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Luo Y, Liu H, Zhong L, Weng A, Yang Z, Zhang Y, Zhang J, He X, Ou Z, Yan Z, Cheng Q, Fan X, Zhang X, Zhang W, Hu Q, Peng K, Liu G, Xu J. Regional structural abnormalities in thalamus in idiopathic cervical dystonia. BMC Neurol 2024; 24:174. [PMID: 38789945 DOI: 10.1186/s12883-024-03680-6] [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: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The thalamus has a central role in the pathophysiology of idiopathic cervical dystonia (iCD); however, the nature of alterations occurring within this structure remain largely elusive. Using a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach, we examined whether abnormalities differ across thalamic subregions/nuclei in patients with iCD. METHODS Structural MRI data were collected from 37 patients with iCD and 37 healthy controls (HCs). Automatic parcellation of 25 thalamic nuclei in each hemisphere was performed based on the FreeSurfer program. Differences in thalamic nuclei volumes between groups and their relationships with clinical information were analysed in patients with iCD. RESULTS Compared to HCs, a significant reduction in thalamic nuclei volume primarily in central medial, centromedian, lateral geniculate, medial geniculate, medial ventral, paracentral, parafascicular, paratenial, and ventromedial nuclei was found in patients with iCD (P < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). However, no statistically significant correlations were observed between altered thalamic nuclei volumes and clinical characteristics in iCD group. CONCLUSION This study highlights the neurobiological mechanisms of iCD related to thalamic volume changes.
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Grants
- 62006220, 81771137, 82271300, and 81971103 National Natural Science Foundation of China
- 62006220, 81771137, 82271300, and 81971103 National Natural Science Foundation of China
- 62006220, 81771137, 82271300, and 81971103 National Natural Science Foundation of China
- 2023A1515012739, 2016A030310132, and 2021A1515010600 Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- 2023A1515012739, 2016A030310132, and 2021A1515010600 Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- 2023B03J0466 Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou
- 2020B1212060017 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases
- 2018B030335001, 2023A1515012739 Guangdong Key Project
- 2015B050501003 and 2020A0505020004 Southern China International Cooperation Base for Early Intervention and Functional Rehabilitation of Neurological Diseases
- JCYJ20200109114816594 Shenzhen Science and Technology Research Program
- 202007030002 Guangzhou Key Project
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhan Luo
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Huiming Liu
- Department of Medical Imaging, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060, China
| | - Linchang Zhong
- Department of Medical Imaging, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060, China
| | - Ai Weng
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Zhengkun Yang
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Yue Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Jiana Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Xiuye He
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Zilin Ou
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Zhicong Yan
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Qinxiu Cheng
- Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xinxin Fan
- Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiaodong Zhang
- Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Weixi Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Qingmao Hu
- Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Kangqiang Peng
- Department of Medical Imaging, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060, China
| | - Gang Liu
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Neurological Diseases, National Key Clinical Department and Key Discipline of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
| | - Jinping Xu
- Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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Zhang B, Yang G, Xu C, Zhang R, He X, Hu W. The volume and structural covariance network of thalamic nuclei in patients with Wilson's disease: an investigation of the association with neurological impairment. Neurol Sci 2024; 45:2063-2073. [PMID: 38049551 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-023-07245-2] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the volumes of thalamic nuclei and the intrinsic thalamic network in patients with Wilson's disease (WDs), and to explore the correlation between these volumes and the severity of neurological symptoms. METHODS A total of 61 WDs and 33 healthy controls (HCs) were included in the study. The volumes of 25 bilateral thalamic