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Mundorf A, Getzmann S, Gajewski PD, Larra MF, Wascher E, Genç E, Ocklenburg S. Phenotyping in clinical laterality research: a comparison of commonly used methods to determine mixed-handedness and ambidexterity. Laterality 2024:1-19. [PMID: 38968414 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2024.2370871] [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: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
An increased prevalence of mixed-handedness has been reported in several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, there is high between-study variability in the definition of mixed-handedness, leading to a major methodological problem in clinical laterality research and endangering replicability and comparability of research findings. Adding to this challenge is the fact that sometimes researchers use the concepts of mixed-handedness and ambidexterity interchangeably. Therefore, having a consensus on how to determine mixed-handedness and how to distinguish it from ambidexterity is crucial for clinical laterality research. To this end, hand preference and hand performance data from more than 600 participants from the Dortmund Vital Study (Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05155397), a population-based study in Germany, was analyzed to ascertain an optimal classification to determine mixed-handedness and ambidexterity. Using a combination of latent class analyses, effect size determination, and comparisons with the existing literature, we establish that an LQ cut-off criterion of +/-60 for mixed-handedness is optimal for future clinical laterality studies. Moreover, we show that mixed-handedness and ambidexterity are not identical and that the terms should not be used interchangeably. We further highlight the need for a consensus on how to mathematically determine ambidexterity as results of existing categorization schemes largely differ.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05155397; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05155397.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annakarina Mundorf
- Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Stephan Getzmann
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Patrick D Gajewski
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Mauro F Larra
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Bochum, Germany
| | - Erhan Genç
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Biopsychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Ocklenburg S, Mundorf A, Gerrits R, Karlsson EM, Papadatou-Pastou M, Vingerhoets G. Clinical implications of brain asymmetries. Nat Rev Neurol 2024; 20:383-394. [PMID: 38783057 DOI: 10.1038/s41582-024-00974-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
No two human brains are alike, and with the rise of precision medicine in neurology, we are seeing an increased emphasis on understanding the individual variability in brain structure and function that renders every brain unique. Functional and structural brain asymmetries are a fundamental principle of brain organization, and recent research suggests substantial individual variability in these asymmetries that needs to be considered in clinical practice. In this Review, we provide an overview of brain asymmetries, variations in such asymmetries and their relevance in the clinical context. We review recent findings on brain asymmetries in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as in specific learning disabilities, with an emphasis on large-scale database studies and meta-analyses. We also highlight the relevance of asymmetries for disease symptom onset in neurodegenerative diseases and their implications for lateralized treatments, including brain stimulation. We conclude that alterations in brain asymmetry are not sufficiently specific to act as diagnostic biomarkers but can serve as meaningful symptom or treatment response biomarkers in certain contexts. On the basis of these insights, we provide several recommendations for neurological clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Annakarina Mundorf
- ISM Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Robin Gerrits
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (GIfMI), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Emma M Karlsson
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (GIfMI), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Guy Vingerhoets
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (GIfMI), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Mundorf A, Lischke A, Peterburs J, Alexander N, Bonnekoh LM, Brosch K, Flinkenflügel K, Goltermann J, Hahn T, Jansen A, Meinert S, Nenadić I, Schürmeyer NN, Stein F, Straube B, Thiel K, Teutenberg L, Thomas-Odenthal F, Usemann P, Winter A, Dannlowski U, Kircher T, Ocklenburg S. Handedness in schizophrenia and affective disorders: a large-scale cross-disorder study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024:10.1007/s00406-024-01833-9. [PMID: 38914850 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-024-01833-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
While most people are right-handed, a minority are left-handed or mixed-handed. It has been suggested that mental and developmental disorders are associated with increased prevalence of left-handedness and mixed-handedness. However, substantial heterogeneity exists across disorders, indicating that not all disorders are associated with a considerable shift away from right-handedness. Increased frequencies in left- and mixed-handedness have also been associated with more severe clinical symptoms, indicating that symptom severity rather than diagnosis explains the high prevalence of non-right-handedness in mental disorders. To address this issue, the present study investigated the association between handedness and measures of stress reactivity, depression, mania, anxiety, and positive and negative symptoms in a large sample of 994 healthy controls and 1213 patients with DSM IV affective disorders, schizoaffective disorders, or schizophrenia. A series of complementary analyses revealed lower lateralization and a higher percentage of mixed-handedness in patients with major depression (14.9%) and schizophrenia (24.0%) compared to healthy controls (12%). For patients with schizophrenia, higher symptom severity was associated with an increasing tendency towards left-handedness. No associations were found for patients diagnosed with major depression, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder. In healthy controls, no association between hand preference and symptoms was evident. Taken together, these findings suggest that both diagnosis and symptom severity are relevant for the shift away from right-handedness in mental disorders like schizophrenia and major depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annakarina Mundorf
- ISM Institute of Systems Medicine & Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Alexander Lischke
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICPP Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jutta Peterburs
- ISM Institute of Systems Medicine & Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Linda M Bonnekoh
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Katharina Brosch
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- Institute of Behavioral Science, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Glen Oaks, USA
| | - Kira Flinkenflügel
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Janik Goltermann
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Tim Hahn
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- Core-Facility Brainimaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Meinert
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Igor Nenadić
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | | | - Frederike Stein
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Straube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Katharina Thiel
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lea Teutenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Florian Thomas-Odenthal
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Paula Usemann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Alexandra Winter
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Sakaguchi K, Tawata S. Giftedness and atypical sexual differentiation: enhanced perceptual functioning through estrogen deficiency instead of androgen excess. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2024; 15:1343759. [PMID: 38752176 PMCID: PMC11094242 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1343759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Syndromic autism spectrum conditions (ASC), such as Klinefelter syndrome, also manifest hypogonadism. Compared to the popular Extreme Male Brain theory, the Enhanced Perceptual Functioning model explains the connection between ASC, savant traits, and giftedness more seamlessly, and their co-emergence with atypical sexual differentiation. Overexcitability of primary sensory inputs generates a relative enhancement of local to global processing of stimuli, hindering the abstraction of communication signals, in contrast to the extraordinary local information processing skills in some individuals. Weaker inhibitory function through gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors and the atypicality of synapse formation lead to this difference, and the formation of unique neural circuits that process external information. Additionally, deficiency in monitoring inner sensory information leads to alexithymia (inability to distinguish one's own emotions), which can be caused by hypoactivity of estrogen and oxytocin in the interoceptive neural circuits, comprising the anterior insular and cingulate gyri. These areas are also part of the Salience Network, which switches between the Central Executive Network for external tasks and the Default Mode Network for self-referential mind wandering. Exploring the possibility that estrogen deficiency since early development interrupts GABA shift, causing sensory processing atypicality, it helps to evaluate the co-occurrence of ASC with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and schizophrenia based on phenotypic and physiological bases. It also provides clues for understanding the common underpinnings of these neurodevelopmental disorders and gifted populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kikue Sakaguchi
- Research Department, National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE), Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shintaro Tawata
- Graduate School of Human Sciences, Sophia University, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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Schijven D, Soheili-Nezhad S, Fisher SE, Francks C. Exome-wide analysis implicates rare protein-altering variants in human handedness. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2632. [PMID: 38565598 PMCID: PMC10987538 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46277-w] [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: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Handedness is a manifestation of brain hemispheric specialization. Left-handedness occurs at increased rates in neurodevelopmental disorders. Genome-wide association studies have identified common genetic effects on handedness or brain asymmetry, which mostly involve variants outside protein-coding regions and may affect gene expression. Implicated genes include several that encode tubulins (microtubule components) or microtubule-associated proteins. Here we examine whether left-handedness is also influenced by rare coding variants (frequencies ≤ 1%), using exome data from 38,043 left-handed and 313,271 right-handed individuals from the UK Biobank. The beta-tubulin gene TUBB4B shows exome-wide significant association, with a rate of rare coding variants 2.7 times higher in left-handers than right-handers. The TUBB4B variants are mostly heterozygous missense changes, but include two frameshifts found only in left-handers. Other TUBB4B variants have been linked to sensorineural and/or ciliopathic disorders, but not the variants found here. Among genes previously implicated in autism or schizophrenia by exome screening, DSCAM and FOXP1 show evidence for rare coding variant association with left-handedness. The exome-wide heritability of left-handedness due to rare coding variants was 0.91%. This study reveals a role for rare, protein-altering variants in left-handedness, providing further evidence for the involvement of microtubules and disorder-relevant genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dick Schijven
- Language & Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sourena Soheili-Nezhad
- Language & Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Simon E Fisher
- Language & Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Clyde Francks
- Language & Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Gu T, Jin C, Lin L, Wang X, Li X, Jing J, Cao M. The relationship between executive function and the association of motor coordination difficulties and social communication deficits in autistic children. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1363406. [PMID: 38596639 PMCID: PMC11002984 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1363406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Motor coordination difficulties could contribute to social communication deficits in autistic children. However, the exploration of the mechanism implicated in these claims has been limited by the lack of potential confounders such as executive function (EF). Methods We investigated the role that EF plays in the relationship between motor coordination and social communication in a school-aged autistic population via a structural model in a statistically robust manner. The results of questionnaires, including the Developmental Coordination Disorder questionnaire, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, and the Social Responsiveness Scale, were collected to measure motor coordination, social communication deficits, and EF. Results A total of 182 autistic children (7.61±1.31 years, 87.9% boys) were included in the final analysis. In the model with EF as a mediator, the total effect (β=-0.599, P<0.001) and the direct effect (β=-0.331, P =0.003) of motor coordination function on social communication were both significant among autistic children without intellectual disability (ID), as were indirect effects through EF (β=-0.268, P<0.001). Conclusion EF partially mediates the motor coordination and social communication correlation among autistic children. We suggest that motor coordination should be included in the routine evaluation of autistic surveillance and rehabilitation procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingfeng Gu
- Maternal and Child Health Department, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chengkai Jin
- Maternal and Child Health Department, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lizi Lin
- Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xin Wang
- Maternal and Child Health Department, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiuhong Li
- Maternal and Child Health Department, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jin Jing
- Maternal and Child Health Department, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Muqing Cao
- School of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China
