1
|
Seiffe A, Kazlauskas N, Campolongo M, Depino AM. Juvenile peripheral LPS exposure overrides female resilience to prenatal VPA effects on adult sociability in mice. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11435. [PMID: 38763939 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62217-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibits a gender bias, with boys more frequently affected than girls. Similarly, in mouse models induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA), males typically display reduced sociability, while females are less affected. Although both males and females exhibit VPA effects on neuroinflammatory parameters, these effects are sex-specific. Notably, females exposed to VPA show increased microglia and astrocyte density during the juvenile period. We hypothesized that these distinct neuroinflammatory patterns contribute to the resilience of females to VPA. To investigate this hypothesis, we treated juvenile animals with intraperitoneal bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a treatment known to elicit brain neuroinflammation. We thus evaluated the impact of juvenile LPS-induced inflammation on adult sociability and neuroinflammation in female mice prenatally exposed to VPA. Our results demonstrate that VPA-LPS females exhibit social deficits in adulthood, overriding the resilience observed in VPA-saline littermates. Repetitive behavior and anxiety levels were not affected by either treatment. We also evaluated whether the effect on sociability was accompanied by heightened neuroinflammation in the cerebellum and hippocampus. Surprisingly, we observed reduced astrocyte and microglia density in the cerebellum of VPA-LPS animals. These findings shed light on the complex interactions between prenatal insults, juvenile inflammatory stimuli, and sex-specific vulnerability in ASD-related social deficits, providing insights into potential therapeutic interventions for ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Araceli Seiffe
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-UBA, Int. Guiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 2do piso, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Nadia Kazlauskas
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-UBA, Int. Guiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 2do piso, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcos Campolongo
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-UBA, Int. Guiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 2do piso, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Amaicha Mara Depino
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-UBA, Int. Guiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 2do piso, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Reza Naghdi M, Ahadi R, Motamed Nezhad A, Sadat Ahmadi Tabatabaei F, Soleimani M, Hajisoltani R. The neuroprotective effect of Diosgenin in the rat Valproic acid model of autism. Brain Res 2024; 1838:148963. [PMID: 38705555 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with two core behavioral symptoms restricted/repetitive behavior and social-communication deficit. The unknown etiology of ASD makes it difficult to identify potential treatments. Valproic acid (VPA) is an anticonvulsant drug with teratogenic effects during pregnancy in humans and rodents. Prenatal exposure to VPA induces autism-like behavior in both humans and rodents. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Diosgenin in prenatal Valproic acid-induced autism in rats. METHOD pregnant Wister female rats were given a single intraperitoneal injection of VPA (600 mg/kg, i.p.) on gestational day 12.5. The male offspring were given oral Dios (40 mg/kg, p.o.) or Carboxymethyl cellulose (5 mg/kg, p.o.) for 30 days starting from postnatal day 23. On postnatal day 52, behavioral tests were done. Additionally, biochemical assessments for oxidative stress markers were carried out on postnatal day 60. Further, histological evaluations were performed on the prefrontal tissue by Nissl staining and Immunohistofluorescence. RESULTS The VPA-exposed rats showed increased anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM). They also demonstrated repetitive and grooming behaviors in the marble burying test (MBT) and self-grooming test. Social interaction was reduced, and they had difficulty detecting the novel object in the novel object recognition (NOR) test. Also, VPA-treated rats have shown higher levels of oxidative stress malondialdehyde (MDA) and lower GPX, TAC, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. Furthermore, the number of neurons decreased and the ERK signaling pathway upregulated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). On the other hand, treatment with Dios restored the behavioral consequences, lowered oxidative stress, and death of neurons, and rescued the overly activated ERK1/2 signaling in the prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSION Chronic treatment with Dios restored the behavioral, biochemical, and histological abnormalities caused by prenatal VPA exposure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Reza Ahadi
- Department of Anatomy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | | | - Mansoureh Soleimani
- Department of Anatomy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Razieh Hajisoltani
- Physiology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Baizer JS. Neuroanatomy of autism: what is the role of the cerebellum? Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:94-103. [PMID: 38696597 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism (or autism spectrum disorder) was initially defined as a psychiatric disorder, with the likely cause maternal behavior (the very destructive "refrigerator mother" theory). It took several decades for research into brain mechanisms to become established. Both neuropathological and imaging studies found differences in the cerebellum in autism spectrum disorder, the most widely documented being a decreased density of Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex. The popular interpretation of these results is that cerebellar neuropathology is a critical cause of autism spectrum disorder. We challenge that view by arguing that if fewer Purkinje cells are critical for autism spectrum disorder, then any condition that causes the loss of Purkinje cells should also cause autism spectrum disorder. We will review data on damage to the cerebellum from cerebellar lesions, tumors, and several syndromes (Joubert syndrome, Fragile X, and tuberous sclerosis). Collectively, these studies raise the question of whether the cerebellum really has a role in autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder is now recognized as a genetically caused developmental disorder. A better understanding of the genes that underlie the differences in brain development that result in autism spectrum disorder is likely to show that these genes affect the development of the cerebellum in parallel with the development of the structures that do underlie autism spectrum disorder.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joan S Baizer
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, 123 Sherman Hall, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Fatemi SH, Eschenlauer A, Aman J, Folsom TD, Chekouo T. Quantitative proteomics of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reveals an early pattern of synaptic dysmaturation in children with idiopathic autism. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:161-171. [PMID: 38696595 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder with a rising prevalence and unknown etiology presenting with deficits in cognition and abnormal behavior. We hypothesized that the investigation of the synaptic component of prefrontal cortex may provide proteomic signatures that may identify the biological underpinnings of cognitive deficits in childhood ASD. Subcellular fractions of synaptosomes from prefrontal cortices of age-, brain area-, and postmortem-interval-matched samples from children and adults with idiopathic ASD vs. controls were subjected to HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry. Analysis of data revealed the enrichment of ASD risk genes that participate in slow maturation of the postsynaptic density (PSD) structure and function during early brain development. Proteomic analysis revealed down regulation of PSD-related proteins including AMPA and NMDA receptors, GRM3, DLG4, olfactomedins, Shank1-3, Homer1, CaMK2α, NRXN1, NLGN2, Drebrin1, ARHGAP32, and Dock9 in children with autism (FDR-adjusted P < 0.05). In contrast, PSD-related alterations were less severe or unchanged in adult individuals with ASD. Network analyses revealed glutamate receptor abnormalities. Overall, the proteomic data support the concept that idiopathic autism is a synaptopathy involving PSD-related ASD risk genes. Interruption in evolutionarily conserved slow maturation of the PSD complex in prefrontal cortex may lead to the development of ASD in a susceptible individual.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Hossein Fatemi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Arthur Eschenlauer
- Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, 599 Walter Library, 117 Pleasant Street, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Justin Aman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Timothy D Folsom
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Center for Genome Engineering, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Thierry Chekouo
- University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Guan Z, Yu J, Shi Z, Liu X, Yu R, Lai T, Yang C, Dong H, Chen R, Wei L. Dynamic graph transformer network via dual-view connectivity for autism spectrum disorder identification. Comput Biol Med 2024; 174:108415. [PMID: 38599070 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that requires objective and accurate identification methods for effective early intervention. Previous population-based methods via functional connectivity (FC) analysis ignore the differences between positive and negative FCs, which provide the potential information complementarity. And they also require additional information to construct a pre-defined graph. Meanwhile, two challenging demand attentions are the imbalance of performance caused by the class distribution and the inherent heterogeneity of multi-site data. In this paper, we propose a novel dynamic graph Transformer network based on dual-view connectivity for ASD Identification. It is based on the Autoencoders, which regard the input feature as individual feature and without any inductive bias. First, a dual-view feature extractor is designed to extract individual and complementary information from positive and negative connectivity. Then Graph Transformer network is innovated with a hot plugging K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm module which constructs a dynamic population graph without any additional information. Additionally, we introduce the PolyLoss function and the Vrex method to address the class imbalance and improve the model's generalizability. The evaluation experiment on 1102 subjects from the ABIDE I dataset demonstrates our method can achieve superior performance over several state-of-the-art methods and satisfying generalizability for ASD identification.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zihao Guan
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Jiaming Yu
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Zhenshan Shi
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Xiumei Liu
- Developmental and Behavior Pediatrics Department, Fujian Children's Hospital - Fujian Branch of Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Fuzhou, 350002, China; College of Clinical Medicine for Obstetrics Gynecology and Pediatrics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350012, China
| | - Renping Yu
- School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Taotao Lai
- College of Computer and Control Engineering, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Changcai Yang
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Heng Dong
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Riqing Chen
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Lifang Wei
- College of Computer and Information Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Digital Fujian Research Institute of Big Data for Agriculture and Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Richard Williams N, Tremblay L, Hurt-Thaut C, Brian J, Kowaleski J, Mertel K, Shlüter S, Thaut M. Auditory feedback decreases timing variability for discontinuous and continuous motor tasks in autistic adults. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 18:1379208. [PMID: 38690085 PMCID: PMC11058991 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1379208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autistic individuals demonstrate greater variability and timing error in their motor performance than neurotypical individuals, likely due at least in part to atypical cerebellar characteristics and connectivity. These motor difficulties may differentially affect discrete as opposed to continuous movements in autistic individuals. Augmented auditory feedback has the potential to aid motor timing and variability due to intact auditory-motor pathways in autism and high sensitivity in autistic individuals to auditory stimuli. Methods This experiment investigated whether there were differences in timing accuracy and variability in autistic adults as a function of task (discontinuous vs. continuous movements) and condition (augmented auditory feedback vs. no auditory feedback) in a synchronization-continuation paradigm. Ten autistic young adults aged 17-27 years of age completed the within-subjects study that involved drawing circles at 800 milliseconds intervals on a touch screen. In the discontinuous task, participants traced a series of discrete circles and paused at the top of each circle for at least 60 milliseconds. In the continuous task, participants traced the circles without pausing. Participants traced circles in either a non-auditory condition, or an auditory condition in which they heard a tone each time that they completed a circle drawing. Results Participants had significantly better timing accuracy on the continuous timing task as opposed to the discontinuous task. Timing consistency was significantly higher for tasks performed with auditory feedback. Discussion This research reveals that motor difficulties in autistic individuals affect discrete timing tasks more than continuous tasks, and provides evidence that augmented auditory feedback may be able to mitigate some of the timing variability present in autistic persons' movements. These results provide support for future investigation on the use of music-based therapies involving auditory feedback to address motor dysfunction in autistic individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Richard Williams
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Toronto, ON, Canada
- College of Music and Performing Arts, Belmont University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Luc Tremblay
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- KITE Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Corene Hurt-Thaut
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jessica Brian
- Bloorview Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Julia Kowaleski
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kathrin Mertel
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Michael Thaut
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Klaus J, Stoodley CJ, Schutter DJLG. Neurodevelopmental trajectories of cerebellar grey matter associated with verbal abilities in males with autism spectrum disorder. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 67:101379. [PMID: 38615557 PMCID: PMC11026694 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition frequently associated with structural cerebellar abnormalities. Whether cerebellar grey matter volumes (GMV) are linked to verbal impairments remains controversial. Here, the association between cerebellar GMV and verbal abilities in ASD was examined across the lifespan. Lobular segmentation of the cerebellum was performed on structural MRI scans from the ABIDE I dataset in male individuals with ASD (N=144, age: 8.5-64.0 years) and neurotypical controls (N=188; age: 8.0-56.2 years). Stepwise linear mixed effects modeling including group (ASD vs. neurotypical controls), lobule-wise GMV, and age was performed to identify cerebellar lobules which best predicted verbal abilities as measured by verbal IQ (VIQ). An age-specific association between VIQ and GMV of bilateral Crus II was found in ASD relative to neurotypical controls. In children with ASD, higher VIQ was associated with larger GMV of left Crus II but smaller GMV of right Crus II. By contrast, in adults with ASD, higher VIQ was associated with smaller GMV of left Crus II and larger GMV of right Crus II. These findings indicate that relative to the contralateral hemisphere, an initial reliance on the language-nonspecific left cerebellar hemisphere is offset by more typical right-lateralization in adulthood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jana Klaus
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Dennis J L G Schutter
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kebschull JM, Casoni F, Consalez GG, Goldowitz D, Hawkes R, Ruigrok TJH, Schilling K, Wingate R, Wu J, Yeung J, Uusisaari MY. Cerebellum Lecture: the Cerebellar Nuclei-Core of the Cerebellum. Cerebellum 2024; 23:620-677. [PMID: 36781689 PMCID: PMC10951048 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-022-01506-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
The cerebellum is a key player in many brain functions and a major topic of neuroscience research. However, the cerebellar nuclei (CN), the main output structures of the cerebellum, are often overlooked. This neglect is because research on the cerebellum typically focuses on the cortex and tends to treat the CN as relatively simple output nuclei conveying an inverted signal from the cerebellar cortex to the rest of the brain. In this review, by adopting a nucleocentric perspective we aim to rectify this impression. First, we describe CN anatomy and modularity and comprehensively integrate CN architecture with its highly organized but complex afferent and efferent connectivity. This is followed by a novel classification of the specific neuronal classes the CN comprise and speculate on the implications of CN structure and physiology for our understanding of adult cerebellar function. Based on this thorough review of the adult literature we provide a comprehensive overview of CN embryonic development and, by comparing cerebellar structures in various chordate clades, propose an interpretation of CN evolution. Despite their critical importance in cerebellar function, from a clinical perspective intriguingly few, if any, neurological disorders appear to primarily affect the CN. To highlight this curious anomaly, and encourage future nucleocentric interpretations, we build on our review to provide a brief overview of the various syndromes in which the CN are currently implicated. Finally, we summarize the specific perspectives that a nucleocentric view of the cerebellum brings, move major outstanding issues in CN biology to the limelight, and provide a roadmap to the key questions that need to be answered in order to create a comprehensive integrated model of CN structure, function, development, and evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justus M Kebschull
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | - Filippo Casoni
- Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, and San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - G Giacomo Consalez
- Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, and San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Daniel Goldowitz
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Richard Hawkes
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Tom J H Ruigrok
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Karl Schilling
- Department of Anatomy, Anatomy & Cell Biology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, 53115, Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Richard Wingate
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Joshua Wu
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Joanna Yeung
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Marylka Yoe Uusisaari
