Increase In Gray Matter Volume Research Articles

A voxel-based magnetic resonance study of cortical gray matter structures in intermittent exotropia

Objective: To explore the changes in gray matter volume of the cerebral cortex in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT) using the voxel-based analysis and to analyze the correlation between these changes and clinical manifestations. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A collection of 15 consecutive patients diagnosed with IXT at Tianjin Eye Hospital from March 2021 to May 2022 formed the exotropia group, which comprised 8 males and 7 females, with an average age of (23.5±5.2) years. Ten healthy individuals, 3 males and 7 females, with an average age of (27.0±7.5) years, were selected as the control group. All participants underwent assessments of exotropia severity and Titmus stereoacuity. Three-dimensional high-resolution brain images were obtained through MRI scans. Voxel-based morphometry was employed to preprocess the MRI data, and the SPM toolbox in MATLAB was utilized to analyze differences of images between the two groups. Regions of interest (ROI) with structural abnormalities in the gray matter volume analysis were selected, and the ratio of gray matter voxel values in the ROI to the mean gray matter voxel values of the whole brain for each participant was calculated using the MarsBaR software. The correlation between this ratio and exotropia severity as well as the common logarithm of Titmus stereoacuity was analyzed. Results: The differences in age, gender distribution, and refractive error between the two groups were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). However, there were statistically significant differences in the degree of strabismus and Titmus stereoacuity (both P<0.001). Compared to the control group, patients in the strabismus group exhibited decreased gray matter volume in several brain regions, including the wedges of the medial surface of the cerebral hemisphere (decreased by 89 voxels), the left lingual gyrus (decreased by 176 voxels), the left calcarine sulcus V3 area (decreased by 30 voxels), the central anterior gyrus of the right frontal lobe (decreased by 192 voxels), the gray matter of the left hippocampal gyrus (decreased by 20 voxels), and the bilateral lateral geniculate nuclei (decreased by 100 and 40 voxels on the left and right sides, respectively). These differences were all statistically significant (all P<0.001). Additionally, there was an increase in gray matter volume in several brain regions, including the bilateral caudate nuclei (increased by 60 and 76 voxels on the left and right sides, respectively) and the left precentral gyrus (increased by 36 voxels). These differences were also statistically significant (all P<0.001). A group-level analysis identified 10 brain regions with structural differences between the two groups, which were used as ROI. The gray matter volume ratio was negatively correlated with the degree of exotropia (all P<0.05) in the ROI of the left wedges (r=-0.670), left calcarine sulcus V3 area (r=-0.610), and left lingual gyrus (r=-0.684). The gray matter volume ratio was negatively correlated with lgTS (all P<0.05) in the ROI of the left wedges (r=-0.568) and the central anterior gyrus of the right frontal lobe (r=-0.563). Conclusions: Patients with IXT exhibit decreased gray matter volume in the horizontal connection areas between the primary visual cortices V1 and V2. The reduction in gray matter volume of the lingual gyrus and the dorsal visual pathway V3 area becomes more pronounced with increasing exotropia severity, while the gray matter volume of the precentral gyrus (BA6 area) decreases with worsening stereoacuity.

Structural Neuroplasticity Effects of Singing in Chronic Aphasia.

Singing-based treatments of aphasia can improve language outcomes, but the neural benefits of group-based singing in aphasia are unknown. Here, we set out to determine the structural neuroplasticity changes underpinning group-based singing-induced treatment effects in chronic aphasia. Twenty-eight patients with at least mild nonfluent poststroke aphasia were randomized into two groups that received a 4-month multicomponent singing intervention (singing group) or standard care (control group). High-resolution T1 images and multishell diffusion-weighted MRI data were collected in two time points (baseline/5 months). Structural gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) neuroplasticity changes were assessed using language network region of interest-based voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and quantitative anisotropy-based connectometry, and their associations to improved language outcomes (Western Aphasia Battery Naming and Repetition) were evaluated. Connectometry analyses showed that the singing group enhanced structural WM connectivity in the left arcuate fasciculus (AF) and corpus callosum as well as in the frontal aslant tract (FAT), superior longitudinal fasciculus, and corticostriatal tract bilaterally compared with the control group. Moreover, in VBM, the singing group showed GM volume increase in the left inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 44) compared with the control group. The neuroplasticity effects in the left BA44, AF, and FAT correlated with improved naming abilities after the intervention. These findings suggest that in the poststroke aphasia group, singing can bring about structural neuroplasticity changes in left frontal language areas and in bilateral language pathways, which underpin treatment-induced improvement in speech production.