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Samadi SA. Handedness in autism spectrum disorders and intellectually disabled children and adolescents - Contrasting caregivers' reports with assessments of hand preference. Heliyon 2024; 10:e25935. [PMID: 38380041 PMCID: PMC10877286 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25935] [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: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Background A higher rate of atypical handedness prevalence (non-right-handedness or left-, mixed-hand dominance) has been recurrently reported in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to individuals with other types of developmental disabilities. However, the exact magnitude of this difference as well as the presence of possible contributing factors remained unknown. The main aim of this study was to understand caregivers' impression of the handedness of their child with developmental disabilities and its relationship with assessments of the child using a hand preference scale. Methods and procedures The sample of the present study was 1116 individuals with developmental disabilities from two countries, 541 (51.5%) individuals from Iran and 575 (48.5%) individuals from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The handedness of the sample was evaluated based on the parental report and utilizing a standardized scale (The Hand-Preference Demonstration Test "HPDT"). Outcomes and results There was a statistically significant difference between caregivers' reports on their dependents' handedness and the application of a valid hand preference scale and they do not necessarily overlap. There was a statistically significant relationship between handedness and type of developmental disabilities based on caregivers' reports and individuals with ASD were more non-right-handed compared to individuals with ID based on the caregivers' report. Hence similar difference was not seen between the ASD and ID groups when HDTP was applied as a diagnostic scale. While left-handedness in the ASD and ID group was similar (23-24%), mixed-handedness in the ASD group was 38% compared to 33% in the ID group. Conclusions and implications The Hand-Preference Demonstration Test (HPDT) was a valid way to determine the hand preference of individuals with ASD and ID. It is concluded that parental reports on their offspring with ASD's hand preference need to be approved through the application of a scale and caregivers and professionals need to be more aware of early motor symptoms such as handedness. Further research should focus on the role of handedness in the development of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination in children with differing developmental disabilities and variations among those differing impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayyed Ali Samadi
- Institute of Nursing and Health Research, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences University of Ulster Shore Rd, Co Antrim, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, UK
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Messina A, Sovrano VA, Baratti G, Musa A, Gobbo A, Adiletta A, Sgadò P. Valproic acid exposure affects social visual lateralization and asymmetric gene expression in zebrafish larvae. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4474. [PMID: 38395997 PMCID: PMC10891151 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54356-7] [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: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Cerebral asymmetry is critical for typical brain function and development; at the same time, altered brain lateralization seems to be associated with neuropsychiatric disorders. Zebrafish are increasingly emerging as model species to study brain lateralization, using asymmetric development of the habenula, a phylogenetically old brain structure associated with social and emotional processing, to investigate the relationship between brain asymmetry and social behavior. We exposed 5-h post-fertilization zebrafish embryos to valproic acid (VPA), a compound used to model the core signs of ASD in many vertebrate species, and assessed social interaction, visual lateralization and gene expression in the thalamus and the telencephalon. VPA-exposed zebrafish exhibit social deficits and a deconstruction of social visual laterality to the mirror. We also observe changes in the asymmetric expression of the epithalamic marker leftover and in the size of the dorsolateral part of the habenula in adult zebrafish. Our data indicate that VPA exposure neutralizes the animals' visual field bias, with a complete loss of the left-eye use bias in front of their own mirror image, and alters brain asymmetric gene expression and morphology, opening new perspectives to investigate brain lateralization and its link to atypical social cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Messina
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Valeria Anna Sovrano
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
| | - Greta Baratti
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Alessia Musa
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Alessandra Gobbo
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Alice Adiletta
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Paola Sgadò
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
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Fixary-Schuster C, Lapraz F, Noselli S. [Netrin signaling pathway, memory and brain lateralization]. Med Sci (Paris) 2024; 40:139-142. [PMID: 38411419 DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2023209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Cloé Fixary-Schuster
- Institut de biologie Valrose (iBV), Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Nice, France
| | - François Lapraz
- Institut de biologie Valrose (iBV), Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Nice, France
| | - Stéphane Noselli
- Institut de biologie Valrose (iBV), Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, Nice, France
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10
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Mundorf A, Borawski J, Ocklenburg S. Behavioral lateralization in bipolar disorders: a systematic review. Int J Bipolar Disord 2023; 11:37. [PMID: 38038825 PMCID: PMC10692061 DOI: 10.1186/s40345-023-00320-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bipolar disorder (BD) is often seen as a bridge between schizophrenia and depression in terms of symptomatology and etiology. Interestingly, hemispheric asymmetries as well as behavioral lateralization are shifted towards a tendency of left-side or mixed-side bias in schizophrenia whereas no shift is observed in subjects with depression. Given the role of BD with both, (hypo)manic and depressive episodes, investigating hemispheric asymmetries in subjects with BD is an interesting objective. METHOD A systematic review of studies including measures of behavioral lateralization in the form of handedness, footedness, eyedness, and language lateralization was performed resulting in 25 suitable studies. RESULTS A broad variety of methods was used to assess behavioral lateralization, especially for eyedness, footedness, and language lateralization hindering the integration of results. Additionally, for hand preference, studies frequently used different cut-off scores and classification systems. Overall, studies do not support alteration in side preference in BD subjects. Studies focusing on differences in handedness demonstrate that subjects show equal rates of right- and non-right-handedness as the general population. Few studies focusing on manic episodes point towards increased left-side bias in ear and eye dominance, but the small sample sizes and conflicting results warrant further investigation. CONCLUSION The results reinforce that some disorders, such as BD, should not be treated as a homogenous group but sub-groups should be analyzed within the patient's population. Particularly, clinical implications resulting from neuroimaging studies highlight the need to study hemispheric asymmetries given that they may be important to consider for brain stimulation protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annakarina Mundorf
- ISM Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Jette Borawski
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Packheiser J, Papadatou-Pastou M, Koufaki A, Paracchini S, Stein CC, Schmitz J, Ocklenburg S. Elevated levels of mixed-hand preference in dyslexia: Meta-analyses of 68 studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 154:105420. [PMID: 37783301 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105420] [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: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Since almost a hundred years, psychologists have investigated the link between hand preference and dyslexia. We present a meta-analysis to determine whether there is indeed an increase in atypical hand preference in dyslexia. We included studies used in two previous meta-analyses (Bishop, 1990; Eglinton & Annett, 1994) as well as studies identified through PubMed MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Google Scholar, and Web of Science up to August 2022. K = 68 studies (n = 4660 individuals with dyslexia; n = 40845 controls) were entered into three random effects meta-analyses using the odds ratio as the effect size (non-right-handers; left-handers; mixed-handers vs. total). Evidence of elevated levels of atypical hand preference in dyslexia emerged that were especially pronounced for mixed-hand preference (OR = 1.57), although this category was underdefined. Differences in (direction or degree) of hand skill or degree of hand preference could not be assessed as no pertinent studies were located. Our findings allow for robust conclusions only for a relationship of mixed-hand preference with dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Packheiser
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; BioMedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
| | - Angeliki Koufaki
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Clara C Stein
- Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Preventive Medicine, LWL-University Hospital Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Judith Schmitz
- Biological Personality Psychology, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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12
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Fernandez-Velasco P, Coutrot A, Oloye H, Wiener JM, Dalton RC, Holscher C, Manley E, Hornberger M, Spiers HJ. No link between handedness and spatial navigation: evidence from over 400 000 participants in 41 countries. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231514. [PMID: 37817602 PMCID: PMC10565369 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1514] [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: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
There is an active debate concerning the association of handedness and spatial ability. Past studies used small sample sizes. Determining the effect of handedness on spatial ability requires a large, cross-cultural sample of participants and a navigation task with real-world validity. Here, we overcome these challenges via the mobile app Sea Hero Quest. We analysed the navigation performance from 422 772 participants from 41 countries and found no reliable evidence for any difference in spatial ability between left- and right-handers across all countries. A small but growing gap in performance appears for participants over 64 years old, with left-handers outperforming right-handers. Further analysis, however, suggests that this gap is most likely due to selection bias. Overall, our study clarifies the factors associated with spatial ability and shows that left-handedness is not associated with either a benefit or a deficit in spatial ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. Fernandez-Velasco
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Department of Philosophy, University of York, York, UK
| | - A. Coutrot
- LIRIS, CNRS, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - H. Oloye
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
- Centre of Medical Imaging Computing, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - J. M. Wiener
- Department of Psychology, Ageing and Dementia Research Centre, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - R. C. Dalton
- Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - C. Holscher
- ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - E. Manley
- Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, London, UK
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - M. Hornberger
- Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - H. J. Spiers
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
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13
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Papadatou-Pastou M, Papadopoulou AK, Samsouris C, Mundorf A, Valtou MM, Ocklenburg S. Hand Preference in Stuttering: Meta-Analyses. Neuropsychol Rev 2023:10.1007/s11065-023-09617-z. [PMID: 37796428 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-023-09617-z] [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: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Reduced hemispheric asymmetries, as well as their behavioral manifestation in the form of atypical handedness (i.e., non-right, left-, or mixed-handedness), are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder, and several psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. One neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with reduced hemispheric asymmetries, but for which findings on behavioral laterality are conflicting, is stuttering. Here, we report a series of meta-analyses of studies that report handedness (assessed as hand preference) levels in individuals who stutter (otherwise healthy) compared to controls. For this purpose, articles were identified via a search in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycInfo (13 June 2023). On the basis of k = 52 identified studies totaling n = 2590 individuals who stutter and n = 17,148 controls, five random effects meta-analyses were conducted: four using the odds ratio [left-handers (forced choice); left-handers (extreme); mixed-handers; non-right-handers vs. total)] and one using the standardized difference in means as the effect size. We did not find evidence of a left (extreme)- or mixed-handedness difference or a difference in mean handedness scores, but evidence did emerge, when it came to left-handedness (forced-choice) and (inconclusively for) non-right-handedness. Risk-of-bias analysis was not deemed necessary in the context of these meta-analyses. Differences in hand skill or strength of handedness could not be assessed as no pertinent studies were located. Severity of stuttering could not be used s a moderator, as too few studies broke down their data according to severity. Our findings do not allow for firm conclusions to be drawn on whether stuttering is associated with reduced hemispheric asymmetries, at least when it comes to their behavioral manifestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
| | | | - Christos Samsouris
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Annakarina Mundorf
- Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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14