nuclei were measured using structural imaging analysis with Freesurfer, and the intrinsic thalamic network was evaluated through structural covariance network (SCN) analysis. RESULTS The results indicated that multiple thalamic nuclei were smaller in WDs compared to HCs, including mediodorsal medial magnocellular (MDm), anterior ventral (AV), central median (CeM), centromedian (CM), lateral geniculate (LGN), limitans-suprageniculate (L-Sg), reuniens-medial ventral (MV), paracentral (Pc), parafascicular (Pf), paratenial (Pt), pulvinar anterior (PuA), pulvinar inferior (PuI), pulvinar medial (PuM), ventral anterior (VA), ventral anterior magnocellular (VAmc), ventral lateral anterior (VLa), ventral lateral posterior (VLp), ventromedial (VM), ventral posterolateral (VPL), and right middle dorsal intralaminar (MDI). The study also found a negative correlation between the UWDRS scores and the volume of the right MDm. The intrinsic thalamic network analysis showed abnormal topological properties in WDs, including increased mean local efficiency, modularity, normalized clustering coefficient, small-world index, and characteristic path length, and a corresponding decrease in mean node betweenness centrality. WDs with cerebral involvement had a lower modularity compared to HCs. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the majority of thalamic nuclei in WDs exhibit significant volume reduction, and the atrophy of the right MDm is closely related to the severity of neurological symptoms. The intrinsic thalamic network in WDs demonstrated abnormal topological properties, indicating a close relationship with neurological impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Zhang
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Guang Yang
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Chunyang Xu
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Rong Zhang
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaogang He
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Wenbin Hu
- Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
- Affiliated Hospital of Institute of Neurology, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
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Albergoni M, Pagani E, Preziosa P, Meani A, Margoni M, Rocca MA, Filippi M. Thalamic nuclei volume partially mediates the effects of aerobic capacity on fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis. J Neurol 2024:10.1007/s00415-024-12277-5. [PMID: 38507073 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-024-12277-5] [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: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fatigue is frequent in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) impacting physical and cognitive functions. Lower aerobic capacity and regional thalamic volume may be involved in the pathophysiology of fatigue in pwMS. OBJECTIVES To identify associations between thalamic nuclei volumes, aerobic capacity and fatigue and to investigate whether the influence of aerobic capacity on fatigue in pwMS is mediated by thalamic integrity. METHODS Eighty-three pwMS underwent a clinical evaluation with assessment of fatigue (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale [MFIS]), including physical (pMFIS) and cognitive (cMFIS) components, and peak of oxygen uptake (VO2peak). PwMS and 63 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent a 3 T brain MRI to quantify volume of the whole thalamus and its nuclei. RESULTS Compared to HC, pwMS showed higher global MFIS, pMFIS and cMFIS scores, and lower VO2peak and thalamic volumes (p < 0.001). In pwMS, higher VO2peak was significantly associated with lower MFIS and pMFIS scores (r value = - 0.326 and - 0.356; pFDR ≤ 0.046) and higher laterodorsal thalamic nucleus (Dor) cluster volume (r value = 0.300; pFDR = 0.047). Moreover, lower Dor thalamic cluster volume was significantly associated with higher MFIS, pMFIS and cMFIS scores (r value range = - 0.305; - 0.293; pFDR ≤ 0.049). The volume of Dor thalamic cluster partially mediated the positive effects of VO2peak on both MFIS and cMFIS, with relative indirect effects of 21% and 32% respectively. No mediation was found for pMFIS. CONCLUSIONS Higher VO2peak is associated with lower fatigue in pwMS, likely acting on Dor thalamic cluster volume integrity. Such an effect might be different according to the type of fatigue (cognitive or physical).
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Albergoni
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Pagani
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Preziosa
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandro Meani
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Monica Margoni
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria A Rocca
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Filippi
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132, Milan, Italy.
- Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
- Neurophysiology Service, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
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Dönmezler S, Sönmez D, Yılbaş B, Öztürk Hİ, İskender G, Kurt İ. Thalamic nuclei volume differences in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls using probabilistic mapping: A comparative analysis. Schizophr Res 2024; 264:266-271. [PMID: 38198878 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.01.005] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
AIM We aimed to investigate potential discrepancies in the volume of thalamic nuclei between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. METHODS The imaging data for this study were obtained from the MCICShare data repository within SchizConnect. We employed probabilistic mapping technique developed by Iglesias et al. (2018). The analytical component entailed volumetric segmentation of the thalamus using the FreeSurfer image analysis suite. Our analysis focused on evaluating the differences in the volumes of various thalamic nuclei groups within the thalami, specifically the anterior, intralaminar, medial, posterior, lateral, and ventral groups in both the right and left thalami, between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. We employed MANCOVA to analyse these dependent variables (volumes of 12 distinct thalamic nuclei groups), with diagnosis (SCZ vs. HCs) as the main explanatory variable, while controlling for covariates such as eTIV and age. RESULTS The assumptions of MANCOVA, including the homogeneity of covariance matrices, were met. Specific univariate tests for the right thalamus revealed significant differences in the medial (F[1, 200] = 26.360, p < 0.001), and the ventral groups (F[1, 200] = 4.793, p = 0.030). For the left thalamus, the medial (F[1, 200] = 22.527, p < 0.001); posterior (F[1, 200] = 8.227, p = 0.005), lateral (F[1, 200] = 7.004, p = 0.009), and ventral groups (F[1, 200] = 9.309, p = 0.003) showed significant differences. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that particular thalamic nuclei groups in both the right and left thalami may be most affected in schizophrenia, with more pronounced differences observed in the left thalamic nuclei. FUNDINGS The authors received no financial support for the research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Süleyman Dönmezler
- Sanko University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Gaziantep, Turkey.
| | - Doğuş Sönmez
- Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Barış Yılbaş
- Sanko University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Halil İbrahim Öztürk
- Sanko University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Gizem İskender
- Istanbul Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - İmren Kurt
- Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul, Turkey
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Manmatharayan A, Kogan M, Matias C, Syed M, Shelley I, Chinni A, Kang K, Talekar K, Faro SH, Mohamed FB, Sharan A, Wu C, Alizadeh M. Automated subfield volumetric analysis of amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamic nuclei in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. World Neurosurg X 2023; 19:100212. [PMID: 37304157 PMCID: PMC10250154 DOI: 10.1016/j.wnsx.2023.100212] [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: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Identifying relationships between clinical features and quantitative characteristics of the amygdala-hippocampal and thalamic subregions in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) may offer insights into pathophysiology and the basis for imaging prognostic markers of treatment outcome. Our aim was to ascertain different patterns of atrophy or hypertrophy in mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) patients and their associations with post-surgical seizure outcomes. To assess this aim, this study is designed in 2 folds: (1) hemispheric changes within MTS group and (2) association with postsurgical seizure outcomes. Methods and materials 27 mTLE subjects with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) were scanned for conventional 3D T1w MPRAGE images and T2w scans. With respect to 12 months post-surgical seizure outcomes, 15 subjects reported being seizure free (SF) and 12 reported continued seizures. Quantitative automated segmentation and cortical parcellation were performed using Freesurfer. Automatic labeling and volume estimation of hippocampal subfields, amygdala, and thalamic subnuclei were also performed. The volume ratio (VR) for each label was computed and compared between (1) between contralateral and ipsilateral MTS using Wilcoxon rank-sum test and (2) SF and not seizure free (NSF) groups using linear regression analysis. False Discovery rate (FDR) with significant level of 0.05 were used in both analyses to correct for multiple comparisons. Results Amygdala: The medial nucleus of the amygdala was the most significantly reduced in patients with continued seizures when compared to patients who remained seizure free. Hippocampus: Comparison of ipsilateral and contralateral volumes with seizure outcomes showed volume loss was most evident in the mesial hippocampal regions such as CA4 and hippocampal fissure. Volume loss was also most explicit in the presubiculum body in patients with continued seizures at the time of their follow-up. Ipsilateral MTS compared to contralateral MTS analysis showed the heads of the ipsilateral subiculum, presubiculum, parasubiculum, dentate gyrus, CA4, and CA3 were more significantly affected than their respective bodies. Volume loss was most noted in mesial