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Gray Matter Volume (gray + matter_volume)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	61%
Life Sciences	38%

Kinds of Gray Matter Volume

regional gray matter volume

Selected Abstracts

Both Global Gray Matter Volume and Regional Gray Matter Volume Negatively Correlate with Lifetime Alcohol Intake in Non,Alcohol-Dependent Japanese Men: A Volumetric Analysis and a Voxel-Based Morphometry

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2006
Yasuyuki Taki
Background: Non,alcohol-dependent heavy drinkers, as well as alcohol-dependent individuals, show brain atrophy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there are correlations between global and regional gray matter volumes and the lifetime alcohol intake using volumetric analysis and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) among Japanese non-alcohol,dependent male individuals. Methods: High-resolution three-dimensional magnetic resonance images were acquired from 405 Japanese non-alcohol,dependent male individuals. The collected images were normalized, segmented for volumetric analysis, and additionally smoothed for VBM. For volumetric analysis, the partial correlation coefficient was estimated between the gray matter ratio, which represents the percentage of gray matter volume in the intracranial volume, and the lifetime alcohol intake adjusted for the age of each subject. Multiple regression analysis was performed among regional gray matter volume, lifetime alcohol intake, and age using VBM. Results: Volumetric analysis revealed that gray matter ratio showed a negative correlation with the lifetime alcohol intake adjusted for age (p=0.059, partial correlation coefficient=,0.091). The VBM revealed that the gray matter volumes of the bilateral middle frontal gyri showed a significant negative correlation with the lifetime alcohol intake adjusted for age and systolic blood pressure (left side, p=0.006, Z=4.77; right side, p=0.023, Z=4.45, and p=0.046, Z=4.27). Conclusions: Our study suggests that non-alcohol,dependent Japanese male individuals show that both global gray matter volume and regional gray matter volume have negative correlations with the lifetime alcohol intake. Our study may contribute to clarifying the mechanism underlying the brain structural changes because of alcohol influence in healthy non-alcohol,dependent individuals. [source]

Gray matter deficits in young adults with narcolepsy

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2009
S. J. Kim
Objectives,,, The aim of this study was to investigate gray matter volume changes in narcolepsy. Materials and methods,,, An optimized voxel-based morphometry was conducted for 17 young adults with a sole diagnosis of human leukocyte antigen DQB1 0602 positive narcolepsy with cataplexy (26.6 ± 5.2 years old) and 17 comparison subjects (24.6 ± 4.9 years old) using 3 Tesla scanner. Gray matter volumes in the bilateral hypothalamic voxel of interests (VOI) were also calculated. Results,,, Compared with the comparison subjects, narcoleptic patients had gray matter volume decrease in the right hypothalamus and other regions including subcortical, prefrontal, limbic and occipital areas. Narcoleptic patients also had lower gray matter volume on predefined VOI at the bilateral hypothalamus, which correlated with the Ullanlinna Narcolepsy Scale score. Conclusions,,, Current findings suggest that narcoleptic patients have structural abnormalities in hypothalamus, which might be related to the clinical manifestation of narcolepsy with cataplexy. [source]

Functional (GT)n polymorphisms in promoter region of N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor 2A subunit (GRIN2A) gene affect hippocampal and amygdala volumes

GENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2010
H. Inoue
The glutamate system including N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) affects synaptic formation, plasticity and maintenance. Recent studies have shown a variable (GT)n polymorphism in the promoter region of the NMDA subunit gene (GRIN2A) and a length-dependent inhibition of transcriptional activity by the (GT)n repeat. In the present study, we examined whether the GRIN2A polymorphism is associated with regional brain volume especially in medial temporal lobe structures, in which the NMDA-dependent synaptic processes have been most extensively studied. Gray matter regions of interest (ROIs) for the bilateral amygdala and hippocampus were outlined manually on the magnetic resonance images of 144 healthy individuals. In addition, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was conducted to explore the association of genotype with regional gray matter volume from everywhere in the brain in the same sample. The manually measured hippocampal and amygdala volumes were significantly larger in subjects with short allele carriers (n = 89) than in those with homozygous long alleles (n = 55) when individual differences in intracranial volume were accounted for. The VBM showed no significant association between the genotype and regional gray matter volume in any brain region. These findings suggest that the functional GRIN2A (GT)n polymorphism could weakly but significantly impact on human medial temporal lobe volume in a length-dependent manner, providing in vivo evidence of the role of the NMDA receptor in human brain development. [source]

