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Alshehri A, Koussis N, Al-Iedani O, Khormi I, Lea R, Ramadan S, Lechner-Scott J. Improvement of the thalamocortical white matter network in people with stable treated relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis over time. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2024; 37:e5119. [PMID: 38383137 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Advanced imaging techniques (tractography) enable the mapping of white matter (WM) pathways and the understanding of brain connectivity patterns. We combined tractography with a network-based approach to examine WM microstructure on a network level in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (pw-RRMS) and healthy controls (HCs) over 2 years. Seventy-six pw-RRMS matched with 43 HCs underwent clinical assessments and 3T MRI scans at baseline (BL) and 2-year follow-up (2-YFU). Probabilistic tractography was performed, accounting for the effect of lesions, producing connectomes of 25 million streamlines. Network differences in fibre density across pw-RRMS and HCs at BL and 2-YFU were quantified using network-based statistics (NBS). Longitudinal network differences in fibre density were quantified using NBS in pw-RRMS, and were tested for correlations with disability, cognition and fatigue scores. Widespread network reductions in fibre density were found in pw-RRMS compared with HCs at BL in cortical regions, with more reductions detected at 2-YFU. Pw-RRMS had reduced fibre density at BL in the thalamocortical network compared to 2-YFU. This effect appeared after correction for age, was robust across different thresholds, and did not correlate with lesion volume or disease duration. Pw-RRMS demonstrated a robust and long-distance improvement in the thalamocortical WM network, regardless of age, disease burden, duration or therapy, suggesting a potential locus of neuroplasticity in MS. This network's role over the disease's lifespan and its potential implications in prognosis and treatment warrants further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulaziz Alshehri
- School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- Department of Radiology, King Fahd University Hospital, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nikitas Koussis
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychological Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Oun Al-Iedani
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Ibrahim Khormi
- School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rodney Lea
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Saadallah Ramadan
- School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Jeannette Lechner-Scott
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- Department of Neurology, John Hunter Hospital, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
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2
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Newman BT, Jacokes Z, Venkadesh S, Webb SJ, Kleinhans NM, McPartland JC, Druzgal TJ, Pelphrey KA, Van Horn JD. Conduction velocity, G-ratio, and extracellular water as microstructural characteristics of autism spectrum disorder. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301964. [PMID: 38630783 PMCID: PMC11023574 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The neuronal differences contributing to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still not well defined. Previous studies have suggested that myelin and axons are disrupted during development in ASD. By combining structural and diffusion MRI techniques, myelin and axons can be assessed using extracellular water, aggregate g-ratio, and a new approach to calculating axonal conduction velocity termed aggregate conduction velocity, which is related to the capacity of the axon to carry information. In this study, several innovative cellular microstructural methods, as measured from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are combined to characterize differences between ASD and typically developing adolescent participants in a large cohort. We first examine the relationship between each metric, including microstructural measurements of axonal and intracellular diffusion and the T1w/T2w ratio. We then demonstrate the sensitivity of these metrics by characterizing differences between ASD and neurotypical participants, finding widespread increases in extracellular water in the cortex and decreases in aggregate g-ratio and aggregate conduction velocity throughout the cortex, subcortex, and white matter skeleton. We finally provide evidence that these microstructural differences are associated with higher scores on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) a commonly used diagnostic tool to assess ASD. This study is the first to reveal that ASD involves MRI-measurable in vivo differences of myelin and axonal development with implications for neuronal and behavioral function. We also introduce a novel formulation for calculating aggregate conduction velocity, that is highly sensitive to these changes. We conclude that ASD may be characterized by otherwise intact structural connectivity but that functional connectivity may be attenuated by network properties affecting neural transmission speed. This effect may explain the putative reliance on local connectivity in contrast to more distal connectivity observed in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Newman
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
| | - Zachary Jacokes
- School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Elson Building, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
| | - Siva Venkadesh
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
| | - Sara J. Webb
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Washington, Seattle WA, United States of America
- Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle WA, United States of America
| | - Natalia M. Kleinhans
- Department of Radiology, Integrated Brain Imaging Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - James C. McPartland
- Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, United States of America
- Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - T. Jason Druzgal
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
| | - Kevin A. Pelphrey
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
| | - John Darrell Van Horn
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
- School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Elson Building, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
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3
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Newman BT, Jacokes Z, Venkadesh S, Webb SJ, Kleinhans NM, McPartland JC, Druzgal TJ, Pelphrey KA, Van Horn JD. Conduction Velocity, G-ratio, and Extracellular Water as Microstructural Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.07.23.550166. [PMID: 37546913 PMCID: PMC10402058 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.23.550166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
