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Huang SM, Cho KH, Chang K, Huang PH, Kuo LW. Altered thalamocortical tract trajectory growth with undisrupted thalamic parcellation pattern in human lissencephaly brain at mid-gestational stage. Neurobiol Dis 2024; 199:106577. [PMID: 38914171 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2024.106577] [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: 05/02/2024] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Proper topographically organized neural connections between the thalamus and the cerebral cortex are mandatory for thalamus function. Thalamocortical (TC) fiber growth begins during the embryonic period and completes by the third trimester of gestation, so that human neonates at birth have a thalamus with a near-facsimile of adult functional parcellation. Whether congenital neocortical anomaly (e.g., lissencephaly) affects TC connection in humans is unknown. Here, via diffusion MRI fiber-tractography analysis of long-term formalin-fixed postmortem fetal brain diagnosed as lissencephaly in comparison with an age-matched normal one, we found similar topological patterns of thalamic subregions and of internal capsule parcellated by TC fibers. However, lissencephaly fetal brain showed white matter structural changes, including fewer/less organized TC fibers and optic radiations, and much less cortical plate invasion by TC fibers - particularly around the shallow central sulcus. Diffusion MRI fiber tractography of normal fetal brains at 15, 23, and 26 gestational weeks (GW) revealed dynamic volumetric change of each parcellated thalamic subregion, suggesting coupled developmental progress of the thalamus with the corresponding cortex. Moreover, from GW23 and GW26 normal fetal brains, TC endings in the cortical plate could be delineated to reflect cumulative progressive TC invasion of cortical plate. By contrast, lissencephaly brain showed a dramatic decrease in TC invasion of the cortical plate. Our study thus shows the feasibility of diffusion MRI fiber tractography in postmortem long-term formalin-fixed fetal brains to disclose the developmental progress of TC tracts coordinating with thalamic and neocortical growth both in normal and lissencephaly fetal brains at mid-gestational stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Min Huang
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanomedicine, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 350, Taiwan
| | - Kuan-Hung Cho
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National United University, Miaoli 360, Taiwan
| | - Koping Chang
- Department of Pathology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Pathology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Hsin Huang
- Department of Pathology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Pathology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
| | - Li-Wei Kuo
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanomedicine, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 350, Taiwan; Institute of Medical Device and Imaging, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
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2
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Calixto C, Jaimes C, Soldatelli MD, Warfield SK, Gholipour A, Karimi D. Anatomically constrained tractography of the fetal brain. Neuroimage 2024; 297:120723. [PMID: 39029605 PMCID: PMC11382095 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120723] [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: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) is increasingly used to study the fetal brain in utero. An important computation enabled by dMRI is streamline tractography, which has unique applications such as tract-specific analysis of the brain white matter and structural connectivity assessment. However, due to the low fetal dMRI data quality and the challenging nature of tractography, existing methods tend to produce highly inaccurate results. They generate many false streamlines while failing to reconstruct the streamlines that constitute the major white matter tracts. In this paper, we advocate for anatomically constrained tractography based on an accurate segmentation of the fetal brain tissue directly in the dMRI space. We develop a deep learning method to compute the segmentation automatically. Experiments on independent test data show that this method can accurately segment the fetal brain tissue and drastically improve the tractography results. It enables the reconstruction of highly curved tracts such as optic radiations. Importantly, our method infers the tissue segmentation and streamline propagation direction from a diffusion tensor fit to the dMRI data, making it applicable to routine fetal dMRI scans. The proposed method can facilitate the study of fetal brain white matter tracts with dMRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Calixto
- Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Camilo Jaimes
- Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | | | - Simon K Warfield
- Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ali Gholipour
- Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Davood Karimi
- Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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3
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Calixto C, Soldatelli MD, Li B, Pierotich L, Gholipour A, Warfield SK, Karimi D. White matter tract crossing and bottleneck regions in the fetal brain. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.20.603804. [PMID: 39091823 PMCID: PMC11291018 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.20.603804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
There is a growing interest in using diffusion MRI to study the white matter tracts and structural connectivity of the fetal brain. Recent progress in data acquisition and processing suggests that this imaging modality has a unique role in elucidating the normal and abnormal patterns of neurodevelopment in utero. However, there have been no efforts to quantify the prevalence of crossing tracts and bottleneck regions, important issues that have been extensively researched for adult brains. In this work, we determined the brain regions with crossing tracts and bottlenecks between 23 and 36 gestational weeks. We performed probabilistic tractography on 59 fetal brain scans and extracted a set of 51 distinct white tracts, which we grouped into 10 major tract bundle groups. We analyzed the results to determine the patterns of tract crossings and bottlenecks. Our results showed that 20-25% of the white matter voxels included two or three crossing tracts. Bottlenecks were more prevalent. Between 75-80% of the voxels were characterized as bottlenecks, with more than 40% of the voxels involving four or more tracts. The results of this study highlight the challenge of fetal brain tractography and structural connectivity assessment and call for innovative image acquisition and analysis methods to mitigate these problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Calixto
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Matheus D Soldatelli
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Bo Li
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lana Pierotich
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ali Gholipour
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Davood Karimi
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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4
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Chen R, Zhao R, Li H, Xu X, Li M, Zhao Z, Sun C, Wang G, Wu D. Development of the Fetal Brain Corticocortical Structural Network during the Second-to-Third Trimester Based on Diffusion MRI. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1567232024. [PMID: 38844343 PMCID: PMC11255424 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1567-23.2024] [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: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
During the second-to-third trimester, the neuronal pathways of the fetal brain experience rapid development, resulting in the complex architecture of the interwired network at birth. While diffusion MRI-based tractography has been employed to study the prenatal development of structural connectivity network (SCN) in preterm neonatal and postmortem fetal brains, the in utero development of SCN in the normal fetal brain remains largely unknown. In this study, we utilized in utero dMRI data from human fetuses of both sexes between 26 and 38 gestational weeks to investigate the developmental trajectories of the fetal brain SCN, focusing on intrahemispheric connections. Our analysis revealed significant increases in global efficiency, mean local efficiency, and clustering coefficient, along with significant decrease in shortest path length, while small-worldness persisted during the studied period, revealing balanced network integration and segregation. Widespread short-ranged connectivity strengthened significantly. The nodal strength developed in a posterior-to-anterior and medial-to-lateral order, reflecting a spatiotemporal gradient in cortical network connectivity development. Moreover, we observed distinct lateralization patterns in the fetal brain SCN. Globally, there was a leftward lateralization in network efficiency, clustering coefficient, and small-worldness. The regional lateralization patterns in most language, motor, and visual-related areas were consistent with prior knowledge, except for Wernicke's area, indicating lateralized brain wiring is an innate property of the human brain starting from the fetal period. Our findings provided a comprehensive view of the development of the fetal brain SCN and its lateralization, as a normative template that may be used to characterize atypical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruike Chen
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Ruoke Zhao
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Haotian Li
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Xinyi Xu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Mingyang Li
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Zhiyong Zhao
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
| | - Cong Sun
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, P. R. China
| | - Guangbin Wang
- Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250021, P. R. China
| | - Dan Wu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
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Chapman KA, Ullah F, Yahiku ZA, Kodiparthi SV, Kellaris G, Correia SP, Stödberg T, Sofokleous C, Marinakis NM, Fryssira H, Tsoutsou E, Traeger-Synodinos J, Accogli A, Salpietro V, Striano P, Berger SI, Pond KW, Sirimulla S, Davis EE, Bhattacharya MRC. Pathogenic variants in TMEM184B cause a neurodevelopmental syndrome via alteration of metabolic signaling. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.06.27.24309417. [PMID: 39006436 PMCID: PMC11245063 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.27.24309417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Transmembrane protein 184B (TMEM184B) is an endosomal 7-pass transmembrane protein with evolutionarily conserved roles in synaptic structure and axon degeneration. We report six pediatric patients who have de novo heterozygous variants in TMEM184B. All individuals harbor rare missense or mRNA splicing changes and have neurodevelopmental deficits including intellectual disability, corpus callosum hypoplasia, seizures, and/or microcephaly. TMEM184B is predicted to contain a pore domain, wherein many human disease-associated variants cluster. Structural modeling suggests that all missense variants alter TMEM184B protein stability. To understand the contribution of TMEM184B to neural development in vivo, we suppressed the TMEM184B ortholog in zebrafish and observed microcephaly and reduced anterior commissural neurons, aligning with patient symptoms. Ectopic TMEM184B expression resulted in dominant effects for K184E and G162R. However, in vivo complementation studies demonstrate that all other variants tested result in diminished protein function and indicate a haploinsufficiency basis for disease. Expression of K184E and other variants increased apoptosis in cell lines and altered nuclear localization of transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of lysosomal biogenesis, suggesting disrupted nutrient signaling pathways. Together, our data indicate that TMEM184B variants cause cellular metabolic disruption likely through divergent molecular effects that all result in abnormal neural development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly A Chapman
- Children’s National Rare Disease Institute and Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Washington DC, USA
| | - Farid Ullah
- Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pediatrics and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Zachary A Yahiku
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA
| | | | - Georgios Kellaris
- Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sandrina P Correia
- Centre for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tommy Stödberg
- Department of Women’s and Children`s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Pediatric Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christalena Sofokleous
- Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos M Marinakis
- Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
- Research University Institute for the Study and Prevention of Genetic and Malignant Disease of Childhood,National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Helena Fryssira
- Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Eirini Tsoutsou
- Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Jan Traeger-Synodinos
- Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Andrea Accogli
- Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, and Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Vincenzo Salpietro
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University. College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
| | - Pasquale Striano
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Giannina Gaslini Institute, Genoa, Italy
| | - Seth I Berger
- Children’s National Rare Disease Institute and Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Washington DC, USA
| | - Kelvin W Pond
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, AZ, USA
| | | | - Erica E Davis
- Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pediatrics and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern, Chicago, IL, USA
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6
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Wilson S, Christiaens D, Yun H, Uus A, Cordero-Grande L, Karolis V, Price A, Deprez M, Tournier JD, Rutherford M, Grant E, Hajnal JV, Edwards AD, Arichi T, O'Muircheartaigh J, Im K. Dynamic changes in subplate and cortical plate microstructure at the onset of cortical folding in vivo. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.10.16.562524. [PMID: 38979235 PMCID: PMC11230247 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.16.562524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Cortical gyrification takes place predominantly during the second to third trimester, alongside other fundamental developmental processes, such as the development of white matter connections, lamination of the cortex and formation of neural circuits. The mechanistic biology that drives the formation cortical folding patterns remains an open question in neuroscience. In our previous work, we modelled the in utero diffusion signal to quantify the maturation of microstructure in transient fetal compartments, identifying patterns of change in diffusion metrics that reflect critical neurobiological transitions occurring in the second to third trimester. In this work, we apply the same modelling approach to explore whether microstructural maturation of these compartments is correlated with the process of gyrification. We quantify the relationship between sulcal depth and tissue anisotropy within the cortical plate (CP) and underlying subplate (SP), key transient fetal compartments often implicated in mechanistic hypotheses about the onset of gyrification. Using in utero high angular resolution multi-shell diffusion-weighted imaging (HARDI) from the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), our analysis reveals that the anisotropic, tissue component of the diffusion signal in the SP and CP decreases immediately prior to the formation of sulcal pits in the fetal brain. By back-projecting a map of folded brain regions onto the unfolded brain, we find evidence for cytoarchitectural differences between gyral and sulcal areas in the late second trimester, suggesting that regional variation in the microstructure of transient fetal compartments precedes, and thus may have a mechanistic function, in the onset of cortical folding in the developing human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siân Wilson
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daan Christiaens
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hyukjin Yun
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Alena Uus
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, United Kingdom
| | | | - Vyacheslav Karolis
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Price