Investigation of total cerebellar and flocculonodular lobe volume in Parkinson's disease and healthy individuals: a brain segmentation study.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with an unexplored link to the cerebellum. In the pathophysiology of balance disorders in PD, the role of the flocculonodular lobe (FL) is linked to the impairment of the dopaminergic system. Dopamine deficiency can also lead to changes in cerebellum functions, disrupting balance control. This study compares cerebellar and FL volumes between healthy controls (HC) and PD patients, analyzing their correlation with clinical outcomes. We used magnetic resonance images of 23 PD patients (14 male, 9 female) and 24 HC (9 male, 15 female). Intracranial (ICV), total cerebellar, FL, and cerebellar gray matter volumes were measured using VolBrain. Clinical outcomes in PD patients were assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III) to evaluate motor function, with scores correlated to volumetric data. The cerebellar and gray matter volumes in HC were 115.53 ± 10.44 cm3 and 84.83 ± 7.76 cm3, respectively, compared to 126.83 ± 13.47 cm3 and 92.37 ± 9.45 cm3 in PD patients, indicating significantly larger volumes in PD patients (p < 0.05). The flocculonodular lobe gray matter volume was 1.14 ± 0.19 cm3 in PD patients and 1.02 ± 0.13 cm3 in HC, but there was a significant increase in gray matter volume in PD patients between the groups (p < 0.05). In PD patients, significant negative correlations were observed between FL volume and the UPDRS-III scores (r = - 0.467, p = 0.033) and between UPDRS-III scores and both total (r = - 0.453, p = 0.039) and normalized (r = - 0.468, p = 0.032) gray matter volumes of the FL. Although total gray matter volumes were larger in PD patients, the volumes of FL did not differ between groups. In Parkinson's disease, increased cerebellar volume may regulate fine motor movements rather than balance.

Neuroplasticity, music, and human brain

Introduction. Studying the influence of music on the human brain is one of the key topics in neuroscience as it allows extending our understanding of brain neuroplasticity.&#x0D; This study aimed to investigate structural brain organization in professional musicians.&#x0D; Materials and methods. We investigated 27 brains (i.e. 54 hemispheres) of male musicians, female musicians, male non-musicians, and female non-musicians by magnetic resonance imaging. All study participants were aged 20 to 30 years and did not have any mental or neurological disorders. Gray matter volume and cortex thickness in different cortical structures of the right and left hemispheres were measured.&#x0D; Results. We found major changes in the brain structure in professional musicians (both male and female) vs. non-musicians. We found differences in the macroscopic structure of the triangular region in the Broca’s motor speech area in musicians’ brain. Increases in gray matter volume in the brain of musicians and its individual cortical structures were shown in the superior temporal region, Broca’s motor speech area, hippocampus, superior parietal lobule, and other structures. We found increased thickness of cortical structures in musicians vs. non-musicians.&#x0D; Conclusions. Practicing music regularly was shown to change structural brain organization; we found significant increases in gray matter volume and cortex thickness in various cortical structures in the right and left brain hemispheres of musicians vs. non-musicians.