The neuronal differences contributing to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still not well defined. Previous studies have suggested that myelin and axons are disrupted during development in ASD. By combining structural and diffusion MRI techniques, myelin and axons can be assessed using extracellular water, aggregate g-ratio, and a novel metric termed aggregate conduction velocity, which is related to the capacity of the axon to carry information. In this study, several innovative cellular microstructural methods, as measured from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are combined to characterize differences between ASD and typically developing adolescent participants in a large cohort. We first examine the relationship between each metric, including microstructural measurements of axonal and intracellular diffusion and the T1w/T2w ratio. We then demonstrate the sensitivity of these metrics by characterizing differences between ASD and neurotypical participants, finding widespread increases in extracellular water in the cortex and decreases in aggregate g-ratio and aggregate conduction velocity throughout the cortex, subcortex, and white matter skeleton. We finally provide evidence that these microstructural differences are associated with higher scores on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) a commonly used diagnostic tool to assess ASD. This study is the first to reveal that ASD involves MRI-measurable in vivo differences of myelin and axonal development with implications for neuronal and behavioral function. We also introduce a novel neuroimaging metric, aggregate conduction velocity, that is highly sensitive to these changes. We conclude that ASD may be characterized by otherwise intact structural connectivity but that functional connectivity may be attenuated by network properties affecting neural transmission speed. This effect may explain the putative reliance on local connectivity in contrast to more distal connectivity observed in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Newman
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, 560 Ray Hunt Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903
| | - Zachary Jacokes
- School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Elson Building, Charlottesville, VA 22903
| | - Siva Venkadesh
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903
| | - Sara J. Webb
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA 98195
- Seattle Children’s Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Building Cure-03, Seattle WA 98101
| | - Natalia M. Kleinhans
- Department of Radiology, Integrated Brain Imaging Center, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St Seattle, WA 98195
| | - James C. McPartland
- Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT 06520
- Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, 40 Temple Street, Suite 6A, New Haven, CT, 06520
| | - T. Jason Druzgal
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, 560 Ray Hunt Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903
| | - Kevin A. Pelphrey
- UVA School of Medicine, University of Virginia, 560 Ray Hunt Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903
| | - John Darrell Van Horn
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903
- School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Elson Building, Charlottesville, VA 22903
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4
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Newman BT, Patrie JT, Druzgal TJ. An intracellular isotropic diffusion signal is positively associated with pubertal development in white matter. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 63:101301. [PMID: 37717292 PMCID: PMC10511341 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Puberty is a key event in adolescent development that involves significant, hormone-driven changes to many aspects of physiology including the brain. Understanding how the brain responds during this time period is important for evaluating neuronal developments that affect mental health throughout adolescence and the adult lifespan. This study examines diffusion MRI scans from the cross-sectional ABCD Study baseline cohort, a large multi-site study containing thousands of participants, to describe the relationship between pubertal development and brain microstructure. Using advanced, 3-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution methods, this study is able to describe multiple tissue compartments beyond only white matter (WM) axonal qualities. After controlling for age, sex, brain volume, subject handedness, scanning site, and sibling relationships, we observe a positive relationship between an isotropic, intracellular diffusion signal fraction and pubertal development across a majority of regions of interest (ROIs) in the WM skeleton. We also observe regional effects from an intracellular anisotropic signal fraction compartment and extracellular isotropic free water-like compartment in several ROIs. This cross-sectional work suggests that changes in pubertal status are associated with a complex response from brain tissue that cannot be completely described by traditional methods focusing only on WM axonal properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T Newman
- Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA.
| | - James T Patrie
- Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA
| | - T Jason Druzgal
- Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA
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5
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Skyberg AM, Newman BT, Graves AJ, Goldstein AM, Brindley SR, Kim M, Druzgal TJ, Connelly JJ, Morris JP. An epigenetic mechanism for differential maturation of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity in childhood socio-emotional development. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:91. [PMID: 36914631 PMCID: PMC10009823 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02380-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional connectivity between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been identified as a neural substrate of emotion regulation that undergoes changes throughout development, with a mature profile typically emerging at 10 years of age. Maternal bonding in childhood has been shown to buffer amygdala reactivity and to influence the trajectory of amygdala-mPFC coupling. The oxytocinergic system is critical in the development of social behavior and maternal bonding. Early-life parental care influences the methylation status of the oxytocin receptor (OXTRm) in animal models and humans, and higher OXTRm is associated with lower amygdala-PFC functional connectivity in adults. Using a neuroimaging-epigenetic approach, we investigated saliva-derived OXTRm as a biological marker of structural and functional connectivity maturation in 57 typically developing children (P < 0.05). We utilized seed-based connectivity analysis during a novel abstract movie paradigm and find that higher levels of OXTRm are associated with a more adult-like functional connectivity profile. Concurrently, more adult-like functional connectivity was associated with higher reported self-control and more diffusion streamlines between the amygdala and mPFC. OXTRm mediates the association between structural and functional connectivity with higher levels of OXTRm being associated with more streamlines. Lastly, we also find that lower OXTRm blunts the association between amygdala-mPFC connectivity and future internalizing behaviors in early adolescence. These findings implicate OXTRm as a biological marker at the interface of the social environment and amygdala-mPFC connectivity in emotional and behavioral regulation. Ultimately, identification of neurobiological markers may lead to earlier detection of children at risk for socio-emotional dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amalia M Skyberg