Non-spatial expertise and hippocampal gray matter volume in humans

HIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 10 2008
Katherine Woollett
Abstract Previous work suggests that spatial expertise in licensed London taxi drivers is associated with differences in hippocampal gray matter volume relative to IQ-matched control subjects. Here we examined whether non-spatial expertise is associated with similar hippocampal gray matter effects. We compared medical doctors who, like taxi drivers, acquire a vast amount of knowledge over many years, with IQ-matched control subjects who had no tertiary education. Whole brain analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) failed to identify any differences in gray matter volume between the groups, including in the hippocampus. Moreover, amount of medical experience that ranged from 0.5 to 22.5 yr did not correlate with gray matter volume in the hippocampus or elsewhere in the brain. We conclude that intensively acquiring a large amount of knowledge over many years is not invariably associated with hippocampal gray matter volume differences. Instead it would seem that hippocampal gray matter volume effects are more likely to be observed when the knowledge acquired concerns a complex and detailed large-scale spatial layout. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Attachment style, affective loss and gray matter volume: A voxel-based morphometry study

HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 10 2010
Stefania Benetti
Abstract Early patterns of infant attachment have been shown to be an important influence on adult social behavior. Animal studies suggest that patterns of early attachment influence brain development, contributing to permanent alterations in neural structure; however, there are no previous studies investigating whether differences in attachment style are associated with differences in brain structure in humans. In this study, we used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to examine for the first time the association between attachment style, affective loss (for example, death of a loved one) and gray matter volume in a healthy sample of adults (n = 32). Attachment style was assessed on two dimensions (anxious and avoidant) using the ECR-Revised questionnaire. High attachment-related anxiety was associated with decreased gray matter in the anterior temporal pole and increased gray matter in the left lateral orbital gyrus. A greater number of affective losses was associated with increased gray matter volume in the cerebellum; in this region, however, the impact of affective losses was significantly moderated by the level of attachment-related avoidance. These findings indicate that differences in attachment style are associated with differences in the neural structure of regions implicated in emotion regulation. It is hypothesized that early attachment experience may contribute to structural brain differences associated with attachment style in adulthood; furthermore, these findings point to a neuronal mechanism through which attachment style may mediate individual differences in responses to affective loss. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Aging and the interaction of sensory cortical function and structure

HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2009
Ann M. Peiffer
Abstract Even the healthiest older adults experience changes in cognitive and sensory function. Studies show that older adults have reduced neural responses to sensory information. However, it is well known that sensory systems do not act in isolation but function cooperatively to either enhance or suppress neural responses to individual environmental stimuli. Very little research has been dedicated to understanding how aging affects the interactions between sensory systems, especially cross-modal deactivations or the ability of one sensory system (e.g., audition) to suppress the neural responses in another sensory system cortex (e.g., vision). Such cross-modal interactions have been implicated in attentional shifts between sensory modalities and could account for increased distractibility in older adults. To assess age-related changes in cross-modal deactivations, functional MRI studies were performed in 61 adults between 18 and 80 years old during simple auditory and visual discrimination tasks. Results within visual cortex confirmed previous findings of decreased responses to visual stimuli for older adults. Age-related changes in the visual cortical response to auditory stimuli were, however, much more complex and suggested an alteration with age in the functional interactions between the senses. Ventral visual cortical regions exhibited cross-modal deactivations in younger but not older adults, whereas more dorsal aspects of visual cortex were suppressed in older but not younger adults. These differences in deactivation also remained after adjusting for age-related reductions in brain volume of sensory cortex. Thus, functional differences in cortical activity between older and younger adults cannot solely be accounted for by differences in gray matter volume. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Voxel-based analysis of MRI detects abnormal visual cortex in children and adults with amblyopia

HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 2 2005
Janine D. Mendola
Abstract Amblyopia, sometimes called "lazy eye," is a relatively common developmental visual disorder well characterized behaviorally; however, the neural substrates associated with amblyopia in humans remain unclear. We hypothesized that abnormalities in the cerebral cortex of subjects with amblyopia exist, possibly as a result of experience-dependent neuronal plasticity. Anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and psychophysical vision testing was carried out on 74 subjects divided into two age ranges, 7,12 years and 18,35 years, and three diagnoses, strabismic amblyopia, anisometropic amblyopia, and normal vision. We report a behavioral impairment in contrast sensitivity for subjects with amblyopia, consistent with previous reports. When the high-resolution MRI brain images were analyzed quantitatively with optimized voxel-based morphometry, results indicated that adults and children with amblyopia have decreased gray matter volume in visual cortical regions, including the calcarine sulcus, known to contain primary visual cortex. This finding was confirmed with a separate region-of-interest analysis. For the children with amblyopia, additional gray matter reductions in parietal-occipital areas and ventral temporal cortex were detected, consistent with recent reports that amblyopia can result in spatial location and object processing deficits. These data are the first to provide possible neuroanatomic bases for the loss of binocularity and visual sensitivity in children and adults with amblyopia. Hum Brain Mapp 25:222,236, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Neuroimaging of cortical development and brain connectivity in human newborns and animal models

JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 4 2010
Gregory A. Lodygensky
Abstract Significant human brain growth occurs during the third trimester, with a doubling of whole brain volume and a fourfold increase of cortical gray matter volume. This is also the time period during which cortical folding and gyrification take place. Conditions such as intrauterine growth restriction, prematurity and cerebral white matter injury have been shown to affect brain growth including specific structures such as the hippocampus, with subsequent potentially permanent functional consequences. The use of 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dedicated postprocessing tools to measure brain tissue volumes (cerebral cortical gray matter, white matter), surface and sulcation index can elucidate phenotypes associated with early behavior development. The use of diffusion tensor imaging can further help in assessing microstructural changes within the cerebral white matter and the establishment of brain connectivity. Finally, the use of functional MRI and resting-state functional MRI connectivity allows exploration of the impact of adverse conditions on functional brain connectivity in vivo. Results from studies using these methods have for the first time illustrated the structural impact of antenatal conditions and neonatal intensive care on the functional brain deficits observed after premature birth. In order to study the pathophysiology of these adverse conditions, MRI has also been used in conjunction with histology in animal models of injury in the immature brain. Understanding the histological substrate of brain injury seen on MRI provides new insights into the immature brain, mechanisms of injury and their imaging phenotype. [source]

Structural Correlates of Functional Language Dominance: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

JOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, Issue 2 2010
Andreas Jansen PhD
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The goal of this study was to explore the structural correlates of functional language dominance by directly comparing the brain morphology of healthy subjects with left- and right-hemisphere language dominance. METHODS Twenty participants were selected based on their language dominance from a cohort of subjects with known language lateralization. Structural differences between both groups were assessed by voxel-based morphometry, a technique that automatically identifies differences in the local gray matter volume between groups using high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. RESULTS The main findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Subjects with right-hemisphere language dominance had significantly larger gray matter volume in the right hippocampus than subjects with left-hemisphere language dominance. (2) Leftward structural asymmetries in the posterior superior temporal cortex, including the planum temporale (PT), were observed in both groups. CONCLUSIONS Our study does not support the still prevalent view that asymmetries of the PT are related in a direct way to functional language lateralization. The structural differences found in the hippocampus underline the importance of the medial temporal lobe in the neural language network. They are discussed in the context of recent findings attributing a critical role of the hippocampus in the development of language lateralization. [source]

Both Global Gray Matter Volume and Regional Gray Matter Volume Negatively Correlate with Lifetime Alcohol Intake in Non,Alcohol-Dependent Japanese Men: A Volumetric Analysis and a Voxel-Based Morphometry

