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Andre P, Cantore N, Lucibello L, Migliaccio P, Rossi B, Carboncini MC, Aloisi AM, Manzoni D, Arrighi P. The cerebellum monitors errors and entrains executive networks. Brain Res 2024; 1826:148730. [PMID: 38128813 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Frontal midline θ (Fmθ) activity occurs in medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC), when expected and actual outcomes conflict. Cerebellar forward models could inform the mPFC about this mismatch. To verify this hypothesis we correlated the mPFC activation during a visuomotor tracking task (VM) with performance accuracy, in control and cerebellum-lesioned participants. Additionally, purely visual (V), motor (M) and a motor plus visual tasks (V + M) were performed. An Independent Component, with a mid-frontal topography scalp map and equivalent dipole location in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex accounted for Fmθ. In control participants Fmθ power increased during VM, when the error level crossed a threshold, but not during V + M, M and V. This increase scaled with tracking error. Fmθ power failed to increase during VM in cerebellar participants, even at highest tracking errors. Thus, in control participants, activation of mPFC is induced when a continuous monitoring effort for online error detection is required. The presence of a threshold error for enhancing Fmθ, suggests the switch from an automatic to an executive tracking control, which recruits the mPFC. Given that the cerebellum stores forward models, the absence of Fmθ increases during tracking errors in cerebellar participants indicates that cerebellum is necessary for supplying the mPFC with prediction error-related information. This occurs when automatic control falters, and a deliberate correction mechanism needs to be triggered. Further studies are needed to verify if this alerting function also occurs in the context of the other cognitive and non-cognitive functions in which the cerebellum is involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Andre
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
| | - N Cantore
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy
| | - L Lucibello
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - P Migliaccio
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - B Rossi
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; Department of Translational Research and New Medical and Surgical Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - M C Carboncini
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; Department of Translational Research and New Medical and Surgical Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - A M Aloisi
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - D Manzoni
- Department of Translational Research and New Medical and Surgical Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - P Arrighi
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy
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2
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Shenker JJ, Steele CJ, Zatorre RJ, Penhune VB. Using cortico-cerebellar structural patterns to classify early- and late-trained musicians. Hum Brain Mapp 2023. [PMID: 37326147 PMCID: PMC10365229 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
A body of current evidence suggests that there is a sensitive period for musical training: people who begin training before the age of seven show better performance on tests of musical skill, and also show differences in brain structure-especially in motor cortical and cerebellar regions-compared with those who start later. We used support vector machine models-a subtype of supervised machine learning-to investigate distributed patterns of structural differences between early-trained (ET) and late-trained (LT) musicians and to better understand the age boundaries of the sensitive period for early musicianship. After selecting regions of interest from the cerebellum and cortical sensorimotor regions, we applied recursive feature elimination with cross-validation to produce a model which optimally and accurately classified ET and LT musicians. This model identified a combination of 17 regions, including 9 cerebellar and 8 sensorimotor regions, and maintained a high accuracy and sensitivity (true positives, i.e., ET musicians) without sacrificing specificity (true negatives, i.e., LT musicians). Critically, this model-which defined ET musicians as those who began their training before the age of 7-outperformed all other models in which age of start was earlier or later (between ages 5-10). Our model's ability to accurately classify ET and LT musicians provides additional evidence that musical training before age 7 affects cortico-cerebellar structure in adulthood, and is consistent with the hypothesis that connected brain regions interact during development to reciprocally influence brain and behavioral maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Shenker
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Christopher J Steele
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert J Zatorre
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Virginia B Penhune
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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3
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Mitoma H, Kakei S, Manto M. Development of Cerebellar Reserve. Cells 2022; 11:cells11193013. [PMID: 36230975 PMCID: PMC9562018 DOI: 10.3390/cells11193013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The cerebellar reserve is defined as the capacity of the cerebellum for compensation and restoration following injury. This unique cerebellar ability is attributed to various forms of synaptic plasticity that incorporate multimodal and redundant cerebellar inputs, two major features of the cerebellar circuitry. It is assumed that the cerebellar reserve is acquired from the age of 12 years after the maturation of both the cerebellar adaptative behaviors and cerebellar functional connectivity. However, acquiring the cerebellar reserve is also affected by two other factors: vulnerability and growth potential in the developing cerebellum. First, cerebellar injury during the critical period of neural circuit formation (especially during fetal and neonatal life and infancy) leads to persistent dysfunction of the cerebellum and its targets, resulting in the limitation of the cerebellar reserve. Secondly, growth potential appears to facilitate cerebellar reserve during the stage when the cerebellar reserve is still immature. Based on these findings, the present mini-review proposes a possible developmental trajectory underlying the acquisition of cerebellar reserve. We highlight the importance of studies dedicated to the understanding of the cerebellar resilience to injuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Mitoma