- Neuronal Rhythms in Movement Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-Son, Kunigami-Gun, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Gaiser C, van der Vliet R, de Boer AAA, Donchin O, Berthet P, Devenyi GA, Mallar Chakravarty M, Diedrichsen J, Marquand AF, Frens MA, Muetzel RL. Population-wide cerebellar growth models of children and adolescents. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2351. [PMID: 38499518 PMCID: PMC10948906 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46398-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
In the past, the cerebellum has been best known for its crucial role in motor function. However, increasingly more findings highlight the importance of cerebellar contributions in cognitive functions and neurodevelopment. Using a total of 7240 neuroimaging scans from 4862 individuals, we describe and provide detailed, openly available models of cerebellar development in childhood and adolescence (age range: 6-17 years), an important time period for brain development and onset of neuropsychiatric disorders. Next to a traditionally used anatomical parcellation of the cerebellum, we generated growth models based on a recently proposed functional parcellation. In both, we find an anterior-posterior growth gradient mirroring the age-related improvements of underlying behavior and function, which is analogous to cerebral maturation patterns and offers evidence for directly related cerebello-cortical developmental trajectories. Finally, we illustrate how the current approach can be used to detect cerebellar abnormalities in clinical samples.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Gaiser
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Rick van der Vliet
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Augustijn A A de Boer
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Opher Donchin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel
- Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Pierre Berthet
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Norwegian Center for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), University of Oslo, and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Gabriel A Devenyi
- Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - M Mallar Chakravarty
- Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Jörn Diedrichsen
- Western Institute of Neuroscience, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Computer Science, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andre F Marquand
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten A Frens
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Ryan L Muetzel
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Lyu W, Wu Y, Huynh KM, Ahmad S, Yap PT. A multimodal submillimeter MRI atlas of the human cerebellum. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5622. [PMID: 38453991 PMCID: PMC10920891 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55412-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The human cerebellum is engaged in a broad array of tasks related to motor coordination, cognition, language, attention, memory, and emotional regulation. A detailed cerebellar atlas can facilitate the investigation of the structural and functional organization of the cerebellum. However, existing cerebellar atlases are typically limited to a single imaging modality with insufficient characterization of tissue properties. Here, we introduce a multifaceted cerebellar atlas based on high-resolution multimodal MRI, facilitating the understanding of the neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration of the cerebellum based on cortical morphology, tissue microstructure, and intra-cerebellar and cerebello-cerebral connectivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenjiao Lyu
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ye Wu
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Khoi Minh Huynh
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sahar Ahmad
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Pew-Thian Yap
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Hanzel M, Fernando K, Maloney SE, Gong S, Mätlik K, Zhao J, Pasolli HA, Heissel S, Dougherty JD, Hull C, Hatten ME. Mice lacking Astn2 have ASD-like behaviors and altered cerebellar circuit properties. bioRxiv 2024:2024.02.18.580354. [PMID: 38405978 PMCID: PMC10888872 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.18.580354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Astrotactin 2 (ASTN2) is a transmembrane neuronal protein highly expressed in the cerebellum that functions in receptor trafficking and modulates cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) synaptic activity. We recently reported a family with a paternally inherited intragenic ASTN2 duplication with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning difficulties, and speech and language delay. To provide a genetic model for the role of the cerebellum in ASD-related behaviors and study the role of ASTN2 in cerebellar circuit function, we generated global and PC-specific conditional Astn2 knockout (KO and cKO, respectively) mouse lines. Astn2 KO mice exhibit strong ASD-related behavioral phenotypes, including a marked decrease in separation-induced pup ultrasonic vocalization calls, hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors, altered social behaviors, and impaired cerebellar-dependent eyeblink conditioning. Hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors were also prominent in Astn2 cKO animals. By Golgi staining, Astn2 KO PCs have region-specific changes in dendritic spine density and filopodia numbers. Proteomic analysis of Astn2 KO cerebellum reveals a marked upregulation of ASTN2 family member, ASTN1, a neuron-glial adhesion protein. Immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy demonstrates a significant increase in Bergmann glia volume in the molecular layer of Astn2 KO animals. Electrophysiological experiments indicate a reduced frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs), as well as increased amplitudes of both spontaneous EPSCs and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in the Astn2 KO animals, suggesting that pre- and postsynaptic components of synaptic transmission are altered. Thus, ASTN2 regulates ASD-like behaviors and cerebellar circuit properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michalina Hanzel
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| | - Kayla Fernando
- Neurobiology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Susan E Maloney
- Dept of Psychiatry and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University Medical School, St Louis, MO, USA
| | | | - Kärt Mätlik
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| | - Jiajia Zhao
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| | - H Amalia Pasolli
- Electron Microscopy Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| | - Søren Heissel
- Proteomics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Dept of Psychiatry and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University Medical School, St Louis, MO, USA
- Dept of Genetics, Washington University Medical School, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Court Hull
- Neurobiology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Mary E Hatten
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA 10065
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Hur SW, Safaryan K, Yang L, Blair HT, Masmanidis SC, Mathews PJ, Aharoni D, Golshani P. Correlated signatures of social behavior in cerebellum and anterior cingulate cortex. eLife 2024; 12:RP88439. [PMID: 38345922 PMCID: PMC10942583 DOI: 10.7554/elife.88439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum has been implicated in the regulation of social behavior. Its influence is thought to arise from communication, via the thalamus, to forebrain regions integral in the expression of social interactions, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, the signals encoded or the nature of the communication between the cerebellum and these brain regions is poorly understood. Here, we describe an approach that overcomes technical challenges in exploring the coordination of distant brain regions at high temporal and spatial resolution during social behavior. We developed the E-Scope, an electrophysiology-integrated miniature microscope, to synchronously measure extracellular electrical activity in the cerebellum along with calcium imaging of the ACC. This single coaxial cable device combined these data streams to provide a powerful tool to monitor the activity of distant brain regions in freely behaving animals. During social behavior, we recorded the spike timing of multiple single units in cerebellar right Crus I (RCrus I) Purkinje cells (PCs) or dentate nucleus (DN) neurons while synchronously imaging calcium transients in contralateral ACC neurons. We found that during social interactions a significant subpopulation of cerebellar PCs were robustly inhibited, while most modulated neurons in the DN were activated, and their activity was correlated with positively modulated ACC neurons. These distinctions largely disappeared when only non-social epochs were analyzed suggesting that cerebellar-cortical interactions were behaviorally specific. Our work provides new insights into the complexity of cerebellar activation and co-modulation of the ACC during social behavior and a valuable open-source tool for simultaneous, multimodal recordings in freely behaving mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sung Won Hur
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterTorranceUnited States
| | - Karen Safaryan
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Long Yang
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Hugh T Blair
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Sotiris C Masmanidis
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Paul J Mathews
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterTorranceUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterTorranceUnited States
| | - Daniel Aharoni
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Peyman Golshani
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Demopoulos C, Jesson X, Gerdes MR, Jurigova BG, Hinkley LB, Ranasinghe KG, Desai S, Honma S, Mizuiri D, Findlay A, Nagarajan SS, Marco EJ. Global MEG Resting State Functional Connectivity in Children with Autism and Sensory Processing Dysfunction. bioRxiv 2024:2024.01.26.577499. [PMID: 38352614 PMCID: PMC10862722 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.26.577499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Sensory processing dysfunction not only affects most individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but at least 5% of children without ASD also experience dysfunctional sensory processing. Our understanding of the relationship between sensory dysfunction and resting state brain activity is still emerging. This study compared long-range resting state functional connectivity of neural oscillatory behavior in children aged 8-12 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N=18), those with sensory processing dysfunction (SPD; N=18) who do not meet ASD criteria, and typically developing control participants (TDC; N=24) using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Functional connectivity analyses were performed in the alpha and beta frequency bands, which are known to be implicated in sensory information processing. Group differences in functional connectivity and associations between sensory abilities and functional connectivity were examined. Distinct patterns of functional connectivity differences between ASD and SPD groups were found only in the beta band, but not in the alpha band. In both alpha and beta bands, ASD and SPD cohorts differed from the TDC cohort. Somatosensory cortical beta-band functional connectivity was associated with tactile processing abilities, while higher-order auditory cortical alpha-band functional connectivity was associated with auditory processing abilities. These findings demonstrate distinct long-range neural synchrony alterations in SPD and ASD that are associated with sensory processing abilities. Neural synchrony measures could serve as potential sensitive biomarkers for ASD and SPD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carly Demopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, 675 18 Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Xuan Jesson
- Department of Psychology, Palo Alto University, 1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304
| | - Molly Rae Gerdes
- Cortica Healthcare, Department of Neurodevelopmental Medicine, 4000 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
| | - Barbora G. Jurigova
- Cortica Healthcare, Department of Neurodevelopmental Medicine, 4000 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
| | - Leighton B. Hinkley
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Kamalini G. Ranasinghe
- University of California-San Francisco, Department of Neurology, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Shivani Desai
- University of California-San Francisco, Department of Neurology, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Susanne Honma
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Danielle Mizuiri
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Anne Findlay
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Srikantan S. Nagarajan
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Elysa J. Marco
- Cortica Healthcare, Department of Neurodevelopmental Medicine, 4000 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Wilkes BJ, Archer DB, Farmer AL, Bass C, Korah H, Vaillancourt DE, Lewis MH. Cortico-basal ganglia white matter microstructure is linked to restricted repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorder. Mol Autism 2024; 15:6. [PMID: 38254158 PMCID: PMC10804694 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-023-00581-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Restricted repetitive behavior (RRB) is one of two behavioral domains required for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Neuroimaging is widely used to study brain alterations associated with ASD and the domain of social and communication deficits, but there has been less work regarding brain alterations linked to RRB. METHODS We utilized neuroimaging data from the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive to assess basal ganglia and cerebellum structure in a cohort of children and adolescents with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) controls. We evaluated regional gray matter volumes from T1-weighted anatomical scans and assessed diffusion-weighted scans to quantify white matter microstructure with free-water imaging. We also investigated the interaction of biological sex and ASD diagnosis on these measures, and their correlation with clinical scales of RRB. RESULTS Individuals with ASD had significantly lower free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FAT) and higher free-water (FW) in cortico-basal ganglia white matter tracts. These microstructural differences did not interact with biological sex. Moreover, both FAT and FW in basal ganglia white matter tracts significantly correlated with measures of RRB. In contrast, we found no significant difference in basal ganglia or cerebellar gray matter volumes. LIMITATIONS The basal ganglia and cerebellar regions in this study were selected due to their hypothesized relevance to RRB. Differences between ASD and TD individuals that may occur outside the basal ganglia and cerebellum, and their potential relationship to RRB, were not evaluated. CONCLUSIONS These new findings demonstrate that cortico-basal ganglia white matter microstructure is altered in ASD and linked to RRB. FW in cortico-basal ganglia and intra-basal ganglia white matter was more sensitive to group differences in ASD, whereas cortico-basal ganglia FAT was more closely linked to RRB. In contrast, basal ganglia and cerebellar volumes did not differ in ASD. There was no interaction between ASD diagnosis and sex-related differences in brain structure. Future diffusion imaging investigations in ASD may benefit from free-water estimation and correction in order to better understand how white matter is affected in ASD, and how such measures are linked to RRB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bradley J Wilkes
- Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118205, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
| | - Derek B Archer
- Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer's Center, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Anna L Farmer
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Carly Bass
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Hannah Korah
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - David E Vaillancourt
- Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118205, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Neurology, Fixel Center for Neurological Diseases, Program in Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Mark H Lewis
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Newman J, Tong X, Tan A, Yeasky T, De Paiva VN, Presicce P, Kannan PS, Williams K, Damianos A, Tamase Newsam M, Benny MK, Wu S, Young KC, Miller LA, Kallapur SG, Chougnet CA, Jobe AH, Brambilla R, Schmidt AF. Chorioamnionitis accelerates granule cell and oligodendrocyte maturation in the cerebellum of preterm nonhuman primates. J Neuroinflammation 2024; 21:16. [PMID: 38200558 PMCID: PMC10777625 DOI: 10.1186/s12974-024-03012-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Preterm birth is often associated with chorioamnionitis and leads to increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism. Preterm birth can lead to cerebellar underdevelopment, but the mechanisms of disrupted cerebellar development in preterm infants are not well understood. The cerebellum is consistently affected in people with autism spectrum disorders, showing reduction of Purkinje cells, decreased cerebellar grey matter, and altered connectivity. METHODS Preterm rhesus macaque fetuses were exposed to intra-amniotic LPS (1 mg, E. coli O55:B5) at 127 days (80%) gestation and delivered by c-section 5 days after injections. Maternal and fetal plasma were sampled for cytokine measurements. Chorio-decidua was analyzed for immune cell populations by flow cytometry. Fetal cerebellum was sampled for histology and molecular analysis by single-nuclei RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) on a 10× chromium platform. snRNA-seq data were analyzed for differences in cell populations, cell-type specific gene expression, and inferred cellular communications. RESULTS We leveraged snRNA-seq of the cerebellum in a clinically relevant rhesus macaque model of chorioamnionitis and preterm birth, to show that chorioamnionitis leads to Purkinje cell loss and disrupted maturation of granule cells and oligodendrocytes in the fetal cerebellum at late gestation. Purkinje cell loss is accompanied by decreased sonic hedgehog signaling from Purkinje cells to granule cells, which show an accelerated maturation, and to oligodendrocytes, which show accelerated maturation from pre-oligodendrocytes into myelinating oligodendrocytes. CONCLUSION These findings suggest a role of chorioamnionitis on disrupted cerebellar maturation associated with preterm birth and on the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders among preterm infants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Josef Newman
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Xiaoying Tong
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - April Tan
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Toni Yeasky
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Vanessa Nunes De Paiva
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Pietro Presicce
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Paranthaman S Kannan
- Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA
| | - Kevin Williams
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Andreas Damianos
- Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA
| | - Marione Tamase Newsam
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Merline K Benny
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Shu Wu
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Karen C Young
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA
| | - Lisa A Miller
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Suhas G Kallapur
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Claire A Chougnet
- Division of Immunobiology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA
| | - Alan H Jobe
- Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA
| | - Roberta Brambilla
- The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, USA
| | - Augusto F Schmidt
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Health System, Miami, USA.