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Ford A, Ammar Z, Li L, Shultz S. Lateralization of major white matter tracts during infancy is time-varying and tract-specific. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10221-10233. [PMID: 37595203 PMCID: PMC10545441 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad277] [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: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Lateralization patterns are a major structural feature of brain white matter and have been investigated as a neural architecture that indicates and supports the specialization of cognitive processing and observed behaviors, e.g. language skills. Many neurodevelopmental disorders have been associated with atypical lateralization, reinforcing the need for careful measurement and study of this structural characteristic. Unfortunately, there is little consensus on the direction and magnitude of lateralization in major white matter tracts during the first months and years of life-the period of most rapid postnatal brain growth and cognitive maturation. In addition, no studies have examined white matter lateralization in a longitudinal pediatric sample-preventing confirmation of if and how white matter lateralization changes over time. Using a densely sampled longitudinal data set from neurotypical infants aged 0-6 months, we aim to (i) chart trajectories of white matter lateralization in 9 major tracts and (ii) link variable findings from cross-sectional studies of white matter lateralization in early infancy. We show that patterns of lateralization are time-varying and tract-specific and that differences in lateralization results during this period may reflect the dynamic nature of lateralization through development, which can be missed in cross-sectional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aiden Ford
- Neuroscience Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
- Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
| | - Zeena Ammar
- Neuroscience Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
- Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
| | - Longchuan Li
- Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Sarah Shultz
- Neuroscience Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
- Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
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15
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Pfeifer LS, Schmitz J, Schwalvenberg M, Güntürkün O, Ocklenburg S. A deep phenotyping approach to assess the association of handedness, early life factors and mental health. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15348. [PMID: 37714904 PMCID: PMC10504248 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42563-7] [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: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of handedness and other form of functional asymmetries is not yet understood in its critical determinants. Early life factors (e.g., birth weight, birth order) have been discussed to contribute to individual manifestations of functional asymmetries. However, large-scale data such as the UK Biobank suggest that the variance in handedness that is explained by early life factors is minimal. Additionally, atypical handedness has been linked to clinical outcomes such as neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Against the background of this triad, the current study investigated associations between different forms of functional asymmetries and (a) early life factors as well as (b) clinical outcomes. Functional asymmetries were determined by means of a deep phenotyping approach which notably extends previous work. In our final sample of N = 598 healthy participants, the different variables were tested for associations by means of linear regression models and group comparisons (i.e., ANOVAs and Chi-squared tests). Confirming previous findings from larger cohorts with shallow phenotyping, we found that birth factors do not explain a substantial amount of variance in functional asymmetries. Likewise, functional asymmetries did not seem to have comprehensive predictive power concerning clinical outcomes in our healthy participants. Future studies may further investigate postulated relations in healthy and clinical samples while acknowledging deep phenotyping of laterality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Sophie Pfeifer
- Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Judith Schmitz
- Biological Personality Psychology, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Maike Schwalvenberg
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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16
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Mundorf A, Ocklenburg S. Hemispheric asymmetries in mental disorders: evidence from rodent studies. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2023; 130:1153-1165. [PMID: 36842091 PMCID: PMC10460727 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-023-02610-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2023]
Abstract
The brain is built with hemispheric asymmetries in structure and function to enable fast neuronal processing. In neuroimaging studies, several mental disorders have been associated with altered or attenuated hemispheric asymmetries. However, the exact mechanism linking asymmetries and disorders is not known. Here, studies in animal models of mental disorders render important insights into the etiology and neuronal alterations associated with both disorders and atypical asymmetry. In this review, the current literature of animal studies in rats and mice focusing on anxiety and fear, anhedonia and despair, addiction or substance misuse, neurodegenerative disorders as well as stress exposure, and atypical hemispheric asymmetries is summarized. Results indicate overall increased right-hemispheric neuronal activity and a left-sided behavioral bias associated with symptoms of anxiety, fear, anhedonia, behavioral despair as well as stress exposure. Addiction behavior is associated with right-sided bias and transgenic models of Alzheimer's disease indicate an asymmetrical accumulation of fibrillar plaques. Most studies focused on changes in the bilateral amygdala and frontal cortex. Across studies, two crucial factors influencing atypical asymmetries arose independently of the disorder modeled: sex and developmental age. In conclusion, animal models of mental disorders demonstrate atypical hemispheric asymmetries similar to findings in patients. Particularly, increased left-sided behavior and greater right-hemispheric activity were found across models applying stress-based paradigms. However, sex- and age-dependent effects on atypical hemispheric asymmetries are present that require further investigation. Animal models enable the analysis of hemispheric changes on the molecular level which may be most effective to detect early alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annakarina Mundorf
- Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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17
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Ocklenburg S, Borawski J, Mundorf A, Riedel K, Lischke A. Handedness and anxiety: a review. Laterality 2023; 28:336-356. [PMID: 37605527 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2023.2250074] [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: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Handedness is a core phenotype in clinical laterality research and several different disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders have been linked to a higher prevalence of non-right-handedness. Moreover, subclinical personality traits like schizotypy have been linked to a higher prevalence of non-right-handedness. The association with handedness is poorly understood for generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias, as well as for state and trait anxiety and fear of specific stimuli in nonclinical samples. Therefore, we performed a narrative review of studies investigating handedness in anxiety disorders patients and studies that compared anxiety scores between different handedness groups. Unlike schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders, there seems to be no strong association between anxiety disorders and handedness in adult patients, except for specific phobias. Studies often had small sample sizes and therefore a high risk to report spurious findings. Similar findings were reported in most non-clinical studies. Importantly, familial handedness affects phobia risk and antenatal maternal anxiety increased the probability of mixed-handedness. This suggests that a transgenerational, developmental perspective is essential to better understand the complex interrelations between handedness and anxiety. Familial and especially maternal handedness and anxiety disorders should be integrated into future studies on handedness and anxiety whenever possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jette Borawski
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Annakarina Mundorf
- ISM Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kerrin Riedel
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alexander Lischke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICPP Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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18
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Ahtam B, Yun HJ, Vyas R, Pienaar R, Wilson JH, Goswami CP, Berto LF, Warfield SK, Sahin M, Grant PE, Peters JM, Im K. Morphological Features of Language Regions in Individuals with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. J Autism Dev Disord 2023:10.1007/s10803-023-06004-8. [PMID: 37222965 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06004-8] [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] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
A significant number of individuals with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) exhibit language difficulties. Here, we examined the language-related brain morphometry in 59 participants (7 participants with TSC and comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (TSC + ASD), 13 with TSC but no ASD (TSC-ASD), 10 with ASD-only (ASD), and 29 typically developing (TD) controls). A hemispheric asymmetry was noted in surface area and gray matter volume of several cortical language areas in TD, ASD, and TSC-ASD groups, but not in TSC + ASD group. TSC + ASD group demonstrated increased cortical thickness and curvature values in multiple language regions for both hemispheres, compared to other groups. After controlling for tuber load in the TSC groups, within-group differences stayed the same but the differences between TSC-ASD and TSC + ASD were no longer statistically significant. These preliminary findings suggest that comorbid ASD in TSC as well as tuber load in TSC is associated with changes in the morphometry of language regions. Future studies with larger sample sizes will be needed to confirm these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Banu Ahtam
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Hyuk Jin Yun
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Rutvi Vyas
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Rudolph Pienaar
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Josephine H Wilson
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Caroline P Goswami
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Laura F Berto
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Mustafa Sahin
- Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - P Ellen Grant
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jurriaan M Peters
- Division of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Kiho Im
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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19
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Raaf N, Westerhausen R. Hand preference and the corpus callosum: Is there really no association? NEUROIMAGE: REPORTS 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2023.100160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
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20
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Lapraz F, Boutres C, Fixary-Schuster C, De Queiroz BR, Plaçais PY, Cerezo D, Besse F, Préat T, Noselli S. Asymmetric activity of NetrinB controls laterality of the Drosophila brain. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1052. [PMID: 36828820 PMCID: PMC9958012 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36644-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Left-Right (LR) asymmetry of the nervous system is widespread across animals and is thought to be important for cognition and behaviour. But in contrast to visceral organ asymmetry, the genetic basis and function of brain laterality remain only poorly characterized. In this study, we performed RNAi screening to identify genes controlling brain asymmetry in Drosophila. We found that the conserved NetrinB (NetB) pathway is required for a small group of bilateral neurons to project asymmetrically into a pair of neuropils (Asymmetrical Bodies, AB) in the central brain in both sexes. While neurons project unilaterally into the right AB in wild-type flies, netB mutants show a bilateral projection phenotype and hence lose asymmetry. Developmental time course analysis reveals an initially bilateral connectivity, eventually resolving into a right asymmetrical circuit during metamorphosis, with the NetB pathway being required just prior symmetry breaking. We show using unilateral clonal analysis that netB activity is required specifically on the right side for neurons to innervate the right AB. We finally show that loss of NetB pathway activity leads to specific alteration of long-term memory, providing a functional link between asymmetrical circuitry determined by NetB and animal cognitive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Lapraz
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, iBV, Nice, France.
| | - C Boutres
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, iBV, Nice, France
| | | | | | - P Y Plaçais
- Plasticité du Cerveau, UMR 8249, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - D Cerezo
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, iBV, Nice, France
| | - F Besse
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, iBV, Nice, France
| | - T Préat
- Plasticité du Cerveau, UMR 8249, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - S Noselli
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, iBV, Nice, France.
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21
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Handedness in post-traumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:105009. [PMID: 36549376 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105009] [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: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The main objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate handedness in post-traumatic stress disorder on a meta-analytical level. For this purpose, articles were identified via a search in PubMed, PsychInfo, PubPsych, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar. Studies reporting findings relating to handedness in PTSD patients and healthy controls were considered eligible. In total, k = 14 studies with an overall N of 2939 (747 PTSD patients and 2192 controls) were included in the study. Random-effects meta-analyses, as well as robust Bayes meta-analyses (RoBMA), were conducted for three comparisons: (a) non-right-handedness, (b) left-handedness, and (c) mixed-handedness. Results showed significantly higher frequencies of non-right-handedness (odds ratio = 1.81) and mixed-handedness (odds ratio = 2.42) in PTSD patients compared to controls. No differences were found for left-handedness. This specific effect of mixed-handedness is in line with findings for other disorders, such as schizophrenia. Future studies should investigate common neurodevelopmental origins for the relationship between mixed-handedness and psychopathology and aim at investigating both handedness direction and handedness strength.