- Department of Medical Education, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
- Correspondence:
| | - Shinji Kakei
- Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Jissen Women’s University, Tokyo 191-8510, Japan
| | - Mario Manto
- Service de Neurologie, Médiathèque Jean Jacquy, CHU-Charleroi, 6000 Charleroi, Belgium
- Service des Neurosciences, University of Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgium
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4
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Beuriat PA, Cristofori I, Gordon B, Grafman J. The shifting role of the cerebellum in executive, emotional and social processing across the lifespan. BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN FUNCTIONS : BBF 2022; 18:6. [PMID: 35484543 PMCID: PMC9047369 DOI: 10.1186/s12993-022-00193-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The cerebellum's anatomical and functional organization and network interactions between the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex and subcortical structures are dynamic across the lifespan. Executive, emotional and social (EES) functions have likewise evolved during human development from contributing to primitive behaviors during infancy and childhood to being able to modulate complex actions in adults. In this review, we address how the importance of the cerebellum in the processing of EES functions might change across development. This evolution is driven by the macroscopic and microscopic modifications of the cerebellum that are occurring during development including its increasing connectivity with distant supra-tentorial cortical and sub-cortical regions. As a result of anatomical and functional changes, neuroimaging and clinical data indicate that the importance of the role of the cerebellum in human EES-related networks shifts from being crucial in newborns and young children to being only supportive later in life. In early life, given the immaturity of cortically mediated EES functions, EES functions and motor control and perception are more closely interrelated. At that time, the cerebellum due to its important role in motor control and sequencing makes EES functions more reliant on these computational properties that compute spatial distance, motor intent, and assist in the execution of sequences of behavior related to their developing EES expression. As the cortical brain matures, EES functions and decisions become less dependent upon these aspects of motor behavior and more dependent upon high-order cognitive and social conceptual processes. At that time, the cerebellum assumes a supportive role in these EES-related behaviors by computing their motor and sequential features. We suspect that this evolving role of the cerebellum has complicated the interpretation of its contribution to EES computational demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Aurélien Beuriat
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Injury Research, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL, USA. .,Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. .,Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France. .,Rockfeller School of Medicine, Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France.
| | - Irene Cristofori
- Institute of Cognitive, Neuroscience Marc Jeannerod, CNRS/UMR 5229, 69500, Bron, France.,Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1, 69100, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Barry Gordon
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jordan Grafman
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Injury Research, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL, USA.,Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry and Cognitive Neurology & Alzheimer's Disease, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
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5
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De Benedictis A, Rossi-Espagnet MC, de Palma L, Carai A, Marras CE. Networking of the Human Cerebellum: From Anatomo-Functional Development to Neurosurgical Implications. Front Neurol 2022; 13:806298. [PMID: 35185765 PMCID: PMC8854219 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.806298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past, the cerebellum was considered to be substantially involved in sensory-motor coordination. However, a growing number of neuroanatomical, neuroimaging, clinical and lesion studies have now provided converging evidence on the implication of the cerebellum in a variety of cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral processes as well. These findings suggest a complex anatomo-functional organization of the cerebellum, involving a dense network of cortical territories and reciprocal connections with many supra-tentorial association areas. The final architecture of cerebellar networks results from a complex, highly protracted, and continuous development from childhood to adulthood, leading to integration between short-distance connections and long-range extra-cerebellar circuits. In this review, we summarize the current evidence on the anatomo-functional organization of the cerebellar connectome. We will focus on the maturation process of afferent and efferent neuronal circuitry, and the involvement of these networks in different aspects of neurocognitive processing. The final section will be devoted to identifying possible implications of this knowledge in neurosurgical practice, especially in the case of posterior fossa tumor resection, and to discuss reliable strategies to improve the quality of approaches while reducing postsurgical morbidity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro De Benedictis
- Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Camilla Rossi-Espagnet
- Neuroradiology Unit, Imaging Department, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy
| | - Luca de Palma
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Carai
- Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy
| | - Carlo Efisio Marras
- Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy
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6
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Shenker JJ, Steele CJ, Chakravarty MM, Zatorre RJ, Penhune VB. Early musical training shapes cortico-cerebellar structural covariation. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:407-419. [PMID: 34657166 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02409-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Adult abilities in complex cognitive domains such as music appear to depend critically on the age at which training or experience begins, and relevant experience has greater long-term effects during periods of peak maturational change. Previous work has shown that early trained musicians (ET; < age 7) out-perform later-trained musicians (LT; > age 7) on tests of musical skill, and also have larger volumes of the ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) and smaller volumes of the cerebellum. These cortico-cerebellar networks mature and function in relation to one another, suggesting that early training may promote coordinated developmental plasticity. To test this hypothesis, we examined structural covariation between cerebellar volume and cortical thickness (CT) in sensorimotor regions in ET and LT musicians and non-musicians (NMs). Results show that ETs have smaller volumes in cerebellar lobules connected to sensorimotor cortices, while both musician groups had greater cortical thickness in right pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) and right PMC compared to NMs. Importantly, early musical training had a specific effect on structural covariance between the cerebellum and cortex: NMs showed negative correlations between left lobule VI and right pre-SMA and PMC, but this relationship was reduced in ET musicians. ETs instead showed a significant negative correlation between vermal IV and right pre-SMA and dPMC. Together, these results suggest that early musical training has differential impacts on the maturation of cortico-cerebellar networks important for optimizing sensorimotor performance. This conclusion is consistent with the hypothesis that connected brain regions interact during development to reciprocally influence brain and behavioral maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Shenker
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada. .,BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Christopher J Steele
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Robert J Zatorre
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Virginia B Penhune
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
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7
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Abdallah M, Farrugia N, Chirokoff V, Chanraud S. Static and dynamic aspects of cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity are associated with self-reported measures of impulsivity: A resting-state fMRI study. Netw Neurosci 2020; 4:891-909. [PMID: 33615095 PMCID: PMC7888486 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Human and animal brain studies bring converging evidence of a possible role for the cerebellum and the cerebro-cerebellar system in impulsivity. However, the precise nature of the relation between cerebro-cerebellar coupling and impulsivity is far from understood. Characterizing functional connectivity (FC) patterns between large-scale brain networks that mediate different forms of impulsivity, and the cerebellum may improve our understanding of this relation. Here, we analyzed static and dynamic features of cerebro-cerebellar FC using a highly sampled resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) dataset and tested their association with two widely used self-reports of impulsivity: the UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale and the behavioral inhibition/approach systems (BIS/BAS) in a large group of healthy subjects (N = 134, ≈ 1 hr of rs-fMRI/subject). We employed robust data-driven techniques to identify cerebral and cerebellar resting-state networks and extract descriptive summary measures of static and dynamic cerebro-cerebellar FC. We observed evidence linking BIS, BAS, sensation seeking, and lack of premeditation to the total strength and temporal variability of FC within networks connecting regions of the prefrontal cortex, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus with the cerebellum. Overall, our findings improve the existing knowledge of the neural correlates of impulsivity and the behavioral correlates of the cerebro-cerebellar system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Majd Abdallah
- Aquitaine Institute of Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR CNRS 5287, University of Bordeaux, France
| | - Nicolas Farrugia
- Electronics Department Lab STICC, IMT Atlantique, UMR CNRS 6285, Brest, France
| | - Valentine Chirokoff
- Aquitaine Institute of Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR CNRS 5287, University of Bordeaux, France
| | - Sandra Chanraud
- Aquitaine Institute of Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR CNRS 5287, University of Bordeaux, France
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8
