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Li M, Izumoto M, Wang Y, Kato Y, Iwatani Y, Hirata I, Mizuno Y, Tachibana M, Mohri I, Kagitani-Shimono K. Altered white matter connectivity of ventral language networks in autism spectrum disorder: An automated fiber quantification analysis with multi-site datasets. Neuroimage 2024; 297:120731. [PMID: 39002786 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 06/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Comprehension and pragmatic deficits are prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are potentially linked to altered connectivity in the ventral language networks. However, previous magnetic resonance imaging studies have not sufficiently explored the microstructural abnormalities in the ventral fiber tracts underlying comprehension dysfunction in ASD. Additionally, the precise locations of white matter (WM) changes in the long tracts of patients with ASD remain poorly understood. In the current study, we applied the automated fiber-tract quantification (AFQ) method to investigate the fine-grained WM properties of the ventral language pathway and their relationships with comprehension and symptom manifestation in ASD. The analysis included diffusion/T1 weighted imaging data of 83 individuals with ASD and 83 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls. Case-control comparisons were performed on the diffusion metrics of the ventral tracts at both the global and point-wise levels. We also explored correlations between diffusion metrics, comprehension performance, and ASD traits, and conducted subgroup analyses based on age range to examine developmental moderating effects. Individuals with ASD exhibited remarkable hypoconnectivity in the ventral tracts, particularly in the temporal portions of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). These WM abnormalities were associated with poor comprehension and more severe ASD symptoms. Furthermore, WM alterations in the ventral tract and their correlation with comprehension dysfunction were more prominent in younger children with ASD than in adolescents. These findings indicate that WM disruptions in the temporal portions of the left ILF/IFOF are most notable in ASD, potentially constituting the core neurological underpinnings of comprehension and communication deficits in autism. Moreover, impaired WM connectivity and comprehension ability in patients with ASD appear to improve with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Li
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Maya Izumoto
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yide Wang
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yoko Kato
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yoshiko Iwatani
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Ikuko Hirata
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Mizuno
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan
| | - Masaya Tachibana
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Ikuko Mohri
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kuriko Kagitani-Shimono
- Osaka University, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
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Abbott N, Love T. Bridging the Divide: Brain and Behavior in Developmental Language Disorder. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1606. [PMID: 38002565 PMCID: PMC10670267 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13111606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a heterogenous neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a child's ability to comprehend and/or produce spoken and/or written language, yet it cannot be attributed to hearing loss or overt neurological damage. It is widely believed that some combination of genetic, biological, and environmental factors influences brain and language development in this population, but it has been difficult to bridge theoretical accounts of DLD with neuroimaging findings, due to heterogeneity in language impairment profiles across individuals and inconsistent neuroimaging findings. Therefore, the purpose of this overview is two-fold: (1) to summarize the neuroimaging literature (while drawing on findings from other language-impaired populations, where appropriate); and (2) to briefly review the theoretical accounts of language impairment patterns in DLD, with the goal of bridging the disparate findings. As will be demonstrated with this overview, the current state of the field suggests that children with DLD have atypical brain volume, laterality, and activation/connectivity patterns in key language regions that likely contribute to language difficulties. However, the precise nature of these differences and the underlying neural mechanisms contributing to them remain an open area of investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelle Abbott
- School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA;
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Tracy Love
- School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA;
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
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Olivé G, Peñaloza C, Vaquero L, Laine M, Martin N, Rodriguez-Fornells A. The right uncinate fasciculus supports verbal short-term memory in aphasia. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:875-893. [PMID: 37005932 PMCID: PMC10147778 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02628-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
Verbal short-term memory (STM) deficits are associated with language processing impairments in people with aphasia. Importantly, the integrity of STM can predict word learning ability and anomia therapy gains in aphasia. While the recruitment of perilesional and contralesional homologous brain regions has been proposed as a possible mechanism for aphasia recovery, little is known about the white-matter pathways that support verbal STM in post-stroke aphasia. Here, we investigated the relationships between the language-related white matter tracts and verbal STM ability in aphasia. Nineteen participants with post-stroke chronic aphasia completed a subset of verbal STM subtests of the TALSA battery including nonword repetition (phonological STM), pointing span (lexical-semantic STM without language output) and repetition span tasks (lexical-semantic STM with language output). Using a manual deterministic tractography approach, we investigated the micro- and macrostructural properties of the structural language network. Next, we assessed the relationships between individually extracted tract values and verbal STM scores. We found significant correlations between volume measures of the right Uncinate Fasciculus and all three verbal STM scores, with the association between the right UF volume and nonword repetition being the strongest one. These findings suggest that the integrity of the right UF is associated with phonological and lexical-semantic verbal STM ability in aphasia and highlight the potential compensatory role of right-sided ventral white matter language tracts in supporting verbal STM after aphasia-inducing left hemisphere insult.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillem Olivé
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Claudia Peñaloza
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucía Vaquero
- Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Center for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Matti Laine
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Nadine Martin
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, ICREA, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.
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