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Benjamin T Newman
- University of Virginia, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, 1215 Lee St, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Andrew J Graves
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Alison M Goldstein
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Samantha R Brindley
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Minah Kim
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - T Jason Druzgal
- University of Virginia, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, 1215 Lee St, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Jessica J Connelly
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - James P Morris
- University of Virginia, Department of Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
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6
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Craig BT, Geeraert B, Kinney-Lang E, Hilderley AJ, Yeates KO, Kirton A, Noel M, MacMaster FP, Bray S, Barlow KM, Brooks BL, Lebel C, Carlson HL. Structural brain network lateralization across childhood and adolescence. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:1711-1724. [PMID: 36478489 PMCID: PMC9921220 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental lateralization of brain function is imperative for behavioral specialization, yet few studies have investigated differences between hemispheres in structural connectivity patterns, especially over the course of development. The present study compares the lateralization of structural connectivity patterns, or topology, across children, adolescents, and young adults. We applied a graph theory approach to quantify key topological metrics in each hemisphere including efficiency of information transfer between regions (global efficiency), clustering of connections between regions (clustering coefficient [CC]), presence of hub-nodes (betweenness centrality [BC]), and connectivity between nodes of high and low complexity (hierarchical complexity [HC]) and investigated changes in these metrics during development. Further, we investigated BC and CC in seven functionally defined networks. Our cross-sectional study consisted of 211 participants between the ages of 6 and 21 years with 93% being right-handed and 51% female. Global efficiency, HC, and CC demonstrated a leftward lateralization, compared to a rightward lateralization of BC. The sensorimotor, default mode, salience, and language networks showed a leftward asymmetry of CC. BC was only lateralized in the salience (right lateralized) and dorsal attention (left lateralized) networks. Only a small number of metrics were associated with age, suggesting that topological organization may stay relatively constant throughout school-age development, despite known underlying changes in white matter properties. Unlike many other imaging biomarkers of brain development, our study suggests topological lateralization is consistent across age, highlighting potential nonlinear mechanisms underlying developmental specialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon T Craig
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Bryce Geeraert
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Eli Kinney-Lang
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alicia J Hilderley
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Keith O Yeates
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Adam Kirton
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Melanie Noel
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Frank P MacMaster
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Strategic Clinical Network for Addictions and Mental Health, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Signe Bray
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Karen M Barlow
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Brian L Brooks
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Catherine Lebel
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Child and Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Helen L Carlson
- University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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7
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Chary K, Manninen E, Claessens J, Ramirez-Manzanares A, Gröhn O, Sierra A. Diffusion MRI approaches for investigating microstructural complexity in a rat model of traumatic brain injury. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2219. [PMID: 36755032 PMCID: PMC9908904 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29010-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Our study explores the potential of conventional and advanced diffusion MRI techniques including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and single-shell 3-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution (SS3T-CSD) to investigate complex microstructural changes following severe traumatic brain injury in rats at a chronic phase. Rat brains after sham-operation or lateral fluid percussion (LFP) injury were scanned ex vivo in a 9.4 T scanner. Our region-of-interest-based approach of tensor-, and SS3T-CSD derived fixel-, 3-tissue signal fraction maps were sensitive to changes in both white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) areas. Tensor-based measures, such as fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD), detected more changes in WM and GM areas as compared to fixel-based measures including apparent fiber density (AFD), peak FOD amplitude and primary fiber bundle density, while 3-tissue signal fraction maps revealed distinct changes in WM, GM, and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) fractions highlighting the complex tissue microstructural alterations post-trauma. Track-weighted imaging demonstrated changes in track morphology including reduced curvature and average pathlength distal from the primary lesion in severe TBI rats. In histological analysis, changes in the diffusion MRI measures could be associated to decreased myelin density, loss of myelinated axons, and increased cellularity, revealing progressive microstructural alterations in these brain areas five months after injury. Overall, this study highlights the use of combined conventional and advanced diffusion MRI measures to obtain more precise insights into the complex tissue microstructural alterations in chronic phase of severe brain injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karthik Chary
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Neulaniementie 2, Kuopio, Finland.,Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eppu Manninen
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Neulaniementie 2, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Jade Claessens
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Neulaniementie 2, Kuopio, Finland
| | | | - Olli Gröhn
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Neulaniementie 2, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Alejandra Sierra
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Neulaniementie 2, Kuopio, Finland.
