Gray Matter Volume In Brain Regions Research Articles

Brain gray matter volume mediated the relationship between plasma p‐tau and cognition of early Alzheimer’s disease

AbstractBackgroundCognitive deterioration and atrophy of the brain gray matter volume (GMV) are the main symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Accumulated pieces of evidence have shown that plasma concentrations of phosphorylated‐tau (p‐tau) performed better in early diagnosing, differentiating, and monitoring the progression of AD. However, the relationship between plasma p‐tau concentrations, the GMV of brain regions, and cognitive function remains poorly understood. Previous studies indicate that brain GMV may mediate the relationship between biomarkers and cognitive function, and in this study, we aimed to investigate whether GMV plays a mediating role in the association between plasma p‐tau concentrations and cognition.Method99 participants in total, including 47 patients with a diagnosis of early AD and 52 cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals, were enrolled in this study. All participants completed laboratory tests, magnetic resonance imaging scans, and neuropsychological assessments. Plasma p‐tau217 and p‐tau181 concentrations were measured using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kit. Voxel‐based morphometry was performed to assess brain GMV. Partial correlations and mediation analyses were performed in the AD group.ResultConcentrations of both plasma p‐tau217 and p‐tau181 were significantly higher in the AD group than in the CU group. Patients with AD had significant brain GMV atrophy in the right hippocampus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, and right inferior temporal gyrus. In the AD group, there were significant correlations between plasma p‐tau217 concentrations, GMV, and Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Brain GMV of the right hippocampus mediated the association between plasma p‐tau217 concentrations and MMSE scores. We did not find a significant correlation between plasma p‐tau181 concentrations and MMSE scores.ConclusionThe findings indicate that p‐tau217 was a promising biomarker for central processes affecting brain GMV and cognitive function. It may provide potential targets for future intervention and treatment of tau‐targeting therapies at the early stage of AD.

Chronic pain is associated with less grey matter volume in the anterior cingulum, anterior and posterior insula and hippocampus across three different chronic pain conditions.

Chronic pain of different aetiologies and localization has been associated with less grey matter volume (GMV) in several cortical and subcortical brain areas. Recent meta-analyses reported low reproducibility of GMV alterations between studies and pain syndromes. To investigate GMV in common chronic pain conditions defined by body location (chronic back pain, n = 174; migraine, n = 92; craniomandibular disorder, n = 39) compared to controls (n = 296), we conducted voxel-based morphometry and determined GMV from high-resolution cranial MRIs obtained in an epidemiologic survey. Mediation analyses were performed between the presence of chronic pain and GMV testing the mediators stress and mild depression. The predictability of chronic pain was investigated with binomial logistic regression. Whole-brain analyses yielded reduced GMV within the left anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex, for a ROI approach additionally the left posterior insula and left hippocampus showing less GMV across all patients with chronic pain. The relationship of pain with GMV in the left hippocampus was mediated by self-reported stressors in the last 12 months. Binomial logistic regression revealed a predictive effect for GMV in the left hippocampus and left anterior insula/temporal pole for the presence of chronic pain. Chronic pain across three different pain conditions was characterized by less GMV in brain regions consistently described for different chronic pain conditions before. Less GMV in the left hippocampus mediated by experienced stress during the last year might be related to altered pain learning mechanisms in chronic pain patients. Grey matter reorganization could serve as a diagnostic biomarker for chronic pain. In a large cohort, we here replicated findings of less grey matter volume across three pain conditions in the left anterior and posterior insula, anterior cingulate and left hippocampus. Less hippocampal grey matter was mediated by experienced stress.

Altruistic Social Activity, Depressive Symptoms, and Brain Regional Gray Matter Volume: Voxel-Based Morphometry Analysis From 8,695 Old Adults.