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Lynn A, Festa EK, Heindel WC, Amso D. What underlies visual selective attention development? Evidence that age-related improvements in visual feature integration influence visual selective attention performance. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 191:104732. [PMID: 31770683 PMCID: PMC6983333 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Visual selective attention (VSA) improves across childhood. Conjunction search tasks require integrating multiple visual features in order to find a target among distractors and are often used to measure VSA. Motivated by the visual system's architecture and developmental changes in neural connectivity, we predicted that feature integration across separate visual pathways (e.g., color and motion) should develop later than feature integration within the same visual pathways (e.g., luminance and motion). A total of 89 4- to 10-year-old children completed a visual search task that manipulated whether feature integration was between separate parallel visual pathways or within the same visual pathway. We first examined whether color-motion integration was associated with a performance cost relative to luminance-motion integration across childhood. We found that color-motion integration was worse than luminance-motion integration in early childhood but that this difference decreased with age. We also examined whether luminance-motion and color-motion visual search performance developed differently across childhood. Reaction time (RT) visual search slopes for the luminance-motion condition were both stable across childhood and steeper overall than those for the color-motion condition. In contrast, RT search slopes for the color-motion condition became steeperincrease across childhood. Finally, we found that age-related improvements in color-motion integration, relative to luminance-motion integration, were associated with longer color-motion search rates across childhood. These data suggest that age-related improvements in color-motion feature integration may increase competition between color-motion targets and distractors, thereby increasing the amount of time needed to process distractors as nontargets during the selection process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Lynn
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Elena K Festa
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - William C Heindel
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Dima Amso
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
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Vaidya JG, Elmore AL, Wallace AL, Langbehn DR, Kramer JR, Kuperman S, O'Leary DS. Association Between Age and Familial Risk for Alcoholism on Functional Connectivity in Adolescence. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2019; 58:692-701. [PMID: 30768382 PMCID: PMC7428193 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Youth with a family history of alcohol use disorder (family history positive [FHP]) are at increased risk for developing maladaptive substance use relative to family history negative (FHN) peers. Building on earlier studies demonstrating morphological differences and distinct patterns of neural activation in FHP, the purpose of the present study was to investigate differential intrinsic functional connectivity among brain networks indexing premorbid risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD). METHOD The current study examined intrinsic functional connectivity using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging in 191 adolescents 13 to 18 years of age with and without family history of AUD via independent component analysis, a method enabling data-driven investigation of internetwork and intranetwork connectivity among brain regions at rest. RESULTS Analyses revealed significantly lower intranetwork connectivity in FHP compared to FHN participants between the dorsal premotor cortex and other sensorimotor network regions. Reduced intranetwork connectivity in this region was further correlated with the number of biological family members with AUD and mood disorders. Robust differences were also evident in internetwork connectivity as a function of age. However, there was no evidence for family history by age interactions. CONCLUSION Intra- but not internetwork connectivity appears to differentiate FHP and FHN adolescents, whereas age differences within adolescence are marked by differences in internetwork connectivity.
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Hulvershorn LA. Editorial: Understanding the Child at Risk for Substance Use Disorders: Neuroimaging Addiction Risk. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2019; 58:663-664. [PMID: 30928731 PMCID: PMC7153267 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent surveys demonstrate skyrocketing rates of adolescent vaping,1 while the opioid epidemic, rightfully, is daily front page news. At the same time, the public perceives cannabis as a harmless source of recreation or even as cure-all therapy. Now more than ever, child and adolescent psychiatrists, politicians, policy leaders, and parents need empirical support to bolster the position that drugs of abuse should be avoided by young people. We have a robust literature connecting cannabis use to earlier and worse psychotic disorders,2 as well as strong longitudinal data implicating cannabis in various neuropsychological deficits.3 What our field lacks, however, are brain imaging studies that definitively document the negative neurobiological impact of substance use on the developing human brain. The key to appreciating why this research literature is so limited has to do with one of the core tenets of substance use disorder (SUD) etiology: SUDs do not emerge de novo in adulthood or late adolescence when people typically present with impairing symptoms. Decades of research now suggests that certain latent childhood traits predispose some youth to initiate and then escalate drug and alcohol use more often than is typical.4 Children born into families with SUDs are more likely to express these highly heritable traits and are additionally subject to environmental risk factors and adversity. Therefore, children born into families with SUDs are disproportionately laden with genetic and environmental factors that shape brain structure and function. In other words, before exposure to drugs of abuse (which themselves may influence the brain), some children's brains already differ from those of typically developing youth. This observation limits the usefulness of cross-sectional neuroimaging studies that compare youth who have used drugs to those who have not, because of the nonrandom interaction of latent traits, environmental factors, and pre-existing brain differences. This interaction likely accelerates these adolescents' propensity to initiate and continue to use drugs of abuse.