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8
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Robertson JW, Aristi G, Hashmi JA. White matter microstructure predicts measures of clinical symptoms in chronic back pain patients. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 37:103309. [PMID: 36621020 PMCID: PMC9850203 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Chronic back pain (CBP) has extensive clinical and social implications for its sufferers and is a major source of disability. Chronic pain has previously been shown to have central neural factors underpinning it, including the loss of white matter (WM), however traditional methods of analyzing WM microstructure have produced mixed and unclear results. To better understand these factors, we assessed the WM microstructure of 50 patients and 40 healthy controls (HC) using diffusion-weighted imaging. The data were analyzed using fixel-based analysis (FBA), a higher-order diffusion modelling technique applied to CBP for the first time here. Subjects also answered questionnaires relating to pain, disability, catastrophizing, and mood disorders, to establish the relationship between fixelwise metrics and clinical symptoms. FBA determined that, compared to HC, CBP patients had: 1) lower fibre density (FD) in several tracts, specifically the right anterior and bilateral superior thalamic radiations, right spinothalamic tract, right middle cerebellar peduncle, and the body and splenium of corpus callosum; 2) higher FD in the genu of corpus callosum; and 3) lower FDC - a combined fibre density and cross-section measure - in the bilateral spinothalamic tracts and right anterior thalamic radiation. Exploratory correlations showed strong negative relationships between fixelwise metrics and clinical questionnaire scores, especially pain catastrophizing. These results have important implications for the intake and processing of sensory data in CBP that warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason W Robertson
- Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
| | - Guillermo Aristi
- Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada
| | - Javeria A Hashmi
- Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada; Nova Scotia Health Authority, 1276 South Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2Y9, Canada.
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9
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Friedrich M, Farrher E, Caspers S, Lohmann P, Lerche C, Stoffels G, Filss CP, Weiss Lucas C, Ruge MI, Langen KJ, Shah NJ, Fink GR, Galldiks N, Kocher M. Alterations in white matter fiber density associated with structural MRI and metabolic PET lesions following multimodal therapy in glioma patients. Front Oncol 2022; 12:998069. [PMID: 36452509 PMCID: PMC9702073 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.998069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In glioma patients, multimodality therapy and recurrent tumor can lead to structural brain tissue damage characterized by pathologic findings in MR and PET imaging. However, little is known about the impact of different types of damage on the fiber architecture of the affected white matter. PATIENTS AND METHODS This study included 121 pretreated patients (median age, 52 years; ECOG performance score, 0 in 48%, 1-2 in 51%) with histomolecularly characterized glioma (WHO grade IV glioblastoma, n=81; WHO grade III anaplastic astrocytoma, n=28; WHO grade III anaplastic oligodendroglioma, n=12), who had a resection, radiotherapy, alkylating chemotherapy, or combinations thereof. After a median follow-up time of 14 months (range, 1-214 months), anatomic MR and O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET) PET images were acquired on a 3T hybrid PET/MR scanner. Post-therapeutic findings comprised resection cavities, regions with contrast enhancement or increased FET uptake and T2/FLAIR hyperintensities. Local fiber density was determined from high angular-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging and advanced tractography methods. A cohort of 121 healthy subjects selected from the 1000BRAINS study matched for age, gender and education served as a control group. RESULTS Lesion types differed in both affected tissue volumes and relative fiber densities compared to control values (resection cavities: median volume 20.9 mL, fiber density 16% of controls; contrast-enhanced lesions: 7.9 mL, 43%; FET uptake areas: 30.3 mL, 49%; T2/FLAIR hyperintensities: 53.4 mL, 57%, p<0.001). In T2/FLAIR-hyperintense lesions caused by peritumoral edema due to recurrent glioma (n=27), relative fiber density was as low as in lesions associated with radiation-induced gliosis (n=13, 48% vs. 53%, p=0.17). In regions with pathologically increased FET uptake, local fiber density was inversely related (p=0.005) to the extent of uptake. Total fiber loss associated with contrast-enhanced lesions (p=0.006) and T2/FLAIR hyperintense lesions (p=0.013) had a significant impact on overall ECOG score. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that apart from resection cavities, reduction in local fiber density is greatest in contrast-enhancing recurrent tumors, but total fiber loss induced by edema or gliosis has an equal detrimental effect on the patients' performance status due to the larger volume affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel Friedrich
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| | - Ezequiel Farrher
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| | - Svenja Caspers
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Institute for Anatomy I, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Philipp Lohmann
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Department of Stereotaxy and Functional Neurosurgery, Center for Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Christoph Lerche
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| | - Gabriele Stoffels
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| | - Christian P. Filss
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Carolin Weiss Lucas
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
- Department of General Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Maximilian I. Ruge
- Department of Stereotaxy and Functional Neurosurgery, Center for Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
| | - Karl-Josef Langen
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nadim J. Shah
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Juelich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), Section JARA-Brain, Juelich, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Gereon R. Fink
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Norbert Galldiks
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin Kocher
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1, -3, -4, -11), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, Germany
- Department of Stereotaxy and Functional Neurosurgery, Center for Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO), Universities of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Duesseldorf, Cologne, Germany
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10