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22
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Stieger B, Wesseler Y, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Behavioral lateralization of mice varying in serotonin transporter genotype. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 16:1095567. [PMID: 36710954 PMCID: PMC9875089 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1095567] [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: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
In humans, non-right-handedness is associated with a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders. Since serotonin seems to be involved in both, the development of psychiatric disorders and lateralization, the present study focuses on the effect of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene on behavioral lateralization. For this, we used the 5-HTT knockout mouse model, a well-established animal model for the study of human depression and anxiety disorders. For female mice from all three 5-HTT genotypes (wild type, heterozygous, and homozygous knockout), we repeatedly observed the direction and strength of lateralization of the following four behaviors: grid climbing (GC), food-reaching in an artificial test situation (FRT), self-grooming (SG), and barrier crossing (BC), with the FRT being the standard test for assessing behavioral lateralization in mice. We found no association between behavioral lateralization and 5-HTT genotype. However, in accordance with previous findings, the strength and temporal consistency of lateralization differed between the four behaviors observed. In conclusion, since the 5-HTT genotype did not affect behavioral lateralization in mice, more research on other factors connected with behavioral lateralization and the development of symptoms of psychiatric disorders, such as environmental influences, is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binia Stieger
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,*Correspondence: Binia Stieger,
| | - Yvonne Wesseler
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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23
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Taking Sides: Asymmetries in the Evolution of Human Brain Development in Better Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder. Symmetry (Basel) 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/sym14122689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Confirmation from structural, functional, and behavioral studies agree and suggest a configuration of atypical lateralization in individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). It is suggested that patterns of cortical and behavioral atypicality are evident in individuals with ASDs with atypical lateralization being common in individuals with ASDs. The paper endeavors to better understand the relationship between alterations in typical cortical asymmetries and functional lateralization in ASD in evolutionary terms. We have proposed that both early genetic and/or environmental influences can alter the developmental process of cortical lateralization. There invariably is a “chicken or egg” issue that arises whether atypical cortical anatomy associated with abnormal function, or alternatively whether functional atypicality generates abnormal structure.
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24
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Machine learning of large-scale multimodal brain imaging data reveals neural correlates of hand preference. Neuroimage 2022; 262:119534. [PMID: 35931311 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119534] [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: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Lateralization is a fundamental characteristic of many behaviors and the organization of the brain, and atypical lateralization has been suggested to be linked to various brain-related disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Right-handedness is one of the most prominent markers of human behavioural lateralization, yet its neurobiological basis remains to be determined. Here, we present a large-scale analysis of handedness, as measured by self-reported direction of hand preference, and its variability related to brain structural and functional organization in the UK Biobank (N = 36,024). A multivariate machine learning approach with multi-modalities of brain imaging data was adopted, to reveal how well brain imaging features could predict individual's handedness (i.e., right-handedness vs. non-right-handedness) and further identify the top brain signatures that contributed to the prediction. Overall, the results showed a good prediction performance, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) score of up to 0.72, driven largely by resting-state functional measures. Virtual lesion analysis and large-scale decoding analysis suggested that the brain networks with the highest importance in the prediction showed functional relevance to hand movement and several higher-level cognitive functions including language, arithmetic, and social interaction. Genetic analyses of contributions of common DNA polymorphisms to the imaging-derived handedness prediction score showed a significant heritability (h2=7.55%, p <0.001) that was similar to and slightly higher than that for the behavioural measure itself (h2=6.74%, p <0.001). The genetic correlation between the two was high (rg=0.71), suggesting that the imaging-derived score could be used as a surrogate in genetic studies where the behavioural measure is not available. This large-scale study using multimodal brain imaging and multivariate machine learning has shed new light on the neural correlates of human handedness.
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25
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Richards G, Tan DW, Whitehouse AJO, Chris McManus I, Beaton AA, Hickey M, Maybery MT, Licari MK, Lawson L. A longitudinal examination of perinatal testosterone, estradiol and vitamin D as predictors of handedness outcomes in childhood and adolescence. Laterality 2022; 27:547-580. [PMID: 35938410 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2022.2109656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The developmental origins of handedness remain elusive, though very early emergence suggests individual differences manifesting in utero could play an important role. Prenatal testosterone and Vitamin D exposure are considered, yet findings and interpretations remain equivocal. We examined n = 767 offspring from a population-based pregnancy cohort (The Raine Study) for whom early biological data and childhood/adolescent handedness data were available. We tested whether 18-week maternal circulatory Vitamin D (25[OH]D), and testosterone and estradiol from umbilical cord blood sampled at birth predicted variance in direction of hand preference (right/left), along with right- and left-hand speed, and the strength and direction of relative hand skill as measured by a finger-tapping task completed at 10 (Y10) and/or 16 (Y16) years. Although higher concentrations of Vitamin D predicted more leftward and less lateralized (regardless of direction) relative hand skill profiles, taken as a whole, statistically significant findings typically did not replicate across time-point (Y10/Y16) or sex (male/female) and were rarely detected across different (bivariate/multivariate) levels of analysis. Considering the number of statistical tests and generally inconsistent findings, our results suggest that perinatal testosterone and estradiol contribute minimally, if at all, to subsequent variance in handedness. Vitamin D, however, may be of interest in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gareth Richards
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Diana Weiting Tan
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - I Chris McManus
- Research Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.,Research Department for Medical Education, University College London Medical School, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Alan A Beaton
- Department of Psychology, School of Human & Health Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.,Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Martha Hickey
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne and the Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Melissa K Licari
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Lauren Lawson
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.,Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, Australia
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26
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Mallet J, Godin O, Mazer N, Le Strat Y, Bellivier F, Belzeaux R, Etain B, Fond G, Gard S, Henry C, Leboyer M, Llorca PM, Loftus J, Olié E, Passerieux C, Polosan M, Schwan R, Roux P, Dubertret C. Handedness in bipolar disorders is associated with specific neurodevelopmental features: results of the BD-FACE cohort. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2022; 272:827-838. [PMID: 34374842 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-021-01314-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES High rates of non-right-handedness (NRH) and mixed-handedness exist in neurodevelopmental disorders. Dysfunctional neurodevelopmental pathways may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of bipolar disorders (BD), at least in some subgroups. Yet little is known about correlates of NRH and mixed-handedness in BD. The objectives of this national study are to determine (i) the prevalence of NRH and mixed-handedness in a well-stabilized sample of BD individuals; (ii) if NRH/mixed-handedness in BD is associated with a different clinical, biological and neurocognitive profile. METHODS We included 2174 stabilized individuals. Participants were tested with a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Handedness was assessed using a single oral question. Learning and/or language disorders and obstetrical complications were recorded using childhood records. Common environmental, clinical and biological parameters were assessed. RESULTS The prevalence of NRH and mixed-handedness were, respectively, 11.6 and 2.4%. Learning/language disorders were found in 9.7% out of the total sample and were associated with atypical handedness (only dyslexia for mixed-handedness (p < 0.01), and dyslexia and dysphasia for NRH (p = 0.01 and p = 0.04, respectively). In multivariate analyses, NRH was associated with a younger age of BD onset (aOR 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) and lifetime substance use disorder (aOR 1.40 (95% CI 1.03-1.82) but not with any of the cognitive subtasks. Mixed-handedness was associated in univariate analyses with lifetime substance use disorder, lifetime cannabis use disorder (all p < 0.01) and less mood stabilizer prescription (p = 0.028). No association was found between NRH or mixed-handedness and the following parameters: trauma history, obstetrical complications, prior psychotic symptoms, bipolar subtype, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, peripheral inflammation or body mass index. CONCLUSIONS Handedness may be associated with specific features in BD, possibly reflecting a specific subgroup with a neurodevelopmental load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmina Mallet
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France.
- Faculté de médecine, AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Paris, Louis Mourier Hospital, CHU Louis Mourier, 178 rue des Renouillers, 92700, Colombes, France.
- INSERM UMR1266, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
| | - Ophélia Godin
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- UMR_S955, UPEC, Créteil, France Inserm, Université Paris-Est, U955, Equipe 15 Psychiatrie génétique, Créteil, France
- AP-HP, Hôpital H. Mondor-A. Chenevier, Pôle de psychiatrie, Créteil, France
| | - Nicolas Mazer
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Faculté de médecine, AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Paris, Louis Mourier Hospital, CHU Louis Mourier, 178 rue des Renouillers, 92700, Colombes, France
- INSERM UMR1266, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France
| | - Yann Le Strat
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Faculté de médecine, AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Paris, Louis Mourier Hospital, CHU Louis Mourier, 178 rue des Renouillers, 92700, Colombes, France
- INSERM UMR1266, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France
| | - Frank Bellivier
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- AP-HP, GH Saint-Louis-Lariboisière-Fernand Widal, Pôle Neurosciences Tête et Cou, INSERM UMRS 1144, University Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Raoul Belzeaux
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- AP-HM, Department of Psychiatry, Marseille, France
- INT-UMR7289, CNRS Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Bruno Etain
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- AP-HP, GH Saint-Louis-Lariboisière-Fernand Widal, Pôle Neurosciences Tête et Cou, INSERM UMRS 1144, University Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Guillaume Fond
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- AP-HM, Aix-Marseille University, School of Medicine-La Timone Medical Campus, EA 3279: CEReSS-Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France
| | - Sébastien Gard
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Centre Expert Troubles Bipolaires, Service de Psychiatrie Adulte, Hôpital Charles-Perrens, Bordeaux, France
| | - Chantal Henry
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Department of Psychiatry, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, GHU Paris Psychiatrie and Neurosciences, 75014, Paris, France
| | - Marion Leboyer
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- UMR_S955, UPEC, Créteil, France Inserm, Université Paris-Est, U955, Equipe 15 Psychiatrie génétique, Créteil, France
- AP-HP, Hôpital H. Mondor-A. Chenevier, Pôle de psychiatrie, Créteil, France
- Fondation de Cooperation Scientifique, Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France
| | - Pierre-Michel Llorca
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Department of Psychiatry, University of Clermont Auvergne, EA 7280, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Joséphine Loftus
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Pôle de Psychiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace, Monaco, France
| | - Emilie Olié
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, CHU Montpellier, INSERM U1061, Montpellier University, Montpellier, France
| | - Christine Passerieux
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie d'Adultes et d'Addictologie, Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, 177 rue de Versailles, 78157, Le Chesnay, France
- CESP, INSERM, Université Paris Saclay, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, 2 Avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France
| | - Mircea Polosan
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences, CHU Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Raymund Schwan
- Faculté de médecine, AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Paris, Louis Mourier Hospital, CHU Louis Mourier, 178 rue des Renouillers, 92700, Colombes, France
- CHRU de Nancy et Pôle de Psychiatrie et Psychologie Clinique, Université de Lorraine, Centre Psychothérapique de Nancy, Nancy, France
| | - Paul Roux
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie d'Adultes et d'Addictologie, Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, 177 rue de Versailles, 78157, Le Chesnay, France
- CESP, INSERM, Université Paris Saclay, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, 2 Avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France
| | - Caroline Dubertret
- Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
- Faculté de médecine, AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Paris, Louis Mourier Hospital, CHU Louis Mourier, 178 rue des Renouillers, 92700, Colombes, France
- INSERM UMR1266, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France
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27