Reduced gray matter volume of dorsal cingulate cortex in patients with obsessive,compulsive disorder: A voxel-based morphometric study

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 5 2010
Ryohei Matsumoto MD
Aims:, Previous morphometric studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have revealed structural brain abnormalities in obsessive,compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the alterations in brain structure of patients with OCD using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. Methods:, Sixteen patients with OCD free of comorbid major depression, and 32 sex- and age-matched healthy subjects underwent MRI using a 1.5-T MR scanner. OCD severity was assessed with the Yale,Brown Obsessive,Compulsive Scale (mean ± SD: 22 ± 7.6; range: 7,32). MR images were spatially normalized and segmented using the VBM5 package (http://dbm.neuro.uni-jena.de/vbm/). Statistical analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping software. Results:, Significant reductions in regional gray matter volume were detected in the left caudal anterior cingulate cortex and right dorsal posterior cingulate cortex in the patients with OCD as compared to healthy controls (uncorrected, P < 0.001). No significant differences in white matter volumes were observed in any brain regions of the patients. No significant correlation between Yale,Brown Obsessive,Compulsive Scale score and regional gray matter or white matter volume was observed. Conclusions:, Regional gray matter alteration in the dorsal cingulate cortex, which is suggested to play a role in non-emotional cognitive processes, may be related to the pathophysiology in OCD. [source]

Brain of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana): Neuroanatomy from magnetic resonance images

THE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
Atiya Y. Hakeem
Abstract We acquired magnetic resonance images of the brain of an adult African elephant, Loxodonta africana, in the axial and parasagittal planes and produced anatomically labeled images. We quantified the volume of the whole brain (3,886.7 cm3) and of the neocortical and cerebellar gray and white matter. The white matter-to-gray matter ratio in the elephant neocortex and cerebellum is in keeping with that expected for a brain of this size. The ratio of neocortical gray matter volume to corpus callosum cross-sectional area is similar in the elephant and human brains (108 and 93.7, respectively), emphasizing the difference between terrestrial mammals and cetaceans, which have a very small corpus callosum relative to the volume of neocortical gray matter (ratio of 181,287 in our sample). Finally, the elephant has an unusually large and convoluted hippocampus compared to primates and especially to cetaceans. This may be related to the extremely long social and chemical memory of elephants. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Thalamic atrophy associated with painful osteoarthritis of the hip is reversible after arthroplasty: A longitudinal voxel-based morphometric study

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 10 2010
Stephen E. Gwilym
Objective Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a method of assessing brain gray matter volume that has previously been applied to various chronic pain conditions. From this previous work, it appears that chronic pain is associated with altered brain morphology. The present study was undertaken to assess these potential alterations in patients with painful hip osteoarthritis (OA). Methods We studied 16 patients with unilateral right-sided hip pain, before and 9 months after hip arthroplasty. This enabled comparison of gray matter volume in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain versus healthy controls, as well as identification of any changes in volume following alleviation of pain (after surgery). Assessment involved self-completion questionnaires to assess pain, function, and psychosocial variables, and magnetic resonance imaging scanning of the brain for VBM analysis. Results Significant differences in brain gray matter volume between healthy controls and patients with painful hip arthritis were seen. Specifically, areas of the thalamus in patients with chronic OA pain exhibited decreased gray matter volume. Furthermore, when these preoperative changes were compared with the brain morphology of the patients 9 months after surgery, the areas of reduced thalamic gray matter volume were found to have "reversed" to levels seen in healthy controls. Conclusion Our findings confirm that gray matter volume decreases within the left thalamus in the presence of chronic pain and disability in patients with hip OA. The results also show that these thalamic volume changes reverse after hip arthroplasty and are associated with decreased pain and increased function. These findings have potential implications with regard to optimizing the timing of orthopedic interventions such as arthroplasty. [source]