Altruistic social activity, such as giving support to others, has shown protective benefits on dementia risk and cognitive decline. However, the pathological mechanism is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the association between altruistic social activity and brain regional gray matter. Furthermore, to explore the psychological interplay in altruistic social activity, we tested mediating effect of depressive symptoms on brain regional gray matter. We performed a cross-sectional voxel-based morphology (VBM) analysis including 8 695 old adults (72.9 ± 6.1 years) from Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD) Cohort. We measured altruistic social activities by self-report questionnaires, depressive symptoms by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)-short version. We employed the whole-brain VBM method to detect relevant structural properties related to altruistic social activity. We then performed multiple regression models to detect the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on particular brain regional gray matter volume while adjusting possible physical and social lifestyle covariables. We found that altruistic social activity is associated with larger gray matter volume in posterior insula, middle cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, thalamus, superior temporal gyrus, anterior orbital gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus. Depressive symptoms mediated over 10% on altruistic social activity and hippocampus volume, over 20% on altruistic social activity and cingulate gyrus volume. Our results indicated that altruistic social activity might preserve brain regional gray matter which are sensitive to aging and cognitive decline. Meanwhile, this association may be explained by indirect effect on depressive symptoms, suggesting that altruistic social activity may mitigate the neuropathology of dementia.

Alterations in CRY2 and PER3 gene expression associated with thalamic-limbic community structural abnormalities in patients with bipolar depression or unipolar depression

Objectives The current study aimed to identify shared and distinct brain structure abnormalities and their relationships with the expression of circadian genes in patients with bipolar or unipolar depression.Method A total of 93 subjects participated in this study, including 32 patients with bipolar depression (BDP), 26 patients with unipolar depression (UDP) and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Brain structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained, and optimized voxel-based morphometry was used to explore group differences in regional gray matter volume (GMV). The mRNA expression levels of circadian genes in peripheral blood were measured using reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.Results Our results showed that the GMV in brain regions in the thalamus-limbic pathways had significantly increased in the BDP patients compared to controls, while the increased GMV in UDP patients compared to controls was limited to the thalamus. The mRNA expression levels of circadian-related genes decreased significantly in patients with BDP, but increased in patients with UDP, compared to controls. In addition, the GMV in the right thalamus in the patients with UDP was positively associated with mRNA levels of CRY2, while the GMV in the right hippocampus in the patients with BDP was negatively associated with mRNA levels of PER3.Conclusion Our study suggested that patients with BDP or MDD shared GMV abnormalities in the right thalamus. The PER3 and CRY2 genes might be critical to right hippocampal dysfunction in BDP and right thalamic dysfunction in UDP, respectively. The result provided potentially important molecular targets for the treatment of mood disorders.

Investigating morphological changes in the brain in relation to etiology and duration of olfactory dysfunction with voxel-based morphometry

Olfactory loss (OL) affects up to 20% of the general population and is related to changes in olfaction-related brain regions. This study investigated the effect of etiology and duration of OL on gray matter volume (GMV) of these regions in 257 patients. Voxel-based morphometry was applied to measure GMV in brain regions of interest to test the effects of etiology and duration on regional GMV and the relation between olfactory function and regional GMV. Etiology of OL had a significant effect on GMV in clusters representing the gyrus rectus and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), bilaterally. Patients with congenital anosmia had reduced GMV in the gyrus rectus and an increased OFC volume compared to patients with acquired OL. There was a significant association between volume of the left OFC and olfactory function. This implies that changes in GMV in patients with acquired OL are mainly reflected in the OFC and depend on olfactory function. Morphology of olfactory areas in the brain therefore seems to relate to olfactory function and the subsequent degree of exposure to olfactory input in patients with acquired OL. Differences in GMV in congenital anosmia are most likely due to the fact that patients were never able to smell.

Regional brain atrophy in overactive bladder syndrome: a voxel based morphometry study.

To investigate whether patients with overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) have brain volume changes using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and correlations with clinical tests. With institutional review board approval and after obtaining written informed consent, structural magnetic resonance imaging data were prospectively acquired in 28 patients and 28 control subjects. OAB symptoms were assessed using the OAB symptom score (OABSS) scale. The gray matter volume (GMV) of each voxel was compared between the two groups while controlling for the effects of age, sex, and education level. Correlation analysis was performed to identify correlations between abnormal GMV regions and OABSS scores in patients. Multiple comparisons were corrected using a false discovery rate (FDR) method. Patients with OAB exhibited a GMV reduction in the right cerebellum, bilateral hippocampus, left insula, right superior temporal gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, bilateral caudate nucleus and right middle frontal gyrus. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the local GMV of the right cerebellar hemisphere and OABSS score. Patients with OAB have abnormal GMV in brain regions localized within the brain-bladder control network. It deepens our understanding of the structural changes in the brain area of the network. The patterns of structural reorganization in patients with OAB may provide useful information in the neuropathological mechanisms of the OAB.