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Petanjek Z, Sedmak D, Džaja D, Hladnik A, Rašin MR, Jovanov-Milosevic N. The Protracted Maturation of Associative Layer IIIC Pyramidal Neurons in the Human Prefrontal Cortex During Childhood: A Major Role in Cognitive Development and Selective Alteration in Autism. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:122. [PMID: 30923504 PMCID: PMC6426783 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The human specific cognitive shift starts around the age of 2 years with the onset of self-awareness, and continues with extraordinary increase in cognitive capacities during early childhood. Diffuse changes in functional connectivity in children aged 2-6 years indicate an increase in the capacity of cortical network. Interestingly, structural network complexity does not increase during this time and, thus, it is likely to be induced by selective maturation of a specific neuronal subclass. Here, we provide an overview of a subclass of cortico-cortical neurons, the associative layer IIIC pyramids of the human prefrontal cortex. Their local axonal collaterals are in control of the prefrontal cortico-cortical output, while their long projections modulate inter-areal processing. In this way, layer IIIC pyramids are the major integrative element of cortical processing, and changes in their connectivity patterns will affect global cortical functioning. Layer IIIC neurons have a unique pattern of dendritic maturation. In contrast to other classes of principal neurons, they undergo an additional phase of extensive dendritic growth during early childhood, and show characteristic molecular changes. Taken together, circuits associated with layer IIIC neurons have the most protracted period of developmental plasticity. This unique feature is advanced but also provides a window of opportunity for pathological events to disrupt normal formation of cognitive circuits involving layer IIIC neurons. In this manuscript, we discuss how disrupted dendritic and axonal maturation of layer IIIC neurons may lead into global cortical disconnectivity, affecting development of complex communication and social abilities. We also propose a model that developmentally dictated incorporation of layer IIIC neurons into maturing cortico-cortical circuits between 2 to 6 years will reveal a previous (perinatal) lesion affecting other classes of principal neurons. This "disclosure" of pre-existing functionally silent lesions of other neuronal classes induced by development of layer IIIC associative neurons, or their direct alteration, could be found in different forms of autism spectrum disorders. Understanding the gene-environment interaction in shaping cognitive microcircuitries may be fundamental for developing rehabilitation and prevention strategies in autism spectrum and other cognitive disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zdravko Petanjek
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Dora Sedmak
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Domagoj Džaja
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ana Hladnik
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Mladen Roko Rašin
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers University, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Nataša Jovanov-Milosevic
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Medical Biology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
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12
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Kipping JA, Xie Y, Qiu A. Cerebellar development and its mediation role in cognitive planning in childhood. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:5074-5084. [PMID: 30133063 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Revised: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that the cerebellum contributes not only to the planning and execution of movement but also to the high-order cognitive planning. Childhood is a critical period for development of the cerebellum and cognitive planning. This study aimed (a) to examine the development of cerebellar morphology and microstructure and (b) to examine the cerebellar mediation roles in the relationship between age and cognitive planning in 6- to 10-year-old children (n = 126). We used an anatomical parcellation to quantify cerebellar regional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes, and WM microstructure, including fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). We assessed planning ability using the Stockings of Cambridge (SOC) task in all children. We revealed (a) a measure-specific anterior-to-posterior gradient of the cerebellar development in childhood, that is, smaller GM volumes and greater WM FA of the anterior segment of the cerebellum but larger GM volumes and lower WM FA in the posterior segment of the cerebellum in older children; (b) an age-related improvement of the SOC performance at the most demanding level of five-move problems; and (c) a mediation role of the lateral cerebellar WM volumes in age-related improvement in the SOC performance in childhood. These results highlight the differential development of the cerebellum during childhood and provide evidence that brain adaptation to the acquisition of planning ability during childhood could partially be achieved through the engagement of the lateral cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy A Kipping
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Yingyao Xie
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Anqi Qiu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.,Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore, Singapore.,Clinical Imaging Research Center, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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