- Batchelor Children's Research Institute, 1580 NW 10Th Ave, Room 348, Miami, FL, 33146, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Lin P, Zhang Q, Sun J, Li Q, Li D, Zhu M, Fu X, Zhao L, Wang M, Lou X, Chen Q, Liang K, Zhu Y, Qu C, Li Z, Ma P, Wang R, Liu H, Dong K, Guo X, Cheng X, Sun Y, Sun J. A comparison between children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and healthy controls in biomedical factors, trace elements, and microbiota biomarkers: a meta-analysis. Front Psychiatry 2024; 14:1318637. [PMID: 38283894 PMCID: PMC10813399 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1318637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted developmental condition that commonly appears during early childhood. The etiology of ASD remains multifactorial and not yet fully understood. The identification of biomarkers may provide insights into the underlying mechanisms and pathophysiology of the disorder. The present study aimed to explore the causes of ASD by investigating the key biomedical markers, trace elements, and microbiota factors between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and control subjects. Methods Medline, PubMed, ProQuest, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and EMBSCO databases have been searched for publications from 2012 to 2023 with no language restrictions using the population, intervention, control, and outcome (PICO) approach. Keywords including "autism spectrum disorder," "oxytocin," "GABA," "Serotonin," "CRP," "IL-6," "Fe," "Zn," "Cu," and "gut microbiota" were used for the search. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the article quality, and a random model was used to assess the mean difference and standardized difference between ASD and the control group in all biomedical markers, trace elements, and microbiota factors. Results From 76,217 records, 43 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analyses showed that children with ASD had significantly lower levels of oxytocin (mean differences, MD = -45.691, 95% confidence interval, CI: -61.667, -29.717), iron (MD = -3.203, 95% CI: -4.891, -1.514), and zinc (MD = -6.707, 95% CI: -12.691, -0.722), lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium (MD = -1.321, 95% CI: -2.403, -0.238) and Parabacteroides (MD = -0.081, 95% CI: -0.148, -0.013), higher levels of c-reactive protein, CRP (MD = 0.401, 95% CI: 0.036, 0.772), and GABA (MD = 0.115, 95% CI: 0.045, 0.186), and higher relative abundance of Bacteroides (MD = 1.386, 95% CI: 0.717, 2.055) and Clostridium (MD = 0.281, 95% CI: 0.035, 0.526) when compared with controls. The results of the overall analyses were stable after performing the sensitivity analyses. Additionally, no substantial publication bias was observed among the studies. Interpretation Children with ASD have significantly higher levels of CRP and GABA, lower levels of oxytocin, iron, and zinc, lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Parabacteroides, and higher relative abundance of Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, and Clostridium when compared with controls. These results suggest that these indicators may be a potential biomarker panel for the diagnosis or determining therapeutic targets of ASD. Furthermore, large, sample-based, and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ping Lin
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Qianwen Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Digital Technology in Medical Diagnostics of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Hangzhou Calibra Diagnostics, Hangzhou, China
| | - Junyu Sun
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Qingtian Li
- College of Health Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Dan Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Mengyuan Zhu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaomei Fu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ling Zhao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Mengxia Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoyan Lou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Qing Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Kangyi Liang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuxin Zhu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Caiwei Qu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhenhua Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Peijun Ma
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Renyu Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Huafen Liu
- Key Laboratory of Digital Technology in Medical Diagnostics of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Hangzhou Calibra Diagnostics, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ke Dong
- Institute for Global Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaokui Guo
- Institute for Global Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Xunjia Cheng
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yang Sun
- Institute of Arthritis Research, Shanghai Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Sun
- School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute for Integrated Intelligence and Systems, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Abbott PW, Hardie JB, Walsh KP, Nessler AJ, Farley SJ, Freeman JH, Wemmie JA, Wendt L, Kim YC, Sowers LP, Parker KL. Knockdown of the Non-canonical Wnt Gene Prickle2 Leads to Cerebellar Purkinje Cell Abnormalities While Cerebellar-Mediated Behaviors Remain Intact. Cerebellum 2024:10.1007/s12311-023-01648-9. [PMID: 38165577 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-023-01648-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/04/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) involve brain wide abnormalities that contribute to a constellation of symptoms including behavioral inflexibility, cognitive dysfunction, learning impairments, altered social interactions, and perceptive time difficulties. Although a single genetic variation does not cause ASD, genetic variations such as one involving a non-canonical Wnt signaling gene, Prickle2, has been found in individuals with ASD. Previous work looking into phenotypes of Prickle2 knock-out (Prickle2-/-) and heterozygous mice (Prickle2-/+) suggest patterns of behavior similar to individuals with ASD including altered social interaction and behavioral inflexibility. Growing evidence implicates the cerebellum in ASD. As Prickle2 is expressed in the cerebellum, this animal model presents a unique opportunity to investigate the cerebellar contribution to autism-like phenotypes. Here, we explore cerebellar structural and physiological abnormalities in animals with Prickle2 knockdown using immunohistochemistry, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology, and several cerebellar-associated motor and timing tasks, including interval timing and eyeblink conditioning. Histologically, Prickle2-/- mice have significantly more empty spaces or gaps between Purkinje cells in the posterior lobules and a decreased propensity for Purkinje cells to fire action potentials. These structural cerebellar abnormalities did not impair cerebellar-associated behaviors as eyeblink conditioning and interval timing remained intact. Therefore, although Prickle-/- mice show classic phenotypes of ASD, they do not recapitulate the involvement of the adult cerebellum and may not represent the pathophysiological heterogeneity of the disorder.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Parker W Abbott
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Jason B Hardie
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Kyle P Walsh
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Aaron J Nessler
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | | | - John H Freeman
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - John A Wemmie
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Linder Wendt
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Young-Cho Kim
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
- Department of Neurology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Levi P Sowers
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA
| | - Krystal L Parker
- Department of Psychiatry, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Hegarty JP, Monterrey JC, Tian Q, Cleveland SC, Gong X, Phillips JM, Wolke ON, McNab JA, Hallmayer JF, Reiss AL, Hardan AY, Lazzeroni LC. A Twin Study of Altered White Matter Heritability in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2024; 63:65-79. [PMID: 37406770 PMCID: PMC10802971 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2023.05.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE White matter alterations are frequently reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the etiology is currently unknown. The objective of this investigation was to examine, for the first time, the impact of genetic and environmental factors on white matter microstructure in twins with ASD compared to control twins without ASD. METHOD Diffusion-weighted MRIs were obtained from same-sex twin pairs (6-15 years of age) in which at least 1 twin was diagnosed with ASD or neither twin exhibited a history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were examined across different white matter tracts in the brain, and statistical and twin modeling were completed to assess the proportion of variation associated with additive genetic (A) and common/shared (C) or unique (E) environmental factors. We also developed a novel Twin-Pair Difference Score analysis method that produces quantitative estimates of the genetic and environmental contributions to shared covariance between different brain and behavioral traits. RESULTS Good-quality data were available from 84 twin pairs, 50 ASD pairs (32 concordant for ASD [16 monozygotic; 16 dizygotic], 16 discordant for ASD [3 monozygotic; 13 dizygotic], and 2 pairs in which 1 twin had ASD and the other exhibited some subthreshold symptoms [1 monozygotic; 1 dizygotic]) and 34 control pairs (20 monozygotic; 14 dizygotic). Average FA and MD across the brain, respectively, were primarily genetically mediated in both control twins (A = 0.80, 95% CI [0.57, 1.02]; A = 0.80 [0.55, 1.04]) and twins concordant for having ASD (A = 0.71 [0.33, 1.09]; A = 0.84 [0.32,1.36]). However, there were also significant tract-specific differences between groups. For instance, genetic effects on commissural fibers were primarily associated with differences in general cognitive abilities and perhaps some diagnostic differences for ASD because Twin-Pair Difference-Score analysis indicated that genetic factors may have contributed to ∼40% to 50% of the covariation between IQ scores and FA of the corpus callosum. Conversely, the increased impact of environmental factors on some projection and association fibers were primarily associated with differences in symptom severity in twins with ASD; for example, our analyses suggested that unique environmental factors may have contributed to ∼10% to 20% of the covariation between autism-related symptom severity and FA of the cerebellar peduncles and external capsule. CONCLUSION White matter alterations in youth with ASD are associated with both genetic contributions and potentially increased vulnerability or responsivity to environmental influences. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as living with a disability. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location and/or community where the research was conducted and they participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John P Hegarty
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
| | | | - Qiyuan Tian
- Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Sue C Cleveland
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Xinyi Gong
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | | | - Olga N Wolke
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | | | | | - Allan L Reiss
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
19
|
Johnson AJ, Shankland E, Richards T, Corrigan N, Shusterman D, Edden R, Estes A, St John T, Dager S, Kleinhans NM. Relationships between GABA, glutamate, and GABA/glutamate and social and olfactory processing in children with autism spectrum disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2023; 336:111745. [PMID: 37956467 PMCID: PMC10841920 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Theories of altered inhibitory/excitatory signaling in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggest that gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (Glu) abnormalities may underlie social and sensory challenges in ASD. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to measure Glu and GABA+ levels in the amygdala-hippocampus region and cerebellum in autistic children (n = 30), a clinical control group with sensory abnormalities (SA) but not ASD (n = 30), and children with typical development (n = 37). All participants were clinically assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-2, and the Child Sensory Profile-2. The Social Responsiveness Scale-2, Sniffin Sticks Threshold Test, and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test were administered to assess social impairment and olfactory processing. Overall, autistic children showed increased cerebellar Glu levels compared to TYP children. Evidence for altered excitatory/inhibitory signaling in the cerebellum was more clear-cut when analyses were restricted to male participants. Further, lower cerebellar GABA+/Glu ratios were correlated to more severe social impairment in both autistic and SA males, suggesting that the cerebellum may play a transdiagnostic role in social impairment. Future studies of inhibitory/excitatory neural markers, powered to investigate the role of sex, may aid in parsing out disorder-specific neurochemical profiles.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Allegra J Johnson
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, USA; Integrated Brain Imaging Center (IBIC), University of Washington, Box 357115, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | | | - Todd Richards
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, USA; Integrated Brain Imaging Center (IBIC), University of Washington, Box 357115, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Neva Corrigan
- Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD), University of Washington, USA
| | - Dennis Shusterman
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Richard Edden
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA; F.M. Kirby Center for Functional MRI, Kennedy Krieger Institute, USA
| | - Annette Estes
- Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD), University of Washington, USA; Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, USA; University of Washington Autism Center, USA
| | - Tanya St John
- University of Washington Autism Center, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Stephen Dager
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, USA; Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD), University of Washington, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Washington, USA
| | - Natalia M Kleinhans
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, USA; Integrated Brain Imaging Center (IBIC), University of Washington, Box 357115, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD), University of Washington, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Alho J, Samuelsson JG, Khan S, Mamashli F, Bharadwaj H, Losh A, McGuiggan NM, Graham S, Nayal Z, Perrachione TK, Joseph RM, Stoodley CJ, Hämäläinen MS, Kenet T. Both stronger and weaker cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity patterns during processing of spoken sentences in autism spectrum disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:5810-5827. [PMID: 37688547 PMCID: PMC10619366 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Cerebellar differences have long been documented in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the extent to which such differences might impact language processing in ASD remains unknown. To investigate this, we recorded brain activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) while ASD and age-matched typically developing (TD) children passively processed spoken meaningful English and meaningless Jabberwocky sentences. Using a novel source localization approach that allows higher resolution MEG source localization of cerebellar activity, we found that, unlike TD children, ASD children showed no difference between evoked responses to meaningful versus meaningless sentences in right cerebellar lobule VI. ASD children also had atypically weak functional connectivity in the meaningful versus meaningless speech condition between right cerebellar lobule VI and several left-hemisphere sensorimotor and language regions in later time windows. In contrast, ASD children had atypically strong functional connectivity for in the meaningful versus meaningless speech condition between right cerebellar lobule VI and primary auditory cortical areas in an earlier time window. The atypical functional connectivity patterns in ASD correlated with ASD severity and the ability to inhibit involuntary attention. These findings align with a model where cerebro-cerebellar speech processing mechanisms in ASD are impacted by aberrant stimulus-driven attention, which could result from atypical temporal information and predictions of auditory sensory events by right cerebellar lobule VI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jussi Alho