Neuropsychological aspects of stress manifestation

Modern life, unfortunately, is not devoid of stressful situations. This article explores how stress affects various cognitive functions, making us more vulnerable. Memory, attention, decision-making, inhibition, and abstract thinking are just some aspects of the effects of stress. Studies show that prolonged or repeated stress can weaken the immune system, increasing inflammation and even destroying neurons in the hippocampus responsible for memory. Maturation of the frontal cortex, which is accompanied by an increase in gray matter volume and the number of synapses, can be disrupted by stress, leading to cognitive decline. Recent research on the impact of stressful situations on psychological and physical health is characterized by a wide range of methodological approaches and a variety of sources. Sapolsky R. highlights the impact of stress on memory-related processes, as well as on the formation of certain parts of the brain. In the work of D. Nakazawa, we get acquainted with neural development and the natural processes associated with this development. Thus, the latest research and publications in the field of stress psychology are an important contribution to our understanding of this complex problem and the development of practical recommendations for overcoming the negative effects of stress. Sleep is crucial for restoring energy and consolidating memory, but it also becomes a victim of stress. Lack of sleep and deterioration in its quality make us more vulnerable to the negative effects of stress. Children who have experienced stress risk losing even more neurons than their peers, as the natural neuronal pruning at puberty can be intensified. Chronic stress can lead to neurotic reactions, psychophysiological symptoms, and psychosomatic illnesses. This emphasizes the importance of nervous system rehabilitation and neuropsychological interventions.

Progressive increase of brain gray matter volume in individuals with regular soccer training

The study aimed to investigate alterations in gray matter volume in individuals undergoing regular soccer training, using high-resolution structural data, while also examining the temporal precedence of such structural alterations. Both voxel-based morphometry and source-based morphometry (SBM) methods were employed to analyze volumetric changes in gray matter between the soccer and control groups. Additionally, a causal network of structural covariance (CaSCN) was built using granger causality analysis on brain structural data ordering by training duration. Significant increases in gray matter volume were observed in the cerebellum in the soccer group. Additionally, the results of the SBM analysis revealed significant increases in gray matter volume in the calcarine and thalamus of the soccer group. The analysis of CaSCN demonstrated that the thalamus had a prominent influence on other brain regions in the soccer group, while the calcarine served as a transitional node, and the cerebellum acted as a prominent node that could be easily influenced by other brain regions. In conclusion, our study identified widely affected regions with increased gray matter volume in individuals with regular soccer training. Furthermore, a temporal precedence relationship among these regions was observed.

Pain Relief–Related Structural Brain Alterations in Trigeminal Neuralgia Induced by Noninvasive Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Pilot Study

PurposeTrigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a devastating chronic pain disorder, defined by unilateral shock like pain in at least one division of the trigeminal nerve. Although several studies have investigated structural brain plasticity in TN patients, treatment-induced alterations remain largely uninvestigated. Materials/MethodsCombining T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and multiple-regression analyses, we assessed gray matter maps of TN patients to investigate changes in gray matter volume (GMV) from before to half a year after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). ResultsComparing pre- and post-GMV of 25 TN patients (16 females; mean age 67 years) did not yield any significant clusters, suggesting that the impact of SRS intervention itself on gray matter structure may be negligible. In relation to SRS-induced pain-relief, we found a significant GMV increase in the left superior frontal gyrus associated with greater degrees of pain relief (p=0.024), and a trend toward an increase in GMV in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (p=0.097). ConclusionIn this pilot study, we observed significant increases of GMV in the left superior frontal gyrus with SRS-induced improvements in pain, and a trend for the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Future studies are indicated to validate these findings and determine whether SRS-induced decrease in distracting pain events and subsequent increases in GMV result in improved functionality, decreased dependence on "top-down" control, and improved cognitive/executive balance with amelioration of pain events.

Structural and functional changes following brain surgery in pediatric patients with intracranial space-occupying lesions.