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Hau J, Baker A, Chaaban C, Kohli JS, Jao Keehn RJ, Linke AC, Mash LE, Wilkinson M, Kinnear MK, Müller RA, Carper RA. Reduced asymmetry of the hand knob area and decreased sensorimotor u-fiber connectivity in middle-aged adults with autism. Cortex 2022; 153:110-125. [PMID: 35640320 PMCID: PMC9988270 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.004] [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: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently present with impairments in motor skills (e.g., limb coordination, handwriting and balance), which are observed across the lifespan but remain largely untreated. Many adults with ASD may thus experience adverse motor outcomes in aging, when physical decline naturally occurs. The 'hand knob' of the sensorimotor cortex is an area that is critical for motor control of the fingers and hands. However, this region has received little attention in ASD research, especially in adults after midlife. The hand knob area of the precentral (PrChand) and postcentral (PoChand) gyri was semi-manually delineated in 49 right-handed adults (25 ASD, 24 typical comparison [TC] participants, aged 41-70 years). Using multimodal (T1-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and resting-state functional) MRI, we examined the morphology, ipsilateral connectivity and laterality of these regions. We also explored correlations between hand knob measures with motor skills and autism symptoms, and between structural and functional connectivity measures. Bayesian analyses indicated moderate evidence of group effects with greater right PrChand volume and reduced leftward laterality of PrChand and PoChand volume in the ASD relative to TC group. Furthermore, the right PoC-PrChand u-fibers showed increased mean diffusivity in the ASD group. In the ASD group, right u-fiber volume positively correlated with corresponding functional connectivity but did not survive multiple comparisons correction. Correlations of hand knob measures and behavior were observed in the ASD group but did not survive multiple comparisons correction. Our findings suggest that morphological laterality and u-fiber connectivity of the sensorimotor network, putatively involved in hand motor/premotor function, may be diminished in middle-aged adults with ASD, perhaps rendering them more vulnerable to motor decline in old age. The altered morphology may relate to atypical functional motor asymmetries found in ASD earlier in life, possibly reflecting altered functional asymmetries over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice Hau
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Ashley Baker
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Chantal Chaaban
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Jiwandeep S Kohli
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - R Joanne Jao Keehn
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Annika C Linke
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Lisa E Mash
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Molly Wilkinson
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Mikaela K Kinnear
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Ralph-Axel Müller
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Ruth A Carper
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
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28
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Papadatou-Pastou M, Sampanis P, Koumzis I, Stefanopoulou S, Sousani D, Tsigkou A, Badcock NA. Cerebral laterality of writing in right- and left- handers: A functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound study. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 56:3921-3937. [PMID: 35636946 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15723] [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: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The cerebral lateralization of written language has received very limited research attention in comparison to the wealth of studies on the cerebral lateralization of oral language. The purpose of the present study was to further our understanding of written language lateralization, by elucidating the relative contribution of language and motor functions. We compared written word generation with a task that has equivalent visuomotor demands but does not include language: the repeated drawing of symbols. We assessed cerebral laterality using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD), a non-invasive, perfusion-sensitive neuroimaging technique in 23 left- and 31 right-handed participants. Findings suggest that the linguistic aspect of written word generation recruited more left-hemispheric areas during writing, in right-handers compared to left-handers. This difference could be explained by greater variability in cerebral laterality patterns within left-handers or the possibility that the areas subserving language in left-handers are broader than in right-handers. Another explanation is that the attentional demands of the more novel symbol copying task (compared to writing) contributed more right-hemispheric activation in right-handers, but this could not be captured in left-handers due to ceiling effects. Future work could investigate such attentional demands using both simple and complex stimuli in the copying condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.,Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Panagiotis Sampanis
- Psychology Department, School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, The Curzon Building, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ioannis Koumzis
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Sofia Stefanopoulou
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Dionysia Sousani
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Athina Tsigkou
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Nicholas A Badcock
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia,, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.,Department of Cognitive Science, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, 16 University Avenue, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
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29
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Motor signature of autism spectrum disorder in adults without intellectual impairment. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7670. [PMID: 35538115 PMCID: PMC9090847 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10760-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Motor signs such as dyspraxia and abnormal gait are characteristic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, motor behavior in adults with ASD has scarcely been quantitatively characterized. In this pilot study, we aim to quantitatively examine motor signature of adults with ASD without intellectual impairment using marker-less visual-perceptive motion capture. 82 individuals (37 ASD and 45 healthy controls, HC) with an IQ > 85 and aged 18 to 65 years performed nine movement tasks and were filmed by a 3D-infrared camera. Anatomical models were quantified via custom-made software and resulting kinematic parameters were compared between individuals with ASD and HCs. Furthermore, the association between specific motor behaviour and severity of autistic symptoms (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2, Autism Spectrum Quotient) was explored. Adults with ASD showed a greater mediolateral deviation while walking, greater sway during normal, tandem and single leg stance, a reduced walking speed and cadence, a greater arrhythmicity during jumping jack tasks and an impaired manual dexterity during finger tapping tasks (p < 0.05 and |D|> 0.48) compared to HC. Furthermore, in the ASD group, some of these parameters correlated moderately to severity of ASD symptoms. Adults with ASD seem to display a specific motor signature in this disorder affecting movement timing and aspects of balance. The data appear to reinforce knowledge about motor signs reported in children and adolescents with ASD. Also, quantitative motor assessment via visual-perceptive computing may be a feasible instrument to detect subtle motor signs in ASD and perhaps suitable in the diagnosis of ASD in the future.
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30
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Sha Z, van Rooij D, Anagnostou E, Arango C, Auzias G, Behrmann M, Bernhardt B, Bolte S, Busatto GF, Calderoni S, Calvo R, Daly E, Deruelle C, Duan M, Duran FLS, Durston S, Ecker C, Ehrlich S, Fair D, Fedor J, Fitzgerald J, Floris DL, Franke B, Freitag CM, Gallagher L, Glahn DC, Haar S, Hoekstra L, Jahanshad N, Jalbrzikowski M, Janssen J, King JA, Lazaro L, Luna B, McGrath J, Medland SE, Muratori F, Murphy DGM, Neufeld J, O'Hearn K, Oranje B, Parellada M, Pariente JC, Postema MC, Remnelius KL, Retico A, Rosa PGP, Rubia K, Shook D, Tammimies K, Taylor MJ, Tosetti M, Wallace GL, Zhou F, Thompson PM, Fisher SE, Buitelaar JK, Francks C. Subtly altered topological asymmetry of brain structural covariance networks in autism spectrum disorder across 43 datasets from the ENIGMA consortium. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:2114-2125. [PMID: 35136228 PMCID: PMC9126820 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01452-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Small average differences in the left-right asymmetry of cerebral cortical thickness have been reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to typically developing controls, affecting widespread cortical regions. The possible impacts of these regional alterations in terms of structural network effects have not previously been characterized. Inter-regional morphological covariance analysis can capture network connectivity between different cortical areas at the macroscale level. Here, we used cortical thickness data from 1455 individuals with ASD and 1560 controls, across 43 independent datasets of the ENIGMA consortium's ASD Working Group, to assess hemispheric asymmetries of intra-individual structural covariance networks, using graph theory-based topological metrics. Compared with typical features of small-world architecture in controls, the ASD sample showed significantly altered average asymmetry of networks involving the fusiform, rostral middle frontal, and medial orbitofrontal cortex, involving higher randomization of the corresponding right-hemispheric networks in ASD. A network involving the superior frontal cortex showed decreased right-hemisphere randomization. Based on comparisons with meta-analyzed functional neuroimaging data, the altered connectivity asymmetry particularly affected networks that subserve executive functions, language-related and sensorimotor processes. These findings provide a network-level characterization of altered left-right brain asymmetry in ASD, based on a large combined sample. Altered asymmetrical brain development in ASD may be partly propagated among spatially distant regions through structural connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqiang Sha
- Department of Language & Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Daan van Rooij
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Evdokia Anagnostou
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Celso Arango
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Gregorio Maran General University Hospital, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Guillaume Auzias
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix Marseille Universit, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Boris Bernhardt
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sven Bolte
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Geraldo F Busatto
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Sara Calderoni
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Rosa Calvo
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Hospital Clinic, Psychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, 2017SGR881, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eileen Daly
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, London, UK
| | - Christine Deruelle
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix Marseille Universit, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Meiyu Duan
- BioKnow Health Informatics Lab, College of Computer Science and Technology, and Key Laboratory of Symbolic Computation and Knowledge Engineering of Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130012, China
| | - Fabio Luis Souza Duran
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Sarah Durston
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Christine Ecker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany
- The Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Damien Fair
- Institute of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Institute of the Developing Brain, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jennifer Fedor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jacqueline Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- The Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Dorothea L Floris
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Barbara Franke
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Christine M Freitag
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Louise Gallagher
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- The Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - David C Glahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115-5724, USA
- Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Shlomi Haar
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Liesbeth Hoekstra
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Neda Jahanshad
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Maria Jalbrzikowski
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Joost Janssen
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Gregorio Maran General University Hospital, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Joseph A King
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Luisa Lazaro
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Hospital Clinic, Psychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, 2017SGR881, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jane McGrath
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- The Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Sarah E Medland
- Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Filippo Muratori
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Declan G M Murphy
- The Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Behavioural Genetics Clinic, Adult Autism Service, Behavioural and Developmental Psychiatry Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley Foundation NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Janina Neufeld
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kirsten O'Hearn
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Bob Oranje
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mara Parellada
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Gregorio Maran General University Hospital, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jose C Pariente
- Magnetic Resonance Image Core Facility, IDIBAPS (Institut d'Investigacions Biomdiques August Pi i Sunyer), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Merel C Postema
- Department of Language & Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Karl Lundin Remnelius
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alessandra Retico
- National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Pisa Division, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, Pisa, Italy
| | - Pedro Gomes Penteado Rosa
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Katya Rubia
- Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Devon Shook
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Kristiina Tammimies
- Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Region, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Womens and Childrens Health, Karolinska Institutet and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Gregory L Wallace
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Fengfeng Zhou
- BioKnow Health Informatics Lab, College of Computer Science and Technology, and Key Laboratory of Symbolic Computation and Knowledge Engineering of Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130012, China
| | - Paul M Thompson
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Simon E Fisher
- Department of Language & Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jan K Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Clyde Francks
- Department of Language & Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Deemyad T. Lateralized Changes in Language Associated Auditory and Somatosensory Cortices in Autism. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:787448. [PMID: 35300070 PMCID: PMC8923120 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.787448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Lateralized specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres is a fundamental structural hallmark of the human brain and underlies many cognitive functions and behavioral abilities. In typical developing individuals the influence of handedness on performance of various sensory modalities and the cortical processing has been well recognized. Increasing evidence suggests that several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with abnormal patterns of cerebral lateralization. Individuals with ASD exhibit abnormal structural and functional lateralization of circuits subserving motor, auditory, somatosensory, visual face processing, and language-related functions. Furthermore, a high prevalence of atypical handedness has been reported in ASD individuals. While the hemispheric dominance is also related to functions other than handedness, there is a clear relationship between handedness and language-related cortical dominance. This minireview summarizes these recent findings on asymmetry in somatosensory and auditory cortical structures associated with language processing in ASD. I will also discuss the importance of cortical dominance and interhemispheric disruption of balance between excitatory and inhibitory synapses as pathophysiological mechanisms in ASD.