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Deprez
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, United Kingdom
| | - Jacques-Donald Tournier
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, United Kingdom
| | - Mary Rutherford
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ellen Grant
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Joseph V Hajnal
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, United Kingdom
| | - A David Edwards
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tomoki Arichi
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
- Children's Neurosciences, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh
- Research Department of Early Life Imaging, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Kiho Im
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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7
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Snoussi H, Karimi D, Afacan O, Utkur M, Gholipour A. HAITCH: A Framework for Distortion and Motion Correction in Fetal Multi-Shell Diffusion-Weighted MRI. ARXIV 2024:arXiv:2406.20042v1. [PMID: 38979484 PMCID: PMC11230346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is pivotal for probing the microstructure of the rapidly-developing fetal brain. However, fetal motion during scans and its interaction with magnetic field inhomogeneities result in artifacts and data scattering across spatial and angular domains. The effects of those artifacts are more pronounced in high-angular resolution fetal dMRI, where signal-to-noise ratio is very low. Those effects lead to biased estimates and compromise the consistency and reliability of dMRI analysis. This work presents HAITCH, the first and the only publicly available tool to correct and reconstruct multi-shell high-angular resolution fetal dMRI data. HAITCH offers several technical advances that include a blip-reversed dual-echo acquisition for dynamic distortion correction, advanced motion correction for model-free and robust reconstruction, optimized multi-shell design for enhanced information capture and increased tolerance to motion, and outlier detection for improved reconstruction fidelity. The framework is open-source, flexible, and can be used to process any type of fetal dMRI data including single-echo or single-shell acquisitions, but is most effective when used with multi-shell multi-echo fetal dMRI data that cannot be processed with any of the existing tools. Validation experiments on real fetal dMRI scans demonstrate significant improvements and accurate correction across diverse fetal ages and motion levels. HAITCH successfully removes artifacts and reconstructs high-fidelity fetal dMRI data suitable for advanced diffusion modeling, including fiber orientation distribution function estimation. These advancements pave the way for more reliable analysis of the fetal brain microstructure and tractography under challenging imaging conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haykel Snoussi
- Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Davood Karimi
- Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Onur Afacan
- Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Mustafa Utkur
- Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Ali Gholipour
- Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA
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8
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Arichi T. Characterizing Large-Scale Human Circuit Development with In Vivo Neuroimaging. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2024; 16:a041496. [PMID: 38438187 PMCID: PMC11146311 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Large-scale coordinated patterns of neural activity are crucial for the integration of information in the human brain and to enable complex and flexible human behavior across the life span. Through recent advances in noninvasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods, it is now possible to study this activity and how it emerges in the living fetal brain across the second half of human gestation. This work has demonstrated that functional activity in the fetal brain has several features in keeping with highly organized networks of activity, which are undergoing a highly programmed and rapid sequence of development before birth, in which long-range connections emerge and core features of the mature functional connectome (such as hub regions and a gradient organization) are established. In this review, the findings of these studies are summarized, their relationship to the known changes in developmental neurobiology is considered, and considerations for future work in the context of limitations to the fMRI approach are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoki Arichi
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, United Kingdom
- Children's Neurosciences, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
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9
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Calixto C, Soldatelli MD, Jaimes C, Warfield SK, Gholipour A, Karimi D. A detailed spatio-temporal atlas of the white matter tracts for the fetal brain. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.26.590815. [PMID: 38712296 PMCID: PMC11071632 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.590815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
This study presents the construction of a comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas detailing the development of white matter tracts in the fetal brain using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Our research leverages data collected from fetal MRI scans conducted between 22 and 37 weeks of gestation, capturing the dynamic changes in the brain's microstructure during this critical period. The atlas includes 60 distinct white matter tracts, including commissural, projection, and association fibers. We employed advanced fetal dMRI processing techniques and tractography to map and characterize the developmental trajectories of these tracts. Our findings reveal that the development of these tracts is characterized by complex patterns of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), reflecting key neurodevelopmental processes such as axonal growth, involution of the radial-glial scaffolding, and synaptic pruning. This atlas can serve as a useful resource for neuroscience research and clinical practice, improving our understanding of the fetal brain and potentially aiding in the early diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders. By detailing the normal progression of white matter tract development, the atlas can be used as a benchmark for identifying deviations that may indicate neurological anomalies or predispositions to disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Calixto
- Computational Radiology Laboratory (CRL), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
| | | | - Camilo Jaimes
- Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Computational Radiology Laboratory (CRL), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
| | - Ali Gholipour
- Computational Radiology Laboratory (CRL), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
| | - Davood Karimi
- Computational Radiology Laboratory (CRL), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
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10
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Ortug A, Valli B, Alatorre Warren JL, Shiohama T, van der Kouwe A, Takahashi E. Brain Pathways in LIS1-Associated Lissencephaly Revealed by Diffusion MRI Tractography. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1655. [PMID: 38137102 PMCID: PMC10742067 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Lissencephaly (LIS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder with severe symptoms caused by abnormal neuronal migration during cortical development. It is caused by both genetic and non-genetic factors. Despite frequent studies about the cortex, comprehensive elucidation of structural abnormalities and their effects on the white matter is limited. The main objective of this study is to analyze abnormal neuronal migration pathways and white matter fiber organization in LIS1-associated LIS using diffusion MRI (dMRI) tractography. For this purpose, slabs of brain specimens with LIS (n = 3) and age and sex-matched controls (n = 4) were scanned with 3T dMRI. Our high-resolution ex vivo dMRI successfully identified common abnormalities across the samples. The results revealed an abnormal increase in radially oriented subcortical fibers likely associated with radial migration pathways and u-fibers and a decrease in association fibers in all LIS specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alpen Ortug
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA; (A.O.)
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Briana Valli
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - José Luis Alatorre Warren
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA; (A.O.)
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tadashi Shiohama
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8677, Japan
| | - Andre van der Kouwe
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA; (A.O.)
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Emi Takahashi
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA; (A.O.)
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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11
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Menn KH, Männel C, Meyer L. Does Electrophysiological Maturation Shape Language Acquisition? PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:1271-1281. [PMID: 36753616 PMCID: PMC10623610 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231151584] [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] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Infants master temporal patterns of their native language at a developmental trajectory from slow to fast: Shortly after birth, they recognize the slow acoustic modulations specific to their native language before tuning into faster language-specific patterns between 6 and 12 months of age. We propose here that this trajectory is constrained by neuronal maturation-in particular, the gradual emergence of high-frequency neural oscillations in the infant electroencephalogram. Infants' initial focus on slow prosodic modulations is consistent with the prenatal availability of slow electrophysiological activity (i.e., theta- and delta-band oscillations). Our proposal is consistent with the temporal patterns of infant-directed speech, which initially amplifies slow modulations, approaching the faster modulation range of adult-directed speech only as infants' language has advanced sufficiently. Moreover, our proposal agrees with evidence from premature infants showing maturational age is a stronger predictor of language development than ex utero exposure to speech, indicating that premature infants cannot exploit their earlier availability of speech because of electrophysiological constraints. In sum, we provide a new perspective on language acquisition emphasizing neuronal development as a critical driving force of infants' language development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina H. Menn
- Research Group Language Cycles, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Claudia Männel
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lars Meyer
- Research Group Language Cycles, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Clinic for Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
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12
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Zheng W, Wang X, Liu T, Hu B, Wu D. Preterm-birth alters the development of nodal clustering and neural connection pattern in brain structural network at term-equivalent age. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:5372-5386. [PMID: 37539754 PMCID: PMC10543115 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26442] [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: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Preterm-born neonates are prone to impaired neurodevelopment that may be associated with disrupted whole-brain structural connectivity. The present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal developmental pattern of the structural network from preterm birth to term-equivalent age (TEA), and identify how prematurity influences the network topological organization and properties of local brain regions. Multi-shell diffusion-weighted MRI of 28 preterm-born scanned a short time after birth (PB-AB) and at TEA (PB-TEA), and 28 matched term-born (TB) neonates in the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) were used to construct structural networks through constrained spherical deconvolution tractography. Structural network development from preterm birth to TEA showed reduced shortest path length, clustering coefficient, and modularity, and more "connector" hubs linking disparate communities. Furthermore, compared with TB newborns, premature birth significantly altered the nodal properties (i.e., clustering coefficient, within-module degree, and participation coefficient) in the limbic/paralimbic, default-mode, and subcortical systems but not global topology at TEA, and we were able to distinguish the PB from TB neonates at TEA based on the nodal properties with 96.43% accuracy. Our findings demonstrated a topological reorganization of the structural network occurs during the perinatal period that may prioritize the optimization of global network organization to form a more efficient architecture; and local topology was more vulnerable to premature birth-related factors than global organization of the structural network, which may underlie the impaired cognition and behavior in PB infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihao Zheng
- Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, School of Information Science and EngineeringLanzhou UniversityLanzhouChina
| | - Xiaomin Wang
- Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, School of Information Science and EngineeringLanzhou UniversityLanzhouChina
| | - Tingting Liu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument ScienceZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Bin Hu
- Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, School of Information Science and EngineeringLanzhou UniversityLanzhouChina
- School of Medical TechnologyBeijing Institute of TechnologyBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesShanghaiChina
- Joint Research Center for Cognitive Neurosensor Technology of Lanzhou University & Institute of SemiconductorsChinese Academy of SciencesLanzhouChina
| | - Dan Wu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument ScienceZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
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13
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Di Carlo DT, Filice ME, Fava A, Quilici F, Fuochi B, Cecchi P, Donatelli G, Restani L, Nardini V, Turillazzi E, Cosottini M, Perrini P. Development of associational fiber tracts in fetal human brain: a cadaveric laboratory investigation. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:2007-2015. [PMID: 37658857 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02701-3] [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: 06/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
The advent of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in addition to cadaveric brain dissection allowed a comprehensive description of an adult human brain. Nonetheless, the knowledge of the development of the internal architecture of the brain is mostly incomplete. Our study aimed to provide a description of the anatomical variations of the major associational bundles, among fetal and early post-natal periods. Seventeen formalin-fixed fetal human brains were enrolled for sulci analysis, and 13 specimens were dissected under the operating microscope, using Klingler's technique. Although fronto-temporal connections could be observed in all stages of development, a distinction between the uncinate fascicle, and the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle was clear starting from the early preterm period (25-35 post-conceptional week). Similarly, we were consistently able to isolate the periatrial white matter that forms the sagittal stratum (SS), with no clear distinction among SS layers. Arcuate fascicle and superior longitudinal fascicle were isolated only at the late stage of development without a reliable description of their entire course. The results of our study demonstrated that, although white matter is mostly unmyelinated among fetal human brains, cadaveric dissection can be performed with consistent results. Furthermore, the stepwise development of the associational fiber tracts strengthens the hypothesis that anatomy and function run in parallel, and higher is the cognitive functions subserved by an anatomical structure, later the development of the fascicle. Further histological-anatomical-DWI investigations are required to appraise and explore this topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Tiziano Di Carlo
- Department of Neurosurgery, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Via Paradisa 2, 56100, Pisa, Italy.