hippocampal regions. Thalamus: VPL and PuL were the most significantly reduced thalamic nuclei in NSF patients. In all statistically significant areas, volume reduction was observed in the NSF group. No significant volume reductions were noted in the thalamus and amygdala when comparing ipsilateral to contralateral sides in mTLE subjects. Conclusions Varying degrees of volume loss were demonstrated in the hippocampus, thalamus, and amygdala subregions of MTS, especially between patients who remained seizure-free and those who did not. The results obtained can be used to further understand mTLE pathophysiology. Clinical relevance/application In the future, we hope these results can be used to deepen the understanding of mTLE pathophysiology, leading to improved patient outcomes and treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arichena Manmatharayan
- Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Michael Kogan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA
| | - Caio Matias
- Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Mashaal Syed
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - India Shelley
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Amar Chinni
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Kichang Kang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Kiran Talekar
- Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Scott H. Faro
- Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Feroze B. Mohamed
- Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Ashwini Sharan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Chengyuan Wu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Mahdi Alizadeh
- Department of Neurosurgery, Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, 909 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
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Pérez-Santos I, García-Cabezas MÁ, Cavada C. Mapping the primate thalamus: systematic approach to analyze the distribution of subcortical neuromodulatory afferents. Brain Struct Funct 2023:10.1007/s00429-023-02619-w. [PMID: 36890350 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02619-w] [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: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2023]
Abstract
Neuromodulatory afferents to thalamic nuclei are key for information transmission and thus play critical roles in sensory, motor, and limbic processes. Over the course of the last decades, diverse attempts have been made to map and describe subcortical neuromodulatory afferents to the primate thalamus, including axons using acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, and histamine. Our group has been actively involved in this endeavor. The published descriptions on neuromodulatory afferents to the primate thalamus have been made in different laboratories and are not fully comparable due to methodological divergences (for example, fixation procedures, planes of cutting, techniques used to detect the afferents, different criteria for identification of thalamic nuclei…). Such variation affects the results obtained. Therefore, systematic methodological and analytical approaches are much needed. The present article proposes reproducible methodological and terminological frameworks for primate thalamic mapping. We suggest the use of standard stereotaxic planes to produce and present maps of the primate thalamus, as well as the use of the Anglo-American school terminology (vs. the German school terminology) for identification of thalamic nuclei. Finally, a public repository of the data collected under agreed-on frameworks would be a useful tool for looking up and comparing data on the structure and connections of primate thalamic nuclei. Important and agreed-on efforts are required to create, manage, and fund a unified and homogeneous resource of data on the primate thalamus. Likewise, a firm commitment of the institutions to preserve experimental brain material is much needed because neuroscience work with non-human primates is becoming increasingly rare, making earlier material still more valuable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Pérez-Santos
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Arzobispo Morcillo 4, 28029, Madrid, Spain.,PhD Program in Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Cajal, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Ángel García-Cabezas
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Arzobispo Morcillo 4, 28029, Madrid, Spain.,PhD Program in Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Cajal, Madrid, Spain.,Neural Systems Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Carmen Cavada
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Arzobispo Morcillo 4, 28029, Madrid, Spain. .,PhD Program in Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
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Buyukturkoglu K, Dworkin JD, Leiva V, Provenzano FA, Guevara P, De Jager PL, Leavitt VM, Riley CS. Brain volumetric correlates of remotely versus in-person administered symbol digit modalities test in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord 2022; 68:104247. [PMID: 36274283 DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2022.104247] [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: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prior studies in multiple sclerosis (MS) support reliability of telehealth-delivered cognitive batteries, although, to date, none have reported relationships of cognitive test performance to neural correlates across administration modalities. In this study we aimed to compare brain-behavior relationships, using the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the most reliable and sensitive cognitive measure in MS, measured from patients seen via telehealth versus in-person. METHODS SDMT was administered to individuals with MS either in-person (N=60, mean age=39.7) or remotely via video conference (N=51, mean age=47.4). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was collected in 3-Tesla scanners. Using 3-dimensional T1 images cerebral, cortical, deep gray, cerebral white matter and thalamic nuclei volumes were calculated. Using a meta-analysis approach with an interaction term for participant group, individual regression models were run for each MRI measure having SDMT scores as the outcome variable in each model. In addition, the correlation and average difference between In-person and Remote group associations across the MRI measures were calculated. Finally, for each MRI variable I2 score was quantified to test the heterogeneity between the groups. RESULTS Administration modality did not affect the association of SDMT performance with MRI measures. Brain tissue volumes showing high associations with the SDMT scores in one group also showed high associations in the other (r = 0.83; 95% CI = [0.07, 0.86]). The average difference between the In-person and the Remote group associations was not significant (βRemote - βIn-person = 0.14, 95% CI = [-0.04, 0.34]). Across MRI measures, the average I2 value was 14%, reflecting very little heterogeneity in the relationship of SDMT performance to brain volume. CONCLUSION We found consistent relationships to neural correlates across in-person and remote SDMT administration modalities. Hence, our study extended the findings of the previous studies demonstrating the feasibility of remote administration of the SDMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Korhan Buyukturkoglu
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, PH 18-324, New York, NY 10032, USA; The Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, NY, USA; Columbia University MS Center, NY, USA.
| | - Jordan D Dworkin
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY, USA
| | - Victor Leiva
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Santiago, Chile
| | - Frank A Provenzano
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, PH 18-324, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Pamela Guevara
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Santiago, Chile
| | - Philip L De Jager
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, PH 18-324, New York, NY 10032, USA; The Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, NY, USA; Columbia University MS Center, NY, USA
| | - Victoria M Leavitt
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, PH 18-324, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Claire S Riley
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W. 168th Street, PH 18-324, New York, NY 10032, USA; The Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, NY, USA; Columbia University MS Center, NY, USA
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Choi EY, Tian L, Su JH, Radovan MT, Tourdias T, Tran TT, Trelle AN, Mormino E, Wagner AD, Rutt BK. Thalamic nuclei atrophy at high and heterogenous rates during cognitively unimpaired human aging. Neuroimage 2022; 262:119584. [PMID: 36007822 PMCID: PMC9787236 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The thalamus is a central integration structure in the brain, receiving and distributing information among the cerebral cortex, subcortical structures, and the peripheral nervous system. Prior studies clearly show that the thalamus atrophies in cognitively unimpaired aging. However, the thalamus is comprised of multiple nuclei involved in a wide range of functions, and the age-related atrophy of individual thalamic nuclei remains unknown. Using a recently developed automated method of identifying thalamic nuclei (3T or 7T MRI with white-matter-nulled MPRAGE contrast and THOMAS segmentation) and a cross-sectional design, we evaluated the age-related atrophy rate for 10 thalamic nuclei (AV, CM, VA, VLA, VLP, VPL, pulvinar, LGN, MGN, MD) and an epithalamic nucleus (habenula). We also used T1-weighted images with the FreeSurfer SAMSEG segmentation method to identify and measure age-related atrophy for 11 extra-thalamic structures (cerebral cortex, cerebral white matter, cerebellar cortex, cerebellar white matter, amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens, pallidum, and lateral ventricle). In 198 cognitively unimpaired participants with ages spanning 20-88 years, we found that the whole thalamus atrophied at a rate of 0.45% per year, and that thalamic nuclei had widely varying age-related atrophy rates, ranging from 0.06% to 1.18% per year. A functional grouping analysis revealed that the thalamic nuclei involved in cognitive (AV, MD; 0.53% atrophy per year), visual (LGN, pulvinar; 0.62% atrophy per year), and auditory/vestibular (MGN; 0.64% atrophy per year) functions atrophied at significantly higher rates than those involved in motor (VA, VLA, VLP, and CM; 0.37% atrophy per year) and somatosensory (VPL; 0.32% atrophy per year) functions. A proximity-to-CSF analysis showed that the group of thalamic nuclei situated immediately adjacent to CSF atrophied at a significantly greater atrophy rate (0.59% atrophy per year) than that of the group of nuclei located farther from CSF (0.36% atrophy per year), supporting a growing hypothesis that CSF-mediated factors contribute to neurodegeneration. We did not find any significant hemispheric differences in these rates of change for thalamic nuclei. Only the CM thalamic nucleus showed a sex-specific difference in atrophy rates, atrophying at a greater rate in male versus female participants. Roughly half of the thalamic nuclei showed greater atrophy than all extra-thalamic structures examined (0% to 0.54% per year). These results show the value of white-matter-nulled MPRAGE imaging and THOMAS segmentation for measuring distinct thalamic nuclei and for characterizing the high and heterogeneous atrophy rates of the thalamus and its nuclei across the adult lifespan. Collectively, these methods and results advance our understanding of the role of thalamic substructures in neurocognitive and disease-related changes that occur with aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Young Choi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, MC5327, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Lu Tian
