masks were used to calculate region specific volumes and to derive distribution volume ratios (DVRs), after co-registration with PET images, for the quantification of specific [11C]TMSX binding. ResultsWe showed an increase in A2A receptor availability in frontal (P < 0.001) and parietal (P < 0.001) white matter and a decrease in occipital (P = 0.02) gray matter of PD patients as compared to healthy controls. A decrease in gray matter volume ratios was observed in frontal (P < 0.01), parietal (P < 0.001), temporal (P < 0.01) and occipital (P < 0.01) ROIs in patients with PD versus healthy controls. ConclusionsOur results suggest a role of A2A receptor-based signaling in the neurodegenerative changes seen in the cerebral gray and white matter of patients with PD.

Voxel-based morphometry and a deep learning model for the diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease based on cerebral gray matter changes.

This study aimed to analyse cerebral grey matter changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using voxel-based morphometry and to diagnose early Alzheimer's disease using deep learning methods based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) evaluating these changes. Participants (111 MCI, 73 normal cognition) underwent 3-T structural magnetic resonance imaging. The obtained images were assessed using voxel-based morphometry, including extraction of cerebral grey matter, analyses of statistical differences, and correlation analyses between cerebral grey matter and clinical cognitive scores in MCI. The CNN-based deep learning method was used to extract features of cerebral grey matter images. Compared to subjects with normal cognition, participants with MCI had grey matter atrophy mainly in the entorhinal cortex, frontal cortex, and bilateral frontotemporal lobes (p < 0.0001). This atrophy was significantly correlated with the decline in cognitive scores (p < 0.01). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the CNN model for identifying participants with MCI were 80.9%, 88.9%, and 75%, respectively. The area under the curve of the model was 0.891. These findings demonstrate that research based on brain morphology can provide an effective way for the clinical, non-invasive, objective evaluation and identification of early Alzheimer's disease.

Cerebral grey matter changes of pre- and post-treatment in first-episode drug-naive adolescents schizophrenia

Objective: To investigate the gray matter(GM) volume and the change of GM volume after antipsychotic treatment for 8 weeks in first-episode drug-naive adolescents with schizophrenia. Methods: T1-weighted brain MRIs were obtained on a 3T scanner in 35 controls and 35 subjects with adolescents schizophrenia who were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College from April 2015 to June 2016 and not given antipsychotic medication, the schizophrenia patients received second scan after 8 weeks of antipsychotic treatment. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) assessments were performed in patients pre- and post-treatment; voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze changes of GM volume and the correlation between the baseline GM volume and the PANSS scores was further analyzed. Results: GM volumes in the left frontal gyrus (MIN(x, y, z): -13.5, 36, 46.5), left superior parietal lobule (MIN(x, y, z): -52.5, -42, 52.5), left inferior parietal lobule (MIN(x, y, z): -31.5, -45, 69) and left central anterior (MIN(x, y, z): 9, 21, 61.5) were significantly smaller than those in the normal control group (t=-4.384 0, -4.556 2, -6.430 9, -4.313 9 respectively, P<0.001); after treatment for 8 weeks PANSS scores were significantly lower than those of baseline (P<0.001), however, there was no significant difference in regional GM volume between the pre-and post-treatment (P>0.05) and no significant correlation was found between GM volume and PANSS scores. Conclusion: There are local GM volume reductions in subjects with adolescents schizophrenia and these regions may be independent to mental symptoms of patients.

(339) Cerebral grey matter changes associated with posttraumatic headache in mild traumatic brain injury patients: a longitudinal MRI study

(339) Cerebral grey matter changes associated with posttraumatic headache in mild traumatic brain injury patients: a longitudinal MRI study

Nondermatomal somatosensory deficits in chronic pain are associated with cerebral grey matter changes

Objectives: Widespread sensory deficits occur in 20–40% of chronic pain patients on the side of pain, independent of pain aetiology, and are known as nondermatomal sensory deficits (NDSDs). NDSDs can occur in absence of central or peripheral nervous system lesions. We hypothesised that NDSDs were associated with cerebral grey matter changes in the sensory system and in pain processing regions, detectable with voxel-based morphometry. Methods: Twenty-five patients with NDSDs, 23 patients without NDSDs (“pain-only”), and 29 healthy controls were studied with high resolution structural MRI of the brain. A comprehensive clinical and psychiatric evaluation based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual was performed in all patients. Results: Patients with NDSDs and “pain-only” did not differ concerning demographic data and psychiatric diagnoses, although anxiety scores (HADS-A) were higher in patients with NDSDs. In patients with NDSDs, grey matter increases were found in the right primary sensory cortex, thalamus, and bilaterally in lateral temporal regions and the hippocampus/fusiform gyrus. “Pain-only” patients showed a bilateral grey matter increase in the posterior insula and less pronounced changes in sensorimotor cortex. Conclusions: Dysfunctional sensory processing in patients with NDSDs is associated with complex changes in grey matter volume, involving the somatosensory system and temporal regions.

IC‐P‐106: Alzheimer's disease–specific changes in cerebral gray matter revealed using a novel voxel‐wise approach for constructing structural brain networks

ligand.We next performed an in situ competitive binding assay to determine their selective binding affinity for CAA over neuritic plaques in brain tissues of aged Tg2576 mice having both CAA deposits and neuritic plaques. The lipophilicity of phenoxazine derivatives was determined by octanol-water coefficient to predict their brain accessibility. Results: We found that phenoxazine derivatives, in particular 5-5, revealed enhanced binding affinity for CAA as compared with the parental compound. More importantly, synthesized phenoxazine analogs preserved the preferential binding affinity for CAA over neuritic plaques. Conclusions: These results strongly suggest that phenoxazine analogs provide great potential for development of a CAA-specific amyloid tracer that would be a major diagnostic step forward for this frequent (but often under-diagnosed) condition.

Voxel-Based Morphometry in Individual Patients: A Pilot Study in Early Huntington Disease

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) has proved a powerful method to detect subtle changes of gray matter (GM) at the group level but the role of VBM for the detection of GM changes in single subjects, especially in those with suspected neurodegenerative disorder, remains uncertain. Here, we performed single subject analyses in 22 patients in early stages of Huntington disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder with a well-known and characteristic pattern of GM loss. We applied an ANCOVA with age and gender as covariates and corrected for multiple statistical tests by false discovery rate (P < 0.05). Each patient was compared to 133 healthy controls. The same procedure was applied to 22 of the controls matched for age and gender in a pair-wise manner. Our analyses yielded biologically plausible results in HD patients in which GM decrease within the caudate nucleus could be identified in 15 of the 16 most affected patients while GM decrease was found in only 1 control subject. Lowering the size of the control group yielded comparable results with 99 and 66 control subjects whereas sensitivity decreased with 33 control subjects. Our pilot study demonstrates a potential role of VBM for the detection of cerebral GM changes in single subjects with suspected neurodegenerative disorder.

Topography of cerebral atrophy in early Huntington’s disease: a voxel based morphometric MRI study

Objectives: To analyse grey matter changes in early stages of Huntington’s disease using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the technique of voxel based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Forty four patients with...