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Zhang Y, Vakhtin AA, Jennings JS, Massaband P, Wintermark M, Craig PL, Ashford JW, Clark JD, Furst AJ. Diffusion tensor tractography of brainstem fibers and its application in pain. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0213952. [PMID: 32069284 PMCID: PMC7028272 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Evaluation of brainstem pathways with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tractography may provide insights into pathophysiologies associated with dysfunction of key brainstem circuits. However, identification of these tracts has been elusive, with relatively few in vivo human studies to date. In this paper we proposed an automated approach for reconstructing nine brainstem fiber trajectories of pathways that might be involved in pain modulation. We first performed native-space manual tractography of these fiber tracts in a small normative cohort of participants and confirmed the anatomical precision of the results using existing anatomical literature. Second, region-of-interest pairs were manually defined at each extracted fiber’s termini and nonlinearly warped to a standard anatomical brain template to create an atlas of the region-of-interest pairs. The resulting atlas was then transformed non-linearly into the native space of 17 veteran patients’ brains for automated brainstem tractography. Lastly, we assessed the relationships between the integrity levels of the obtained fiber bundles and pain severity levels. Fractional anisotropy (FA) measures derived using automated tractography reflected the respective tracts’ FA levels obtained via manual tractography. A significant inverse relationship between FA and pain levels was detected within the automatically derived dorsal and medial longitudinal fasciculi of the brainstem. This study demonstrates the feasibility of DTI in exploring brainstem circuitries involved in pain processing. In this context, the described automated approach is a viable alternative to the time-consuming manual tractography. The physiological and functional relevance of the measures derived from automated tractography is evidenced by their relationships with individual pain severities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhang
- War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Andrei A. Vakhtin
- War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Jennifer S. Jennings
- War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
| | - Payam Massaband
- Radiology, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
| | - Max Wintermark
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Neuroradiology at Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Patricia L. Craig
- Radiology, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
| | - J. Wesson Ashford
- War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - J. David Clark
- Pain Clinic, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
- Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Ansgar J. Furst
- War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
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Du X, Rowland LM, Summerfelt A, Choa FS, Wittenberg GF, Wisner K, Wijtenburg A, Chiappelli J, Kochunov P, Hong LE. Cerebellar-Stimulation Evoked Prefrontal Electrical Synchrony Is Modulated by GABA. THE CEREBELLUM 2019; 17:550-563. [PMID: 29766458 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-018-0945-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Cerebellar-prefrontal connectivity has been recognized as important for behaviors ranging from motor coordination to cognition. Many of these behaviors are known to involve excitatory or inhibitory modulations from the prefrontal cortex. We used cerebellar transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) to probe cerebellar-evoked electrical activity in prefrontal cortical areas and used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures of prefrontal GABA and glutamate levels to determine if they are correlated with those potentials. Cerebellar-evoked bilateral prefrontal synchrony in the theta to gamma frequency range showed patterns that reflect strong GABAergic inhibitory function (r = - 0.66, p = 0.002). Stimulation of prefrontal areas evoked bilateral prefrontal synchrony in the theta to low beta frequency range that reflected, conversely, glutamatergic excitatory function (r = 0.66, p = 0.002) and GABAergic inhibitory function (r = - 0.65, p = 0.002). Cerebellar-evoked prefrontal synchronization had opposite associations with cognition and motor coordination: it was positively associated with working memory performance (r = 0.57, p = 0.008) but negatively associated with coordinated motor function as measured by rapid finger tapping (r = - 0.59, p = 0.006). The results suggest a relationship between regional GABA levels and interregional effects on synchrony. Stronger cerebellar-evoked prefrontal synchrony was associated with better working memory but surprisingly worse motor coordination, which suggests competing effects for motor activity and cognition. The data supports the use of a TMS-EEG-MRS approach to study the neurochemical basis of large-scale oscillations modulated by the cerebellar-prefrontal connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoming Du
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA.
| | - Laura M Rowland
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Ann Summerfelt
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Fow-Sen Choa
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA
| | - George F Wittenberg
- Department of Neurology, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Internal Medicine, Older Americans Independence Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Health Care System, Geriatrics Research, Education and Clinical Center, and Maryland Exercise & Robotics Center of Excellence, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Krista Wisner
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Andrea Wijtenburg
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Joshua Chiappelli
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Peter Kochunov
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - L Elliot Hong
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
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