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Vidal JP, Rachita K, Servais A, Péran P, Pariente J, Bonneville F, Albucher JF, Danet L, Barbeau EJ. Exploring the impact of the interthalamic adhesion on human cognition: insights from healthy subjects and thalamic stroke patients. J Neurol 2024; 271:5985-5996. [PMID: 39017701 PMCID: PMC11377548 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-024-12566-z] [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: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
The interthalamic adhesion (IA) is a structure that connects the median borders of both thalami. Its anatomical variants and functions remain poorly studied. The main objective of this study was to explore the role of the IA on cognition. 42 healthy subjects and 40 patients with chronic isolated thalamic strokes underwent a neuroimaging and a neuropsychological assessment. The presence, absence, or lesion of the IA and its anatomical variants were evaluated. 76% of participants had an IA, with a higher prevalence among women (92%) than men (61%). The presence or absence of an IA did not affect the neuropsychological performance of healthy subjects nor did the type of IA variant. Across all the tests and when compared to healthy subjects using a Bayesian rmANOVA, patients exhibiting more cognitive impairments were those without an IA (n = 10, BF10 = 10,648), while those with an IA were more preserved (n = 18, BF10 = 157). More specifically, patients without an IA performed more poorly in verbal memory or the Stroop task versus healthy subjects. This was not explained by age, laterality of the infarct, volume or localization of the lesion. Patients with a lesioned IA (n = 12) presented a similar trend to patients without an IA, which could however be explained by a greater volume of lesions. The IA does not appear to play a major role in cognition in healthy subjects, but could play a compensatory role in patients with thalamic lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie P Vidal
- CerCo (Brain and Cognition Research Center), CNRS, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France.
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France.
| | - Kévin Rachita
- Neurology Department, Purpan Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Anaïs Servais
- CerCo (Brain and Cognition Research Center), CNRS, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
| | - Patrice Péran
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
| | - Jérémie Pariente
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
- Neurology Department, Purpan Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Fabrice Bonneville
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
- Neurology Department, Purpan Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Jean-François Albucher
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
- Neurology Department, Purpan Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Lola Danet
- ToNiC (Toulouse NeuroImaging Center), INSERM, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
- Neurology Department, Purpan Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Emmanuel J Barbeau
- CerCo (Brain and Cognition Research Center), CNRS, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
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Parra JED, Ripoll ÁP, García JFV. Interthalamic adhesion in humans: a gray commissure? Anat Cell Biol 2021; 55:109-112. [PMID: 34675136 PMCID: PMC8968232 DOI: 10.5115/acb.21.164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Interthalamic adhesion is an inconstant part of the human diencephalic neuroanatomy, which some histological studies have indicated it is a gray commissure and others a white commissure. Its presence has been associated with alterations in health status, including schizophrenia, psychotic states, and hydrocephalus. Thirty-one fresh human brains were evaluated randomly, to determine the presence of interthalamic adhesion and its histological composition, by way of lamina terminalis puncture of the third ventricle. Photographic records were taken and histological processes was performed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, in the case of the existence of the adhesion. It was found that 51.71% did present interthalamic adhesion, and on histological examination, no neuron bodies were found in the median part, which implies that does not correspond to a gray commissure, but interthalamic adhesion in humans is variable, with a predominance of glial cells. There is no gray commissure in human interthalamic adhesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge Eduardo Duque Parra
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.,Medicine Program, Department of Basic Sciences, Universidad de Manizales, Manizales, Colombia
| | - Álex Pava Ripoll
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.,Medicine Program, Department of Basic Sciences, Universidad de Manizales, Manizales, Colombia
| | - Juan Fernando Vélez García
- Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
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Whitehead MT, Najim N. Thalamic Massa Intermedia in Children with and without Midline Brain Malformations. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2020; 41:729-735. [PMID: 32115420 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a6446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The massa intermedia is a normal midline transventricular thalamic connection. Massa intermedia aberrations are common in schizophrenia, Chiari II malformation, X-linked hydrocephalus, Cornelia de Lange syndrome, and diencephalic-mesencephalic junction dysplasia, among others. We have noticed that massa intermedia abnormalities often accompany other midline malformations. The massa intermedia has never been formally evaluated in a group of exclusively pediatric patients, to our knowledge. We sought to compare and contrast the prevalence, size, and location of the massa intermedia in pediatric patients with and without congenital midline brain abnormalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS Successive 3T brain MR imaging examinations from pediatric patients with and without midline malformations were procured from the imaging data base at a pediatric hospital. Massa intermedia presence, size, morphology, and position were determined using 3D-TIWI with 1-mm isotropic resolution. The brain commissures, septum pellucidum, hypothalamus, hippocampus, vermis, and brain stem were evaluated to determine whether alterations were related to or predictive of massa intermedia abnormalities. RESULTS The massa intermedia was more frequently absent, dysmorphic, and/or displaced in patients with additional midline abnormalities than in those without. The massa intermedia was absent in 40% of patients with midline malformations versus 12% of patients with normal findings (P < .001). Massa intermedia absence, surface area, and morphology were predictable by various attributes and alterations of the commissures, hippocampus, hypothalamus, vermis, brain stem, and third ventricle. CONCLUSIONS Most pediatric patients have a thalamic massa intermedia centered in the anterior/superior third ventricle. Massa intermedia abnormalities are commonly associated with other midline malformations. Normal-variant massa intermedia absence is a diagnosis of exclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Whitehead
- From the Department of Radiology (M.T.W., N.N.), Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC .,The George Washington University Hospital (M.T.W.), Washington, DC
| | - N Najim
- From the Department of Radiology (M.T.W., N.N.), Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC
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Damle NR, Ikuta T, John M, Peters BD, DeRosse P, Malhotra AK, Szeszko PR. Relationship among interthalamic adhesion size, thalamic anatomy and neuropsychological functions in healthy volunteers. Brain Struct Funct 2016; 222:2183-2192. [PMID: 27866270 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-016-1334-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 11/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The interthalamic adhesion (ITA) is an understudied neuroanatomical structure that forms a bridge of tissue connecting the thalamus of each hemisphere across the midline whose functional significance remains largely unknown. The likelihood of ITA absence has been reported in some studies to be increased in males, but findings have been inconsistent. We used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the size and absence of the ITA and their relationship to thalamic volume, putative indices of white matter integrity (fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity) within the anterior thalamic radiation and neuropsychological functions in 233 (129 M/104 F) healthy volunteers (age range 8-68). To ensure high reliability in this study two operators independently rated the absence of the ITA and measured its size for all individuals. The ITA was absent in 4% of all individuals with no sex differences in its absence. Females had greater ITA size compared to males overall with both groups demonstrating nonlinear age-associated changes across the age range examined. ITA size among females correlated significantly with thalamus volume and lower mean diffusivity in the anterior thalamic radiation. Path modeling indicated that ITA size statistically mediated the relationship between age and attention among females. Our findings provide evidence for sex differences in ITA size across the lifespan, which are associated with the surrounding thalamic anatomy and neuropsychological functions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Toshikazu Ikuta
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Applied Sciences, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA
| | - Majnu John
- Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USA.,Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA.,Department of Mathematics, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | - Bart D Peters
- Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USA.,Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA
| | - Pamela DeRosse
- Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USA.,Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA.,Departments of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | - Anil K Malhotra
- Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USA.,Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA.,Departments of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | - Philip R Szeszko
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mental Health Care Center, 130 W Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, NY, 10468, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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