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - John G. Samuelsson
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Harvard‐MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - Sheraz Khan
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Fahimeh Mamashli
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Hari Bharadwaj
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and Weldon School of Biomedical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
| | - Ainsley Losh
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Nicole M. McGuiggan
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Steven Graham
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Zein Nayal
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Tyler K. Perrachione
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing SciencesBoston UniversityBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Robert M. Joseph
- Department of Anatomy and NeurobiologyBoston University School of MedicineBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Catherine J. Stoodley
- Department of PsychologyCollege of Arts and Sciences, American UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Matti S. Hämäläinen
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Tal Kenet
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Ament SA, Cortes-Gutierrez M, Herb BR, Mocci E, Colantuoni C, McCarthy MM. A single-cell genomic atlas for maturation of the human cerebellum during early childhood. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eade1283. [PMID: 37824600 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ade1283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Inflammation early in life is a clinically established risk factor for autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, yet the impact of inflammation on human brain development is poorly understood. The cerebellum undergoes protracted postnatal maturation, making it especially susceptible to perturbations contributing to the risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, using single-cell genomics of postmortem cerebellar brain samples, we characterized the postnatal development of cerebellar neurons and glia in 1- to 5-year-old children, comparing individuals who had died while experiencing inflammation with those who had died as a result of an accident. Our analyses revealed that inflammation and postnatal cerebellar maturation are associated with extensive, overlapping transcriptional changes primarily in two subtypes of inhibitory neurons: Purkinje neurons and Golgi neurons. Immunohistochemical analysis of a subset of these postmortem cerebellar samples revealed no change to Purkinje neuron soma size but evidence for increased activation of microglia in those children who had experienced inflammation. Maturation-associated and inflammation-associated gene expression changes included genes implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. A gene regulatory network model integrating cell type-specific gene expression and chromatin accessibility identified seven temporally specific gene networks in Purkinje neurons and suggested that inflammation may be associated with the premature down-regulation of developmental gene expression programs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seth A Ament
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- UM-MIND, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Marcia Cortes-Gutierrez
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Brian R Herb
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Evelina Mocci
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pain Sciences, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Carlo Colantuoni
- Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Margaret M McCarthy
- UM-MIND, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Hur SW, Safaryan K, Yang L, Blair HT, Masmanidis SC, Mathews PJ, Aharoni D, Golshani P. Correlated signatures of social behavior in cerebellum and anterior cingulate cortex. bioRxiv 2023:2023.04.05.535750. [PMID: 37066345 PMCID: PMC10104017 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.05.535750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
The cerebellum has been implicated in the regulation of social behavior. Its influence is thought to arise from communication, via the thalamus, to forebrain regions integral in the expression of social interactions, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, the signals encoded or the nature of the communication between the cerebellum and these brain regions is poorly understood. Here, we describe an approach that overcomes technical challenges in exploring the coordination of distant brain regions at high temporal and spatial resolution during social behavior. We developed the E-Scope, an electrophysiology-integrated miniature microscope, to synchronously measure extracellular electrical activity in the cerebellum along with calcium imaging of the ACC. This single coaxial cable device combined these data streams to provide a powerful tool to monitor the activity of distant brain regions in freely behaving animals. During social behavior, we recorded the spike timing of multiple single units in cerebellar right Crus I (RCrus I) Purkinje cells (PCs) or dentate nucleus (DN) neurons while synchronously imaging calcium transients in contralateral ACC neurons. We found that during social interactions a significant subpopulation of cerebellar PCs were robustly inhibited, while most modulated neurons in the DN were activated, and their activity was correlated with positively modulated ACC neurons. These distinctions largely disappeared when only non-social epochs were analyzed suggesting that cerebellar-cortical interactions were behaviorally specific. Our work provides new insights into the complexity of cerebellar activation and co-modulation of the ACC during social behavior and a valuable open-source tool for simultaneous, multimodal recordings in freely behaving mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sung Won Hur
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA
| | - Karen Safaryan
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Long Yang
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Hugh T Blair
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sotiris C Masmanidis
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Paul J Mathews
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA
| | - Daniel Aharoni
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Peyman Golshani
- Department of Neurology, DGSOM, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
László K, Vörös D, Correia P, Fazekas CL, Török B, Plangár I, Zelena D. Vasopressin as Possible Treatment Option in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biomedicines 2023; 11:2603. [PMID: 37892977 PMCID: PMC10603886 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11102603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rather common, presenting with prevalent early problems in social communication and accompanied by repetitive behavior. As vasopressin was implicated not only in salt-water homeostasis and stress-axis regulation, but also in social behavior, its role in the development of ASD might be suggested. In this review, we summarized a wide range of problems associated with ASD to which vasopressin might contribute, from social skills to communication, motor function problems, autonomous nervous system alterations as well as sleep disturbances, and altered sensory information processing. Beside functional connections between vasopressin and ASD, we draw attention to the anatomical background, highlighting several brain areas, including the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, medial preoptic area, lateral septum, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, amygdala, hippocampus, olfactory bulb and even the cerebellum, either producing vasopressin or containing vasopressinergic receptors (presumably V1a). Sex differences in the vasopressinergic system might underline the male prevalence of ASD. Moreover, vasopressin might contribute to the effectiveness of available off-label therapies as well as serve as a possible target for intervention. In this sense, vasopressin, but paradoxically also V1a receptor antagonist, were found to be effective in some clinical trials. We concluded that although vasopressin might be an effective candidate for ASD treatment, we might assume that only a subgroup (e.g., with stress-axis disturbances), a certain sex (most probably males) and a certain brain area (targeting by means of virus vectors) would benefit from this therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristóf László
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
| | - Dávid Vörös
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
| | - Pedro Correia
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network, Institute of Experimental Medicine, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Csilla Lea Fazekas
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network, Institute of Experimental Medicine, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bibiána Török
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network, Institute of Experimental Medicine, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Imola Plangár
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
| | - Dóra Zelena
- Institute of Physiology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary; (K.L.); (D.V.); (P.C.); (C.L.F.); (B.T.); (I.P.)
- Center of Neuroscience, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Szentágothai Research Center, University of Pécs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network, Institute of Experimental Medicine, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Wang Y, Long H, Zhou Q, Bo T, Zheng J. PLSNet: Position-aware GCN-based autism spectrum disorder diagnosis via FC learning and ROIs sifting. Comput Biol Med 2023; 163:107184. [PMID: 37356292 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
Brain function connectivity, derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has enjoyed high popularity in the studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Albeit rapid progress has been made, most studies still suffer from several knotty issues: (1) the hardship of modeling the sophisticated brain neuronal connectivity; (2) the mismatch of identically graph node setup to the variations of different brain regions; (3) the dimensionality explosion resulted from excessive voxels in each fMRI sample; (4) the poor interpretability giving rise to unpersuasive diagnosis. To ameliorate these issues, we propose a position-aware graph-convolution-network-based model, namely PLSNet, with superior accuracy and compelling built-in interpretability for ASD diagnosis. Specifically, a time-series encoder is designed for context-rich feature extraction, followed by a function connectivity generator to model the correlation with long range dependencies. In addition, to discriminate the brain nodes with different locations, the position embedding technique is adopted, giving a unique identity to each graph region. We then embed a rarefying method to sift the salient nodes during message diffusion, which would also benefit the reduction of the dimensionality complexity. Extensive experiments conducted on Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange demonstrate that our PLSNet achieves state-of-the-art performance. Notably, on CC200 atlas, PLSNet reaches an accuracy of 76.4% and a specificity of 78.6%, overwhelming the previous state-of-the-art with 2.5% and 6.5% under five-fold cross-validation policy. Moreover, the most salient brain regions predicted by PLSNet are closely consistent with the theoretical knowledge in the medical domain, providing potential biomarkers for ASD clinical diagnosis. Our code is available at https://github.com/CodeGoat24/PLSNet.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yibin Wang
- College of Computer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Haixia Long
- College of Computer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Qianwei Zhou
- College of Computer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Tao Bo
- Scientific Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250021, Shandong, China
| | - Jianwei Zheng
- College of Computer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Batouli SAH, Razavi F, Sisakhti M, Oghabian Z, Ahmadzade H, Tehrani Doost M. Examining the Dominant Presence of Brain Grey Matter in Autism During Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Basic Clin Neurosci 2023; 14:585-604. [PMID: 38628837 PMCID: PMC11016874 DOI: 10.32598/bcn.2021.1774.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms appearing from early childhood. Behavioral modifications, special education, and medicines are used to treat ASD; however, the effectiveness of the treatments depends on early diagnosis of the disorder. The primary approach in diagnosing ASD is based on clinical interviews and valid scales. Still, methods based on brain imaging could also be possible diagnostic biomarkers for ASD. Methods To identify the amount of information the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals on ASD, we reviewed 292 task-based fMRI studies on ASD individuals. This study is part of a systematic review with the registration number CRD42017070975. Results We observed that face perception, language, attention, and social processing tasks were mainly studied in ASD. In addition, 73 brain regions, nearly 83% of brain grey matter, showed an altered activation between the ASD and normal individuals during these four tasks, either in a lower or a higher activation. Conclusion Using imaging methods, such as fMRI, to diagnose and predict ASD is a great objective; research similar to the present study could be the initial step.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Amir Hossein Batouli
- Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Foroogh Razavi
- Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Minoo Sisakhti
- Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Studies, Tehran, Iran
| | - Zeinab Oghabian
- Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Haady Ahmadzade
- Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Neuroimaging and Analysis Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Tehrani Doost
- Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Research Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Roozbeh Psychiatry Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Holuka C, Morel C, Roth S, Lamartinière Y, Mériaux SB, Paoli J, Guébels P, Duca RC, Godderis L, van Nieuwenhuyse A, Kremarik-Bouillaud P, Cariou R, Emond C, Schroeder H, Turner JD, Grova N. The epigenetic hallmark of early-life α-hexabromocyclododecane exposure: From cerebellar 6-mA levels to locomotor performance in adulthood. Environ Int 2023; 178:108103. [PMID: 37494814 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing evidence that methylation at the N6 position of adenine (6-mA), whose modulation occurs primarily during development, would be a reliable epigenetic marker in eukaryotic organisms. The present study raises the question as to whether early-life exposure to α-hexabromocyclododecane (α-HBCDD), a brominated flame retardant, may trigger modifications in 6-mA epigenetic hallmarks in the brain during the development which, in turn could affect the offspring behaviour in adulthood. Pregnant Wistar rats were split into two groups: control and α-HBCDD (66 ng/kg/per os, G0-PND14). At PND1, α-HBCDD levels were assessed in brain and liver by LC-MS/MS. At PND14, DNA was isolated from the offspring's cerebellum. DNA methylation was measured by 6-mA-specific immunoprecipitation and Illumina® sequencing (MEDIP-Seq). Locomotor activity was finally evaluated at PND120. In our early-life exposure model, we confirmed that α-HBCDD can cross the placental barrier and be detected in pups at birth. An obvious post-exposure phenotype with locomotor deficits was observed when the rats reached adulthood. This was accompanied by sex-specific over-methylation of genes involved in the insulin signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway as well as serotonergic and GABAergic synapses, potentially altering the normal process of neurodevelopment with consequent motor impairments crystalized at adulthood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cyrielle Holuka
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Faculty of Science, University of Luxembourg, L-4365 Belval, Luxembourg.
