1
|
Taghvaei M, Jones CK, Luna LP, Gujar SK, Sair HI. Asymmetry of the Frontal Aslant Tract Depends on Handedness. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2024; 45:1090-1097. [PMID: 38964863 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a8270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The human brain displays structural and functional disparities between its hemispheres, with such asymmetry extending to the frontal aslant tract. This plays a role in a variety of cognitive functions, including speech production, language processing, and executive functions. However, the factors influencing the laterality of the frontal aslant tract remain incompletely understood. Handedness is hypothesized to impact frontal aslant tract laterality, given its involvement in both language and motor control. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between handedness and frontal aslant tract lateralization, providing insight into this aspect of brain organization. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Automated Tractography Pipeline was used to generate the frontal aslant tract for both right and left hemispheres in a cohort of 720 subjects sourced from the publicly available Human Connectome Project in Aging database. Subsequently, macrostructural and microstructural parameters of the right and left frontal aslant tract were extracted for each individual in the study population. The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory scores were used for the classification of handedness, and a comparative analysis across various handedness groups was performed. RESULTS An age-related decline in both macrostructural parameters and microstructural integrity was noted within the studied population. The frontal aslant tract demonstrated a greater volume and larger diameter in male subjects compared with female participants. Additionally, a left-side laterality of the frontal aslant tract was observed within the general population. In the right-handed group, the volume (P < .001), length (P < .001), and diameter (P = .004) of the left frontal aslant tract were found to be higher than those of the right frontal aslant tract. Conversely, in the left-handed group, the volume (P = .040) and diameter (P = .032) of the left frontal aslant tract were lower than those of the right frontal aslant tract. Furthermore, in the right-handed group, the volume and diameter of the frontal aslant tract showed left-sided lateralization, while in the left-handed group, a right-sided lateralization was evident. CONCLUSIONS The laterality of the frontal aslant tract appears to differ with handedness. This finding highlights the complex interaction between brain lateralization and handedness, emphasizing the importance of considering handedness as a factor in evaluating brain structure and function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Taghvaei
- From the Department of Neurology (M.T.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Craig K Jones
- Department of Computer Science (C.K.J.), The Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
- The Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare (C.K.J., H.I.S.), The Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
- The Russell. H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science (C.K.J., L.P.L., S.K.G., H.I.S.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Licia P Luna
- The Russell. H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science (C.K.J., L.P.L., S.K.G., H.I.S.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Sachin K Gujar
- The Russell. H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science (C.K.J., L.P.L., S.K.G., H.I.S.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Haris I Sair
- The Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare (C.K.J., H.I.S.), The Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
- The Russell. H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science (C.K.J., L.P.L., S.K.G., H.I.S.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Seitz J, Cetin-Karayumak S, Lyall A, Pasternak O, Baxi M, Vangel M, Pearlson G, Tamminga C, Sweeney J, Clementz B, Schretlen D, Viher PV, Stegmayer K, Walther S, Lee J, Crow T, James A, Voineskos A, Buchanan RW, Szeszko PR, Malhotra A, Keshavan M, Koerte IK, Shenton ME, Rathi Y, Kubicki M. Investigating Sexual Dimorphism of Human White Matter in a Harmonized, Multisite Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:201-212. [PMID: 32851404 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Axonal myelination and repair, critical processes for brain development, maturation, and aging, remain controlled by sexual hormones. Whether this influence is reflected in structural brain differences between sexes, and whether it can be quantified by neuroimaging, remains controversial. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is an in vivo method that can track myelination changes throughout the lifespan. We utilize a large, multisite sample of harmonized dMRI data (n = 551, age = 9-65 years, 46% females/54% males) to investigate the influence of sex on white matter (WM) structure. We model lifespan trajectories of WM using the most common dMRI measure fractional anisotropy (FA). Next, we examine the influence of both age and sex on FA variability. We estimate the overlap between male and female FA and test whether it is possible to label individual brains as male or female. Our results demonstrate regionally and spatially specific effects of sex. Sex differences are limited to limbic structures and young ages. Additionally, not only do sex differences diminish with age, but tracts within each subject become more similar to one another. Last, we show the high overlap in FA between sexes, which implies that determining sex based on WM remains open.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Seitz
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Suheyla Cetin-Karayumak
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Amanda Lyall
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02114, USA
| | - Ofer Pasternak
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02114, USA.,Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Madhura Baxi
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Graduate Program of Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Mark Vangel
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Godfrey Pearlson
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Carol Tamminga
- Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA
| | - John Sweeney
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA
| | - Brett Clementz
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Bio-Imaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, 30601, USA
| | - David Schretlen
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, 21205, USA
| | - Petra Verena Viher
- University of Bern, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern, 3012, Switzerland
| | - Katharina Stegmayer
- University of Bern, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern, 3012, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Walther
- University of Bern, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern, 3012, Switzerland
| | - Jungsun Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, 690-749, Korea
| | - Tim Crow