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Morgan CA, Roberts RP, Chaffey T, Tahara-Eckl L, van der Meer M, Günther M, Anderson TJ, Cutfield NJ, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Kirk IJ, Rose Addis D, Tippett LJ, Melzer TR. Reproducibility and repeatability of magnetic resonance imaging in dementia. Phys Med 2022; 101:8-17. [PMID: 35849909 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2022.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Individualised predictive models of cognitive decline require disease-monitoring markers that are repeatable. For wide-spread adoption, such markers also need to be reproducible at different locations. This study assessed the repeatability and reproducibility of MRI markers derived from a dementia protocol. METHODS Six participants were scanned at three different sites with a 3T MRI scanner. The protocol employed: T1-weighted (T1w) imaging, resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI), arterial spin labelling (ASL), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), T2-weighted fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR), T2-weighted (T2w) imaging, and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI). Participants were scanned repeatedly, up to six times over a maximum period of five years. One participant was also scanned a further three times on sequential days on one scanner. Fifteen derived metrics were computed from the seven different modalities. RESULTS Reproducibility (coefficient of variation; CoV, across sites) was best for T1w derived grey matter, white matter and hippocampal volume (CoV < 1.5%), compared to rsfMRI and SWI derived metrics (CoV, 19% and 21%). For a given metric, long-term repeatability (CoV across time) was comparable to reproducibility, with short-term repeatability considerably better. CONCLUSIONS Reproducibility and repeatability were assessed for a suite of markers calculated from a dementia MRI protocol. In general, structural markers were less variable than functional MRI markers. Variability over time on the same scanner was comparable to variability measured across different scanners. Overall, the results support the viability of multi-site longitudinal studies for monitoring cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine A Morgan
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Centre for Advanced MRI, Auckland UniServices Limited, Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - Reece P Roberts
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand
| | - Tessa Chaffey
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Lenore Tahara-Eckl
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Meghan van der Meer
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Matthias Günther
- Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine and University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Timothy J Anderson
- Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand; NZ Brain Research Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Nicholas J Cutfield
- Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - John C Dalrymple-Alford
- Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand; NZ Brain Research Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand; School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Ian J Kirk
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand
| | - Donna Rose Addis
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Lynette J Tippett
- School of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand
| | - Tracy R Melzer
- Brain Research New Zealand - Rangahau Roro Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand; NZ Brain Research Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand; School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
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11
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Kelly C, Dhollander T, Harding IH, Khan W, Beare R, Cheong JL, Doyle LW, Seal M, Thompson DK, Inder TE, Anderson PJ. Brain tissue microstructural and free-water composition 13 years after very preterm birth. Neuroimage 2022; 254:119168. [PMID: 35367651 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
There have been many studies demonstrating children born very preterm exhibit brain white matter microstructural alterations, which have been related to neurodevelopmental difficulties. These prior studies have often been based on diffusion MRI modelling and analysis techniques, which commonly focussed on white matter microstructural properties in very preterm-born children. However, there have been relatively fewer studies investigating the free-water content of the white matter, and also the microstructure and free-water content of the cortical grey matter, in very preterm-born children. These biophysical properties of the brain change rapidly during fetal and neonatal brain development, and therefore such properties are likely also adversely affected by very preterm birth. In this study, we investigated the relationship of very preterm birth (<30 weeks' gestation) to both white matter and cortical grey matter microstructure and free-water content in childhood using advanced diffusion MRI analyses. A total of 130 very preterm participants and 45 full-term control participants underwent diffusion MRI at age 13 years. Diffusion tissue signal fractions derived by Single-Shell 3-Tissue Constrained Spherical Deconvolution were used to investigate brain tissue microstructural and free-water composition. The tissue microstructural and free-water composition metrics were analysed using a bespoke voxel-based analysis and cortical region-of-interest analysis approach. Very preterm 13-year-olds exhibited reduced white matter microstructural density and increased free-water content across widespread regions of the white matter compared with controls. Additionally, very preterm 13-year-olds exhibited reduced microstructural density and increased free-water content in specific temporal, sensorimotor, occipital and cingulate cortical regions. These brain tissue composition alterations were strongly associated with cerebral white matter abnormalities identified in the neonatal period, and concurrent adverse cognitive and motor outcomes in very preterm children. The findings demonstrate brain microstructural and free-water alterations up to thirteen years from neonatal brain abnormalities in very preterm children that relate to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Kelly
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS), Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Developmental Imaging, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Thijs Dhollander
- Developmental Imaging, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Ian H Harding
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Wasim Khan
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Richard Beare
- Developmental Imaging, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Jeanie Ly Cheong
- Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS), Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Lex W Doyle
- Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS), Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Marc Seal
- Developmental Imaging, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Deanne K Thompson
- Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS), Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Developmental Imaging, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Terrie E Inder
- Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peter J Anderson
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS), Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
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12
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Multi-tissue spherical deconvolution of tensor-valued diffusion MRI. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118717. [PMID: 34775006 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Multi-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution (MT-CSD) leverages the characteristic b-value dependency of each tissue type to estimate both the apparent tissue densities and the white matter fiber orientation distribution function from diffusion MRI data. In this work, we generalize MT-CSD to tensor-valued diffusion encoding with arbitrary b-tensor shapes. This enables the use of data encoded with mixed b-tensors, rather than being limited to the subset of linear (conventional) b-tensors. Using the complete set of data, including all b-tensor shapes, provides a categorical improvement in the estimation of apparent tissue densities, fiber ODF, and resulting tractography. Furthermore, we demonstrate that including multiple b-tensor shapes in the analysis provides improved contrast between tissue types, in particular between gray matter and white matter. We also show that our approach provides high-quality apparent tissue density maps and high-quality fiber tracking from data, even with sparse sampling across b-tensors that yield whole-brain coverage at 2 mm isotropic resolution in approximately 5:15 min.