| | - Chloé Morel
- Calbinotox, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Lorraine, Campus Aiguillettes, B.P. 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
| | - Sarah Roth
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Yordenca Lamartinière
- Calbinotox, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Lorraine, Campus Aiguillettes, B.P. 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
| | - Sophie B Mériaux
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Justine Paoli
- Calbinotox, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Lorraine, Campus Aiguillettes, B.P. 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
| | - Pauline Guébels
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Radu C Duca
- Department of Health Protection, National Health Laboratory (LNS), Dudelange, Luxembourg; Centre for Environment and Health, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Lode Godderis
- Centre for Environment and Health, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium; IDEWE, External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, Heverlee 3001, Belgium.
| | - An van Nieuwenhuyse
- Department of Health Protection, National Health Laboratory (LNS), Dudelange, Luxembourg; Centre for Environment and Health, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Pascaline Kremarik-Bouillaud
- UMR Inserm 1256 nGERE, Nutrition-Génétique et exposition aux risques environnementaux, Institute of Medical Research (Pôle BMS), University of Lorraine, B.P. 184, 54511 Nancy, France.
| | | | - Claude Emond
- PKSH Inc., Crabtree, Quebec, Canada; School of Public Health, DSEST, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Henri Schroeder
- Calbinotox, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Lorraine, Campus Aiguillettes, B.P. 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France; UMR Inserm 1256 nGERE, Nutrition-Génétique et exposition aux risques environnementaux, Institute of Medical Research (Pôle BMS), University of Lorraine, B.P. 184, 54511 Nancy, France.
| | - Jonathan D Turner
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Nathalie Grova
- Immune Endocrine Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity-Luxembourg Institute of Health, 29 rue Henri Koch, L-4354 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Calbinotox, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Lorraine, Campus Aiguillettes, B.P. 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France; UMR Inserm 1256 nGERE, Nutrition-Génétique et exposition aux risques environnementaux, Institute of Medical Research (Pôle BMS), University of Lorraine, B.P. 184, 54511 Nancy, France.
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Turpin V, Schaffhauser M, Thabault M, Aubert A, Joffre C, Balado E, Longueville JE, Francheteau M, Burucoa C, Pichon M, Layé S, Jaber M. Mice prenatally exposed to valproic acid do not show autism-related disorders when fed with polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched diets. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11235. [PMID: 37433863 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38423-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Dietary supplementations with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) have been explored in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but their efficiency and potential in ameliorating cardinal symptoms of the disease remain elusive. Here, we compared a n-3 long-chain (LC) PUFA dietary supplementation (n-3 supp) obtained from fatty fish with a n-3 PUFA precursor diet (n-3 bal) obtained from plant oils in the valproic acid (VPA, 450 mg/kg at E12.5) ASD mouse model starting from embryonic life, throughout lactation and until adulthood. Maternal and offspring behaviors were investigated as well as several VPA-induced ASD biological features: cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) number, inflammatory markers, gut microbiota, and peripheral and brain PUFA composition. Developmental milestones were delayed in the n-3 supp group compared to the n-3 bal group in both sexes. Whatever the diet, VPA-exposed offspring did not show ASD characteristic alterations in social behavior, stereotypies, PC number, or gut microbiota dysbiosis while global activity, gait, peripheral and brain PUFA levels as well as cerebellar TNF-alpha levels were differentially altered by diet and treatment according to sex. The current study provides evidence of beneficial effects of n-3 PUFA based diets, including one without LCPUFAs, on preventing several behavioral and cellular symptoms related to ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valentine Turpin
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Maud Schaffhauser
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Mathieu Thabault
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Agnès Aubert
- Université de Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeurO, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France
| | - Corinne Joffre
- Université de Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeurO, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France
| | - Eric Balado
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Jean-Emmanuel Longueville
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Maureen Francheteau
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France
| | - Christophe Burucoa
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, PHAR2, Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Maxime Pichon
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, PHAR2, Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Sophie Layé
- Université de Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeurO, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France
| | - Mohamed Jaber
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Poitiers, France.
- CHU de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Pretzsch CM, Ecker C. Structural neuroimaging phenotypes and associated molecular and genomic underpinnings in autism: a review. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1172779. [PMID: 37457001 PMCID: PMC10347684 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1172779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism has been associated with differences in the developmental trajectories of multiple neuroanatomical features, including cortical thickness, surface area, cortical volume, measures of gyrification, and the gray-white matter tissue contrast. These neuroimaging features have been proposed as intermediate phenotypes on the gradient from genomic variation to behavioral symptoms. Hence, examining what these proxy markers represent, i.e., disentangling their associated molecular and genomic underpinnings, could provide crucial insights into the etiology and pathophysiology of autism. In line with this, an increasing number of studies are exploring the association between neuroanatomical, cellular/molecular, and (epi)genetic variation in autism, both indirectly and directly in vivo and across age. In this review, we aim to summarize the existing literature in autism (and neurotypicals) to chart a putative pathway from (i) imaging-derived neuroanatomical cortical phenotypes to (ii) underlying (neuropathological) biological processes, and (iii) associated genomic variation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte M. Pretzsch
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christine Ecker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Verpeut JL, Bergeler S, Kislin M, William Townes F, Klibaite U, Dhanerawala ZM, Hoag A, Janarthanan S, Jung C, Lee J, Pisano TJ, Seagraves KM, Shaevitz JW, Wang SSH. Cerebellar contributions to a brainwide network for flexible behavior in mice. Commun Biol 2023; 6:605. [PMID: 37277453 PMCID: PMC10241932 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04920-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum regulates nonmotor behavior, but the routes of influence are not well characterized. Here we report a necessary role for the posterior cerebellum in guiding a reversal learning task through a network of diencephalic and neocortical structures, and in flexibility of free behavior. After chemogenetic inhibition of lobule VI vermis or hemispheric crus I Purkinje cells, mice could learn a water Y-maze but were impaired in ability to reverse their initial choice. To map targets of perturbation, we imaged c-Fos activation in cleared whole brains using light-sheet microscopy. Reversal learning activated diencephalic and associative neocortical regions. Distinctive subsets of structures were altered by perturbation of lobule VI (including thalamus and habenula) and crus I (including hypothalamus and prelimbic/orbital cortex), and both perturbations influenced anterior cingulate and infralimbic cortex. To identify functional networks, we used correlated variation in c-Fos activation within each group. Lobule VI inactivation weakened within-thalamus correlations, while crus I inactivation divided neocortical activity into sensorimotor and associative subnetworks. In both groups, high-throughput automated analysis of whole-body movement revealed deficiencies in across-day behavioral habituation to an open-field environment. Taken together, these experiments reveal brainwide systems for cerebellar influence that affect multiple flexible responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L Verpeut
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
| | - Silke Bergeler
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Mikhail Kislin
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - F William Townes
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Ugne Klibaite
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 01451, USA
| | - Zahra M Dhanerawala
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Austin Hoag
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Sanjeev Janarthanan
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Caroline Jung
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Junuk Lee
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Thomas J Pisano
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Kelly M Seagraves
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Joshua W Shaevitz
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Samuel S-H Wang
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Xi K, Cai SQ, Yan HF, Tian Y, Cai J, Yang XM, Wang JM, Xing GG. CSMD3 Deficiency Leads to Motor Impairments and Autism-Like Behaviors via Dysfunction of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells in Mice. J Neurosci 2023; 43:3949-3969. [PMID: 37037606 PMCID: PMC10219040 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1835-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with highly heritable heterogeneity. Mutations of CUB and sushi multiple domains 3 (CSMD3) gene have been reported in individuals with ASD. However, the underlying mechanisms of CSMD3 for the onset of ASD remain unexplored. Here, using male CSMD3 knock-out (CSMD3 -/-) mice, we found that genetic deletion of CSMD3 produced core autistic-like symptoms (social interaction deficits, restricted interests, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors) and motor dysfunction in mice, indicating that the CSMD3 gene can be considered as a candidate for ASD. Moreover, we discovered that the ablation of CSMD3 in mice led to abnormal cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) morphology in Crus I/II lobules, including aberrant developmental dendritogenesis and spinogenesis of PCs. Furthermore, combining in vivo fiber photometry calcium imaging and ex vivo electrophysiological recordings, we showed that the CSMD3 -/- mice exhibited an increased neuronal activity (calcium fluorescence signals) in PCs of Crus I/II lobules in response to movement activity, as well as an enhanced intrinsic excitability of PCs and an increase of excitatory rather than inhibitory synaptic input to the PCs, and an impaired long-term depression at the parallel fiber-PC synapse. These results suggest that CSMD3 plays an important role in the development of cerebellar PCs. Loss of CSMD3 causes abnormal PC morphology and dysfunction in the cerebellum, which may underlie the pathogenesis of motor deficits and core autistic-like symptoms in CSMD3 -/- mice. Our findings provide novel insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms by which CSMD3 mutations cause impairments in cerebellar function that may contribute to ASD.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with highly heritable heterogeneity. Advances in genomic analysis have contributed to numerous candidate genes for the risk of ASD. Recently, a novel giant gene CSMD3 encoding a protein with CUB and sushi multiple domains (CSMDs) has been identified as a candidate gene for ASD. However, the underlying mechanisms of CSMD3 for the onset of ASD remain largely unknown. Here, we unravel that loss of CSMD3 results in abnormal morphology, increased intrinsic excitabilities, and impaired synaptic plasticity in cerebellar PCs, subsequently leading to motor deficits and ASD-like behaviors in mice. These results provide novel insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms by which CSMD3 mutations cause impairments in cerebellar function that may contribute to ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ke Xi
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Health Science Center, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education of China and National Health Commission of China, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Si-Qing Cai
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Health Science Center, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education of China and National Health Commission of China, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Hui-Fang Yan
- Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, People's Republic of China
| | - Yue Tian
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Health Science Center, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education of China and National Health Commission of China, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Cai
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Health Science Center, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education of China and National Health Commission of China, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Mei Yang
- Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing-Min Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, People's Republic of China
| | - Guo-Gang Xing
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Health Science Center, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education of China and National Health Commission of China, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Henan 453002, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Elandaloussi Y, Floris DL, Coupé P, Duchesnay E, Mihailov A, Grigis A, Bègue I, Victor J, Frouin V, Leboyer M, Houenou J, Laidi C. Understanding the relationship between cerebellar structure and social abilities. Mol Autism 2023; 14:18. [PMID: 37189195 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-023-00551-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The cerebellum contains more than 50% of all neurons in the brain and is involved in a broad range of cognitive functions, including social communication and social cognition. Inconsistent atypicalities in the cerebellum have been reported in individuals with autism compared to controls suggesting the limits of categorical case control comparisons. Alternatively, investigating how clinical dimensions are related to neuroanatomical features, in line with the Research Domain Criteria approach, might be more relevant. We hypothesized that the volume of the "cognitive" lobules of the cerebellum would be associated with social difficulties. METHODS We analyzed structural MRI data from a large pediatric and transdiagnostic sample (Healthy Brain Network). We performed cerebellar parcellation with a well-validated automated segmentation pipeline (CERES). We studied how social communication abilities-assessed with the social component of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)-were associated with the cerebellar structure, using linear mixed models and canonical correlation analysis. RESULTS In 850 children and teenagers (mean age 10.8 ± 3 years; range 5-18 years), we found a significant association between the cerebellum, IQ and social communication performance in our canonical correlation model. LIMITATIONS Cerebellar parcellation relies on anatomical boundaries, which does not overlap with functional anatomy. The SRS was originally designed to identify social impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders. CONCLUSION Our results unravel a complex relationship between cerebellar structure, social performance and IQ and provide support for the involvement of the cerebellum in social and cognitive processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yannis Elandaloussi
- Sorbonne Université, UFR Médecine, 75005, Paris, France
- Département Médico-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie (DMU IMPACT), Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire de Médecine de Précision en Psychiatrie (FHU ADAPT), AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, 94010, Créteil, France
- Fondation FondaMental, 94010, Créteil, France
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Dorothea L Floris
- Methods of Plasticity Research, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Pierrick Coupé
- Pictura Research Group, Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (UMR 5800), Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Talence, France
| | | | | | - Antoine Grigis
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Indrit Bègue
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Applied Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Julie Victor
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Vincent Frouin
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marion Leboyer
- Département Médico-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie (DMU IMPACT), Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire de Médecine de Précision en Psychiatrie (FHU ADAPT), AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, 94010, Créteil, France
- Fondation FondaMental, 94010, Créteil, France
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, IMRB, Translational Neuro-Psychiatry, 94010, Créteil, France
| | - Josselin Houenou
- Département Médico-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie (DMU IMPACT), Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire de Médecine de Précision en Psychiatrie (FHU ADAPT), AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, 94010, Créteil, France
- Fondation FondaMental, 94010, Créteil, France
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, IMRB, Translational Neuro-Psychiatry, 94010, Créteil, France
| | - Charles Laidi
- Département Médico-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie (DMU IMPACT), Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire de Médecine de Précision en Psychiatrie (FHU ADAPT), AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, 94010, Créteil, France.