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Maria Elena Filice
- Department of Pathology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Pisa, Italy
| | - Arianna Fava
- Department of Neurosurgery, IRCSS Neuromed, Pozzuoli, Italy
| | - Francesca Quilici
- Department of Pathology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Pisa, Italy
| | - Beatrice Fuochi
- Department of Pathology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Pisa, Italy
| | - Paolo Cecchi
- Department of Neuroradiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Laura Restani
- Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Nardini
- Department of Pathology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Mirco Cosottini
- Department of Neuroradiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Paolo Perrini
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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14
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Huang Y, Zhang T, Zhang S, Zhang W, Yang L, Zhu D, Liu T, Jiang X, Han J, Guo L. Genetic Influence on Gyral Peaks. Neuroimage 2023; 280:120344. [PMID: 37619794 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120344] [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: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Genetic mechanisms have been hypothesized to be a major determinant in the formation of cortical folding. Although there is an increasing number of studies examining the heritability of cortical folding, most of them focus on sulcal pits rather than gyral peaks. Gyral peaks, which reflect the highest local foci on gyri and are consistent across individuals, remain unstudied in terms of heritability. To address this knowledge gap, we used high-resolution data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to perform classical twin analysis and estimate the heritability of gyral peaks across various brain regions. Our results showed that the heritability of gyral peaks was heterogeneous across different cortical regions, but relatively symmetric between hemispheres. We also found that pits and peaks are different in a variety of anatomic and functional measures. Further, we explored the relationship between the levels of heritability and the formation of cortical folding by utilizing the evolutionary timeline of gyrification. Our findings indicate that the heritability estimates of both gyral peaks and sulcal pits decrease linearly with the evolution timeline of gyrification. This suggests that the cortical folds which formed earlier during gyrification are subject to stronger genetic influences than the later ones. Moreover, the pits and peaks coupled by their time of appearance are also positively correlated in respect of their heritability estimates. These results fill the knowledge gap regarding genetic influences on gyral peaks and significantly advance our understanding of how genetic factors shape the formation of cortical folding. The comparison between peaks and pits suggests that peaks are not a simple morphological mirror of pits but could help complete the understanding of folding patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Huang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China; School of Information and Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Tuo Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China.
| | - Songyao Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Weihan Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Li Yang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Dajiang Zhu
- Computer Science & Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, TX 76010, USA
| | - Tianming Liu
- Cortical Architecture Imaging and Discovery Lab, Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Xi Jiang
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610056, China
| | - Junwei Han
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Lei Guo
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
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15
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Horibe K, Taga G, Fujimoto K. Geodesic theory of long association fibers arrangement in the human fetal cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:9778-9786. [PMID: 37482884 PMCID: PMC10472492 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad243] [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: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Association fibers connect different areas of the cerebral cortex over long distances and integrate information to achieve higher brain functions, particularly in humans. Prototyped association fibers are developed to the respective tangential direction throughout the cerebral hemispheres along the deepest border of the subplate during the fetal period. However, how guidance to remote areas is achieved is not known. Because the subplate is located below the cortical surface, the tangential direction of the fibers may be biased by the curved surface geometry due to Sylvian fissure and cortical poles. The fiber length can be minimized if the tracts follow the shortest paths (geodesics) of the curved surface. Here, we propose and examine a theory that geodesics guide the tangential direction of long association fibers by analyzing how geodesics are spatially distributed on the fetal human brains. We found that the geodesics were dense on the saddle-shaped surface of the perisylvian region and sparse on the dome-shaped cortical poles. The geodesics corresponded with the arrangement of five typical association fibers, supporting the theory. Thus, the geodesic theory provides directional guidance information for wiring remote areas and suggests that long association fibers emerge from minimizing their tangential length in fetal brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuya Horibe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, 560-0043 Osaka, Japan
- Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, 560-8531 Osaka, Japan
| | - Gentaro Taga
- Department of Physical and Health Education, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033 Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koichi Fujimoto
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, 560-0043 Osaka, Japan
- Program of Mathematical and Life Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8526 Hiroshima, Japan
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16
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Chavoshnejad P, Vallejo L, Zhang S, Guo Y, Dai W, Zhang T, Razavi MJ. Mechanical hierarchy in the formation and modulation of cortical folding patterns. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13177. [PMID: 37580340 PMCID: PMC10425471 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40086-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The important mechanical parameters and their hierarchy in the growth and folding of the human brain have not been thoroughly understood. In this study, we developed a multiscale mechanical model to investigate how the interplay between initial geometrical undulations, differential tangential growth in the cortical plate, and axonal connectivity form and regulate the folding patterns of the human brain in a hierarchical order. To do so, different growth scenarios with bilayer spherical models that features initial undulations on the cortex and uniform or heterogeneous distribution of axonal fibers in the white matter were developed, statistically analyzed, and validated by the imaging observations. The results showed that the differential tangential growth is the inducer of cortical folding, and in a hierarchal order, high-amplitude initial undulations on the surface and axonal fibers in the substrate regulate the folding patterns and determine the location of gyri and sulci. The locations with dense axonal fibers after folding settle in gyri rather than sulci. The statistical results also indicated that there is a strong correlation between the location of positive (outward) and negative (inward) initial undulations and the locations of gyri and sulci after folding, respectively. In addition, the locations of 3-hinge gyral folds are strongly correlated with the initial positive undulations and locations of dense axonal fibers. As another finding, it was revealed that there is a correlation between the density of axonal fibers and local gyrification index, which has been observed in imaging studies but not yet fundamentally explained. This study is the first step in understanding the linkage between abnormal gyrification (surface morphology) and disruption in connectivity that has been observed in some brain disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Moreover, the findings of the study directly contribute to the concept of the regularity and variability of folding patterns in individual human brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Poorya Chavoshnejad
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Liam Vallejo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Songyao Zhang
- Brain Decoding Research Center and School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yanchen Guo
- Department of Computer Science, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Weiying Dai
- Department of Computer Science, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Tuo Zhang
- Brain Decoding Research Center and School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, Shaanxi, China
| | - Mir Jalil Razavi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
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17
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Onda K, Chavez-Valdez R, Graham EM, Everett AD, Northington FJ, Oishi K. Quantification of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Prognostic Prediction of Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy. Dev Neurosci 2023; 46:55-68. [PMID: 37231858 PMCID: PMC10712961 DOI: 10.1159/000530938] [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: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is the leading cause of acquired neonatal brain injury with the risk of developing serious neurological sequelae and death. An accurate and robust prediction of short- and long-term outcomes may provide clinicians and families with fundamental evidence for their decision-making, the design of treatment strategies, and the discussion of developmental intervention plans after discharge. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is one of the most powerful neuroimaging tools with which to predict the prognosis of neonatal HIE by providing microscopic features that cannot be assessed by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DTI provides various scalar measures that represent the properties of the tissue, such as fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Since the characteristics of the diffusion of water molecules represented by these measures are affected by the microscopic cellular and extracellular environment, such as the orientation of structural components and cell density, they are often used to study the normal developmental trajectory of the brain and as indicators of various tissue damage, including HIE-related pathologies, such as cytotoxic edema, vascular edema, inflammation, cell death, and Wallerian degeneration. Previous studies have demonstrated widespread alteration in DTI measurements in severe cases of HIE and more localized changes in neonates with mild-to-moderate HIE. In an attempt to establish cutoff values to predict the occurrence of neurological sequelae, MD and FA measurements in the corpus callosum, thalamus, basal ganglia, corticospinal tract, and frontal white matter have proven to have an excellent ability to predict severe neurological outcomes. In addition, a recent study has suggested that a data-driven, unbiased approach using machine learning techniques on features obtained from whole-brain image quantification may accurately predict the prognosis of HIE, including for mild-to-moderate cases. Further efforts are needed to overcome current challenges, such as MRI infrastructure, diffusion modeling methods, and data harmonization for clinical application. In addition, external validation of predictive models is essential for clinical application of DTI to prognostication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kengo Onda
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Raul Chavez-Valdez
- Neuroscience Intensive Care Nursery Program, Division of Neonatology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ernest M. Graham
- Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Allen D. Everett
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Frances J. Northington
- Neuroscience Intensive Care Nursery Program, Division of Neonatology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kenichi Oishi
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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18
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Taymourtash A, Schwartz E, Nenning KH, Sobotka D, Licandro R, Glatter S, Diogo MC, Golland P, Grant E, Prayer D, Kasprian G, Langs G. Fetal development of functional thalamocortical and cortico-cortical connectivity. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:5613-5624. [PMID: 36520481 PMCID: PMC10152101 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Measuring and understanding functional fetal brain development in utero is critical for the study of the developmental foundations of our cognitive abilities, possible early detection of disorders, and their prevention. Thalamocortical connections are an intricate component of shaping the cortical layout, but so far, only ex-vivo studies provide evidence of how axons enter the sub-plate and cortex during this highly dynamic phase. Evidence for normal in-utero development of the functional thalamocortical connectome in humans is missing. Here, we modeled fetal functional thalamocortical connectome development using in-utero functional magnetic resonance imaging in fetuses observed from 19th to 40th weeks of gestation (GW). We observed a peak increase of thalamocortical functional connectivity strength between 29th and 31st GW, right before axons establish synapses in the cortex. The cortico-cortical connectivity increases in a similar time window, and exhibits significant functional laterality in temporal-superior, -medial, and -inferior areas. Homologous regions exhibit overall similar mirrored connectivity profiles, but this similarity decreases during gestation giving way to a more diverse cortical interconnectedness. Our results complement the understanding of structural development of the human connectome and may serve as the basis for the investigation of disease and deviations from a normal developmental trajectory of connectivity development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athena Taymourtash