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13
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Finkelstein A, Faiyaz A, Weber MT, Qiu X, Uddin MN, Zhong J, Schifitto G. Fixel-Based Analysis and Free Water Corrected DTI Evaluation of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders. Front Neurol 2021; 12:725059. [PMID: 34803875 PMCID: PMC8600320 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.725059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: White matter (WM) damage is a consistent finding in HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals. Previous studies have evaluated WM fiber tract-specific brain regions in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). However, DTI might lack an accurate biological interpretation, and the technique suffers from several limitations. Fixel-based analysis (FBA) and free water corrected DTI (fwcDTI) have recently emerged as useful techniques to quantify abnormalities in WM. Here, we sought to evaluate FBA and fwcDTI metrics between HIV+ and healthy controls (HIV−) individuals. Using machine learning classifiers, we compared the specificity of both FBA and fwcDTI metrics in their ability to distinguish between individuals with and without cognitive impairment in HIV+ individuals. Methods: Forty-two HIV+ and 52 HIV– participants underwent MRI exam, clinical, and neuropsychological assessments. FBA metrics included fiber density (FD), fiber bundle cross section (FC), and fiber density and cross section (FDC). We also obtained fwcDTI metrics such as fractional anisotropy (FAT) and mean diffusivity (MDT). Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was performed on FAT and MDT. We evaluated the correlations between MRI metrics with cognitive performance and blood markers, such as neurofilament light chain (NfL), and Tau protein. Four different binary classifiers were used to show the specificity of the MRI metrics for classifying cognitive impairment in HIV+ individuals. Results: Whole-brain FBA showed significant reductions (up to 15%) in various fiber bundles, specifically the cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule, middle cerebellar peduncle, and superior corona radiata. TBSS of fwcDTI metrics revealed decreased FAT in HIV+ individuals compared to HIV– individuals in areas consistent with those observed in FBA, but these were not significant. Machine learning classifiers were consistently better able to distinguish between cognitively normal patients and those with cognitive impairment when using fixel-based metrics as input features as compared to fwcDTI metrics. Conclusion: Our findings lend support that FBA may serve as a potential in vivo biomarker for evaluating and monitoring axonal degeneration in HIV+ patients at risk for neurocognitive impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Finkelstein
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Abrar Faiyaz
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Miriam T Weber
- Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Xing Qiu
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Md Nasir Uddin
- Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Jianhui Zhong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States.,Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Giovanni Schifitto
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States.,Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States.,Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
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14
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Callow DD, Won J, Alfini AJ, Purcell JJ, Weiss LR, Zhan W, Smith JC. Microstructural Plasticity in the Hippocampus of Healthy Older Adults after Acute Exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2021; 53:1928-1936. [PMID: 33787529 DOI: 10.1249/mss.0000000000002666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The hippocampus experiences structural and functional decline with age and is a critical region for memory and many cognitive processes. Exercise is beneficial for the aging brain and shows preferential benefits for hippocampal volume, activation, and memory-related cognitive processes. However, research thus far has primarily focused on the effects of exercise on long-term volumetric changes in the hippocampus using structural magnetic resonance imaging. Critically, microstructural alterations within the hippocampus over short time intervals are associated with neuroplasticity and cognitive changes that do not alter its volume but are still functionally relevant. However, it is not yet known if microstructural neuroplasticity occurs in the hippocampus in response to a single session of exercise. METHODS We used a within-subject design to determine if a 30-min bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise altered bilateral hippocampal diffusion tensor imaging measures in healthy older adults (n = 30) compared with a seated rest control condition. RESULTS Significantly lower fractional anisotropy and higher mean diffusivity were found after exercise relative to seated rest within the bilateral hippocampus, and this effect was driven by higher radial diffusivity. No significant differences in axial diffusivity were observed. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that a single exercise session can lead to microstructural alterations in the hippocampus of healthy older adults. These differences may be associated with changes in the extracellular space and glial, synaptic, and dendritic processes within the hippocampus. Repeated microstructural alterations resulting from acute bouts of exercise may accumulate and precede larger volumetric and functional improvements in the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Junyeon Won
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
| | - Alfonso J Alfini
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - Jeremy J Purcell
- Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
| | | | - Wang Zhan
- Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
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15