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Quantitative multidimensional phenotypes improve genetic analysis of laterality traits. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:68. [PMID: 35184143 PMCID: PMC8858319 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01834-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Handedness is the most commonly investigated lateralised phenotype and is usually measured as a binary left/right category. Its links with psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders prompted studies aimed at understanding the underlying genetics, while other measures and side preferences have been less studied. We investigated the heritability of hand, as well as foot, and eye preference by assessing parental effects (n ≤ 5028 family trios) and SNP-based heritability (SNP-h2, n ≤ 5931 children) in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). An independent twin cohort from Hong Kong (n = 358) was used to replicate results from structural equation modelling (SEM). Parental left-side preference increased the chance of an individual to be left-sided for the same trait, with stronger maternal than paternal effects for footedness. By regressing out the effects of sex, age, and ancestry, we transformed laterality categories into quantitative measures. The SNP-h2 for quantitative handedness and footedness was 0.21 and 0.23, respectively, which is higher than the SNP-h2 reported in larger genetic studies using binary handedness measures. The heritability of the quantitative measure of handedness increased (0.45) compared to a binary measure for writing hand (0.27) in the Hong Kong twins. Genomic and behavioural SEM identified a shared genetic factor contributing to handedness, footedness, and eyedness, but no independent effects on individual phenotypes. Our analysis demonstrates how quantitative multidimensional laterality phenotypes are better suited to capture the underlying genetics than binary traits.
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33
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Nastou E, Ocklenburg S, Hoogman M, Papadatou-Pastou M. Handedness in ADHD: Meta-Analyses. Neuropsychol Rev 2022; 32:877-892. [PMID: 35064524 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-021-09530-3] [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: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Meta-analyses have shown that several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, are associated with a higher prevalence of atypical (left-, non-right-, or mixed-) handedness. One neurodevelopmental disorder for which this association is unclear is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here, some empirical studies have found evidence for a higher prevalence of atypical handedness in individuals with ADHD compared to neurotypical individuals. However, other studies failed to establish such an association. Therefore, meta-analytic integration is critical to estimate whether or not there is an association between handedness and ADHD. We report the results of three meta-analyses (left-, mixed-, and non-right-handedness) comparing handedness in individuals with ADHD to controls (typically developing individuals). The results show evidence of a trend towards elevated levels of atypical handedness when it comes to differences in left- and mixed-handedness (p = 0.09 and p = 0.07, respectively), but do show clear evidence of elevated levels of non-right-handedness between individuals with ADHD and controls (p = 0.02). These findings are discussed in the context of the hypothesis that ADHD is a disorder in which mostly right-hemispheric brain networks are affected. Since right-handedness represents a dominance of the left motor cortex for fine motor behavior, such as writing, as well as a left-hemispheric dominance for language functions, and about 90% of individuals are right-handers, this hypothesis might explain why there is not stronger evidence for an association of left-handedness with ADHD. We suggest that the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of ADHD might show an overlap with the mechanisms involved in handedness strength, but not handedness direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgenia Nastou
- Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 13A Navarinou Street, 10680, Athens, Greece
| | | | | | - Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 13A Navarinou Street, 10680, Athens, Greece. .,Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
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Pfeifer LS, Schmitz J, Papadatou-Pastou M, Peterburs J, Paracchini S, Ocklenburg S. Handedness in twins: meta-analyses. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:11. [PMID: 35033205 PMCID: PMC8760823 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-021-00695-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In the general population, 10.6% of people favor their left hand over the right for motor tasks. Previous research suggests higher prevalence of atypical (left-, mixed-, or non-right-) handedness in (i) twins compared to singletons, and in (ii) monozygotic compared to dizygotic twins. Moreover, (iii) studies have shown a higher rate of handedness concordance in monozygotic compared to dizygotic twins, in line with genetic factors playing a role for handedness. METHODS By means of a systematic review, we identified 59 studies from previous literature and performed three sets of random effects meta-analyses on (i) twin-to-singleton Odds Ratios (21 studies, n = 189,422 individuals) and (ii) monozygotic-to-dizygotic twin Odds Ratios (48 studies, n = 63,295 individuals), both times for prevalence of left-, mixed-, and non-right-handedness. For monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs we compared (iii) handedness concordance Odds Ratios (44 studies, n = 36,217 twin pairs). We also tested for potential effects of moderating variables, such as sex, age, the method used to assess handedness, and the twins' zygosity. RESULTS We found (i) evidence for higher prevalence of left- (Odds Ratio = 1.40, 95% Confidence Interval = [1.26, 1.57]) and non-right- (Odds Ratio = 1.36, 95% Confidence Interval = [1.22, 1.52]), but not mixed-handedness (Odds Ratio = 1.08, 95% Confidence Interval = [0.52, 2.27]) among twins compared to singletons. We further showed a decrease in Odds Ratios in more recent studies (post-1975: Odds Ratio = 1.30, 95% Confidence Interval = [1.17, 1.45]) compared to earlier studies (pre-1975: Odds Ratio = 1.90, 95% Confidence Interval = [1.59-2.27]). While there was (ii) no difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins regarding prevalence of left- (Odds Ratio = 0.98, 95% Confidence Interval = [0.89, 1.07]), mixed- (Odds Ratio = 0.96, 95% Confidence Interval = [0.46, 1.99]), or non-right-handedness (Odds Ratio = 1.01, 95% Confidence Interval = [0.91, 1.12]), we found that (iii) handedness concordance was elevated among monozygotic compared to dizygotic twin pairs (Odds Ratio = 1.11, 95% Confidence Interval = [1.06, 1.18]). By means of moderator analyses, we did not find evidence for effects of potentially confounding variables. CONCLUSION We provide the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis on handedness in twins. Although a raw, unadjusted analysis found a higher prevalence of left- and non-right-, but not mixed-handedness among twins compared to singletons, left-handedness was substantially more prevalent in earlier than in more recent studies. The single large, recent study which included birth weight, Apgar score and gestational age as covariates found no twin-singleton difference in handedness rate, but these covariates could not be included in the present meta-analysis. Together, the secular shift and the influence of covariates probably make it unsafe to conclude that twinning has a genuine relationship to handedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Sophie Pfeifer
- Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Judith Schmitz
- School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
| | - Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- School of Education, Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Jutta Peterburs
- Institute of Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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35
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Kong X, Postema MC, Guadalupe T, de Kovel C, Boedhoe PSW, Hoogman M, Mathias SR, van Rooij D, Schijven D, Glahn DC, Medland SE, Jahanshad N, Thomopoulos SI, Turner JA, Buitelaar J, van Erp TGM, Franke B, Fisher SE, van den Heuvel OA, Schmaal L, Thompson PM, Francks C. Mapping brain asymmetry in health and disease through the ENIGMA consortium. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:167-181. [PMID: 32420672 PMCID: PMC8675409 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Left-right asymmetry of the human brain is one of its cardinal features, and also a complex, multivariate trait. Decades of research have suggested that brain asymmetry may be altered in psychiatric disorders. However, findings have been inconsistent and often based on small sample sizes. There are also open questions surrounding which structures are asymmetrical on average in the healthy population, and how variability in brain asymmetry relates to basic biological variables such as age and sex. Over the last 4 years, the ENIGMA-Laterality Working Group has published six studies of gray matter morphological asymmetry based on total sample sizes from roughly 3,500 to 17,000 individuals, which were between one and two orders of magnitude larger than those published in previous decades. A population-level mapping of average asymmetry was achieved, including an intriguing fronto-occipital gradient of cortical thickness asymmetry in healthy brains. ENIGMA's multi-dataset approach also supported an empirical illustration of reproducibility of hemispheric differences across datasets. Effect sizes were estimated for gray matter asymmetry based on large, international, samples in relation to age, sex, handedness, and brain volume, as well as for three psychiatric disorders: autism spectrum disorder was associated with subtly reduced asymmetry of cortical thickness at regions spread widely over the cortex; pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder was associated with altered subcortical asymmetry; major depressive disorder was not significantly associated with changes of asymmetry. Ongoing studies are examining brain asymmetry in other disorders. Moreover, a groundwork has been laid for possibly identifying shared genetic contributions to brain asymmetry and disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang‐Zhen Kong
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Merel C. Postema
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Tulio Guadalupe
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Carolien de Kovel
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Premika S. W. Boedhoe
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam NeuroscienceAmsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical CenterVrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Martine Hoogman
- Department of Human GeneticsRadboud University Medical CenterNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Samuel R. Mathias
- Department of PsychiatryBoston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Daan van Rooij
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Dick Schijven
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - David C. Glahn
- Department of PsychiatryBoston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Olin Neuropsychiatry Research CenterInstitute of Living, Hartford HospitalHartfordConnecticutUSA
| | - Sarah E. Medland
- Psychiatric GeneticsQIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteBrisbaneQueenslandAustralia
| | - Neda Jahanshad
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging & Informatics InstituteKeck School of Medicine of the University of Southern CaliforniaMarina del ReyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Sophia I. Thomopoulos
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging & Informatics InstituteKeck School of Medicine of the University of Southern CaliforniaMarina del ReyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Jessica A. Turner
- Tri‐institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS)Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory UniversityAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceGeorgia State UniversityAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Jan Buitelaar
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Karakter Child and Adolescent PsychiatryNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Theo G. M. van Erp
- Clinical Translational Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Human BehaviorUniversity of California IrvineIrvineCaliforniaUSA
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and MemoryUniversity of California IrvineIrvineCaliforniaUSA
| | - Barbara Franke
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CenterNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University Medical CenterNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Simon E. Fisher
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviorRadboud UniversityNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Odile A. van den Heuvel
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam NeuroscienceAmsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical CenterVrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Lianne Schmaal
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental HealthParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Centre for Youth Mental HealthThe University of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Paul M. Thompson