- Fondation FondaMental, 94010, Créteil, France.
- CEA, Neurospin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
- Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, IMRB, Translational Neuro-Psychiatry, 94010, Créteil, France.
- Child Mind Institute, Center for the Developing Brain, New York, NY, USA.
- Hôpital Albert Chenevier, 40 rue de Mesly, 94000, Créteil, France.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Bylemans T, Heleven E, Asselman E, Baetens K, Deroost N, Baeken C, Van Overwalle F. Sex differences in autistic adults: A preliminary study showing differences in mentalizing, but not in narrative coherence. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 236:103918. [PMID: 37071947 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Studying autism might be a complex endeavor due to its clinical heterogeneity. Little is currently known about potential sex differences in autistic adults, especially regarding mentalizing and narrative coherence. In this study, male and female participants told a personal story about one of their most positive and most negative life events and performed two mentalizing tasks. One of these mentalizing tasks was a recently developed Picture and Verbal Sequencing task that has shown cerebellar recruitment, and which requires mentalizing in a sequential context (i.e., participants chronologically ordered scenarios that required true and false belief mentalizing). Our preliminary comparison shows that males were faster and more accurate on the Picture Sequencing task compared to female participants when ordering sequences involving false beliefs, but not true beliefs. No sex differences were found for the other mentalizing and narrative tasks. These results highlight the importance of looking at sex differences in autistic adults and provide a possible explanation for sex-related differences in daily life mentalizing functions, which suggest a need for more sensitive diagnosis and tailored support.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tom Bylemans
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| | - Elien Heleven
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| | - Emma Asselman
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| | - Kris Baetens
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| | - Natacha Deroost
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| | - Chris Baeken
- Ghent University: Department of Head and Skin (UZGent), Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Belgium; Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium; Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
| | - Frank Van Overwalle
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Olson IR, Hoffman LJ, Jobson KR, Popal HS, Wang Y. Little brain, little minds: The big role of the cerebellum in social development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101238. [PMID: 37004475 PMCID: PMC10067769 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Seminal work in the 1990's found alterations in the cerebellum of individuals with social disorders including autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. In neurotypical populations, distinct portions of the posterior cerebellum are consistently activated in fMRI studies of social cognition and it has been hypothesized that the cerebellum plays an essential role in social cognition, particularly in theory of mind. Here we review the lesion literature and find that the effect of cerebellar damage on social cognition is strongly linked to the age of insult, with dramatic impairments observed after prenatal insult, strong deficits observed after childhood damage, and mild and inconsistent deficits observed following damage to the adult cerebellum. To explain the developmental gradient, we propose that early in life, the forward model dominates cerebellar computations. The forward model learns and uses errors to help build schemas of our interpersonal worlds. Subsequently, we argue that once these schemas have been built up, the inverse model, which is the foundation of automatic processing, becomes dominant. We provide suggestions for how to test this, and also outline directions for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadephia PA, USA.
| | - Linda J Hoffman
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadephia PA, USA
| | - Katie R Jobson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadephia PA, USA
| | - Haroon S Popal
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadephia PA, USA
| | - Yin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Urenda JP, Del Dosso A, Birtele M, Quadrato G. Present and Future Modeling of Human Psychiatric Connectopathies With Brain Organoids. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 93:606-615. [PMID: 36759258 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Brain organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells are emerging as a powerful tool to model cellular aspects of neuropsychiatric disorders, including alterations in cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and lineage trajectory. To date, most contributions in the field have focused on modeling cellular impairment of the cerebral cortex, with few studies probing dysfunction in local network connectivity. However, it is increasingly more apparent that these psychiatric disorders are connectopathies involving multiple brain structures and the connections between them. Therefore, the lack of reproducible anatomical features in these 3-dimensional cultures represents a major bottleneck for effectively modeling brain connectivity at the micro(cellular) level and at the macroscale level between brain regions. In this perspective, we review the use of current organoid protocols to model neuropsychiatric disorders with a specific emphasis on the potential and limitations of the current strategies to model impairments in functional connectivity. Finally, we discuss the importance of adopting interdisciplinary strategies to establish next-generation, multiregional organoids that can model, with higher fidelity, the dysfunction in the development and functionality of long-range connections within the brain of patients affected by psychiatric disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Urenda
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Ashley Del Dosso
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Marcella Birtele
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Giorgia Quadrato
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Sefik E, Boamah M, Addington J, Bearden CE, Cadenhead KS, Cornblatt BA, Keshavan MS, Mathalon DH, Perkins DO, Stone WS, Tsuang MT, Woods SW, Cannon TD, Walker EF. Sex- and Age-Specific Deviations in Cerebellar Structure and Their Link With Symptom Dimensions and Clinical Outcome in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis. Schizophr Bull 2023; 49:350-363. [PMID: 36394426 PMCID: PMC10016422 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbac169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The clinical high-risk (CHR) period offers a temporal window into neurobiological deviations preceding psychosis onset, but little attention has been given to regions outside the cerebrum in large-scale studies of CHR. Recently, the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS)-2 revealed altered functional connectivity of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuitry among individuals at CHR; however, cerebellar morphology remains underinvestigated in this at-risk population, despite growing evidence of its involvement in psychosis. STUDY DESIGN In this multisite study, we analyzed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans obtained from N = 469 CHR individuals (61% male, ages = 12-36 years) and N = 212 healthy controls (52% male, ages = 12-34 years) from NAPLS-2, with a focus on cerebellar cortex and white matter volumes separately. Symptoms were rated by the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS). The outcome by two-year follow-up was categorized as in-remission, symptomatic, prodromal-progression, or psychotic. General linear models were used for case-control comparisons and tests for volumetric associations with baseline SIPS ratings and clinical outcomes. STUDY RESULTS Cerebellar cortex and white matter volumes differed between the CHR and healthy control groups at baseline, with sex moderating the difference in cortical volumes, and both sex and age moderating the difference in white matter volumes. Baseline ratings for major psychosis-risk dimensions as well as a clinical outcome at follow-up had tissue-specific associations with cerebellar volumes. CONCLUSIONS These findings point to clinically relevant deviations in cerebellar cortex and white matter structures among CHR individuals and highlight the importance of considering the complex interplay between sex and age when studying the neuromaturational substrates of psychosis risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Esra Sefik
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Michelle Boamah
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jean Addington
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Carrie E Bearden
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kristin S Cadenhead
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Matcheri S Keshavan
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel H Mathalon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Mental Health Service, San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Diana O Perkins
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - William S Stone
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ming T Tsuang
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Scott W Woods
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Tyrone D Cannon
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Elaine F Walker
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Moghaddam AH, Eslami A, Jelodar SK, Ranjbar M, Hasantabar V. Preventive effect of quercetin-Loaded nanophytosome against autistic-like damage in maternal separation model: The possible role of Caspase-3, Bax/Bcl-2 and Nrf2. Behav Brain Res 2023; 441:114300. [PMID: 36642103 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The autism is an abnormality in the neuronal advance which starts before age 3 recognized by defective behaviors. This study aimed to make quercetin-loaded nanophytosomes (QNP) on behavioral deficits, cerebellar oxidative stress and apoptosis in an autistic-like model caused by maternal separation (MS). The newborn rats are randomly categorized into seven groups, including control, positive control, disease, and diseases treated with quercetin (10 and 40 mg/kg) and QNP (10 and 40 mg/kg). Pups exposed to MS for 3 h per day from postnatal days (PND) 1-9 showed behavioral impairment in adult rats compared to control group. The oral administration of quercetin and QNP was constantly started after the lactation period (21 postnatal days) for three weeks. Autistic-like behaviors, antioxidant parameters, and Nrf2, Bax/Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 expressions were surveyed in the cerebellum. Quercetin (40 mg/kg) treated improved some behavioral disorders. Also, the improvement of oxidative stress parameters, Nrf2 and apoptotic factors gene expression was observed in the cerebellum of quercetin (40 mg/kg) treated (p < 0.01). QNP treatment (10 and 40 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated anxiety-like behaviors, line crossing, and grooming index (p < 0.001), lipid peroxidation (p < 0.001), and increased catalase (CAT) (p < 0.001), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (p < 0.001), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (p < 0.001) activity, and glutathione (GSH) levels (p < 0.05). Moreover, QNP significantly reduced Caspase-3 and Bax expression (p < 0.001), but increased Bcl-2, and Nrf2 expressions (p < 0.001). These findings indicated that QNP due to its high bioavailability was more effective than quercetin can be reduced autistic-like behavior, oxidative and apoptotic damages in the model of MS rats.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ali Eslami
- Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran
| | | | - Mojtaba Ranjbar
- Faculty of Biotechnology, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran
| | - Vahid Hasantabar
- Department of Organic Polymer Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Anitha A, Thanseem I, Iype M, Thomas SV. Mitochondrial dysfunction in cognitive neurodevelopmental disorders: Cause or effect? Mitochondrion 2023; 69:18-32. [PMID: 36621534 DOI: 10.1016/j.mito.2023.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Mitochondria have a crucial role in brain development and neurogenesis, both in embryonic and adult brains. Since the brain is the highest energy consuming organ, it is highly vulnerable to mitochondrial dysfunction. This has been implicated in a range of brain disorders including, neurodevelopmental conditions, psychiatric illnesses, and neurodegenerative diseases. Genetic variations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and nuclear DNA encoding mitochondrial proteins, have been associated with several cognitive disorders. However, it is not yet clear whether mitochondrial dysfunction is a primary cause of these conditions or a secondary effect. Our review article deals with this topic, and brings out recent advances in mitochondria-oriented therapies. Mitochondrial dysfunction could be involved in the pathogenesis of a subset of disorders involving cognitive impairment. In these patients, mitochondrial dysfunction could be the cause of the condition, rather than the consequence. There are vast areas in this topic that remains to be explored and elucidated.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ayyappan Anitha
- Dept. of Neurogenetics, Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS), Shoranur, Palakkad 679 523, Kerala, India.