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Fixel-based Analysis of Diffusion MRI: Methods, Applications, Challenges and Opportunities. Neuroimage 2021; 241:118417. [PMID: 34298083 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion MRI has provided the neuroimaging community with a powerful tool to acquire in-vivo data sensitive to microstructural features of white matter, up to 3 orders of magnitude smaller than typical voxel sizes. The key to extracting such valuable information lies in complex modelling techniques, which form the link between the rich diffusion MRI data and various metrics related to the microstructural organization. Over time, increasingly advanced techniques have been developed, up to the point where some diffusion MRI models can now provide access to properties specific to individual fibre populations in each voxel in the presence of multiple "crossing" fibre pathways. While highly valuable, such fibre-specific information poses unique challenges for typical image processing pipelines and statistical analysis. In this work, we review the "Fixel-Based Analysis" (FBA) framework, which implements bespoke solutions to this end. It has recently seen a stark increase in adoption for studies of both typical (healthy) populations as well as a wide range of clinical populations. We describe the main concepts related to Fixel-Based Analyses, as well as the methods and specific steps involved in a state-of-the-art FBA pipeline, with a focus on providing researchers with practical advice on how to interpret results. We also include an overview of the scope of all current FBA studies, categorized across a broad range of neuro-scientific domains, listing key design choices and summarizing their main results and conclusions. Finally, we critically discuss several aspects and challenges involved with the FBA framework, and outline some directions and future opportunities.
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16
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Callow DD, Won J, Pena GS, Jordan LS, Arnold-Nedimala NA, Kommula Y, Nielson KA, Smith JC. Exercise Training-Related Changes in Cortical Gray Matter Diffusivity and Cognitive Function in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Healthy Older Adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:645258. [PMID: 33897407 PMCID: PMC8060483 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.645258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are at an elevated risk of dementia and exhibit deficits in cognition and cortical gray matter (GM) volume, thickness, and microstructure. Meanwhile, exercise training appears to preserve brain function and macrostructure may help delay or prevent the onset of dementia in individuals with MCI. Yet, our understanding of the neurophysiological effects of exercise training in individuals with MCI remains limited. Recent work suggests that the measures of gray matter microstructure using diffusion imaging may be sensitive to early cognitive and neurophysiological changes in the aging brain. Therefore, this study is aimed to determine the effects of exercise training in cognition and cortical gray matter microstructure in individuals with MCI vs. cognitively healthy older adults. Fifteen MCI participants and 17 cognitively intact controls (HC) volunteered for a 12-week supervised walking intervention. Following the intervention, MCI and HC saw improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, performance on Trial 1 of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), a measure of verbal memory, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), a measure of verbal fluency. After controlling for age, a voxel-wise analysis of cortical gray matter diffusivity showed individuals with MCI exhibited greater increases in mean diffusivity (MD) in the left insular cortex than HC. This increase in MD was positively associated with improvements in COWAT performance. Additionally, after controlling for age, the voxel-wise analysis indicated a main effect of Time with both groups experiencing an increase in left insular and left and right cerebellar MD. Increases in left insular diffusivity were similarly found to be positively associated with improvements in COWAT performance in both groups, while increases in cerebellar MD were related to gains in episodic memory performance. These findings suggest that exercise training may be related to improvements in neural circuits that govern verbal fluency performance in older adults through the microstructural remodeling of cortical gray matter. Furthermore, changes in left insular cortex microstructure may be particularly relevant to improvements in verbal fluency among individuals diagnosed with MCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel D Callow
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Junyeon Won
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Gabriel S Pena
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Leslie S Jordan
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | | | - Yash Kommula
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Kristy A Nielson
- Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - J Carson Smith
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
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17
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Mito R, Dhollander T, Xia Y, Raffelt D, Salvado O, Churilov L, Rowe CC, Brodtmann A, Villemagne VL, Connelly A. In vivo microstructural heterogeneity of white matter lesions in healthy elderly and Alzheimer's disease participants using tissue compositional analysis of diffusion MRI data. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 28:102479. [PMID: 33395971 PMCID: PMC7652769 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are regions of high signal intensity typically identified on fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). Although commonly observed in elderly individuals, they are more prevalent in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Given that WMH appear relatively homogeneous on FLAIR, they are commonly partitioned into location- or distance-based classes when investigating their relevance to disease. Since pathology indicates that such lesions are often heterogeneous, probing their microstructure in vivo may provide greater insight than relying on such arbitrary classification schemes. In this study, we investigated WMH in vivo using an advanced diffusion MRI method known as single-shell 3-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution (SS3T-CSD), which models white matter microstructure while accounting for grey matter and CSF compartments. Diffusion MRI data and FLAIR images were obtained from AD (n = 48) and healthy elderly control (n = 94) subjects. WMH were automatically segmented, and classified: (1) as either periventricular or deep; or (2) into three distance-based contours from the ventricles. The 3-tissue profile of WMH enabled their characterisation in terms of white matter-, grey matter-, and fluid-like characteristics of the diffusion signal. Our SS3T-CSD findings revealed substantial heterogeneity in the 3-tissue profile of WMH, both within lesions and across the various classes. Moreover, this heterogeneity information indicated that the use of different commonly used WMH classification schemes can result in different disease-based conclusions. We conclude that future studies of WMH in AD would benefit from inclusion of microstructural information when characterising lesions, which we demonstrate can be performed in vivo using SS3T-CSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remika Mito