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, 1265 Welch Road, MC5464, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jason H. Su
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, MC5488, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 350 Jane Stanford Way, MC9505, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Matthew T. Radovan
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, 353 Jane Stanford Way, MC9025, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Thomas Tourdias
- Department of Neuroradiology, Bordeaux University Hospital, Bordeaux, France,INSERM U1215, Neurocentre Magendie, University of Bordeaux, France
| | - Tammy T. Tran
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, MC2130, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Alexandra N. Trelle
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, MC2130, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Elizabeth Mormino
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford, University, 300 Pasteur Drive, MC5235, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, 290 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Anthony D. Wagner
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, MC2130, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, 290 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Brian K. Rutt
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, MC5488, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, 290 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,Corresponding author. (B.K. Rutt)
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Perez-Rando M, Elvira UKA, García-Martí G, Gadea M, Aguilar EJ, Escarti MJ, Ahulló-Fuster MA, Grasa E, Corripio I, Sanjuan J, Nacher J. Alterations in the volume of thalamic nuclei in patients with schizophrenia and persistent auditory hallucinations. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 35:103070. [PMID: 35667173 PMCID: PMC9168692 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Analysis of structural MRI images using a probabilistic atlas for segmentation of several nuclei of the thalamus. Comparison of chronic patients with schizophrenia, with and without auditory hallucinations and matched healthy controls. Volumetric reductions in patients with AH vs controls: Medial geniculate nucleus, anterior pulvinar nucleus and lateral and medial mediodorsal nuclei. In patients without AH we found reductions in the volume of the pulvinar and mediodorsal nuclei, but not in the medial geniculate nucleus. Found also some significant correlations between the volume of these nuclei and the total score of the PSYRATS scale.
The thalamus is a subcortical structure formed by different nuclei that relay information to the neocortex. Several reports have already described alterations of this structure in patients of schizophrenia that experience auditory hallucinations. However, to date no study has addressed whether the volumes of specific thalamic nuclei are altered in chronic patients experiencing persistent auditory hallucinations. We have processed structural MRI images using Freesurfer, and have segmented them into 25 nuclei using the probabilistic atlas developed by Iglesias and collaborators (Iglesias et al., 2018). To homogenize the sample, we have matched patients of schizophrenia, with and without persistent auditory hallucinations, with control subjects, considering sex, age and their estimated intracranial volume. This rendered a group number of 41 patients experiencing persistent auditory hallucinations, 35 patients without auditory hallucinations, and 55 healthy controls. In addition, we have also correlated the volume of the altered thalamic nuclei with the total score of the PSYRATS, a clinical scale used to evaluate the positive symptoms of this disorder. We have found alterations in the volume of 8 thalamic nuclei in both cohorts of patients with schizophrenia: The medial and lateral geniculate nuclei, the anterior, inferior, and lateral pulvinar nuclei, the lateral complex and the lateral and medial mediodorsal nuclei. We have also found some significant correlations between the volume of these nuclei in patients experiencing auditory hallucinations, and the total score of the PSYRATS scale. Altogether our results indicate that volumetric alterations of thalamic nuclei involved in audition may be related to persistent auditory hallucinations in chronic schizophrenia patients, whereas alterations in nuclei related to association cortices are evident in all patients. Future studies should explore whether the structural alterations are cause or consequence of these positive symptoms and whether they are already present in first episodes of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Perez-Rando
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), Universitat de València, Burjassot, Spain; Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Institute of Research of the Clinic Hospital from Valencia (INCLIVA), Valencia, Spain.