- Tri‐institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS)Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory UniversityAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Clyde Francks
- Language and Genetics DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviorRadboud UniversityNijmegenThe Netherlands
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Sha Z, Schijven D, Francks C. Patterns of brain asymmetry associated with polygenic risks for autism and schizophrenia implicate language and executive functions but not brain masculinization. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:7652-7660. [PMID: 34211121 PMCID: PMC8872997 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01204-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia have been conceived as partly opposing disorders in terms of systemizing vs. empathizing cognitive styles, with resemblances to male vs. female average sex differences. Left-right asymmetry of the brain is an important aspect of its organization that shows average differences between the sexes and can be altered in both ASD and schizophrenia. Here we mapped multivariate associations of polygenic risk scores for ASD and schizophrenia with asymmetries of regional cerebral cortical surface area, thickness, and subcortical volume measures in 32,256 participants from the UK Biobank. Polygenic risks for the two disorders were positively correlated (r = 0.08, p = 7.13 × 10-50) and both were higher in females compared to males, consistent with biased participation against higher-risk males. Each polygenic risk score was associated with multivariate brain asymmetry after adjusting for sex, ASD r = 0.03, p = 2.17 × 10-9, and schizophrenia r = 0.04, p = 2.61 × 10-11, but the multivariate patterns were mostly distinct for the two polygenic risks and neither resembled average sex differences. Annotation based on meta-analyzed functional imaging data showed that both polygenic risks were associated with asymmetries of regions important for language and executive functions, consistent with behavioral associations that arose in phenome-wide association analysis. Overall, the results indicate that distinct patterns of subtly altered brain asymmetry may be functionally relevant manifestations of polygenic risks for ASD and schizophrenia, but do not support brain masculinization or feminization in their etiologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqiang Sha
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Dick Schijven
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Clyde Francks
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Handedness and its genetic influences are associated with structural asymmetries of the cerebral cortex in 31,864 individuals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2113095118. [PMID: 34785596 PMCID: PMC8617418 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113095118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Left-handedness occurs in roughly 10% of people, but whether it involves altered brain anatomy has remained unclear. We measured left to right asymmetry of the cerebral cortex in 28,802 right-handers and 3,062 left-handers. There were small average differences between the two handedness groups in brain regions important for hand control, language, vision, and working memory. Genetic influences on handedness were associated with some of these brain asymmetries, especially of language-related regions. This suggests links between handedness and language during human development and evolution. One implicated gene is NME7, which also affects placement of the visceral organs (heart, liver, etc.) on the left to right body axis—a possible connection between brain and body asymmetries in embryonic development. Roughly 10% of the human population is left-handed, and this rate is increased in some brain-related disorders. The neuroanatomical correlates of hand preference have remained equivocal. We resampled structural brain image data from 28,802 right-handers and 3,062 left-handers (UK Biobank population dataset) to a symmetrical surface template, and mapped asymmetries for each of 8,681 vertices across the cerebral cortex in each individual. Left-handers compared to right-handers showed average differences of surface area asymmetry within the fusiform cortex, the anterior insula, the anterior middle cingulate cortex, and the precentral cortex. Meta-analyzed functional imaging data implicated these regions in executive functions and language. Polygenic disposition to left-handedness was associated with two of these regional asymmetries, and 18 loci previously linked with left-handedness by genome-wide screening showed associations with one or more of these asymmetries. Implicated genes included six encoding microtubule-related proteins: TUBB, TUBA1B, TUBB3, TUBB4A, MAP2, and NME7—mutations in the latter can cause left to right reversal of the visceral organs. There were also two cortical regions where average thickness asymmetry was altered in left-handedness: on the postcentral gyrus and the inferior occipital cortex, functionally annotated with hand sensorimotor and visual roles. These cortical thickness asymmetries were not heritable. Heritable surface area asymmetries of language-related regions may link the etiologies of hand preference and language, whereas nonheritable asymmetries of sensorimotor cortex may manifest as consequences of hand preference.
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Handedness and depression: A meta-analysis across 87 studies. J Affect Disord 2021; 294:200-209. [PMID: 34298226 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.07.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Alterations in functional brain lateralization, often indicated by an increased prevalence of left- and/or mixed-handedness, have been demonstrated in several psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders like schizophrenia or autism spectrum disorder. For depression, however, this relationship is largely unclear. While a few studies found evidence that handedness and depression are associated, both the effect size and the direction of this association remain elusive. Here, we collected data from 87 studies totaling 35,501 individuals to provide a precise estimate of differences in left-, mixed- and non-right-handedness between depressed and healthy samples and computed odds ratios (ORs) between these groups. Here, an OR > 1 signifies higher rates of atypical handedness in depressed compared to healthy samples. We found no differences in left- (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = [0.95, 1.15], p = .384), mixed- (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = [0.98, 2.74], p = .060) or non-right-handedness (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = [0.96, 1.15], p = .309) between the two groups. We could thus find no link between handedness and depression on the meta-analytical level.
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Floris DL, Wolfers T, Zabihi M, Holz NE, Zwiers MP, Charman T, Tillmann J, Ecker C, Dell'Acqua F, Banaschewski T, Moessnang C, Baron-Cohen S, Holt R, Durston S, Loth E, Murphy DGM, Marquand A, Buitelaar JK, Beckmann CF. Atypical Brain Asymmetry in Autism-A Candidate for Clinically Meaningful Stratification. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2021; 6:802-812. [PMID: 33097470 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Autism spectrum disorder ("autism") is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition with few effective treatments for core and associated features. To make progress we need to both identify and validate neural markers that help to parse heterogeneity to tailor therapies to specific neurobiological profiles. Atypical hemispheric lateralization is a stable feature across studies in autism, but its potential as a neural stratification marker has not been widely examined. METHODS In order to dissect heterogeneity in lateralization in autism, we used the large EU-AIMS (European Autism Interventions-A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications) Longitudinal European Autism Project dataset comprising 352 individuals with autism and 233 neurotypical control subjects as well as a replication dataset from ABIDE (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange) (513 individuals with autism, 691 neurotypical subjects) using a promising approach that moves beyond mean group comparisons. We derived gray matter voxelwise laterality values for each subject and modeled individual deviations from the normative pattern of brain laterality across age using normative modeling. RESULTS Individuals with autism had highly individualized patterns of both extreme right- and leftward deviations, particularly in language, motor, and visuospatial regions, associated with symptom severity. Language delay explained most variance in extreme rightward patterns, whereas core autism symptom severity explained most variance in extreme leftward patterns. Follow-up analyses showed that a stepwise pattern emerged, with individuals with autism with language delay showing more pronounced rightward deviations than individuals with autism without language delay. CONCLUSIONS Our analyses corroborate the need for novel (dimensional) approaches to delineate the heterogeneous neuroanatomy in autism and indicate that atypical lateralization may constitute a neurophenotype for clinically meaningful stratification in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothea L Floris
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Thomas Wolfers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Center for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo Hospital and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mariam Zabihi
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Nathalie E Holz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Marcel P Zwiers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Tony Charman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Julian Tillmann
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement, and Intervention, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christine Ecker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Flavio Dell'Acqua
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Carolin Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Rosemary Holt
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Durston
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Eva Loth
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Declan G M Murphy
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andre Marquand
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jan K Buitelaar
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Christian F Beckmann
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Schmitz J, Abbondanza F, Paracchini S. Genome-wide association study and polygenic risk score analysis for hearing measures in children. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2021; 186:318-328. [PMID: 34476894 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
An efficient auditory system contributes to cognitive and psychosocial development. A right ear advantage in hearing thresholds (HTs) has been described in adults and atypical patterns of left/right hearing threshold asymmetry (HTA) have been described for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on HT have mainly been conducted in elderly participants whose hearing is more likely to be affected by external environmental factors. Here, we investigated HT and HTA in a children population cohort (ALSPAC, n = 6,743). Better hearing was associated with better cognitive performance and higher socioeconomic status. At the group level, HTA suggested a left ear advantage (mean = -0.28 dB) that was mainly driven by females. SNP heritability for HT and HTA was 0.13 and 0.02, respectively (n = 4,989). We found a modest negative genetic correlation between HT and reading ability. GWAS for HT (n = 5,344) did not yield significant hits but polygenic risk scores for higher educational attainment (EA, ß = -1,564.72, p = .008) and schizophrenia (ß = -241.14, p = .004) were associated with lower HT, that is, better hearing. In summary, we report new data supporting associations between hearing measures and cognitive abilities at the behavioral level. Genetic analysis suggests shared biological pathways between cognitive and sensory systems and provides evidence for a positive outcome of genetic risk for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Schmitz
- School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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Abstract
Humans belong to the vast clade of species known as the bilateria, with a bilaterally symmetrical body plan. Over the course of evolution, exceptions to symmetry have arisen. Among chordates, the internal organs have been arranged asymmetrically in order to create more efficient functioning and packaging. The brain has also assumed asymmetries, although these generally trade off against the pressure toward symmetry, itself a reflection of the symmetry of limbs and sense organs. In humans, at least, brain asymmetries occur in independent networks, including those involved in language and manual manipulation biased to the left hemisphere, and emotion and face perception biased to the right. Similar asymmetries occur in other species, notably the great apes. A number of asymmetries are correlated with conditions such as dyslexia, autism, and schizophrenia, and have largely independent genetic associations. The origin of asymmetry itself, though, appears to be unitary, and in the case of the internal organs, at least, may depend ultimately on asymmetry at the molecular level.