Brain gray matter abnormalities in osteoarthritis pain: a cross-sectional evaluation.

The interaction between osteoarthritis (OA) pain and brain properties remains minimally understood, although anatomical and functional neuroimaging studies suggest that OA, similar to other chronic pain conditions, may impact as well as partly be determined by brain properties. Here, we studied brain gray matter (GM) properties in OA patients scheduled to undergo total joint replacement surgery. We tested the hypothesis that brain regional GM volume is distinct between hip OA (HOA) and knee OA (KOA) patients, relative to healthy controls and moreover, that these properties are related to OA pain. Voxel-based morphometry group contrasts showed lower anterior cingulate GM volume only in HOA. When we reoriented the brains (flipped) to examine the hemisphere contralateral to OA pain, precentral GM volume was lower in KOA and HOA, and 5 additional brain regions showed distortions between groups. These GM changes, however, did not reflect clinical parameters. Next, we subdivided the brain into larger regions, approximating Brodmann areas, and performed univariable and machine learning-based multivariable contrasts. The univariable analyses approximated voxel-based morphometry results. Our multivariable model distinguished between KOA and controls, was validated in a KOA hold-out sample, and generalized to HOA. The multivariable model in KOA, but not HOA, was related to neuropathic OA pain. These results were mapped into term space (using Neurosynth), providing a meta-analytic summary of brain anatomical distortions in OA. Our results indicate more subtle cortical anatomical differences in OA than previously reported and also emphasize the interaction between OA pain, namely its neuropathic component, and OA brain anatomy.

Cigarette smoking and gray matter brain volumes in middle age adults: the CARDIA Brain MRI sub-study

Cigarette smoking has been associated with dementia and dementia-related brain changes, notably gray matter (GM) volume atrophy. These associations are thought to reflect the co-morbidity of smoking and vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological conditions. However, the extent and localization of the smoking-GM relationship and the degree to which vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological factors influence this relationship remain unclear. In the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults CARDIA cohort (n = 698; 52% women; 40% black participants; age = 50.3 (SD = 3.5)), we examined the associations of smoking status with total GM volume and GM volume of brain regions linked to neurocognitive and addiction disorders. Linear regression models were used to adjust for vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological factors and to examine whether they modify the smoking-GM relationship. Compared to never-smokers, current smokers had smaller total GM volume (−8.86 cm3 (95%CI = −13.44, −4.29). Adjustment for substance use/psychological – but not vascular or respiratory – factors substantially attenuated this association (coefficients = −5.54 (95% CI = −10.32, −0.76); −8.33 (95% CI = −12.94, −3.72); −7.69 (95% CI = −6.95, −4.21), respectively). There was an interaction between smoking and alcohol use such that among alcohol non-users, smoking was not related to GM volumes and among alcohol users, those who currently smoked had −12 cm3 smaller total GM, specifically in the frontal and temporal lobes, amygdala, cingulate, and insula. Results suggest a large-magnitude association between smoking and smaller GM volume at middle age, accounting for vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological factors, and that the association was strongest in alcohol users. Regions suggested to be most vulnerable are those where cognition and addiction processes overlap.

Attachment Security in Infancy: A Preliminary Study of Prospective Links to Brain Morphometry in Late Childhood.

A large body of longitudinal research provides compelling evidence for the critical role of early attachment relationships in children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. It is expected that parent–child attachment relationships may also impact children’s brain development, however, studies linking normative caregiving experiences and brain structure are scarce. To our knowledge, no study has yet examined the associations between the quality of parent–infant attachment relationships and brain morphology during childhood. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the prospective links between mother–infant attachment security and whole-brain gray matter (GM) volume and thickness in late childhood. Attachment security toward the mother was assessed in 33 children when they were 15 months old. These children were then invited to undergo structural magnetic resonance imaging at 10–11 years of age. Results indicated that children more securely attached to their mother in infancy had larger GM volumes in the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus, temporo-parietal junction, and precentral gyrus in late childhood. No associations between attachment security and cortical thickness were found. If replicated, these results would suggest that a secure attachment relationship and its main features (e.g., adequate dyadic emotion regulation, competent exploration) may influence GM volume in brain regions involved in social, cognitive, and emotional functioning through experience-dependent processes.