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ernst Schwartz
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Karl-Heinz Nenning
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute, 140, Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962, United States
| | - Daniel Sobotka
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Roxane Licandro
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Laboratory for Computational Neuroimaging, A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Bldg. 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, United States
| | - Sarah Glatter
- Division of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mariana Cardoso Diogo
- Division of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Radiology Department, Hospital CUF Tejo, Av. 24 de Julho 171A, 1350-352 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Polina Golland
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77, Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Ellen Grant
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300, Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Daniela Prayer
- Division of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Gregor Kasprian
- Division of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Georg Langs
- Computational Imaging Research Lab, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77, Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
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19
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Zarzor MS, Blumcke I, Budday S. Exploring the role of the outer subventricular zone during cortical folding through a physics-based model. eLife 2023; 12:82925. [PMID: 37043266 PMCID: PMC10097417 DOI: 10.7554/elife.82925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The human brain has a highly complex structure both on the microscopic and on the macroscopic scales. Increasing evidence has suggested the role of mechanical forces for cortical folding – a classical hallmark of the human brain. However, the link between cellular processes at the microscale and mechanical forces at the macroscale remains insufficiently understood. Recent findings suggest that an additional proliferating zone, the outer subventricular zone (OSVZ), is decisive for the particular size and complexity of the human cortex. To better understand how the OSVZ affects cortical folding, we establish a multifield computational model that couples cell proliferation in different zones and migration at the cell scale with growth and cortical folding at the organ scale by combining an advection-diffusion model with the theory of finite growth. We validate our model based on data from histologically stained sections of the human fetal brain and predict 3D pattern formation. Finally, we address open questions regarding the role of the OSVZ for the formation of cortical folds. The presented framework not only improves our understanding of human brain development, but could eventually help diagnose and treat neuronal disorders arising from disruptions in cellular development and associated malformations of cortical development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ingmar Blumcke
- University Hospitals Erlangen, Institute of Neuropathology
| | - Silvia Budday
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute of Applied Mechanics
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20
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Wilson S, Pietsch M, Cordero-Grande L, Christiaens D, Uus A, Karolis VR, Kyriakopoulou V, Colford K, Price AN, Hutter J, Rutherford MA, Hughes EJ, Counsell SJ, Tournier JD, Hajnal JV, Edwards AD, O’Muircheartaigh J, Arichi T. Spatiotemporal tissue maturation of thalamocortical pathways in the human fetal brain. eLife 2023; 12:e83727. [PMID: 37010273 PMCID: PMC10125021 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of connectivity between the thalamus and maturing cortex is a fundamental process in the second half of human gestation, establishing the neural circuits that are the basis for several important brain functions. In this study, we acquired high-resolution in utero diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from 140 fetuses as part of the Developing Human Connectome Project, to examine the emergence of thalamocortical white matter over the second to third trimester. We delineate developing thalamocortical pathways and parcellate the fetal thalamus according to its cortical connectivity using diffusion tractography. We then quantify microstructural tissue components along the tracts in fetal compartments that are critical substrates for white matter maturation, such as the subplate and intermediate zone. We identify patterns of change in the diffusion metrics that reflect critical neurobiological transitions occurring in the second to third trimester, such as the disassembly of radial glial scaffolding and the lamination of the cortical plate. These maturational trajectories of MR signal in transient fetal compartments provide a normative reference to complement histological knowledge, facilitating future studies to establish how developmental disruptions in these regions contribute to pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siân Wilson
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Maximilian Pietsch
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Lucilio Cordero-Grande
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Biomedical Image Technologies, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de MadridMadridSpain
- Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN)MadridSpain
| | - Daan Christiaens
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT/PSI), Katholieke Universiteit LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Alena Uus
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, St. Thomas' HospitalLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Vyacheslav R Karolis
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Vanessa Kyriakopoulou
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Kathleen Colford
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Anthony N Price
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Jana Hutter
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Mary A Rutherford
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Emer J Hughes
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Serena J Counsell
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Jacques-Donald Tournier
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Joseph V Hajnal
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - A David Edwards
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Tomoki Arichi
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Children’s Neurosciences, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation TrustLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
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21
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Spatiotemporal Developmental Gradient of Thalamic Morphology, Microstructure, and Connectivity fromthe Third Trimester to Early Infancy. J Neurosci 2023; 43:559-570. [PMID: 36639904 PMCID: PMC9888512 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0874-22.2022] [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: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Thalamus is a critical component of the limbic system that is extensively involved in both basic and high-order brain functions. However, how the thalamic structure and function develops at macroscopic and microscopic scales during the perinatal period development is not yet well characterized. Here, we used multishell high-angular resolution diffusion MRI of 144 preterm-born and full-term infants in both sexes scanned at 32-44 postmenstrual weeks (PMWs) from the Developing Human Connectome Project database to investigate the thalamic development in morphology, microstructure, associated connectivity, and subnucleus division. We found evident anatomic expansion and linear increases of fiber integrity in the lateral side of thalamus compared with the medial part. The tractography results indicated that thalamic connection to the frontal cortex developed later than the other thalamocortical connections (parieto-occipital, motor, somatosensory, and temporal). Using a connectivity-based segmentation strategy, we revealed that functional partitions of thalamic subdivisions were formed at 32 PMWs or earlier, and the partition developed toward the adult pattern in a lateral-to-medial pattern. Collectively, these findings revealed faster development of the lateral thalamus than the central part as well as a posterior-to-anterior developmental gradient of thalamocortical connectivity from the third trimester to early infancy.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This is the first study that characterizes the spatiotemporal developmental pattern of thalamus during the third trimester to early infancy. We found that thalamus develops in a lateral-to-medial pattern for both thalamic microstructures and subdivisions; and thalamocortical connectivity develops in a posterior-to-anterior gradient that thalamofrontal connectivity appears later than the other thalamocortical connections. These findings may enrich our understanding of the developmental principles of thalamus and provide references for the atypical brain growth in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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22
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Wang W, Yu Q, Liang W, Xu F, Li Z, Tang Y, Liu S. Altered cortical microstructure in preterm infants at term-equivalent age relative to term-born neonates. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:651-662. [PMID: 35259759 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Preterm (PT) birth is a potential factor for abnormal brain development. Although various alterations of cortical structure and functional connectivity in preterm infants have been reported, the underlying microstructural foundation is still undetected thoroughly in PT infants relative to full-term (FT) neonates. To detect the very early cortical microstructural alteration noninvasively with advanced neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) on a whole-brain basis, we used multi-shell diffusion MRI of healthy newborns selected from the Developing Human Connectome Project. 73 PT infants and 69 FT neonates scanned at term-equivalent age were included in this study. By extracting the core voxels of gray matter (GM) using GM-based spatial statistics (GBSS), we found that comparing to FT neonates, infants born preterm showed extensive lower neurite density in both primary and higher-order association cortices (FWE corrected, P < 0.025). Higher orientation dispersion was only found in very preterm subgroup in the orbitofrontal cortex, fronto-insular cortex, entorhinal cortex, a portion of posterior cingular gyrus, and medial parieto-occipital cortex. This study provided new insights into exploring structural MR for functional and behavioral variations in preterm population, and these findings may have marked clinical importance, particularly in the guidance of ameliorating the development of premature brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Wang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Shandong Key Laboratory of Digital Human and Clinical Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
- Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Qiaowen Yu
- Department of Medical Imaging, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, China
| | - Wenjia Liang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Shandong Key Laboratory of Digital Human and Clinical Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
- Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Feifei Xu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Shandong Key Laboratory of Digital Human and Clinical Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
- Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Zhuoran Li
- Department of Ultrasound, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, China
| | - Yuchun Tang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Shandong Key Laboratory of Digital Human and Clinical Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
- Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Shuwei Liu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Shandong Key Laboratory of Digital Human and Clinical Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
- Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
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23
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De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. Harnessing the Power of Advanced Fetal Neuroimaging to Understand In Utero Footprints for Later Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 93:867-879. [PMID: 36804195 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.11.019] [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: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Adverse intrauterine events may profoundly impact fetal risk for future adult diseases. The mechanisms underlying this increased vulnerability are complex and remain poorly understood. Contemporary advances in fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided clinicians and scientists with unprecedented access to in vivo human fetal brain development to begin to identify emerging endophenotypes of neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia. In this review, we discuss salient findings of normal fetal neurodevelopment from studies using advanced, multimodal MRI that have provided unparalleled characterization of in utero prenatal brain morphology, metabolism, microstructure, and functional connectivity. We appraise the clinical utility of these normative data in identifying high-risk fetuses before birth. We highlight available studies that have investigated the predictive validity of advanced prenatal brain MRI findings and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. We then discuss how ex utero quantitative MRI findings can inform in utero investigations toward the pursuit of early biomarkers of risk. Lastly, we explore future opportunities to advance our understanding of the prenatal origins of neuropsychiatric disorders using precision fetal imaging.