We explored the structural and functional changes of the healthy hemisphere of the brain after surgery in children with intracranial space-occupying lesions. We enrolled 32 patients with unilateral intracranial space-occupying lesions for brain imaging and cognitive assessment. Voxel-based morphometry and surface-based morphometry analyses were used to investigate the structural images of the healthy hemisphere. Functional images were analyzed using regional homogeneity, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, and fractional-amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations. Voxel-based morphometry and surface-based morphometry analysis used the statistical model built into the CAT 12 toolbox. Paired t-tests were used for functional image and cognitive test scores. For structural image analysis, we used family-wise error correction of peak level (p < 0.05), and for functional image analysis, we use Gaussian random-field theory correction (voxel p < 0.001, cluster p < 0.05). We found an increase in gray matter volume in the healthy hemisphere within six months postoperatively, mainly in the frontal lobe. Regional homogeneity and fractional-amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations also showed greater functional activity in the frontal lobe. The results of cognitive tests showed that psychomotor speed and motor speed decreased significantly after surgery, and reasoning increased significantly after surgery. We concluded that in children with intracranial space-occupying lesions, the healthy hemisphere exhibits compensatory structural and functional effects within six months after surgery. This effect occurs mainly in the frontal lobe and is responsible for some higher cognitive compensation. This may provide some guidance for the rehabilitation of children after brain surgery.

Sex-specific grey matter abnormalities in individuals with chronic insomnia.

Previous studies have reported sex differences in altered brain function in patients with chronic insomnia (CI). However, sex-related alterations in brain morphology have rarely been investigated. This study aimed to investigate sex-specific grey matter (GM) alterations in patients with CI and to examine the relationship between GM alterations and neuropsychological assessments. Ninety-three (65 females and 28 males) patients and 78 healthy (50 females and 28 males) controls were recruited. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analysed using voxel-based morphometry to test for interactions between sex and diagnosis. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the associations among structure, disease duration, and sleep-, mood-, and cognition-related assessments. Males with CI showed reduced GM volume in the left inferior parietal lobe, left middle cingulate cortex, and right supramarginal gyrus. Females with CI showed increased GM volume in the right Rolandic operculum. Moreover, mood-related assessments were negatively correlated with GM volumes in the right supramarginal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobe in the male patients, and cognitive-related assessments were positively correlated with GM volumes in the Rolandic operculum in the female patients. Our findings indicate sex-specific alterations in brain morphology in CI, thereby broadening our understanding of sex differences in CI and potentially providing complementary evidence for the development of more effective therapies and individual treatments.

Macrostructural Cerebellar Neuroplasticity Correlates With Motor Recovery After Stroke

Background Motor recovery varies across post-stroke individuals, some of whom require a better rehabilitation strategy. We hypothesized that macrostructural neuroplasticity of the motor control network including the cerebellum might underlie individual differences in motor recovery. Objectives. To gain insight into the macrostructural neuroplasticity after stroke, we examined 52 post-stroke individuals using both the Fugl-Meyer assessment and structural magnetic resonance imaging. Methods We performed voxel-based lesion symptom mapping and cross-sectional voxel-based morphometry to correlate the motor scores with the lesion location and the gray matter volume (GMV), respectively. Longitudinal data were available at ~8 and/or 15 weeks after admission from 43 individuals with supratentorial lesions. We performed a longitudinal VBM analysis followed by a multiple regression analysis to correlate between the changes of the motor assessment scores and those of GMV overtime. Results We found a cross-sectional correlation of residual motor functioning with GMV in the ipsilesional cerebellum and contralesional parietal cortex. Longitudinally, we found increases in GMV in the ipsilesional supplementary motor area, and the ipsilesional superior and inferior cerebellar zones, along with a GMV decrease in the ipsilesional thalamus. The motor recovery was correlated with the GMV changes in the superior and inferior cerebellar zones. The regaining of upper-limb motor functioning was correlated with the GMV changes of both superior and inferior cerebellum while that of lower-limb motor functioning with the GMV increase of the inferior cerebellum only. Conclusions The present findings support the hypothesis that macrostructural cerebellar neuroplasticity is correlated with individual differences in motor recovery after stroke.