The atrophy of white and gray matter volume in patients with comitant strabismus: Evidence from a voxel-based morphometry study.

To compare the difference in white matter volume (WMV) and gray matter volume (GMV) between the comitant strabismus (CS) patients and health controls by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and the relationship with behavioral performance. A total of 20 patients with comitant strabismus (10 males and 10 females), and 20 healthy subjects (10 males and 10 females) with matched age, sex status underwent magnetic resonance examination. The authors analyzed the original 3D T1 brain images using the VBM module. The comitant strabismus groups were compared with the control groups for the GMW and WMV of the entire brain. Correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the GMV and WMV altered areas and the behavioral performance in comitant strabismus. CS patients were distinguishable from the healthy controls (HCs) by receiver operating characteristic curves. Results of the VBM analysis demonstrated that the CS groups had decreased GMV in the brain regions of the left middle temporal pole, left cerebellum posterior lobe, right posterior cingulate cortex, left cuneus and right premotor cortex. Meanwhile, the WMV was significantly decreased in the brain regions of the left middle temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right precuneus and right premotor cortex in the comitant strabismus patients compared with HCs. Furthermore, the duration of CS was negatively correlated with the GMV values of the left middle temporal pole (r=−0.486, P=0.030). CS caused GMV and WMV atrophy in many brain regions, which may indicate the neural mechanisms of the ocular motility disorders in CS patients.

Don't Lose Your Brain at Work - The Role of Recurrent Novelty at Work in Cognitive and Brain Aging.

Cognitive and brain aging is strongly influenced by everyday settings such as work demands. Long-term exposure to low job complexity, for instance, has detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and regional gray matter (GM) volume. Brain and cognition, however, are also characterized by plasticity. We postulate that the experience of novelty (at work) is one important trigger of plasticity. We investigated the cumulative effect of recurrent exposure to work-task changes (WTC) at low levels of job complexity on GM volume and cognitive functioning of middle-aged production workers across a time window of 17 years. In a case-control study, we found that amount of WTC was associated with better processing speed and working memory as well as with more GM volume in brain regions that have been associated with learning and that show pronounced age-related decline. Recurrent novelty at work may serve as an ‘in vivo’ intervention that helps counteracting debilitating long-term effects of low job complexity.

Brain structural and functional dissociated patterns in schizophrenia

BackgroundAlthough previous studies found that aberrations in gray matter volume (GMV) and global functional connectivity density (gFCD) are important characteristics of schizophrenia, to the best of our knowledge no study to date has investigated the associations between the spatial distribution patterns of GMV and gFCD alterations. We investigated pattern changes in gFCD and GMV among patients with schizophrenia and their associated spatial distributions.MethodsNinety-five patients with schizophrenia and 93 matched healthy controls underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scanning to assess gFCD and GMV.ResultsWe found that gFCD increased in the subcortical regions (caudate, pallidum, putamen, and thalami) and limbic system (left hippocampus and parahippocampus), and decreased in the posterior parieto-occipito-temporal cortices (postcentral gyri, occipital cortex, temporo-occipital conjunction, and inferior parietal lobule), in patients with schizophrenia. By contrast, we found decreased GMV in brain regions including the frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, cingulate cortices, and the insular, striatum, thalamus in these patients. Increased gFCD primarily occurred in subcortical regions including the basal ganglia and some regions of the limbic system. Decreased gFCD appeared primarily in the cortical regions. There were no statistically significant correlations between changes in gFCD and GMV, and their spatial distribution patterns, in different regions.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that gFCD and GMV are both perturbed in multiple brain regions in schizophrenia. gFCD and GMV consistently decreased in the cortical regions, with the exception of the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA). However, in the sub-cortical regions, the alterations of gFCD and GMV showed the opposite pattern, with increased gFCD and decreased GMV simultaneously observed in these regions. Overall, our findings suggest that structural and functional alterations appear to contribute independently to the neurobiology of schizophrenia.