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24
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Chen R, Sun C, Liu T, Liao Y, Wang J, Sun Y, Zhang Y, Wang G, Wu D. Deciphering the developmental order and microstructural patterns of early white matter pathways in a diffusion MRI based fetal brain atlas. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119700. [PMID: 36270621 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
White matter (WM) of the fetal brain undergoes rapid development to form early structural connections. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has shown to be a useful tool to depict fetal brain WM in utero, and many studies have observed increasing fractional anisotropy and decreasing diffusivity in the fetal brain during the second-to-third trimester, whereas others reported non-monotonic changes. Unbiased dMRI atlases of the fetal brain are important for characterizing the developmental trajectories of WM and providing normative references for in utero diagnosis of prenatal abnormalities. To date, the sole fetal brain dMRI atlas was collected from a Caucasian/mixed population and was constructed based on the diffusion tensor model with limited spatial resolution. In this work, we proposed a fiber orientation distribution (FOD) based pipeline for generating fetal brain dMRI atlases, which showed better registration accuracy than a diffusion tensor based pipeline. Based on the FOD-based pipeline, we constructed the first Chinese fetal brain dMRI atlas using 89 dMRI scans of normal fetuses at gestational age between 24 and 38 weeks. Complex non-monotonic trends of tensor- and FOD-derived microstructural parameters in eight WM tracts were observed, which jointly pointed to different phases of microstructural development. Specifically, we speculated that the turning point of the diffusivity trajectory may correspond to the starting point of pre-myelination, based on which, the developmental order of WM tracts can be mapped and the order was in agreement with the order of myelination from histological studies. The normative atlas also provided a reference for the detection of abnormal WM development, such as that in congenital heart disease. Therefore, the established high-order fetal brain dMRI atlas depicted the spatiotemporal pattern of early WM development, and findings may help decipher the distinct microstructural events in utero.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruike Chen
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Cong Sun
- Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Tingting Liu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yuhao Liao
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | | | - Yi Sun
- MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthineers Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Guangbin Wang
- Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China; Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
| | - Dan Wu
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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25
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Jang YH, Kim H, Lee JY, Ahn JH, Chung AW, Lee HJ. Altered development of structural MRI connectome hubs at near-term age in very and moderately preterm infants. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:5507-5523. [PMID: 36408630 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Preterm infants may exhibit altered developmental patterns of the brain structural network by endogenous and exogenous stimuli, which are quantifiable through hub and modular network topologies that develop in the third trimester. Although preterm brain networks can compensate for white matter microstructural abnormalities of core connections, less is known about how the network developmental characteristics of preterm infants differ from those of full-term infants. We identified 13 hubs and 4 modules and revealed subtle differences in edgewise connectivity and local network properties between 134 preterm and 76 full-term infants, identifying specific developmental patterns of the brain structural network in preterm infants. The modules of preterm infants showed an imbalanced composition. The edgewise connectivity in preterm infants showed significantly decreased long- and short-range connections and local network properties in the dorsal superior frontal gyrus. In contrast, the fusiform gyrus and several nonhub regions showed significantly increased wiring of short-range connections and local network properties. Our results suggested that decreased local network in the frontal lobe and excessive development in the occipital lobe may contribute to the understanding of brain developmental deviances in preterm infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Hun Jang
- Hanyang University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering Department of Translational Medicine, , Seoul 04763 , Republic of Korea
| | - Hyuna Kim
- Hanyang University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering Department of Translational Medicine, , Seoul 04763 , Republic of Korea
| | - Joo Young Lee
- Hanyang University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering Department of Translational Medicine, , Seoul 04763 , Republic of Korea
| | - Ja-Hye Ahn
- Hanyang University College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University Hospital, , Seoul 04763 , Republic of Korea
| | - Ai Wern Chung
- Harvard Medical School Fetal Neonatal-Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, , Boston, MA 02115 , USA
- Harvard Medical School Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, , Boston, MA 02115 , USA
| | - Hyun Ju Lee
- Hanyang University College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University Hospital, , Seoul 04763 , Republic of Korea
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26
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Preterm neonates distinguish rhythm violation through a hierarchy of cortical processing. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 58:101168. [PMID: 36335806 PMCID: PMC9638730 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101168] [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: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhythm is a fundamental component of the auditory world, present even during the prenatal life. While there is evidence that some auditory capacities are already present before birth, whether and how the premature neural networks process auditory rhythm is yet not known. We investigated the neural response of premature neonates at 30-34 weeks gestational age to violations from rhythmic regularities in an auditory sequence using high-resolution electroencephalography and event-related potentials. Unpredicted rhythm violations elicited a fronto-central mismatch response, indicating that the premature neonates detected the rhythmic regularities. Next, we examined the cortical effective connectivity underlying the elicited mismatch response using dynamic causal modeling. We examined the connectivity between cortical sources using a set of 16 generative models that embedded alternate hypotheses about the role of the frontal cortex as well as backward fronto-temporal connection. Our results demonstrated that the processing of rhythm violations was not limited to the primary auditory areas, and as in the case of adults, encompassed a hierarchy of temporo-frontal cortical structures. The result also emphasized the importance of top-down (backward) projections from the frontal cortex in explaining the mismatch response. Our findings demonstrate a sophisticated cortical structure underlying predictive rhythm processing at the onset of the thalamocortical and cortico-cortical circuits, two months before term.
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27
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Zhang S, Chavoshnejad P, Li X, Guo L, Jiang X, Han J, Wang L, Li G, Wang X, Liu T, Razavi MJ, Zhang S, Zhang T. Gyral peaks: Novel gyral landmarks in developing macaque brains. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4540-4555. [PMID: 35713202 PMCID: PMC9491295 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Cerebral cortex development undergoes a variety of processes, which provide valuable information for the study of the developmental mechanism of cortical folding as well as its relationship to brain structural architectures and brain functions. Despite the variability in the anatomy-function relationship on the higher-order cortex, recent studies have succeeded in identifying typical cortical landmarks, such as sulcal pits, that bestow specific functional and cognitive patterns and remain invariant across subjects and ages with their invariance being related to a gene-mediated proto-map. Inspired by the success of these studies, we aim in this study at defining and identifying novel cortical landmarks, termed gyral peaks, which are the local highest foci on gyri. By analyzing data from 156 MRI scans of 32 macaque monkeys with the age spanned from 0 to 36 months, we identified 39 and 37 gyral peaks on the left and right hemispheres, respectively. Our investigation suggests that these gyral peaks are spatially consistent across individuals and relatively stable within the age range of this dataset. Moreover, compared with other gyri, gyral peaks have a thicker cortex, higher mean curvature, more pronounced hub-like features in structural connective networks, and are closer to the borders of structural connectivity-based cortical parcellations. The spatial distribution of gyral peaks was shown to correlate with that of other cortical landmarks, including sulcal pits. These results provide insights into the spatial arrangement and temporal development of gyral peaks as well as their relation to brain structure and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songyao Zhang
- School of AutomationNorthwestern Polytechnical UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Poorya Chavoshnejad
- Department of Mechanical EngineeringState University of New York at BinghamtonNew YorkUSA
| | - Xiao Li
- School of Information TechnologyNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Lei Guo
- School of AutomationNorthwestern Polytechnical UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Xi Jiang
- School of Life Science and TechnologyUniversity of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Junwei Han
- School of AutomationNorthwestern Polytechnical UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Li Wang
- Department of Radiology and BRICUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Radiology and BRICUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Xianqiao Wang
- College of EngineeringThe University of GeorgiaAthensGeorgiaUSA
| | - Tianming Liu
- Cortical Architecture Imaging and Discovery Lab, Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research CenterThe University of GeorgiaAthensGeorgiaUSA
| | - Mir Jalil Razavi
- Department of Mechanical EngineeringState University of New York at BinghamtonNew YorkUSA
| | - Shu Zhang
- Center for Brain and Brain‐Inspired Computing Research, Department of Computer ScienceNorthwestern Polytechnical UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Tuo Zhang
- School of AutomationNorthwestern Polytechnical UniversityXi'anChina
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28
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Tsujimura K, Shiohama T, Takahashi E. microRNA Biology on Brain Development and Neuroimaging Approach. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12101366. [PMID: 36291300 PMCID: PMC9599180 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12101366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Proper brain development requires the precise coordination and orchestration of various molecular and cellular processes and dysregulation of these processes can lead to neurological diseases. In the past decades, post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression has been shown to contribute to various aspects of brain development and function in the central nervous system. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding RNAs, are emerging as crucial players in post-transcriptional gene regulation in a variety of tissues, such as the nervous system. In recent years, miRNAs have been implicated in multiple aspects of brain development, including neurogenesis, migration, axon and dendrite formation, and synaptogenesis. Moreover, altered expression and dysregulation of miRNAs have been linked to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful imaging technology to obtain high-quality, detailed structural and functional information from the brains of human and animal models in a non-invasive manner. Because the spatial expression patterns of miRNAs in the brain, unlike those of DNA and RNA, remain largely unknown, a whole-brain imaging approach using MRI may be useful in revealing biological and pathological information about the brain affected by miRNAs. In this review, we highlight recent advancements in the research of miRNA-mediated modulation of neuronal processes that are important for brain development and their involvement in disease pathogenesis. Also, we overview each MRI technique, and its technological considerations, and discuss the applications of MRI techniques in miRNA research. This review aims to link miRNA biological study with MRI analytical technology and deepen our understanding of how miRNAs impact brain development and pathology of neurological diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keita Tsujimura
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Group of Brain Function and Development, Nagoya University Neuroscience Institute of the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya 4648602, Japan
- Research Unit for Developmental Disorders, Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 4648602, Japan
- Correspondence: (K.T.); (E.T.)
| | - Tadashi Shiohama
- Department of Pediatrics, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba 2608677, Japan
| | - Emi Takahashi
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Correspondence: (K.T.); (E.T.)