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42
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Manns M, Basbasse YE, Freund N, Ocklenburg S. Paw preferences in mice and rats: Meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:593-606. [PMID: 34004244 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Mice and rats are among the most common animal model species in both basic and clinical neuroscience. Despite their ubiquity as model species, many clinically relevant brain-behaviour relationships in rodents are not well understood. In particular, data on hemispheric asymmetries, an important organizational principle in the vertebrate brain, are conflicting as existing studies are often statistically underpowered due to small sample sizes. Paw preference is one of the most frequently investigated forms of hemispheric asymmetries on the behavioural level. Here, we used meta-analysis to statistically integrate findings on paw preferences in rats and mice. For both species, results indicate significant hemispheric asymmetries on the individual level. In mice, 81 % of animals showed a preference for either the left or the right paw, while 84 % of rats showed this preference. However, contrary to what has been reported in humans, population level asymmetries were not observed. These results are particularly significant as they point out that paying attention to potential individual hemispheric differences is important in both basic and clinical neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Manns
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
| | - Yasmin El Basbasse
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
| | - Nadja Freund
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
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Groothuis TGG, Zickert N, Riedstra B, Geuze R. The importance of understanding function and evolution. Laterality 2021; 26:342-347. [PMID: 33847246 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2021.1909610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Ocklenburg et al. (2020, Laterality 2020: Entering the next decade. Laterality) provided the field of laterality research with a stimulating research perspective for the coming decade, based on the current state of the art in both animal and human laterality research. Although this is paper takes many different approaches of laterality into account, we emphasize that the eco-evolutionary approach needs more attention. This concerns the question why organisms are lateralized in the first place, in other words, how does lateralization enhance the Darwinian fitness of the individual. We argue that laterality can be distinguished along four dimensions, and that each of them requires different ultimate explanations. Studying these functional and evolutionary explanations requires the development of ecologically relevant tests, adapted to the species at hand. It also requires experimental manipulation of laterality, testing the effect in (semi)-natural conditions on fitness parameters. Tools for such manipulation of laterality urgently require a better understanding of the developmental plasticity of lateralization, extending the field of evo-devo to that of eco-evo-devo. We also warn against seeing the minority in the distribution of direction or strength of lateralization as being a pathology as such minorities in biology can often be explained as adaptations by natural frequency dependent selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ton G G Groothuis
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Nele Zickert
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Bernd Riedstra
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Reint Geuze
- Department of Neuro and Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
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Harrison LA, Kats A, Kilroy E, Butera C, Jayashankar A, Keles U, Aziz-Zadeh L. Motor and sensory features successfully decode autism spectrum disorder and combine with the original RDoC framework to boost diagnostic classification. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7839. [PMID: 33837251 PMCID: PMC8035204 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87455-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory processing and motor coordination atypicalities are not commonly identified as primary characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), nor are they well captured in the NIMH's original Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Here, motor and sensory features performed similarly to RDoC features in support vector classification of 30 ASD youth against 33 typically developing controls. Combining sensory with RDoC features boosted classification performance, achieving a Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.949 and balanced accuracy (BAcc) of 0.971 (p = 0.00020, calculated against a permuted null distribution). Sensory features alone successfully classified ASD (MCC = 0.565, BAcc = 0.773, p = 0.0222) against a clinically relevant control group of 26 youth with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and were in fact required to decode against DCD above chance. These findings highlight the importance of sensory and motor features to the ASD phenotype and their relevance to the RDoC framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A Harrison
- USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Anastasiya Kats
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Emily Kilroy
- USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Christiana Butera
- USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aditya Jayashankar
- USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Umit Keles
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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45
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Papadatou-Pastou M, Panagiotidou DA, Abbondanza F, Fischer U, Paracchini S, Karagiannakis G. Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature. Laterality 2021; 26:485-538. [PMID: 33823756 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2021.1906693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Increased rates of atypical handedness are observed in neurotypical individuals who are low-performing in mathematical tasks as well as in individuals with special educational needs, such as dyslexia. This is the first investigation of handedness in individuals with Mathematical Learning Difficulties (MLD). We report three new studies (N = 134; N = 1,893; N = 153) and two sets of meta-analyses (22 studies; N = 3,667). No difference in atypical hand preference between MLD and Typically Achieving (TA) individuals was found when handedness was assessed with self-report questionnaires, but weak evidence of a difference was found when writing hand was the handedness criterion in Study 1 (p = .049). Similarly, when combining data meta-analytically, no hand preference differences were detected. We suggest that: (i) potential handedness effects require larger samples, (ii) direction of hand preference is not a sensitive enough measure of handedness in this context, or that (iii) increased rates of atypical hand preference are not associated with MLD. The latter scenario would suggest that handedness is specifically linked to language-related conditions rather than conditions related to cognitive abilities at large. Future studies need to consider hand skill and degree of hand preference in MLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marietta Papadatou-Pastou
- School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.,Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Filippo Abbondanza
- School of Medicine, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Ursula Fischer
- Department of Sport Science, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Silvia Paracchini
- School of Medicine, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Giannis Karagiannakis
- Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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46
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Richards G, Medland SE, Beaton AA. Digit ratio (2D:4D) and handedness: A meta-analysis of the available literature. Laterality 2021; 26:421-484. [PMID: 33517845 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2020.1862141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The Geschwind-Behan-Galaburda and sexual differentiation models predict an association between elevated foetal androgen exposure and left-handedness whereas the callosal hypothesis predicts the opposite. We present a meta-analysis of correlations between handedness and digit ratio (2D:4D), a putative marker of prenatal testosterone. Left-handedness predicted low (male-typical) right-hand digit ratio (R2D:4D), high (female-typical) left-hand digit ratio (L2D:4D), and low R2D:4D-L2D:4D directional asymmetry (D[R-L]). Effect sizes were extremely small and not moderated by sex or method of measuring handedness or 2D:4D. The same general pattern was observed after excluding the very large study (110,329 males, 90,412 females) of Manning and Peters ([2009]. Digit ratio (2D:4D) and hand preference for writing in the BBC Internet Study. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 14(5), 528-540. doi:10.1080/13576500802637872); however, no significant effects for R2D:4D were observed once these samples were removed. The results do not confirm any theory linking prenatal androgens with handedness, so we speculate they instead reflect the mechanical action of writing causing subtle changes in the musculature and/or fat pads of the fingers. Gripping a pen/pencil might cause an increase in 2D relative to 4D (and/or decrease in 4D relative to 2D) resulting in higher ratios on the writing-hand; furthermore, this could differ between left- and right-handers due to writing in the left-to-right direction (as in English) having asymmetrical effects depending on which hand is used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gareth Richards
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.,Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development & Learning, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah E Medland
- Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.,School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.,School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Alan A Beaton
- Department of Psychology, School of Human & Health Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.,Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
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Berretz G, Packheiser J, Wolf OT, Ocklenburg S. Dichotic listening performance and interhemispheric integration after stress exposure. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20804. [PMID: 33257757 PMCID: PMC7705688 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77708-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional hemispheric asymmetries (FHAs) have been thought to be relatively stable over time. However, past research has shown that FHAs are more plastic than initially thought. Endocrinological processes have been demonstrated to alter FHAs. As the product of the stress-activated hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, cortisol influences information processing at every level from stimulus perception to decision making and action. To investigate the influence of acute stress on FHAs, 60 participants performed a Banich–Belger task, as well as a verbal and an emotional dichotic listening task in two sessions. One session included a stress induction via the Trier Social Stress Test, the other session included a control procedure. We calculated across-field advantages (AFAs) in the Banich–Belger task and lateralization quotients for reaction times and responses per side in both dichotic listening tasks. There were no significant differences between the stress and control session in the dichotic listening tasks. In contrast, there was evidence for an influence of cortisol and sympathetic activation indicated by salivary alpha amylase changes on AFAs in the Banich–Belger task. This indicates that acute stress and the related increase in cortisol do not influence dichotic listening performance. However, stress does seem to affect interhemispheric integration of information. Future research using EEG, fMRI and pharmacological interventions is needed to further characterize the relation of hemispheric asymmetries and acute stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gesa Berretz
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Julian Packheiser
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Oliver T Wolf
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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Ohta H, Aoki YY, Itahashi T, Kanai C, Fujino J, Nakamura M, Kato N, Hashimoto RI. White matter alterations in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in relation to sensory profile. Mol Autism 2020; 11:77. [PMID: 33070774 PMCID: PMC7570037 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-00379-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have high rates of co-occurrence and share atypical behavioral characteristics, including sensory symptoms. The present diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was conducted to examine whether and how white matter alterations are observed in adult populations with developmental disorders (DD) and to determine how brain–sensory relationships are either shared between or distinct to ASD and ADHD. Methods We collected DTI data from adult population with DD (a primary diagnosis of ASD: n = 105, ADHD: n = 55) as well as age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) participants (n = 58). Voxel-wise fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity (RD) were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics. The severities of sensory symptoms were assessed using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP). Results Categorical analyses identified voxel clusters showing significant effects of DD on FA and RD in the posterior portion of the corpus callosum and its extension in the right hemisphere. Furthermore, regression analyses using the AASP scores revealed that slopes in relationships of FA or RD with the degree of sensory symptoms were parallel between the two DDs in large parts of the affected corpus callosum regions. A small but significant cluster did exist showing difference in association between an AASP subscale score and RD across ASD and ADHD. Limitations Wide age range of the participants may be oversimplified. Conclusions These results indicate that white matter alteration and their relationships to sensory symptoms are largely shared between ASD and ADHD, with localized abnormalities showing significant between-diagnosis differences within DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruhisa Ohta
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Yuta Y Aoki
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Takashi Itahashi
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Chieko Kanai
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Junya Fujino
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Motoaki Nakamura
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Nobumasa Kato
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan
| | - Ryu-Ichiro Hashimoto
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11, Kita-Karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577, Japan. .,Department of Language Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Japan.
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49
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Evolutionary motor biases and cognition in children with and without autism. Sci Rep 2020; 10:17385. [PMID: 33060674 PMCID: PMC7566622 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74224-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolution has endowed vertebrates with a divided brain that allows for processing of critical survival behaviours in parallel. Most humans possess a standard functional brain organisation for these ancient sensory-motor behaviours, favouring the right hemisphere for fight-or-flight processes and the left hemisphere for performing structured motor sequences. However, a significant minority of the population possess an organisational phenotype that represents crowding of function in one hemisphere, or a reversal of the standard functional organisation. Using behavioural biases as a proxy for brain organisation, results indicate that reversed brain organisation phenotype increases in populations with autism and is associated with weaker cognitive abilities. Moreover, this study revealed that left-handedness, alone, is not associated with decreased cognitive ability or autism. Rather, left-handedness acts as a marker for decreased cognitive performance when paired with the reversed brain phenotype. The results contribute to comparative research suggesting that modern human abilities are supported by evolutionarily old, lateralised sensory-motor processes. Systematic, longitudinal investigations, capturing genetic measures and brain correlates, are essential to reveal how cognition emerges from these foundational processes. Importantly, strength and direction of biases can act as early markers of brain organisation and cognitive development, leading to promising, novel practices for diagnoses and interventions.
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Pearson A, Hodgetts S. Can cerebral lateralisation explain heterogeneity in language and increased non-right handedness in autism? A literature review. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2020; 105:103738. [PMID: 32721786 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Autism is characterised by phenotypic variability, particularly in the domains of language and handedness. However, the source of this heterogeneity is currently unclear. AIMS To synthesise findings regarding the relationship between language, handedness, and cerebral lateralisation in autistic people and consider how future research should be conducted in order to progress our understanding of phenotypic variability. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Following a literature search and selection process, 19 papers were included in this literature review. Studies using behavioural, structural, and functional measures of lateralisation are reviewed. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS The studies reviewed provided consistent evidence of differential cerebral lateralisation in autistic people, and this appears to be related to between-group differences in language. Evidence relating this to handedness was less consistent. Many of the studies did not include heterogeneous samples, and/or did not specify the language process they investigated. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This review suggests that further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between cerebral lateralisation and phenotypic variability within autism. It is crucial that future studies in this area include heterogeneous samples, specify the language process they are investigating, and consider taking developmental trajectories into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Pearson
- School of Psychology, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK.
| | - Sophie Hodgetts
- School of Psychology, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK
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