Decreased gray matter volume is associated with the subtypes of psychotic symptoms in patients with antipsychotic-naïve mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease: A voxel-based morphometry study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between brain regional gray matter volume and two subtypes of psychotic symptoms, namely paranoid and misidentification subtypes, in antipsychotic-naïve mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Forty AD patients with psychotic symptoms and 25 AD patients without psychotic symptoms were assessed for cognitive and functional impairment. Presence and subtype of psychotic symptoms were assessed by using the delusion and hallucination subscale of the Korean Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI). Structural MRI images were acquired on a 3 T scanner, and were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) for automated analysis. The misidentification subtype is associated with more severe gray matter atrophy, and paranoid subtype is associated with less severe gray matter atrophy compared to non-psychosis group. These results suggest that the misidentification, the paranoid subtype and the non-psychosis group have a distinct neural correlation.

Regional gray matter volume is associated with rejection sensitivity: A voxel-based morphometry study

Rejection sensitivity (RS) can be defined as the disposition that one tends to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. High-RS individuals are more likely to suffer mental disorders. Previous studies have investigated brain activity during social rejection using different kinds of rejection paradigms and have provided neural evidence of individual differences in response to rejection cues, but the association between individual differences in RS and brain structure has never been investigated. In this study, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate the relationship between gray matter volume (GMV) and RS in a large healthy sample of 150 men and 188 women. The participants completed the RS Questionnaire and underwent an anatomical magnetic resonance imaging scan. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlation between regional GMV and RS scores, adjusting for age, sex, and total brain GMV. These results showed that GMV in the region of the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus was negatively associated with RS, and GMV in the region of the inferior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with RS. These findings suggest a relationship between individual differences in RS and GMV in brain regions that are primarily related to social cognition.

Altered Resting-State Brain Activity in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Structural and functional brain changes may contribute to neural dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the effect of OSA on resting-state brain activity has not been established. The objective of this study was to investigate alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the common brain networks in patients with OSA and their relationships with changes in gray matter volume (GMV) in the corresponding brain regions. Resting-state functional and structural MRI data were acquired from patients with OSA and healthy controls. Seven brain networks were identified by independent component analysis. The rsFC in each network was compared between groups and the GMV of brain regions with significant differences in rsFC was also compared. University hospital. Twenty-four male patients with untreated OSA and 21 matched healthy controls. N/A. OSA specifically affected the cognitive and sensorimotor-related brain networks but not the visual and auditory networks. The medial prefrontal cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) showed decreased rsFC and GMV in patients with OSA, suggesting structural and functional deficits. The right DLPFC and left precentral gyrus showed decreased rsFC and unchanged GMV, suggesting a functional deficit. The right posterior cingulate cortex demonstrated increased rsFC and unchanged GMV, suggesting functional compensation. In patients with OSA, the rsFC of the right DLPFC was negatively correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index. OSA specifically affects resting-state functional connectivity in cognitive and sensorimotor-related brain networks, which may be related to the impaired cognitive and motor functions in these patients.

Correlation between pulmonary function and brain volume in healthy elderly subjects

Cigarette smoking decreases brain regional gray matter volume and is related to chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). COPD leads to decreased pulmonary function, which is represented by forced expiratory volume in one second percentage (FEV1.0 %); however, it is unclear if decreased pulmonary function is directly related to brain gray matter volume decline. Because there is a link between COPD and cognitive decline, revealing a direct relationship between pulmonary function and brain structure is important to better understand how pulmonary function affects brain structure and cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze whether there were significant correlations between FEV1.0 % and brain regional gray and white matter volumes using brain magnetic resonance (MR) image data from 109 community-dwelling healthy elderly individuals. Brain MR images were processed with voxel-based morphometry using a custom template by applying diffeomorphic anatomical registration using the exponentiated lie algebra procedure. We found a significant positive correlation between the regional white matter volume of the cerebellum and FEV1.0 % after adjusting for age, sex, and intracranial volume. Our results suggest that elderly individuals who have a lower FEV1.0 % have decreased regional white matter volume in the cerebellum. Therefore, preventing decreased pulmonary function is important for cerebellar white matter volume in the healthy elderly population.