| | - Uriel K A Elvira
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), Universitat de València, Burjassot, Spain; Institutes of Biomedical Technologies and Neuroscience, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Gracian García-Martí
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Quironsalud Hospital, Valencia, Spain
| | - Marien Gadea
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Institute of Research of the Clinic Hospital from Valencia (INCLIVA), Valencia, Spain; Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Eduardo J Aguilar
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Psychiatry Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Maria J Escarti
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Mónica Alba Ahulló-Fuster
- Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy. Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
| | - Eva Grasa
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Psiquiatría. Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau (IIB-SANT PAU), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Iluminada Corripio
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Psiquiatría. Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau (IIB-SANT PAU), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julio Sanjuan
- Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Quironsalud Hospital, Valencia, Spain
| | - Juan Nacher
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), Universitat de València, Burjassot, Spain; Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Institute of Research of the Clinic Hospital from Valencia (INCLIVA), Valencia, Spain.
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Xie K, Chen Y, Chu M, Cui Y, Chen Z, Zhang J, Liu L, Jing D, Cui C, Liang Z, Ren L, Rosa-Neto P, Ghorayeb I, Zhang Z, Wu L. Specific structuro-metabolic pattern of thalamic subnuclei in fatal familial insomnia: A PET/MRI imaging study. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 34:103026. [PMID: 35504222 PMCID: PMC9065920 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103026] [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: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dysfunction of the thalamus has been proposed as a core mechanism of fatal familial insomnia. However, detailed metabolic and structural alterations in thalamic subnuclei are not well documented. We aimed to address the multimodal structuro-metabolic pattern at the level of the thalamic nuclei in fatal familial insomnia patients, and investigated the clinical presentation of primary thalamic alterations. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five fatal familial insomnia patients and 10 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments, polysomnography, electroencephalogram, and cerebrospinal fluid tests. MRI and fluorodeoxyglucose PET were acquired on a hybrid PET/MRI system. Structural and metabolic changes were compared using voxel-based morphometry analyses and standardized uptake value ratio analyses, focusing on thalamic subnuclei region of interest analyses. Correlation analysis was conducted between gray matter volume and metabolic decrease ratios, and clinical features. RESULTS The whole-brain analysis showed that gray matter volume decline was confined to the bilateral thalamus and right middle temporal pole in fatal familial insomnia patients, whereas hypometabolism was observed in the bilateral thalamus, basal ganglia, and widespread cortices, mainly in the forebrain. In the regions of interest analysis, gray matter volume and metabolism decreases were prominent in bilateral medial dorsal nuclei, anterior nuclei, and the pulvinar, which is consistent with neuropathological and clinical findings. A positive correlation was found between gray matter volume and metabolic decrease ratios. CONCLUSIONS Our study revealed specific structuro-metabolic pattern of fatal familial insomnia that demonstrated the essential roles of medial dorsal nuclei, anterior nuclei, and pulvinar, which may be a potential biomarker in diagnosis. Also, primary thalamic subnuclei alterations may be correlated with insomnia, neuropsychiatric, and autonomic symptoms sparing primary cortical involvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kexin Xie
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Yaojing Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Min Chu
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Yue Cui
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Zhongyun Chen
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Li Liu
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China; Department of Neurology, Shenyang Fifth People Hospital, Shenyang, Liaoning 110023, China
| | - Donglai Jing
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China; Department of Neurology, Rongcheng People's Hospital, Baoding, Hebei 071700, China
| | - Chunlei Cui
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Zhigang Liang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Liankun Ren
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
| | - Pedro Rosa-Neto
- McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Montreal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Imad Ghorayeb
- Université de Bordeaux, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, UMR 5287, F-33076 Bordeaux, France; CNRS, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, UMR 5287, F-33076 Bordeaux, France; Département de Neurophysiologie Clinique, Pôle Neurosciences Cliniques, CHU de Bordeaux, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Zhanjun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Liyong Wu
- Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China; National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Beijing 100053, China.