Long-term effects of electroconvulsive therapy on brain structure in major depression.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on major depressive disorder (MDD) have predominantly found short-term electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)-related gray matter volume (GMV) increases, but research on the long-term stability of such changes is missing. Our aim was to investigate long-term GMV changes over a 2-year period after ECT administration and their associations with clinical outcome. In this nonrandomized longitudinal study, patients with MDD undergoing ECT (n = 17) are assessed three times by structural MRI: Before ECT (t0), after ECT (t1) and 2 years later (t2). A healthy (n = 21) and MDD non-ECT (n = 33) control group are also measured three times within an equivalent time interval. A 3(group) × 3(time) ANOVA on whole-brain level and correlation analyses with clinical outcome variables is performed. Analyses yield a significant group × time interaction (pFWE < 0.001) resulting from significant volume increases from t0 to t1 and decreases from t1 to t2 in the ECT group, e.g., in limbic areas. There are no effects of time in both control groups. Volume increases from t0 to t1 correlate with immediate and delayed symptom increase, while volume decreases from t1 to t2 correlate with long-term depressive outcome (all p ⩽ 0.049). Volume increases induced by ECT appear to be a transient phenomenon as volume strongly decreased 2 years after ECT. Short-term volume increases are associated with less symptom improvement suggesting that the antidepressant effect of ECT is not due to volume changes. Larger volume decreases are associated with poorer long-term outcome highlighting the interplay between disease progression and structural changes.

ADHD diagnosis using structural brain MRI and personal characteristic data with machine learning framework.

An essential yet challenging task is an automatic diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without manual intervention. The present study emphasises utilizing structural MRI and personal characteristic (PC) data for developing an automated diagnostic system for ADHD classification. Here, an age-balanced dataset of 316 ADHD and 316 Typically Developing Children (TDC) was prepared from the publicly available dataset. We extracted volumetric features from gray matter (GM) volumes from brain regions defined by Automated Anatomical Labelling (AAL3) atlas and cortical thickness-based (CT) features using the Destrieux atlas. A set of salient features were selected independently using minimum redundancy and maximum relevance (mRMR) and ensemble feature selection (EFS) methods. Decision models were trained using five well-known classifiers: K-nearest neighbours, logistic regression, linear Support Vector Machine (SVM), radial-based SVM (RBSVM), and Random Forest. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using accuracy, recall, and specificity with ten runs of a ten-fold cross-validation scheme. We run seven experiments by considering different combinations of features. The maximum classification accuracy of 75% was obtained with CT and PC features with RBSVM and SVM with the EFS. An increase in GM volume in fifteen brain regions and loss of cortical thickness in twenty-seven brain regions were observed.

Functional Alterations of the Basal Ganglia Are Associated with Voluntary Activation of the Core Stabilizing Muscles in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Deficits in voluntary activation of the core stabilizing muscles are consistently observed in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP); however, the underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed at testing the hypothesis that the impaired voluntary activation of core stabilizing muscles is associated with structural and functional alterations in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cortex in patients with CLBP. We obtained structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 53 patients with CLBP and 67 healthy controls and estimated the alterations in grey matter volume (GMV) and functional and effective connectivity (EC) of regions with altered GMV via whole brain analysis. The voluntary activation of the multifidus (MF) and transversus abdominis (TrA) was evaluated by ultrasound imaging in these patients. Compared with the HCs, they displayed a significant decrease in GMV in the bilateral thalamus and caudate nucleus, a significant increase in GMV in the left middle frontal gyrus, and increased resting-state functional connectivity between the right caudate nucleus and the bilateral precuneus (voxel-level p < 0.005, Gaussian random field-corrected p < 0.05). The patients also showed increased EC from the right caudate nucleus to the bilateral precuneus, which was significantly correlated with voluntary activation of the bilateral MF and TrA (all p < 0.050). Grey matter alterations may be confined to regions responsible for perception, motor control, and emotion regulation in patients with CLBP. The interrupted EC from the basal ganglia to the default mode network might be involved in the impairment of voluntary activation of the core stabilizing muscles.