| | - Ismail Thanseem
- Dept. of Neurogenetics, Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS), Shoranur, Palakkad 679 523, Kerala, India
| | - Mary Iype
- Dept. of Pediatric Neurology, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram 695 011, Kerala, India; Dept. of Neurology, ICCONS, Thiruvananthapuram 695 033, Kerala, India
| | - Sanjeev V Thomas
- Dept. of Neurology, ICCONS, Thiruvananthapuram 695 033, Kerala, India
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Bylemans T, Heleven E, Baetens K, Deroost N, Baeken C, Van Overwalle F. Mentalizing and narrative coherence in autistic adults: Cerebellar sequencing and prediction. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 146:105045. [PMID: 36646260 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
BYLEMANS, T., et al. Mentalizing and narrative coherence in autistic adults: Cerebellar sequencing and prediction. NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV REV, 2022. - This review focuses on autistic adults and serves 4 purposes: (1) providing an overview of their difficulties regarding mentalizing (understanding others' mental states) and narrative coherence (structured storytelling), (2) highlighting the relations between both skills by examining behavioral observations and shared neural substrates, (3) providing an integrated perspective regarding novel diagnostic tools and support services, and (4) raising awareness of adult autism. We suggest that mentalizing and narrative coherence are related at the behavioral level and neural level. In addition to the traditional mentalizing network, the cerebellum probably serves as an important hub in shared cerebral networks implicated in mentalizing and narrative coherence. Future autism research and support services should tackle new questions within a framework of social cerebellar (dys)functioning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tom Bylemans
- Brain, Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Elien Heleven
- Brain, Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Kris Baetens
- Brain, Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Natacha Deroost
- Brain, Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Chris Baeken
- Ghent University: Department of Head and Skin (UZGent), Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Belgium; Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium; Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
| | - Frank Van Overwalle
- Brain, Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Jaber M. Genetic and environmental mouse models of autism reproduce the spectrum of the disease. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2023; 130:425-432. [PMID: 36318343 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-022-02555-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
Genetic and environmental factors increase autism spectrum disorder (ASD) incidence, and this has led to the generation of corresponding animal models, with some showing strong construct and face validity. This short review focuses on results we have recently obtained with environmental and genetic mouse models of ASD and that are the valproic acid, the poly I:C and the Shank 3 models. This has allowed us to provide a comparative description of these widely used animal models providing an interesting perspective as to the pros and cons of each one of them, in our experimental settings. In these papers, we focused on motor and gait disorders which are currently not included in the diagnosis criteria, but which may provide new insights to ASD pathophysiology potentially leading to innovative therapies for a disease that currently has none. In all these models, we reported behavioral, cellular and molecular alterations related to the cerebellum. Motor and gait deficits were observed to various degrees in animal models and, when strongly present, they were correlated to the severity of social deficits as well as to the number of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Additionally, we also reported that, like in humans, males are more severely affected than females in these ASD models. These findings, along with an increasing body of literature, open new hopes in the ASD field pointing to brain regions, such the cerebellum, that are at the crossroads between cognitive, social and motor deficits. Targeting these brain regions and their underlying pathways and synaptic connections may prove of significant benefits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Jaber
- Université de Poitiers, Inserm, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Bâtiment B36, 1 Rue Georges Bonnet, BP 633, TSA 51106, 86073, Poitiers cedex9, France.
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Welsh JP, Munson J, St John T, Meehan CN, Tran Abraham E, Reitz FB, Begay KK, Dager SR, Estes AM. Relationship of Impairments in Associative Learning With Intellectual Disability and Cerebellar Hypoplasia in Autistic Children. Neurology 2023; 100:e639-e650. [PMID: 36443015 PMCID: PMC9946191 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000201496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) varies widely and is associated with intellectual disability (ID) and brain dysmorphology. We tested the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of ASD can be accounted for, in part, by altered associative learning measured by eye-blink conditioning (EBC) paradigms, used to test for forebrain and cerebellar dysfunction across the full range of ASD severity and intellectual ability. METHODS Children in this cohort study were diagnosed with ASD or typical development (TD); most children were recruited from a 10-year longitudinal study. Outcome measures were the percentage and timing of conditioned eye-blink responses (CRs) acquired to a tone, recorded photometrically and related to measures of ASD severity, IQ, and age 2 brain morphometry by MRI. A sequence of trace and delay EBC was used. Analysis of variance, t test, and logistic regression (LR) were used. RESULTS Sixty-two children were studied at school age. Nine children with ASD with ID since age 2 (ASD + ID; IQ = 49 ± 6; 11.9 ± 0.2 years old [±SD]) learned more slowly than 30 children with TD (IQ = 120 ± 16; 10.5 ± 1.5 years old [±SD]) during trace EBC and showed atypically early-onset CRs (1.4 SD pre-TD) related to hypoplasia of the cerebellum at age 2 but not of the amygdala, hippocampus, or cerebral cortex. Conversely, 16 children with ASD with robust intellectual development since age 2 (IQ = 100 ± 3; 12.0 ± 0.4 years old [±SD]) learned typically but showed early-onset CRs only during long-delay EBC (0.8 SD pre-TD) unrelated to hypoplasia of any measured brain area. Using 16 EBC measures, binary LR classified ASD and TD with 80% accuracy (95% CI = 72-88%), 81% sensitivity (95% CI = 69-92%), and 79% specificity (95% CI = 68-91%); multinomial LR more accurately classified children based on ID (94% accuracy, 95% CI = 89-100%) than ASD severity (85% accuracy, 95% CI = 77-93%). Separate analyses of 39 children with MRI (2.1 ± 0.3 years old [±SD]) indicated that cerebellar hypoplasia did not predict ASD + ID over ages 2-4 (Cohen d = 0.3) compared with early-onset CRs during age 11 trace EBC (Cohen d = -1.3). DISCUSSION Trace EBC reveals the relationship between cerebellar hypoplasia and ASD + ID likely by engaging cerebrocerebellar circuits involved in intellectual ability and implicit timing. Follow-up prospective studies using associative learning can determine whether ID can be predicted in children with early ASD diagnoses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John P Welsh
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma.
| | - Jeffrey Munson
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Tanya St John
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Christina N Meehan
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Elise Tran Abraham
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Frederick B Reitz
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - K Kawena Begay
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Stephen R Dager
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| | - Annette M Estes
- From the Departments of Pediatrics (J.P.W.), Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (J.M.), Speech and Hearing Sciences (T.S.J., A.M.E.), Radiology (S.R.D.), and Bioengineering (S.R.D.), University of Washington; Center for Integrative Brain Research (J.P.W.), Seattle Children's Research Institute; University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); University of Washington Autism Center (J.P.W., J.M., T.S.J., C.N.M., E.T.A., F.B.R., K.K.B., S.R.D., A.M.E.); and School of Education (K.K.B.), University of Washington Tacoma
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Fu Z, Abbott CC, Sui J, Calhoun VD. Predictive signature of static and dynamic functional connectivity for ECT clinical outcomes. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1102413. [PMID: 36755955 PMCID: PMC9899999 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1102413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains one of the most effective approaches for treatment-resistant depressive episodes, despite the potential cognitive impairment associated with this treatment. As a potent stimulator of neuroplasticity, ECT might normalize aberrant depression-related brain function via the brain's reconstruction by forming new neural connections. Multiple lines of evidence have demonstrated that functional connectivity (FC) changes are reliable indicators of antidepressant efficacy and cognitive changes from static and dynamic perspectives. However, no previous studies have directly ascertained whether and how different aspects of FC provide complementary information in terms of neuroimaging-based prediction of clinical outcomes. Methods: In this study, we implemented a fully automated independent component analysis framework to an ECT dataset with subjects (n = 50, age = 65.54 ± 8.92) randomized to three treatment amplitudes (600, 700, or 800 milliamperes [mA]). We extracted the static functional network connectivity (sFNC) and dynamic FNC (dFNC) features and employed a partial least square regression to build predictive models for antidepressant outcomes and cognitive changes. Results: We found that both antidepressant outcomes and memory changes can be robustly predicted by the changes in sFNC (permutation test p < 5.0 × 10-3). More interestingly, by adding dFNC information, the model achieved higher accuracy for predicting changes in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 24-item (HDRS24, t = 9.6434, p = 1.5 × 10-21). The predictive maps of clinical outcomes show a weakly negative correlation, indicating that the ECT-induced antidepressant outcomes and cognitive changes might be associated with different functional brain neuroplasticity. Discussion: The overall results reveal that dynamic FC is not redundant but reflects mechanisms of ECT that cannot be captured by its static counterpart, especially for the prediction of antidepressant efficacy. Tracking the predictive signatures of static and dynamic FC will help maximize antidepressant outcomes and cognitive safety with individualized ECT dosing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zening Fu
- Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States,*Correspondence: Christopher C. Abbott, ; Zening Fu,
| | - Christopher C. Abbott
- Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States,*Correspondence: Christopher C. Abbott, ; Zening Fu,
| | - Jing Sui
- Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States,State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Vince D. Calhoun
- Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Ribeiro S, Sherrard RM. Cerebellum and neurodevelopmental disorders: RORα is a unifying force. Front Cell Neurosci 2023; 17:1108339. [PMID: 37066074 PMCID: PMC10098020 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2023.1108339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Errors of cerebellar development are increasingly acknowledged as risk factors for neuro-developmental disorders (NDDs), such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and schizophrenia. Evidence has been assembled from cerebellar abnormalities in autistic patients, as well as a range of genetic mutations identified in human patients that affect the cerebellar circuit, particularly Purkinje cells, and are associated with deficits of motor function, learning and social behavior; traits that are commonly associated with autism and schizophrenia. However, NDDs, such as ASD and schizophrenia, also include systemic abnormalities, e.g., chronic inflammation, abnormal circadian rhythms etc., which cannot be explained by lesions that only affect the cerebellum. Here we bring together phenotypic, circuit and structural evidence supporting the contribution of cerebellar dysfunction in NDDs and propose that the transcription factor Retinoid-related Orphan Receptor alpha (RORα) provides the missing link underlying both cerebellar and systemic abnormalities observed in NDDs. We present the role of RORα in cerebellar development and how the abnormalities that occur due to RORα deficiency could explain NDD symptoms. We then focus on how RORα is linked to NDDs, particularly ASD and schizophrenia, and how its diverse extra-cerebral actions can explain the systemic components of these diseases. Finally, we discuss how RORα-deficiency is likely a driving force for NDDs through its induction of cerebellar developmental defects, which in turn affect downstream targets, and its regulation of extracerebral systems, such as inflammation, circadian rhythms, and sexual dimorphism.
