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Langen CD, Cremers LGM, de Groot M, White T, Ikram MA, Niessen WJ, Vernooij MW. Disconnection due to white matter hyperintensities is associated with lower cognitive scores. Neuroimage 2018; 183:745-756. [PMID: 30144572 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have linked global burden of age-related white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) to cognitive impairment. We aimed to determine how WMHs in individual white matter connections relate to measures of cognitive function relative to measures of connectivity which do not take WMHs into account. Brain connectivity and WMH-related disconnectivity were derived from 3714 participants of the population-based Rotterdam Study. Connectivity was represented by the structural connectome, which was defined using diffusion tensor data, whereas the disconnectome represented disconnectivity due to WMH. The relationship between (dis)connectivity and cognitive measures was estimated using linear regression. We found that lower disconnectivity and higher connectivity corresponded to better cognitive function. There were many more significant associations with cognitive function in the disconnectome than in the connectome. Most connectome associations attenuated when disconnection was included in the model. WMH-related disconnectivity was especially related to worse executive functioning. Better cognitive speed corresponded to higher connectivity in specific connections independent of WMH presence. We conclude that WMH-related disconnectivity explains more variation in cognitive function than does connectivity. Efficient wiring in specific connections is important to information processing speed independent of WMH presence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn D Langen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Lotte G M Cremers
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Marius de Groot
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Tonya White
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - M Arfan Ikram
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Wiro J Niessen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Imaging Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, PO Box 5046, 2600GA, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
| | - Meike W Vernooij
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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Langen CD, Muetzel R, Blanken L, van der Lugt A, Tiemeier H, Verhulst F, Niessen WJ, White T. Differential patterns of age-related cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in 6-to-10 year old children: A connectome-wide association study. Brain Behav 2018; 8:e01031. [PMID: 29961267 PMCID: PMC6085897 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Revised: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Typical brain development is characterized by specific patterns of maturation of functional networks. Cortico-cortical connectivity generally increases, whereas subcortico-cortical connections often decrease. Little is known about connectivity changes amongst different subcortical regions in typical development. METHODS This study examined age- and gender-related differences in functional connectivity between and within cortical and subcortical regions using two different approaches. The participants included 411 six- to ten-year-old typically developing children sampled from the population-based Generation R study. Functional connectomes were defined in native space using regions of interest from subject-specific FreeSurfer segmentations. Connections were defined as: (a) the correlation between regional mean time-series; and (b) the focal maximum of voxel-wise correlations within FreeSurfer regions. The association of age and gender with each functional connection was determined using linear regression. The preprocessing included the exclusion of children with excessive head motion and scrubbing to reduce the influence of minor head motion during scanning. RESULTS Cortico-cortical associations echoed previous findings that connectivity shifts from short to long-range with age. Subcortico-cortical associations with age were primarily negative in the focal network approach but were both positive and negative in the mean time-series network approach. Between subcortical regions, age-related associations were negative in both network approaches. Few connections had significant associations with gender. CONCLUSIONS The present study replicates previously reported age-related patterns of connectivity in a relatively narrow age-range of children. In addition, we extended these findings by demonstrating decreased connectivity within the subcortex with increasing age. Lastly, we show the utility of a more focal approach that challenges the spatial assumptions made by the traditional mean time series approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn D Langen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ryan Muetzel
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Laura Blanken
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Aad van der Lugt
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Henning Tiemeier
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Frank Verhulst
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Wiro J Niessen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Imaging Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Tonya White
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Rashid B, Blanken LME, Muetzel RL, Miller R, Damaraju E, Arbabshirani MR, Erhardt EB, Verhulst FC, van der Lugt A, Jaddoe VWV, Tiemeier H, White T, Calhoun V. Connectivity dynamics in typical development and its relationship to autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:3127-3142. [PMID: 29602272 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Revised: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have provided significant insights into developmental trajectories of human brain function. Characterizations of typical neurodevelopment provide a framework for understanding altered neurodevelopment, including differences in brain function related to developmental disorders and psychopathology. Historically, most functional connectivity studies of typical and atypical development operate under the assumption that connectivity remains static over time. We hypothesized that relaxing stationarity assumptions would reveal novel features of both typical brain development related to children on the autism spectrum. We employed a "chronnectomic" (recurring, time-varying patterns of connectivity) approach to evaluate transient states of connectivity using resting-state functional MRI in a population-based sample of 774 6- to 10-year-old children. Dynamic connectivity was evaluated using a sliding-window approach, and revealed four transient states. Internetwork connectivity increased with age in modularized dynamic states, illustrating an important pattern of connectivity in the developing brain. Furthermore, we demonstrated that higher levels of autistic traits and ASD diagnosis were associated with longer dwell times in a globally disconnected state. These results provide a roadmap to the chronnectomic organization of the developing brain and suggest that characteristics of functional brain connectivity are related to children on the autism spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barnaly Rashid
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Laura M E Blanken
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ryan L Muetzel
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Robyn Miller
- The Mind Research Network & LBERI, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106
| | - Eswar Damaraju
- The Mind Research Network & LBERI, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106.,Department of ECE, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131
| | | | - Erik B Erhardt
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131
| | - Frank C Verhulst
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Vincent W V Jaddoe
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Henning Tiemeier
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tonya White
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vince Calhoun
- The Mind Research Network & LBERI, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106.,Department of ECE, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131
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