- Department of Psychiatry, SANE POWIC, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7 JX, UK
| | - Anthony James
- Department of Psychiatry, SANE POWIC, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7 JX, UK
| | - Aristotle Voineskos
- Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5T1R8, Canada
| | - Robert W Buchanan
- Maryland Psychiatry Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21228, USA
| | - Philip R Szeszko
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, 10029, USA.,Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, 10461, USA
| | - Anil Malhotra
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Zucker Hillside Hospital, Manhasset, 11030, USA
| | - Matcheri Keshavan
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Inga K Koerte
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 80337, Germany
| | - Martha E Shenton
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02114, USA.,Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton, MA, 02301, USA
| | - Yogesh Rathi
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02114, USA.,Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Marek Kubicki
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02114, USA.,Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, 02115, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Góngora D, Domínguez M, Bobes MA. Characterization of ten white matter tracts in a representative sample of Cuban population. BMC Med Imaging 2016; 16:59. [PMID: 27784268 PMCID: PMC5082362 DOI: 10.1186/s12880-016-0163-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The diffusion tensor imaging technique (DTI) combined with tractography methods, has achieved the tridimensional reconstruction of white matter tracts in the brain. It allows their characterization in vivo in a non-invasive way. However, one of the largest sources of variability originates from the location of regions of interest, is therefore necessary schemes which make it possible to establish a protocol to be insensitive to variations in drawing thereof. The purpose of this paper is to stablish a reliable protocol to reconstruct ten prominent tracts of white matter and characterize them according to volume, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Also we explored the relationship among these factors with gender and hemispheric symmetry. Methods This study aims to characterize ten prominent tracts of white matter in a representative sample of Cuban population using this technique, including 84 healthy subjects. Diffusion tensors and subsequently fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity maps were calculated from each subject’s DTI scans. The trajectory of ten brain tracts was estimated by using deterministic tractography methods of fiber tracking. In such tracts, the volume, the FA and MD were calculated, creating a reference for their study in the Cuban population. The interactions between these variables with age, cerebral hemispheres and gender factors were explored using Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance. Results The volume values showed that a most part of tracts have bigger volume in left hemisphere. Also, the data showed bigger values of MD for males than females in all the tracts, an inverse behavior than FA values. Conclusions This work showed that is possible reconstruct white matter tracts using a unique region of interest scheme defined from standard to native space. Also, this study indicates differing developmental trajectories in white matter for males and females and the importance of taking gender into account in developmental DTI studies and in underlie gender-related cognitive differences. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12880-016-0163-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D Góngora
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu, 61000, China. .,Cuban Neuroscience Center, 190th Ave between 25th and 27th Ave, Havana, 11300, Cuba.
| | - M Domínguez
- IDIBELL Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - M A Bobes
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu, 61000, China.,Cuban Neuroscience Center, 190th Ave between 25th and 27th Ave, Havana, 11300, Cuba
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wang RR, Li C, Zhang S, Zhou LJ, He L, Li HD. Diffusion tensor imaging change in crus cerebri in striatocapsular infarction and correlation with upper extremity motor dysfunction. Radiol Med 2015; 120:1064-70. [PMID: 25835460 DOI: 10.1007/s11547-015-0534-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2014] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE There is limited information about the secondary changes in the pyramidal tract after some specific types of deep brain infarction including striatocapsular infarction. The aims of the current study were to investigate diffusion changes in the crus cerebri in patients with striatocapsular infarction using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and analyze the relationship between such changes and upper extremity motor dysfunction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen patients with acute onset of striatocapsular infarction and unilateral upper extremity motor dysfunction for the first time were studied prospectively. DTI was performed 2 weeks after disease onset, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values of the bilateral crus cerebri were measured, the asymmetry indices of bilateral fractional anisotropy were calculated, and the relationship between the asymmetry index value and the Fugl-Meyer assessment score for the affected upper extremity function was evaluated. RESULTS Two weeks after disease onset, the fractional anisotropy value of the affected crus cerebri was reduced significantly compared with that of the unaffected crus cerebri (0.69 vs. 0.77; p < 0.001); there was no significant difference between bilateral mean diffusivity values. After correction for infarct size (448.93 ± 227.67 mm(2)) there was a negative correlation between the asymmetry index value and the Fugl-Meyer assessment score of the affected upper extremity (r = -0.78, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS DTI can detect the diffusion change in the crus cerebri in patients with striatocapsular infarction during the early stage of the disease and the integrity of the pyramidal tract in the crus cerebri is closely related to the motor function of the affected upper extremity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Run-Rong Wang
- Department of Radiology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, No. 45, Tai-Zhou Road, Yangzhou, 225000, Jiangsu, China
| | - Cheng Li
- Department of Radiology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, No. 45, Tai-Zhou Road, Yangzhou, 225000, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Shuai Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou, 225000, China
| | - Long-Jiang Zhou
- Department of Neurology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou, 225000, China
| | - Ling He
- Department of Radiology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, No. 45, Tai-Zhou Road, Yangzhou, 225000, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hua-Dong Li
- Department of Neurology, Yangzhou First People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou, 225000, China
| |
Collapse
|