Gray matter alterations in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease after MRgFUS thalamotomy are correlated with tremor improvement: a pilot study.

Regional differences in gray matter volume (GMV) have been reported to be a reliable marker for diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to explore the clinical value of GMV to assess magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy as a treatment for tremor-dominant PD (TDPD). Nine TDPD patients with MRgFUS thalamotomy were recruited for structural magnetic resonance image (MRI) scanning and clinical score evaluation. GMV was calculated. To investigate changes after treatment, voxel- and region of interest (ROI)-wise GMV analyses were performed. Then, GMV with significant differences was extracted from patients to investigate its dynamic alterations by one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The nonparametric Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between GMV alterations and tremor improvement after thalamotomy. Tremors were significantly relieved after MRgFUS thalamotomy in nine patients (P<0.05). The treated hand tremor scores improved 74.82% on average in patients from pre-operation to 12 months post-operation. Voxel-wise analysis at the cluster level showed a significant decrease in GMV in the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG) [t=11.81, voxel-level P<0.001, cluster-level Pfamily-wise error (FWE) <0.05] and an increase in GMV in the left precentral gyrus (PreCG) (t=7.99, voxel-level P<0.001, cluster-level PFWE <0.05) in TDPD patients from preoperative to 12 months post-operation, which was significantly correlated with tremor scores (rho =0.346-0.439, P<0.05). ROI-wise analysis showed that GMV related to MRgFUS thalamotomy was associated with long-term structural alterations (P<0.05 with Bonferroni correction), including specific basal ganglia and related nuclei and cerebellum subregions. GMV can be used to reflect tremor improvement after MRgFUS thalamotomy and be helpful to better understand the distant effect of MRgFUS thalamotomy and the involvement of GMV in tremor control in TDPD. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04570046.

Alterations in Gray Matter Morphology and Functional Connectivity in Adult Patients with Newly Diagnosed Untreated Hypothyroidism.

Background: Untreated adult hypothyroidism may be associated with cognitive and emotional impairment, but the precise underlying neuropathological mechanism is unknown. We investigated the brain morphological and functional abnormalities associated with cognition and emotion in hypothyroidism. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study. Forty-four newly diagnosed adult hypothyroid patients and 54 well-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. All participants underwent three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Morphological and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed to compare the intergroup differences. Neuropsychological tests, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Scale, 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-24), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) were administered. Thyroid function test and blood lipid levels were measured. Correlations were computed between neuropsychological and biochemical measures with neuroimaging indices. Sensitive morphological or functional neuroimaging indicators were identified using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: Compared with HCs, hypothyroid patients demonstrated lower total and subdomain scores on the MoCA and higher HAMD-24 and HAMA scores. Morphological analysis revealed the hypothyroid patients had significantly reduced gray matter (GM) volumes in the right superior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and supplementary motor area as well as significantly increased GM volumes in the bilateral cerebellar Crus I and left precentral gyrus. Furthermore, seed-based FC analysis of hypothyroid patients showed increased FC between the right cerebellar Crus I and left precentral gyrus, triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus of the inferior parietal lobe. The language scores of the MoCA were positively correlated with Jacobian values of the left supplementary motor area (r = 0.391, p = 0.046) and precentral gyrus (r = 0.401, p = 0.039). ROC analysis revealed FC value between cerebellar Crus I and angular gyrus could differentiate groups with relatively high accuracy (sensitivity: 75%, specificity: 77.8%, area under the curve: 0.794 [CI 0.701-0.888], p < 0.001). Conclusions: Untreated adult-onset hypothyroidism may be associated with impaired cognition and anxiety or depression. GM morphological alterations and FC of the cerebellum with subregions of the frontal and parietal lobes may represent key neuropathological mechanisms underlying the cognitive deterioration and mood dysregulation observed in hypothyroid adults. Clinical Trial Registration Number: chiCTR2000028966.