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29
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Yun HJ, Lee HJ, Lee JY, Tarui T, Rollins CK, Ortinau CM, Feldman HA, Grant PE, Im K. Quantification of sulcal emergence timing and its variability in early fetal life: Hemispheric asymmetry and sex difference. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119629. [PMID: 36115591 PMCID: PMC10011016 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 08/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Human fetal brains show regionally different temporal patterns of sulcal emergence following a regular timeline, which may be associated with spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression among cortical regions. This study aims to quantify the timing of sulcal emergence and its temporal variability across typically developing fetuses by fitting a logistic curve to presence or absence of sulcus. We found that the sulcal emergence started from the central to the temporo-parieto-occipital lobes and frontal lobe, and the temporal variability of emergence in most of the sulci was similar between 1 and 2 weeks. Small variability (< 1 week) was found in the left central and postcentral sulci and larger variability (>2 weeks) was shown in the bilateral occipitotemporal and left superior temporal sulci. The temporal variability showed a positive correlation with the emergence timing that may be associated with differential contributions between genetic and environmental factors. Our statistical analysis revealed that the right superior temporal sulcus emerged earlier than the left. Female fetuses showed a trend of earlier sulcal emergence in the right superior temporal sulcus, lower temporal variability in the right intraparietal sulcus, and higher variability in the right precentral sulcus compared to male fetuses. Our quantitative and statistical approach quantified the temporal patterns of sulcal emergence in detail that can be a reference for assessing the normality of developing fetal gyrification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyuk Jin Yun
- Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Hyun Ju Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Joo Young Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Tomo Tarui
- Mother Infant Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Caitlin K Rollins
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Cynthia M Ortinau
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States
| | - Henry A Feldman
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - P Ellen Grant
- Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Kiho Im
- Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
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30
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Shiohama T, Stewart N, Nangaku M, van der Kouwe AJ, Takahashi E. Identification of association fibers using ex vivo diffusion tractography in Alexander disease brains. J Neuroimaging 2022; 32:866-874. [PMID: 35983725 PMCID: PMC9474676 DOI: 10.1111/jon.13040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Alexander disease (AxD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by heterozygous Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein mutation. The characteristic structural findings of AxD, such as leukodystrophic features, are well known, while association fibers of AxD remain uninvestigated. The aim of this study was to explore global and subcortical fibers in four brains with AxD using ex vivo diffusion tractography METHODS: High-angular-resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (HARDI) tractography and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) tractography were used to evaluate long and short association fibers and compared to histological findings in brain specimens obtained from four donors with AxD and two donors without neurological disorders RESULTS: AxD brains showed impairment of long association fibers, except for the arcuate fasciculus and cingulum bundle, and abnormal trajectories of the inferior longitudinal and fronto-occipital fasciculi on HARDI tractography and loss of multidirectionality in subcortical fibers on DTI tractography. In histological studies, AxD brains showed diffuse low density on Klüver-Barrera and neurofilament staining and sporadic Rosenthal fibers on hematoxylin and eosin staining CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the spatial distribution of degenerations of short and long association fibers in AxD brains using combined tractography and pathological findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadashi Shiohama
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Natalie Stewart
- College of Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Andre J.W. van der Kouwe
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02144, USA
| | - Emi Takahashi
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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31
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Ciarrusta J, Christiaens D, Fitzgibbon SP, Dimitrova R, Hutter J, Hughes E, Duff E, Price AN, Cordero-Grande L, Tournier JD, Rueckert D, Hajnal JV, Arichi T, McAlonan G, Edwards AD, Batalle D. The developing brain structural and functional connectome fingerprint. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 55:101117. [PMID: 35662682 PMCID: PMC9344310 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In the mature brain, structural and functional 'fingerprints' of brain connectivity can be used to identify the uniqueness of an individual. However, whether the characteristics that make a given brain distinguishable from others already exist at birth remains unknown. Here, we used neuroimaging data from the developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) of preterm born neonates who were scanned twice during the perinatal period to assess the developing brain fingerprint. We found that 62% of the participants could be identified based on the congruence of the later structural connectome to the initial connectivity matrix derived from the earlier timepoint. In contrast, similarity between functional connectomes of the same subject at different time points was low. Only 10% of the participants showed greater self-similarity in comparison to self-to-other-similarity for the functional connectome. These results suggest that structural connectivity is more stable in early life and can represent a potential connectome fingerprint of the individual: a relatively stable structural connectome appears to support a changing functional connectome at a time when neonates must rapidly acquire new skills to adapt to their new environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Ciarrusta
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Center for Brain and Cognition (CBC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daan Christiaens
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Electrical Engineering, ESAT/PSI, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sean P Fitzgibbon
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Ralica Dimitrova
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jana Hutter
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emer Hughes
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eugene Duff
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK; Paediatric Neuroimaging Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Anthony N Price
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucilio Cordero-Grande
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Biomedical Image Technologies, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid & CIBER-BBN, Madrid, Spain
| | - J-Donald Tournier
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Rueckert
- Biomedical Image Analysis Group, Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Joseph V Hajnal
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tomoki Arichi
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom; Children's Neurosciences, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Grainne McAlonan
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - A David Edwards
- Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Dafnis Batalle
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
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32
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Charvet CJ, Ofori K, Baucum C, Sun J, Modrell MS, Hekmatyar K, Edlow BL, van der Kouwe AJ. Tracing Modification to Cortical Circuits in Human and Nonhuman Primates from High-Resolution Tractography, Transcription, and Temporal Dimensions. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3749-3767. [PMID: 35332086 PMCID: PMC9087811 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1506-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural circuits that support human cognition are a topic of enduring interest. Yet, there are limited tools available to map brain circuits in the human and nonhuman primate brain. We harnessed high-resolution diffusion MR tractography, anatomic, and transcriptomic data from individuals of either sex to investigate the evolution and development of frontal cortex circuitry. We applied machine learning to RNA sequencing data to find corresponding ages between humans and macaques and to compare the development of circuits across species. We transcriptionally defined neural circuits by testing for associations between gene expression and white matter maturation. We then considered transcriptional and structural growth to test whether frontal cortex circuit maturation is unusually extended in humans relative to other species. We also considered gene expression and high-resolution diffusion MR tractography of adult brains to test for cross-species variation in frontal cortex circuits. We found that frontal cortex circuitry development is extended in primates, and concomitant with an expansion in corticocortical pathways compared with mice in adulthood. Importantly, we found that these parameters varied relatively little across humans and studied primates. These data identify a surprising collection of conserved features in frontal cortex circuits across humans and Old World monkeys. Our work demonstrates that integrating transcriptional and structural data across temporal dimensions is a robust approach to trace the evolution of brain pathways in primates.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Diffusion MR tractography is an exciting method to explore pathways, but there are uncertainties in the accuracy of reconstructed tracts. We broaden the repertoire of toolkits to enhance our ability to trace human brain pathways from diffusion MR tractography. Our integrative approach finds corresponding ages across species and transcriptionally defines neural circuits. We used this information to test for variation in circuit maturation across species and found a surprising constellation of similar features in frontal cortex neural circuits across humans and primates. Integrating across scales of biological organization expands the repertoire of tools available to study pathways in primates, which opens new avenues to study pathways in health and diseases of the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine J Charvet
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849-5518
- Delaware Center for Neuroscience, Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware 19901
| | - Kwadwo Ofori
- PhD Program in Neuroscience, Department in Biology, Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware 19901
| | - Christine Baucum
- Department of Biology, Bath Spa University, Bath BA2 9BN, United Kingdom
| | - Jianli Sun
- Delaware Center for Neuroscience, Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware 19901
| | - Melinda S Modrell
- Delaware Center for Neuroscience, Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware 19901
| | - Khan Hekmatyar
- Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging Center, University of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware 19716
| | - Brian L Edlow
- Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129
| | - Andre J van der Kouwe
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129
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Casingal CR, Descant KD, Anton ES. Coordinating cerebral cortical construction and connectivity: Unifying influence of radial progenitors. Neuron 2022; 110:1100-1115. [PMID: 35216663 PMCID: PMC8989671 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.01.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Radial progenitor development and function lay the foundation for the construction of the cerebral cortex. Radial glial scaffold, through its functions as a source of neurogenic progenitors and neuronal migration guide, is thought to provide a template for the formation of the cerebral cortex. Emerging evidence is challenging this limited view. Intriguingly, radial glial scaffold may also play a role in axonal growth, guidance, and neuronal connectivity. Radial glial cells not only facilitate the generation, placement, and allocation of neurons in the cortex but also regulate how they wire up. The organization and function of radial glial cells may thus be a unifying feature of the developing cortex that helps to precisely coordinate the right patterns of neurogenesis, neuronal placement, and connectivity necessary for the emergence of a functional cerebral cortex. This perspective critically explores this emerging view and its impact in the context of human brain development and disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristine R Casingal
- UNC Neuroscience Center, the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Katherine D Descant
- UNC Neuroscience Center, the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - E S Anton
- UNC Neuroscience Center, the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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Molloy MF, Saygin ZM. Individual variability in functional organization of the neonatal brain. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119101. [PMID: 35304265 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The adult brain is organized into distinct functional networks, forming the basis of information processing and determining individual differences in behavior. Is this network organization genetically determined and present at birth? And what is the individual variability in this organization in neonates? Here, we use unsupervised learning to uncover intrinsic functional brain organization using resting-state connectivity from a large cohort of neonates (Developing Human Connectome Project). We identified a set of symmetric, hierarchical, and replicable networks: sensorimotor, visual, default mode, ventral attention, and high-level vision. We quantified individual variability across neonates, and found the most individual variability in the ventral attention networks. Crucially, the variability of these networks was not driven by SNR differences or differences from adult networks (Yeo et al., 2011). Finally, differential gene expression provided a potential explanation for the emergence of these distinct networks and identified potential genes of interest for future developmental and individual variability research. Overall, we found neonatal connectomes (even at the voxel-level) can reveal broad individual-specific information processing units. The presence of individual differences in neonates and the framework for personalized parcellations demonstrated here has the potential to improve prediction of behavior and future outcomes from neonatal and infant brain data.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Fiona Molloy
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
| | - Zeynep M Saygin
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
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35
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Li X, Zhang S, Jiang X, Zhang S, Han J, Guo L, Zhang T. Cortical development coupling between surface area and sulcal depth on macaque brains. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:1013-1029. [PMID: 34989870 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02444-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Postnatal development of cerebral cortex is associated with a variety of neuronal processes and is thus critical to development of brain function and cognition. Longitudinal changes of cortical morphology and topology, such as postnatal cortical thinning and flattening have been widely studied. However, thorough and systematic investigation of such cortical change, including how to quantify it from multiple spatial directions and how to relate it to surface topology, is rarely found. In this work, based on a longitudinal macaque neuroimaging dataset, we quantified local changes in gyral white matter's surface area and sulcal depth during early development. We also investigated how these two metrics are coupled and how this coupling is linked to cortical surface topology, underlying white matter, and positions of functional areas. Semi-parametric generalized additive models were adopted to quantify the longitudinal changes of surface area (A) and sulcal depth (D), and the coupling patterns between them. This resulted in four classes of regions, according to how they change compared with global change throughout early development: slower surface area change and slower sulcal depth change (slowA_slowD), slower surface area change and faster sulcal depth change (slowA_fastD), faster surface area change and slower sulcal depth change (fastA_slowD), and faster surface area change and faster sulcal depth change (fastA_fastD). We found that cortex-related metrics, including folding pattern and cortical thickness, vary along slowA_fastD-fastA_slowD axis, and structural connection-related metrics vary along fastA_fastD-slowA_slowD axis, with which brain functional sites align better. It is also found that cortical landmarks, including sulcal pits and gyral hinges, spatially reside on the borders of the four patterns. These findings shed new lights on the relationship between cortex development, surface topology, axonal wiring pattern and brain functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Li
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Songyao Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xi Jiang
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Shu Zhang
- School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Junwei Han
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Lei Guo
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Tuo Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.