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Thijs Dhollander
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ying Xia
- CSIRO, Health & Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - David Raffelt
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Olivier Salvado
- CSIRO, Health & Biosecurity, The Australian eHealth Research Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; CSIRO Data61, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Leonid Churilov
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Christopher C Rowe
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Molecular Imaging & Therapy, Centre for PET, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Amy Brodtmann
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Eastern Clinical Research Unit, Monash University, Box Hill Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Victor L Villemagne
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Molecular Imaging & Therapy, Centre for PET, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alan Connelly
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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18
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Choy SW, Bagarinao E, Watanabe H, Ho ETW, Maesawa S, Mori D, Hara K, Kawabata K, Yoneyama N, Ohdake R, Imai K, Masuda M, Yokoi T, Ogura A, Taoka T, Koyama S, Tanabe HC, Katsuno M, Wakabayashi T, Kuzuya M, Hoshiyama M, Isoda H, Naganawa S, Ozaki N, Sobue G. Changes in white matter fiber density and morphology across the adult lifespan: A cross-sectional fixel-based analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:3198-3211. [PMID: 32304267 PMCID: PMC7375080 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
White matter (WM) fiber bundles change dynamically with age. These changes could be driven by alterations in axonal diameter, axonal density, and myelin content. In this study, we applied a novel fixel‐based analysis (FBA) framework to examine these changes throughout the adult lifespan. Using diffusion‐weighted images from a cohort of 293 healthy volunteers (89 males/204 females) from ages 21 to 86 years old, we performed FBA to analyze age‐related changes in microscopic fiber density (FD) and macroscopic fiber morphology (fiber cross section [FC]). Our results showed significant and widespread age‐related alterations in FD and FC across the whole brain. Interestingly, some fiber bundles such as the anterior thalamic radiation, corpus callosum, and superior longitudinal fasciculus only showed significant negative relationship with age in FD values, but not in FC. On the other hand, some segments of the cerebello‐thalamo‐cortical pathway only showed significant negative relationship with age in FC, but not in FD. Analysis at the tract‐level also showed that major fiber tract groups predominantly distributed in the frontal lobe (cingulum, forceps minor) exhibited greater vulnerability to the aging process than the others. Differences in FC and the combined measure of FD and cross section values observed between sexes were mostly driven by differences in brain sizes although male participants tended to exhibit steeper negative linear relationship with age in FD as compared to female participants. Overall, these findings provide further insights into the structural changes the brain's WM undergoes due to the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao Wei Choy
- Center for Intelligent Signal and Imaging Research, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
| | | | - Hirohisa Watanabe
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.,Department of Neurology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan.,Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Eric Tatt Wei Ho
- Center for Intelligent Signal and Imaging Research, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
| | - Satoshi Maesawa
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.,Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Daisuke Mori
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Hara
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kazuya Kawabata
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Noritaka Yoneyama
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Reiko Ohdake
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kazunori Imai
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Michihito Masuda
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Takamasa Yokoi
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Aya Ogura
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Toshiaki Taoka
- Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shuji Koyama
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Hiroki C Tanabe
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Masahisa Katsuno
- Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Toshihiko Wakabayashi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Masafumi Kuzuya
- Department of Community Healthcare and Geriatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine and Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Minoru Hoshiyama
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Haruo Isoda
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shinji Naganawa
- Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Norio Ozaki
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.,Department of Psychiatry, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Gen Sobue
- Brain and Mind Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
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