Gray matter deficits in young adults with narcolepsy

Brain dysmorphology in individuals with severe prenatal alcohol exposure

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2001
Sarah L Archibald MA
Our previous studies revealed abnormalities on structural MRI (sMRI) in small groups of children exposed to alcohol prenatally. Microcephaly, disproportionately reduced basal ganglia volume, and abnormalities of the cerebellar vermis and corpus callosum were demonstrated. The present study used sMRI to examine in detail the regional pattern of brain hypoplasia resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol using a higher resolution imaging protocol and larger sample sizes than reported previously. Fourteen participants (mean 11.4 years; eight females, six males) with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and 12 participants (mean 14.8 years; four females, eight males) with prenatal exposure to alcohol (PEA) but without the facial features of FAS were compared to a group of 41 control participants (mean 12.8 years, 20 females, 21 males). Findings of significant microcephaly and disproportionately reduced basal ganglia volumes in the FAS group were confirmed. Novel findings were that in FAS participants, white matter volumes were more affected than gray matter volumes in the cerebrum, and parietal lobes were more affected than temporal and occipital lobes. Among subcortical structures, in contrast to the disproportionate effects on caudate nucleus, the hippocampus was relatively preserved in FAS participants. Differences between the PEA group and controls were generally non-significant; however, among a few of the structures most affected in FAS participants, there was some evidence for volume reduction in PEA participants as well, specifically in basal ganglia and the parietal lobe. There were no group differences in cerebral volume asymmetries. Severe prenatal alcohol exposure appears to produce a specific pattern of brain hypoplasia. [source]

Age-Related Gray Matter Shrinkage in a Treatment Naïve Actively Drinking Alcohol-Dependent Sample

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2010
George Fein
Background:, We previously demonstrated, in a small sample, steeper age-related gray matter shrinkage in treatment naïve alcohol-dependent (TxN) men compared to nonalcoholic controls, but could not separate out the contributions of age and lifetime duration of alcohol use (which were highly correlated) to this effect. In the current study, we have quadrupled the sample size and expanded it to include both men and women to try to replicate and extend the previous findings and to separate the contributions of age and alcohol use to the phenomenon. Methods:, In the current study, we examine cortical gray matter volumes in 18- to 50-year-old TxN (n = 84) versus age and gender comparable controls (n = 67). We used a new Region of Interest Analysis method which accounts for differences in sulcal and gyral enfolding between individuals (Fein et al., 2009a). Results:, We found greater age-related gray matter shrinkage in TxN than in controls. Partial correlation analysis showed that the effect was a function of age and not lifetime alcohol burden. Conclusions:, Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of their contribution toward our knowledge of differences between different subpopulations of alcoholics and in terms of their implications for the morbidity of alcohol dependence in an aging national population. [source]

Parietal Gray Matter Volume Loss Is Related to Spatial Processing Deficits in Long-Term Abstinent Alcoholic Men

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2009
George Fein
Background:, We previously demonstrated relatively intact cognitive function (with the exception of suggestive evidence for persistent deficits in spatial information processing) in middle-aged long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA, abstinent for 6 months or more) compared to age and gender comparable nonalcoholic controls (NAC) (Fein et al., 2006). Methods:, In the current study, we examine cortical gray matter volumes in the same samples to determine whether gray matter volumes in LTAA are consistent with the cognitive results , i.e., exhibiting gray matter volumes comparable to NAC in most brain regions, except for possible indications of persistent shrinkage in the parietal lobe subserving spatial information processing. Results:, We found gray matter shrinkage in LTAA in the parietal lobe consistent with the spatial processing deficits in this same sample. More compelling, in LTAA, the magnitude of parietal gray matter shrinkage was negatively associated with spatial processing domain performance and positively associated with alcohol dose. Gray matter volume deficits were present in the occipital and other cortical tissue, but poorer visuospatial test performance correlated significantly with smaller volumes in the parietal cortex only. Conclusions:, Taken together, the cognitive and structural imaging data provide compelling evidence that chronic alcohol abuse results in shrinkage of the parietal cortex with associated deficits in spatial information processing. [source]

Both Global Gray Matter Volume and Regional Gray Matter Volume Negatively Correlate with Lifetime Alcohol Intake in Non,Alcohol-Dependent Japanese Men: A Volumetric Analysis and a Voxel-Based Morphometry