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36
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Rutherford S, Sturmfels P, Angstadt M, Hect J, Wiens J, van den Heuvel MI, Scheinost D, Sripada C, Thomason M. Automated Brain Masking of Fetal Functional MRI with Open Data. Neuroinformatics 2022; 20:173-185. [PMID: 34129169 PMCID: PMC9437772 DOI: 10.1007/s12021-021-09528-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Fetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has emerged as a critical new approach for characterizing brain development before birth. Despite the rapid and widespread growth of this approach, at present, we lack neuroimaging processing pipelines suited to address the unique challenges inherent in this data type. Here, we solve the most challenging processing step, rapid and accurate isolation of the fetal brain from surrounding tissue across thousands of non-stationary 3D brain volumes. Leveraging our library of 1,241 manually traced fetal fMRI images from 207 fetuses, we trained a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that achieved excellent performance across two held-out test sets from separate scanners and populations. Furthermore, we unite the auto-masking model with additional fMRI preprocessing steps from existing software and provide insight into our adaptation of each step. This work represents an initial advancement towards a fully comprehensive, open-source workflow, with openly shared code and data, for fetal functional MRI data preprocessing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saige Rutherford
- Donders Institute, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, MI, Ann Arbor, USA.
| | - Pascal Sturmfels
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Mike Angstadt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, MI, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Jasmine Hect
- Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Jenna Wiens
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - Dustin Scheinost
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Chandra Sripada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, MI, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Moriah Thomason
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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37
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Takahashi E, Allan N, Peres R, Ortug A, van der Kouwe AJW, Valli B, Ethier E, Levman J, Baumer N, Tsujimura K, Vargas-Maya NI, McCracken TA, Lee R, Maunakea AK. Integration of structural MRI and epigenetic analyses hint at linked cellular defects of the subventricular zone and insular cortex in autism: Findings from a case study. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1023665. [PMID: 36817099 PMCID: PMC9935943 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1023665] [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: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication and repetitive, restrictive behaviors, features supported by cortical activity. Given the importance of the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventrical to cortical development, we compared molecular, cellular, and structural differences in the SVZ and linked cortical regions in specimens of ASD cases and sex and age-matched unaffected brain. Methods We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tractography on ex vivo postmortem brain samples, which we further analyzed by Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS), Flow Cytometry, and RT qPCR. Results Through MRI, we observed decreased tractography pathways from the dorsal SVZ, increased pathways from the posterior ventral SVZ to the insular cortex, and variable cortical thickness within the insular cortex in ASD diagnosed case relative to unaffected controls. Long-range tractography pathways from and to the insula were also reduced in the ASD case. FACS-based cell sorting revealed an increased population of proliferating cells in the SVZ of ASD case relative to the unaffected control. Targeted qPCR assays of SVZ tissue demonstrated significantly reduced expression levels of genes involved in differentiation and migration of neurons in ASD relative to the control counterpart. Finally, using genome-wide DNA methylation analyses, we identified 19 genes relevant to neurological development, function, and disease, 7 of which have not previously been described in ASD, that were significantly differentially methylated in autistic SVZ and insula specimens. Conclusion These findings suggest a hypothesis that epigenetic changes during neurodevelopment alter the trajectory of proliferation, migration, and differentiation in the SVZ, impacting cortical structure and function and resulting in ASD phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emi Takahashi
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nina Allan
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Rafael Peres
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Alpen Ortug
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Andre J W van der Kouwe
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Briana Valli
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elizabeth Ethier
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jacob Levman
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
| | - Nicole Baumer
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Keita Tsujimura
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nauru Idalia Vargas-Maya
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Trevor A McCracken
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Rosa Lee
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Alika K Maunakea
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
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38
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He Z, Du L, Huang Y, Jiang X, Lv J, Guo L, Zhang S, Zhang T. Gyral Hinges Account for the Highest Cost and the Highest Communication Capacity in a Corticocortical Network. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:3359-3376. [PMID: 34875041 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab420] [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] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior studies reported the global structure of brain networks exhibits the "small-world" and "rich-world" attributes. However, the underlying structural and functional architecture highlighted by these graph theory findings hasn't been explicitly related to the morphology of the cortex. This could be attributed to the lower resolution of used folding patterns, such as gyro-sulcal patterns. By defining a novel gyral folding pattern, termed gyral hinge (GH), which is the conjunction of ordinary gyri from multiple directions, we found GHs possess the highest length and cost in the white matter fiber connective network, and the shortest paths in the network tend to travel through GHs in their middle part. Based on these findings, we would hypothesize GHs could reside in the centers of a network core, thereby accounting for the highest cost and the highest communication capacity in a corticocortical network. The following results further support our hypothesis: 1) GHs possess stronger functional network integration capacity. 2) Higher cost is found on the connection with GHs to hinges and GHs to GHs. 3) Moving GHs introduces higher extra network cost. Our findings and hypotheses could reveal a profound relationship among the cortical folding patterns, axonal wiring architectures, and brain functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhibin He
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Lei Du
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Ying Huang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Xi Jiang
- School of Life Science and Technology, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Jinglei Lv
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Sydney Imaging, Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Lei Guo
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Shu Zhang
- School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
| | - Tuo Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
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39
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Garcia KE, Wang X, Kroenke CD. A model of tension-induced fiber growth predicts white matter organization during brain folding. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6681. [PMID: 34795256 PMCID: PMC8602459 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26971-9] [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: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The past decade has experienced renewed interest in the physical processes that fold the developing cerebral cortex. Biomechanical models and experiments suggest that growth of the cortex, outpacing growth of underlying subcortical tissue (prospective white matter), is sufficient to induce folding. However, current models do not explain the well-established links between white matter organization and fold morphology, nor do they consider subcortical remodeling that occurs during the period of folding. Here we propose a framework by which cortical folding may induce subcortical fiber growth and organization. Simulations incorporating stress-induced fiber elongation indicate that subcortical stresses resulting from folding are sufficient to induce stereotyped fiber organization beneath gyri and sulci. Model predictions are supported by high-resolution ex vivo diffusion tensor imaging of the developing rhesus macaque brain. Together, results provide support for the theory of cortical growth-induced folding and indicate that mechanical feedback plays a significant role in brain connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara E Garcia
- Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Evansville, IN, 47715, USA.
- Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
| | - Xiaojie Wang
- Oregon Health and Science University, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, USA
- Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Christopher D Kroenke
- Oregon Health and Science University, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, USA
- Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
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40
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Dudink I, Hüppi PS, Sizonenko SV, Castillo-Melendez M, Sutherland AE, Allison BJ, Miller SL. Altered trajectory of neurodevelopment associated with fetal growth restriction. Exp Neurol 2021; 347:113885. [PMID: 34627856 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is principally caused by suboptimal placental function. Poor placental function causes an under supply of nutrients and oxygen to the developing fetus, restricting development of individual organs and overall growth. Estimated fetal weight below the 10th or 3rd percentile with uteroplacental dysfunction, and knowledge regarding the onset of growth restriction (early or late), provide diagnostic criteria for fetuses at greatest risk for adverse outcome. Brain development and function is altered with FGR, with ongoing clinical and preclinical studies elucidating neuropathological etiology. During the third trimester of pregnancy, from ~28 weeks gestation, neurogenesis is complete and neuronal complexity is expanding, through axonal and dendritic outgrowth, dendritic branching and synaptogenesis, accompanied by myelin production. Fetal compromise over this period, as occurs in FGR, has detrimental effects on these processes. Total brain volume and grey matter volume is reduced in infants with FGR, first evident in utero, with cortical volume particularly vulnerable. Imaging studies show that cerebral morphology is disturbed in FGR, with altered cerebral cortex, volume and organization of brain networks, and reduced connectivity of long- and short-range circuits. Thus, FGR induces a deviation in brain development trajectory affecting both grey and white matter, however grey matter volume is preferentially reduced, contributed by cell loss, and reduced neurite outgrowth of surviving neurons. In turn, cell-to-cell local networks are adversely affected in FGR, and whole brain left and right intrahemispheric connections and interhemispheric connections are altered. Importantly, disruptions to region-specific brain networks are linked to cognitive and behavioral impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingrid Dudink
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Translational Research Facility, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Petra S Hüppi
- Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Stéphane V Sizonenko
- Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Margie Castillo-Melendez
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Translational Research Facility, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Amy E Sutherland
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Translational Research Facility, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Beth J Allison
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Translational Research Facility, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Suzanne L Miller
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Translational Research Facility, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
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41
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Thomason ME, Hect JL, Waller R, Curtin P. Interactive relations between maternal prenatal stress, fetal brain connectivity, and gestational age at delivery. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:1839-1847. [PMID: 34188185 PMCID: PMC8357800 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01066-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Studies reporting significant associations between maternal prenatal stress and child outcomes are frequently confounded by correlates of prenatal stress that influence the postnatal rearing environment. The major objective of this study is to identify whether maternal prenatal stress is associated with variation in human brain functional connectivity prior to birth. We utilized fetal fMRI in 118 fetuses [48 female; mean age 32.9 weeks (SD = 3.87)] to evaluate this association and further addressed whether fetal neural differences were related to maternal health behaviors, social support, or birth outcomes. Community detection was used to empirically define networks and enrichment was used to isolate differential within- or between-network connectivity effects. Significance for χ2 enrichment was determined by randomly permuting the subject pairing of fetal brain connectivity and maternal stress values 10,000 times. Mixtures modelling was used to test whether fetal neural differences were related to maternal health behaviors, social support, or birth outcomes. Increased maternal prenatal negative affect/stress was associated with alterations in fetal frontoparietal, striatal, and temporoparietal connectivity (β = 0.82, p < 0.001). Follow-up analysis demonstrated that these associations were stronger in women with better health behaviors, more positive interpersonal support, and lower overall stress (β = 0.16, p = 0.02). Additionally, magnitude of stress-related differences in neural connectivity was marginally correlated with younger gestational age at delivery (β = -0.18, p = 0.05). This is the first evidence that negative affect/stress during pregnancy is reflected in functional network differences in the human brain in utero, and also provides information about how positive interpersonal and health behaviors could mitigate prenatal brain programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moriah E Thomason
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Population Health, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Jasmine L Hect
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Pittsburgh & Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Rebecca Waller
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Paul Curtin
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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42
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Guo Y, Ortug A, Sadberry R, Rezayev A, Levman J, Shiohama T, Takahashi E. Symptom-Related Differential Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Children with Corpus Callosum Abnormalities. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:4916-4932. [PMID: 34289021 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab131] [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] [Received: 11/12/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
We aimed to identify symptom-related neuroimaging biomarkers for patients with dysgenesis of the corpus callosum (dCC) by summarizing neurological symptoms reported in clinical evaluations and correlating them with retrospectively collected structural/diffusion brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures from 39 patients/controls (mean age 8.08 ± 3.98). Most symptoms/disorders studied were associated with CC abnormalities. Total brain (TB) volume was related to language, cognition, muscle tone, and metabolic/endocrine abnormalities. Although white matter (WM) volume was not related to symptoms studied, gray matter (GM) volume was related to cognitive, behavioral, and metabolic/endocrine disorders. Right hemisphere (RH) cortical thickness (CT) was linked to language abnormalities, while left hemisphere (LH) CT was linked to epilepsy. While RH gyrification index (GI) was not related to any symptoms studied, LH GI was uniquely related to cognitive disorders. Between patients and controls, GM volume and LH/RH CT were significantly greater in dCC patients, while WM volume and LH/RH GI were significantly greater in controls. TB volume and diffusion indices for tissue microstructures did not show differences between the groups. In summary, our brain MRI-based measures successfully revealed differential links to many symptoms. Specifically, LH GI abnormality can be a predictor for dCC patients, which is uniquely associated with the patients' symptom. In addition, patients with CC abnormalities had normal TB volume and overall tissue microstructures, with potentially deteriorated mechanisms to expand/fold the brain, indicated by GI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yurui Guo
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alpen Ortug
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Rodney Sadberry
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Arthur Rezayev
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Jacob Levman
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Tadashi Shiohama
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba 2608670, Japan
| | - Emi Takahashi
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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43
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Ghio M, Cara C, Tettamanti M. The prenatal brain readiness for speech processing: A review on foetal development of auditory and primordial language networks. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 128:709-719. [PMID: 34274405 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Despite consolidated evidence for the prenatal ability to elaborate and respond to sounds and speech stimuli, the ontogenetic functional brain maturation of language responsiveness in the foetus is still poorly understood. Recent advances in in-vivo foetal neuroimaging have contributed to a finely detailed picture of the anatomo-functional hallmarks that define the prenatal neurodevelopment of auditory and language-related networks. Here, we first outline available evidence for the prenatal development of auditory and language-related brain structures and of their anatomical connections. Second, we focus on functional connectivity data showing the emergence of auditory and primordial language networks in the foetal brain. Third, we recapitulate functional neuroimaging studies assessing the prenatal readiness for sound processing, as a crucial prerequisite for the foetus to experientially respond to spoken language. In conclusion, we suggest that the state of the art has reached sufficient maturity to directly assess the neural mechanisms underlying the prenatal readiness for speech processing and to evaluate whether foetal neuromarkers can predict the postnatal development of language acquisition abilities and disabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Ghio
- CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy
| | - Cristina Cara
- CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy
| | - Marco Tettamanti
- CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
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44
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Development of human white matter pathways in utero over the second and third trimester. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2023598118. [PMID: 33972435 PMCID: PMC8157930 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2023598118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
During the second and third trimesters of human gestation, rapid neurodevelopment is underpinned by fundamental processes including neuronal migration, cellular organization, cortical layering, and myelination. In this time, white matter growth and maturation lay the foundation for an efficient network of structural connections. Detailed knowledge about this developmental trajectory in the healthy human fetal brain is limited, in part, due to the inherent challenges of acquiring high-quality MRI data from this population. Here, we use state-of-the-art high-resolution multishell motion-corrected diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI), collected as part of the developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), to characterize the in utero maturation of white matter microstructure in 113 fetuses aged 22 to 37 wk gestation. We define five major white matter bundles and characterize their microstructural features using both traditional diffusion tensor and multishell multitissue models. We found unique maturational trends in thalamocortical fibers compared with association tracts and identified different maturational trends within specific sections of the corpus callosum. While linear maturational increases in fractional anisotropy were seen in the splenium of the corpus callosum, complex nonlinear trends were seen in the majority of other white matter tracts, with an initial decrease in fractional anisotropy in early gestation followed by a later increase. The latter is of particular interest as it differs markedly from the trends previously described in ex utero preterm infants, suggesting that this normative fetal data can provide significant insights into the abnormalities in connectivity which underlie the neurodevelopmental impairments associated with preterm birth.