Brain morphometric changes in fibromyalgia and the impact of psychometric and clinical factors: a volumetric and diffusion-tensor imaging study

BackgroundPrevious studies have repeatedly found distinct brain morphometric changes in patients with fibromyalgia (FM), mainly affecting gray and white matter abnormalities in areas related to sensory and affective pain processing. However, few studies have thus far linked different types of structural changes and not much is known about behavioral and clinical determinants that might influence the emergence and progression of such changes.MethodsWe used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) to detect regional patterns of (micro)structural gray (GM) and white matter (WM) alterations in 23 patients with FM compared to 21 healthy controls (HC), while considering the influence of demographic, psychometric, and clinical variables (age, symptom severity, pain duration, heat pain threshold, depression scores).ResultsVBM and DTI revealed striking patterns of brain morphometric changes in FM patients. Bilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG), parahippocampal gyrus, left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), right putamen, right caudate nucleus, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) showed significantly decreased GM volumes. In contrast, increased GM volume was observed in bilateral cerebellum and left thalamus. Beyond that, patients displayed microstructural changes of WM connectivity within the medial lemniscus, corpus callosum, and tracts surrounding and connecting the thalamus. Sensory-discriminative aspects of pain (pain severity, pain thresholds) primarily showed negative correlations with GM within bilateral putamen, pallidum, right midcingulate cortex (MCC), and multiple thalamic substructures, whereas the chronicity of pain was negatively correlated with GM volumes within right insular cortex and left rolandic operculum. Affective-motivational aspects of pain (depressive mood, general activity) were related to GM and FA values within bilateral putamen and thalamus.ConclusionsOur results suggest a variety of distinct structural brain changes in FM, particularly affecting areas involved in pain and emotion processing such as the thalamus, putamen, and insula.

A Cross-Sectional Study: Structural and Related Functional Connectivity Changes in the Brain: Stigmata of Adverse Parenting in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder?

Background: There is a high correlation between the risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as adverse parenting (AP). While there appears to be an association between ACEs and changes in brain structure and function, there have yet to be multimodal neuroimaging studies of associations between parenting style and brain developmental changes in MDD patients. To explore the effect of AP on brain structure and function. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 125 MDD outpatients were included in the study and divided into the AP group and the optimal parenting (OP) group. Participants completed self-rating scales to assess depressive severity, symptoms, and their parents' styles. They also completed magnetic resonance imaging within one week of filling out the instruments. The differences between groups of gender, educational level, and medications were analyzed using the chi-squared test and those of age, duration of illness, and scores on scales using the independent samples t-test. Differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) were assessed between groups. Results: AP was associated with a significant increase in GMV in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and FC between the right SPL and the bilateral medial superior frontal cortex in MDD patients. Limitations: The cross-cultural characteristics of AP will result in the lack of generalizability of the findings. Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that AP during childhood may imprint the brain and affect depressive symptoms in adulthood. Parents should pay attention to the parenting style and avoid a style that lacks warmth.

Structural plasticity of the contralesional hippocampus and its subfields in patients with glioma.