Collapse
|
43
|
Hawks ZW, Todorov A, Marrus N, Nishino T, Talovic M, Nebel MB, Girault JB, Davis S, Marek S, Seitzman BA, Eggebrecht AT, Elison J, Dager S, Mosconi MW, Tychsen L, Snyder AZ, Botteron K, Estes A, Evans A, Gerig G, Hazlett HC, McKinstry RC, Pandey J, Schultz RT, Styner M, Wolff JJ, Zwaigenbaum L, Markson L, Petersen SE, Constantino JN, White DA, Piven J, Pruett JR. A Prospective Evaluation of Infant Cerebellar-Cerebral Functional Connectivity in Relation to Behavioral Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci 2023; 3:149-161. [PMID: 36712571 PMCID: PMC9874081 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosed based on social impairment, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Contemporary theories posit that cerebellar pathology contributes causally to ASD by disrupting error-based learning (EBL) during infancy. The present study represents the first test of this theory in a prospective infant sample, with potential implications for ASD detection. Methods Data from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (n = 94, 68 male) were used to examine 6-month cerebellar functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in relation to later (12/24-month) ASD-associated behaviors and outcomes. Hypothesis-driven univariate analyses and machine learning-based predictive tests examined cerebellar-frontoparietal network (FPN; subserves error signaling in support of EBL) and cerebellar-default mode network (DMN; broadly implicated in ASD) connections. Cerebellar-FPN functional connectivity was used as a proxy for EBL, and cerebellar-DMN functional connectivity provided a comparative foil. Data-driven functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging enrichment examined brain-wide behavioral associations, with post hoc tests of cerebellar connections. Results Cerebellar-FPN and cerebellar-DMN connections did not demonstrate associations with ASD. Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging enrichment identified 6-month correlates of later ASD-associated behaviors in networks of a priori interest (FPN, DMN), as well as in cingulo-opercular (also implicated in error signaling) and medial visual networks. Post hoc tests did not suggest a role for cerebellar connections. Conclusions We failed to identify cerebellar functional connectivity-based contributions to ASD. However, we observed prospective correlates of ASD-associated behaviors in networks that support EBL. Future studies may replicate and extend network-level positive results, and tests of the cerebellum may investigate brain-behavior associations at different developmental stages and/or using different neuroimaging modalities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zoë W. Hawks
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
- Address correspondence to Zoë W. Hawks, Ph.D.
| | - Alexandre Todorov
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Natasha Marrus
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Tomoyuki Nishino
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Muhamed Talovic
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Mary Beth Nebel
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Jessica B. Girault
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Savannah Davis
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Scott Marek
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Benjamin A. Seitzman
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Adam T. Eggebrecht
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Jed Elison
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Stephen Dager
- Departments of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Matthew W. Mosconi
- Life Span Institute and Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
| | - Lawrence Tychsen
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Abraham Z. Snyder
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Kelly Botteron
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Annette Estes
- Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Alan Evans
- McConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Guido Gerig
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, New York, New York
| | - Heather C. Hazlett
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Robert C. McKinstry
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Juhi Pandey
- Center for Autism Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Robert T. Schultz
- Center for Autism Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Martin Styner
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Jason J. Wolff
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Lori Markson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Steven E. Petersen
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - John N. Constantino
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Desirée A. White
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Joseph Piven
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - John R. Pruett
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Clausi S, Lupo M, Funghi G, Mammone A, Leggio M. Modulating mental state recognition by anodal tDCS over the cerebellum. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22616. [PMID: 36585436 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26914-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence from neuroimaging and clinical studies has demonstrated cerebellar involvement in social cognition components, including the mentalizing process. The aim of this study was to apply transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate cerebellar excitability to investigate the role the cerebellum plays in mental state recognition. Forty-eight healthy subjects were randomly assigned to different groups in which anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS (2 mA for 20 min) was delivered centering the electrode on the vermis to stimulate the posterior portion of the cerebellum. The ability to attribute mental states to others was tested before and after tDCS using a digital version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes test', which includes visual perceptive and motor stimuli as control conditions. Correct response and reaction times (RTs) were recorded. The results revealed a significant reduction in RTs between the baseline and post-stimulation sessions after cerebellar anodal tDCS only for mental state stimuli (Wilcoxon test p = 0.00055), whereas no significant effect was found in the cathodal or sham conditions or for visual perceptive and motor stimuli. Overall, our study suggests that cerebellar anodal tDCS might selectively improve mental state recognition and constitute an effective strategy to positively modulate the mentalizing process.
Collapse
|
45
|
Cristiano C, Hoxha E, Lippiello P, Balbo I, Russo R, Tempia F, Miniaci MC. Maternal treatment with sodium butyrate reduces the development of autism-like traits in mice offspring. Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 156:113870. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 10/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
|
46
|
Frosch IR, Damme KSF, Bernard JA, Mittal VA. Cerebellar correlates of social dysfunction among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1027470. [PMID: 36532176 PMCID: PMC9752902 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1027470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Social deficits are a significant feature among both individuals with psychosis and those at clinical high-risk (CHR) for developing psychosis. Critically, the psychosis risk syndrome emerges in adolescence and young adulthood, when social skill development is being fine-tuned. Yet, the underlying pathophysiology of social deficits in individuals at CHR for psychosis remains unclear. Literature suggests the cerebellum plays a critical role in social functioning. Cerebellar dysfunction in psychosis and CHR individuals is well-established, yet limited research has examined links between the cerebellum and social functioning deficits in this critical population. Method In the current study, 68 individuals at CHR for developing psychosis and 66 healthy controls (HCs) completed social processing measures (examining social interaction, social cognition, and global social functioning) and resting-state MRI scans. Seed-to-voxel resting-state connectivity analyses were employed to examine the relationship between social deficits and lobular cerebellar network connectivity. Results Analyses indicated that within the CHR group, each social domain variable was linked to reduced connectivity between social cerebellar subregions (e.g., Crus II, lobules VIIIa and VIIIb) and cortical regions (e.g., frontal pole and frontal gyrus), but a control cerebellar subregion (e.g., lobule X) and was unrelated to these social variables. Discussion These results indicate an association between several cerebellar lobules and specific deficits in social processing. The cerebellum, therefore, may be particularly salient to the social domain and future research is need to examine the role of the cerebellum in psychosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle R. Frosch
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Katherine S. F. Damme
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Jessica A. Bernard
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Vijay A. Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Çavdar S, Güneş YC, Algın O. Connections of the Dentate Nucleus with the Amygdala: Experimental Rat and Human 3-Tesla Tractography Study. Brain Connect 2022; 12:905-913. [PMID: 35587596 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2021.0179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The role of the cerebellum in motor function is well recognized. However, its role in higher nervous system activities such as cognition, emotion, endocrine, and autonomic activities is less known. The present study aims to show direct dento-amygdala projections using a biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) tracer in rats and 3-tesla (T) high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based tractography in humans. Materials and Methods: The BDA tracer was pressure injected into the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum of Wistar albino rats. Labeled cells and axons were documented. High-resolution 3-T tractography data were obtained from the Human Connectome Project database. Dento-amygdala tracts were analyzed using diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) Studio software. Results: The experimental study showed bilateral projections between the dentate nucleus and the central and basal nuclei and ipsilateral projections between lateral nuclei of the amygdala. The fibers from the dentate nucleus reached the amygdala through the superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP), and the contralateral fibers crossed in the decussation of SCP at the midbrain. The dento-amygdala results of the experimental study corresponded with the 3-T tractography findings on humans. Additionally, DTI findings showed that most of the dentate fibers passed through the hypothalamus before reaching the amygdala, and the amygdalae of the two sides are connected through the anterior commissure. Discussion: The 3-T DTI data of adult humans showed both direct dento-amygdala and indirect dento-hypothalamo-amygdala projections. Thus, this may indicate cerebellar contribution in modulation of emotional and autonomic functions. Furthermore, this can explain the emotional and cognitive deficits that occur in patients with cerebellar or SCP damage. Impact statement The present study showed direct dento-amygdala connections in the rat brain and human brain, which may provide evidence for cerebellar contribution in modulation of emotional and autonomic functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Safiye Çavdar
- Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Yasin Celal Güneş
- Department of Radiology, Kecioren Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.,Department of Radiology, Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Oktay Algın
- Department of Radiology, Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.,National MR Research Center (UMRAM), Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.,Department of Radiology, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Yoon N, Huh Y, Lee H, Kim JI, Lee J, Yang CM, Jang S, Ahn YD, Oh MR, Lee DS, Kang H, Kim BN. Alterations in Social Brain Network Topology at Rest in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Psychiatry Investig 2022; 19:1055-1068. [PMID: 36588440 PMCID: PMC9806512 DOI: 10.30773/pi.2022.0174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Underconnectivity in the resting brain is not consistent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it is known that the functional connectivity of the default mode network is mainly decreased in childhood ASD. This study investigated the brain network topology as the changes in the connection strength and network efficiency in childhood ASD, including the early developmental stages. METHODS In this study, 31 ASD children aged 2-11 years were compared with 31 age and sex-matched children showing typical development. We explored the functional connectivity based on graph filtration by assessing the single linkage distance and global and nodal efficiencies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The relationship between functional connectivity and clinical scores was also analyzed. RESULTS Underconnectivities within the posterior default mode network subregions and between the inferior parietal lobule and inferior frontal/superior temporal regions were observed in the ASD group. These areas significantly correlated with the clinical phenotypes. The global, local, and nodal network efficiencies were lower in children with ASD than in those with typical development. In the preschool-age children (2-6 years) with ASD, the anterior-posterior connectivity of the default mode network and cerebellar connectivity were reduced. CONCLUSION The observed topological reorganization, underconnectivity, and disrupted efficiency in the default mode network subregions and social function-related regions could be significant biomarkers of childhood ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Narae Yoon
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngmin Huh
- Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyekyoung Lee
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Johanna Inhyang Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung Lee
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Integrative Care Hub, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chan-Mo Yang
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soomin Jang
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yebin D Ahn
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mee Rim Oh
- Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Soo Lee
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Molecular Medicine and Biopharmaceutical Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyejin Kang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Bung-Nyun Kim
- Division of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Odermatt SD, Möhring W, Grieder S, Grob A. Cognitive and Developmental Functions in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children and Adolescents: Evidence from the Intelligence and Development Scales-2. J Intell 2022; 10:jintelligence10040112. [PMID: 36412792 PMCID: PMC9680381 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence10040112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Autistic individuals often show impairments in cognitive and developmental domains beyond the core symptoms of lower social communication skills and restricted repetitive behaviors. Consequently, the assessment of cognitive and developmental functions constitutes an essential part of the diagnostic evaluation. Yet, evidence on differential validity from intelligence and developmental tests, which are commonly used with autistic individuals, varies widely. In the current study, we investigated the cognitive (i.e., intelligence, executive functions) and developmental (i.e., psychomotor skills, social-emotional skills, basic skills, motivation and attitude, participation during testing) functions of autistic and non-autistic children and adolescents using the Intelligence and Development Scales-2 (IDS-2). We compared 43 autistic (Mage = 12.30 years) with 43 non-autistic (Mage = 12.51 years) participants who were matched for age, sex, and maternal education. Autistic participants showed significantly lower mean values in psychomotor skills, language skills, and the evaluation of participation during testing of the developmental functions compared to the control sample. Our findings highlight that autistic individuals show impairments particularly in motor and language skills using the IDS-2, which therefore merit consideration in autism treatment in addition to the core symptoms and the individuals' intellectual functioning. Moreover, our findings indicate that particularly motor skills might be rather neglected in autism diagnosis and may be worthy of receiving more attention. Nonsignificant group differences in social-emotional skills could have been due to compensatory effects of average cognitive abilities in our autistic sample.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Salome D. Odermatt
- Department of Psychology, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
- Correspondence:
| | - Wenke Möhring
- Department of Psychology, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Educational Psychology and Health Psychology, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, 73525 Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
| | - Silvia Grieder
- Department of Psychology, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Grob
- Department of Psychology, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Maisterrena A, Matas E, Mirfendereski H, Balbous A, Marchand S, Jaber M. The State of the Dopaminergic and Glutamatergic Systems in the Valproic Acid Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biomolecules 2022; 12:1691. [PMID: 36421705 PMCID: PMC9688008 DOI: 10.3390/biom12111691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder mainly characterized by deficits in social communication and stereotyped behaviors and interests. Here, we aimed to investigate the state of several key players in the dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission systems in the valproic acid (VPA) animal model that was administered to E12.5 pregnant females as a single dose (450 mg/kg). We report no alterations in the number of mesencephalic dopamine neurons or in protein levels of tyrosine hydroxylase in either the striatum or the nucleus accumbens. In females prenatally exposed to VPA, levels of dopamine were slightly decreased while the ratio of DOPAC/dopamine was increased in the dorsal striatum, suggesting increased turn-over of dopamine tone. In turn, levels of D1 and D2 dopamine receptor mRNAs were increased in the nucleus accumbens of VPA mice suggesting upregulation of the corresponding receptors. We also report decreased protein levels of striatal parvalbumin and increased levels of p-mTOR in the cerebellum and the motor cortex of VPA mice. mRNA levels of mGluR1, mGluR4, and mGluR5 and the glutamate receptor subunits NR1, NR2A, and NR2B were not altered by VPA, nor were protein levels of NR1, NR2A, and NR2B and those of BDNF and TrkB. These findings are of interest as clinical trials aiming at the dopamine and glutamate systems are being considered.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Maisterrena
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| | - Emmanuel Matas
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| | - Helene Mirfendereski
- Pharmacologie des Agents Anti-Infectieux et Antibiorésistance, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| | - Anais Balbous
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| | - Sandrine Marchand
- Pharmacologie des Agents Anti-Infectieux et Antibiorésistance, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| | - Mohamed Jaber
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Expérimentales et Cliniques, Inserm, Université de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
- CHU de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
| |
Collapse
|