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45
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Jiang X, Zhang T, Zhang S, Kendrick KM, Liu T. Fundamental functional differences between gyri and sulci: implications for brain function, cognition, and behavior. PSYCHORADIOLOGY 2021; 1:23-41. [PMID: 38665307 PMCID: PMC10939337 DOI: 10.1093/psyrad/kkab002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Folding of the cerebral cortex is a prominent characteristic of mammalian brains. Alterations or deficits in cortical folding are strongly correlated with abnormal brain function, cognition, and behavior. Therefore, a precise mapping between the anatomy and function of the brain is critical to our understanding of the mechanisms of brain structural architecture in both health and diseases. Gyri and sulci, the standard nomenclature for cortical anatomy, serve as building blocks to make up complex folding patterns, providing a window to decipher cortical anatomy and its relation with brain functions. Huge efforts have been devoted to this research topic from a variety of disciplines including genetics, cell biology, anatomy, neuroimaging, and neurology, as well as involving computational approaches based on machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. However, despite increasing progress, our understanding of the functional anatomy of gyro-sulcal patterns is still in its infancy. In this review, we present the current state of this field and provide our perspectives of the methodologies and conclusions concerning functional differentiation between gyri and sulci, as well as the supporting information from genetic, cell biology, and brain structure research. In particular, we will further present a proposed framework for attempting to interpret the dynamic mechanisms of the functional interplay between gyri and sulci. Hopefully, this review will provide a comprehensive summary of anatomo-functional relationships in the cortical gyro-sulcal system together with a consideration of how these contribute to brain function, cognition, and behavior, as well as to mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Jiang
- School of Life Science and Technology, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Tuo Zhang
- School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Shu Zhang
- Center for Brain and Brain-Inspired Computing Research, School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- School of Life Science and Technology, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Tianming Liu
- Cortical Architecture Imaging and Discovery Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605, USA
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46
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Lammertink F, Vinkers CH, Tataranno ML, Benders MJNL. Premature Birth and Developmental Programming: Mechanisms of Resilience and Vulnerability. Front Psychiatry 2021; 11:531571. [PMID: 33488409 PMCID: PMC7820177 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.531571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The third trimester of pregnancy represents a sensitive phase for infant brain plasticity when a series of fast-developing cellular events (synaptogenesis, neuronal migration, and myelination) regulates the development of neural circuits. Throughout this dynamic period of growth and development, the human brain is susceptible to stress. Preterm infants are born with an immature brain and are, while admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, precociously exposed to stressful procedures. Postnatal stress may contribute to altered programming of the brain, including key systems such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system. These neurobiological systems are promising markers for the etiology of several affective and social psychopathologies. As preterm birth interferes with early development of stress-regulatory systems, early interventions might strengthen resilience factors and might help reduce the detrimental effects of chronic stress exposure. Here we will review the impact of stress following premature birth on the programming of neurobiological systems and discuss possible stress-related neural circuits and pathways involved in resilience and vulnerability. Finally, we discuss opportunities for early intervention and future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Femke Lammertink
- Department of Neonatology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Christiaan H. Vinkers
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maria L. Tataranno
- Department of Neonatology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Manon J. N. L. Benders
- Department of Neonatology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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47
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Chavoshnejad P, Li X, Zhang S, Dai W, Vasung L, Liu T, Zhang T, Wang X, Razavi MJ. Role of axonal fibers in the cortical folding patterns: A tale of variability and regularity. BRAIN MULTIPHYSICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brain.2021.100029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
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48
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Zarzor M, Kaessmair S, Steinmann P, Blümcke I, Budday S. A two-field computational model couples cellular brain development with cortical folding. BRAIN MULTIPHYSICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brain.2021.100025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
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49
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François C, Garcia-Alix A, Bosch L, Rodriguez-Fornells A. Signatures of brain plasticity supporting language recovery after perinatal arterial ischemic stroke. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 212:104880. [PMID: 33220646 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Brain imaging methods such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) have already been used to decipher the functional and structural brain changes occurring during normal language development. However, little is known about the differentiation of the language network after an early lesion. While in adults, stroke over the left hemisphere generally induces post-stroke aphasia, it is not always the case when a stroke occurs in the perinatal period, thus revealing a remarkable plastic power of the language network during early development. In particular, the role of perilesional tissues, as opposed to undamaged brain areas in the functional recovery of language functions after an early insult, remains unclear. In this review article, we provide an overview of the extant literature using functional and structural neuroimaging data revealing the signatures of brain plasticity underlying near-normal language development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alfredo Garcia-Alix
- Service of Genetic and Molecular Medicine, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; NeNe Foundation, Madrid, Spain
| | - Laura Bosch
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Neurosciences (UBNeuro), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
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50
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Feldmann M, Guo T, Miller SP, Knirsch W, Kottke R, Hagmann C, Latal B, Jakab A. Delayed maturation of the structural brain connectome in neonates with congenital heart disease. Brain Commun 2020; 2:fcaa209. [PMID: 33381759 PMCID: PMC7756099 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
There is emerging evidence for delayed brain development in neonates with congenital heart disease. We hypothesize that the perioperative development of the structural brain connectome is a proxy to such delays. Therefore, we set out to quantify the alterations and longitudinal pre- to post-operative changes in the connectome in congenital heart disease neonates relative to healthy term newborns and assess factors contributing to disturbed perioperative network development. In this prospective cohort study, 114 term neonates with congenital heart disease underwent cardiac surgery at the University Children's Hospital Zurich. Forty-six healthy term newborns were included as controls. Pre- and post-operative structural connectomes were derived from mean fractional anisotropy values of fibre pathways traced using diffusion MR tractography. Graph theory parameters calculated across a proportional cost threshold range were compared between groups by multi-threshold permutation correction adjusting for confounders. Network-based statistic was calculated for edgewise network comparison. White-matter injury volume was quantified on 3D T1-weighted images. Random coefficient mixed models with interaction terms of (i) cardiac subtype and (ii) injury volume with post-menstrual age at MRI, respectively, were built to assess modifying effects on network development. Pre- and post-operatively, at the global level, efficiency, indicative of network integration, was lower in heart disease neonates than controls. In contrast, local efficiency and transitivity, indicative of network segregation, were higher compared to controls (all P < 0.025 for one-sided t-tests). Pre-operatively, these group differences were also found across multiple widespread nodes (all P < 0.025, accounting for multiple comparison), whereas post-operatively nodal differences were not evident. At the edge-level, the majority of weaker connections in heart disease neonates compared to controls involved inter-hemispheric connections (66.7% pre-operatively; 54.5% post-operatively). A trend showing a more rapid pre- to post-operative decrease in local efficiency was found in class I cardiac sub-type (biventricular defect without aortic arch obstruction) compared to controls. In congenital heart disease neonates, larger white-matter injury volume was associated with lower strength (P = 0.0026) and global efficiency (P = 0.0097). The maturation of the structural connectome is delayed in congenital heart disease neonates, with a pattern of lower structural integration and higher segregation compared to controls. Trend-level evidence indicated that normalized post-operative cardiac physiology in class I sub-types might improve structural network topology. In contrast, the burden of white-matter injury negatively impacts network strength and integration. Further research is needed to elucidate how aberrant structural network development in congenital heart disease represents neural correlates of later neurodevelopmental impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Feldmann
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Ting Guo
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto ON M5G 0A4, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, The University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Steven P Miller
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto ON M5G 0A4, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, The University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Walter Knirsch
- Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Heart Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Raimund Kottke
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Cornelia Hagmann
- Department of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Beatrice Latal
- Child Development Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
- Children’s Research Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Andras Jakab
- Centre for MR Research, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
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