To characterize the structural plasticity of the contralesional hippocampus and its subfields in patients with unilateral glioma. 3D T1-weighted MRI images were collected from 55 patients with tumors infiltrating the left (HipL, n = 27) or right (HipR, n = 28) hippocampus, along with 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Gray matter volume differences of the contralesional hippocampal regions and three control regions (superior frontal gyrus, caudate nucleus, and superior occipital gyrus) were evaluated using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses. Volumetric differences in the hippocampus and its subregional volume were measured using the FreeSurfer software. Compared with HC, patients with unilateral hippocampal glioma exhibited significantly larger gray matter volume in the contralesional hippocampus and parahippocampal regions (cluster = 571 voxels for HipL; cluster 1 = 538 voxels and cluster 2 = 88 voxels for HipR; family-wise error corrected p < 0.05). No significant alterations were found in control regions. Volumetric analyses showed the same trend in the contralesional hippocampal subregions for both patient groups, including the CA1 head, CA3 head, hippocampus amygdala transition area (HATA), fimbria, and the granule cell molecular layer of the dentate gyrus head (GC-ML-DG head). Notably, the differences of the contralesional HATA (HipL: η2 = 0.418, corrected p = 0.002; HipR: η2 = 0.313, corrected p = 0.052) and fimbria (HipL: η2 = 0.450, corrected p < 0.001; HipR: η2 = 0.358, corrected p = 0.012) still held after the Bonferroni correction. Our findings provide evidence for macrostructural plasticity of the contralateral hippocampus in patients with unilateral hippocampal glioma. Specifically, HATA and fimbria exhibit great potential in this process. • Glioma infiltration of the hippocampal regions induces a significant increase in gray matter volume on the contralateral side. • Specifically, the HATA and fimbria regions exhibit favorable plastic potential in the process of lesion-induced structural remolding.

Severity related neuroanatomical and spontaneous functional activity alteration in adolescents with major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling and severe psychiatric disorder with a high rate of prevalence, and adolescence is one of the most probable periods for the first onset. The neurobiological mechanism underlying the adolescent MDD remains unexplored. In this study, we examined the cortical and subcortical alterations of neuroanatomical structures and spontaneous functional activation in 50 unmedicated adolescents with MDD vs. 39 healthy controls through the combined structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Significantly altered regional gray matter volume was found at broader frontal-temporal-parietal and subcortical brain areas involved with various forms of information processing in adolescent MDD. Specifically, the increased GM volume at the left paracentral lobule and right supplementary motor cortex was significantly correlated with depression severity in adolescent MDD. Furthermore, lower cortical thickness at brain areas responsible for visual and auditory processing as well as motor movements was found in adolescent MDD. The lower cortical thickness at the superior premotor subdivision was positively correlated with the course of the disease. Moreover, higher spontaneous neuronal activity was found at the anterior cingulum and medial prefrontal cortex, and this hyperactivity was also negatively correlated with the course of the disease. It potentially reflected the rumination, impaired concentration, and physiological arousal in adolescent MDD. The abnormal structural and functional findings at cortico-subcortical areas implied the dysfunctional cognitive control and emotional regulations in adolescent depression. The findings might help elaborate the underlying neural mechanisms of MDD in adolescents.

Structural alterations of the salience network in patients with insular glioma.

The structural alteration that occurs within the salience network (SN) in patients with insular glioma is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the changes in the topological network and brain structure alterations within the SN in patients with insular glioma. We enrolled 46 patients with left insular glioma, 39 patients with right insular glioma, and 21 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). We compared the topological network, gray matter (GM) volume, and fractional anisotropy (FA) between HCs and patients after controlling for the effects of age and gender. Patients with insular glioma showed topological network decline mainly in the insula, basal ganglia region, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Compared with HCs, patients primarily showed GM volume increased in the ACC, inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), temporal pole: middle temporal gyrus (TPOmid), insula, middle temporal gyrus (MTG), middle frontal gyrus, and superior occipital gyrus (SOG), but decreased in TPOmid, ITG, temporal pole: superior temporal gyrus, and SOG. FA declined mainly in the STG, MTG, ACC, superior frontal gyrus, and SOG, and also showed an increased cluster in SOG. FA represents the integrity of the white matter. In patients with insular glioma, decreased FA may lead to the destruction of the topological network within the SN, which in turn may lead to the decrease of network efficiency and brain function, and the increase of GM volume may compensate for these changes. Overall, this pattern of structural changes provides new insight into the compensation model of insular glioma.