Covarying alterations in Aβ deposition, glucose metabolism, and gray matter volume in cognitively normal elderly

β-Amyloid (Aβ), a feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, may precede reduced glucose metabolism and gray matter (GM) volume and cognitive decline in patients with AD. Accumulation of Aβ, however, has been also reported in cognitively intact older people, although it remains unresolved whether and how Aβ deposition, glucose metabolism, and GM volume relate to one another in cognitively normal elderly. Fifty-two cognitively normal older adults underwent Pittsburgh Compound B-positron emission tomography (PIB-PET), [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, and structural magnetic resonance imaging to measure whole-brain amyloid deposition, glucose metabolism, and GM volume, respectively. Covariance patterns of these measures in association with global amyloid burden measured by PIB index were extracted using principal component analysis-based multivariate methods. Higher global amyloid burden was associated with relative increases of amyloid deposition and glucose metabolism and relative decreases of GM volume in brain regions collectively known as the default mode network including the posterior cingulate/precuneus, lateral parietal cortices, and medial frontal cortex. Relative increases of amyloid deposition and glucose metabolism were also noted in the lateral prefrontal cortices, and relative decreases of GM volume were pronounced in hippocampus. The degree of expression of the topographical patterns of the PIB data was further associated with visual memory performance when controlling for age, sex, and education. The present findings suggest that cognitively normal older adults with greater amyloid deposition are relatively hypermetabolic in frontal and parietal brain regions while undergoing GM volume loss in overlapping brain regions.

Brain structure predicts risk for obesity

The neurobiology of obesity is poorly understood. Here we report findings of a study designed to examine the differences in brain regional gray matter volume in adults recruited as either Obese Prone or Obese Resistant based on self-identification, body mass index, and personal/family weight history. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 28 Obese Prone (14 male, 14 female) and 25 Obese Resistant (13 male, 12 female) healthy adults. Voxel-based morphometry was used to identify gray matter volume differences between groups. Gray matter volume was found to be lower in the insula, medial orbitofrontal cortex and cerebellum in Obese Prone, as compared to Obese Resistant individuals. Adjusting for body fat mass did not impact these results. Insula gray matter volume was negatively correlated with leptin concentration and measures of hunger. These findings suggest that individuals at risk for weight gain have structural differences in brain regions known to be important in energy intake regulation, and that these differences, particularly in the insula, may be related to leptin.

Correlation between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and brain gray matter volume in healthy elderly subjects

Although elevated serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is related to atherosclerosis, brain infarction, and cognitive decline, it has not been clarified whether increased hsCRP is associated with the decline in brain gray matter volume. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between hsCRP levels and brain regional gray matter volume using brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 109 community-dwelling healthy elderly subjects. Brain MRIs were processed with voxel-based morphometry using a custom template by applying diffeomorphic anatomical registration using the exponentiated lie algebra (DARTEL) procedure. We found a significant negative correlation between regional gray matter volume of the posterior and lateral aspects of the left temporal cortex and hsCRP level after adjusting for age, gender, and intracranial volume. Our results suggest that subjects who have mild inflammation related to arteriosclerosis have decreased regional gray matter volume in the posterior and lateral aspects of the left temporal cortex. Thus, preventing the progression of arteriosclerosis may be important for preventing a decrease in gray matter volume in healthy elderly subjects.

Structural deficits in the emotion circuit and cerebellum are associated with depression, anxiety and cognitive dysfunction in methadone maintenance patients: A voxel-based morphometric study

Heroin users on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) have elevated rates of co-morbid depression and are associated with have higher relapse rates for substance abuse. Structural abnormalities in MMT patients have been reported, but their impact on clinical performance is unknown. We investigated differences in gray matter volume (GMV) between 27 MMT patients and 23 healthy controls with voxel-based morphometry, and we correlated findings in the patients with Beck Depression Inventory scores, Beck Anxiety Inventory scores, and diminished cognitive functioning. MMT patients exhibited higher emotional deficits than healthy subjects. There was significantly smaller GMV in multiple cortices, especially in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left cerebellar vermis in the MMT group. The smaller GMV in the pre-frontal cortices, left sub-callosal cingulate gyrus, left post-central gyrus, left insula, and right cerebellar declive correlated with higher depression scores. The smaller GMV in the pre-frontal cortices, left sub-callosal cingulate gyrus, and left postcentral gyrus also correlated with higher anxiety scores, while smaller GMV in the cerebellum and bilateral insula was associated with impaired performance on tests of executive function. These results reveal that MMT patients have low GMV in brain regions that are hypothesized to influence cognition and emotion, and the GMV findings might be involved comorbid disorders in the MMT group.