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Shi M, Wang A, Fang Y, Guo J, Li Z, Jin S, Zhao H. Study on the pathogenesis of Holmes tremor by multimodal 3D medical imaging: case reports of three patients. BMC Neurol 2021; 21:473. [PMID: 34872506 PMCID: PMC8647471 DOI: 10.1186/s12883-021-02503-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 08/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background We examined for the first time the imaging characteristics of Holmes tremor (HT) through multimodal 3D medical imaging. Case presentation Three patients with Holmes tremor who visited the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of TCM from August 2018 to April 2021 were retrospectively investigated to summarize their clinical and imaging data. Results Holmes tremor in two of the three patients was caused by hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage and in the third patient induced by hemorrhage due to ruptured brain arteriovenous malformations. HT occurred 1 to 24 months after the primary disease onset and manifested as a tremor in the contralateral limb, mostly in the upper portion. Cranial MRI showed that the lesions involved the thalamus in all three patients. The damaged thalamic nuclei included the ventral anterior nucleus, ventral lateral nucleus and ventromedial lateral nucleus, and the damaged nerve fibers included left thalamocortical tracts in one patient. In the other two patients, the damaged thalamic nuclei included the centromedian and dorsomedial nucleus, and the damaged nerve fibers included left cerebellothalamic and thalamocortical tracts. One patient showed significant improvement after treatment with pramipexole while the other two patients exhibited a poor response, one of whom had no response to the treatment with pramipexole and was only significantly relieved by clonazepam. Conclusion We used multimodal 3D medical imaging for the first time to analyze the pathogenesis of HT and found that multiple thalamic nuclei were damaged. The damaged nuclei and nerve fiber tracts of two patients were different from those of the third patient, with different clinical manifestations and therapeutic effects. Therefore, it is speculated that there may be multiple pathogeneses for HT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Shi
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Anrong Wang
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Yu Fang
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Jun Guo
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Zhaoying Li
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Suoguo Jin
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China
| | - Huan Zhao
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39 Shi-er-qiao Road, Sichuan Province, 610072, Chengdu, P R China.
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Honnorat N, Saranathan M, Sullivan EV, Pfefferbaum A, Pohl KM, Zahr NM. Performance ramifications of abnormal functional connectivity of ventral posterior lateral thalamus with cerebellum in abstinent individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder. Drug Alcohol Depend 2021; 220:108509. [PMID: 33453503 PMCID: PMC7889734 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [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: 10/06/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The extant literature supports the involvement of the thalamus in the cognitive and motor impairment associated with chronic alcohol consumption, but clear structure/function relationships remain elusive. Alcohol effects on specific nuclei rather than the entire thalamus may provide the basis for differential cognitive and motor decline in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). This functional MRI (fMRI) study was conducted in 23 abstinent individuals with AUD and 27 healthy controls to test the hypothesis that functional connectivity between anterior thalamus and hippocampus would be compromised in those with an AUD diagnosis and related to mnemonic deficits. Functional connectivity between 7 thalamic structures [5 thalamic nuclei: anterior ventral (AV), mediodorsal (MD), pulvinar (Pul), ventral lateral posterior (VLP), and ventral posterior lateral (VPL); ventral thalamus; the entire thalamus] and 14 "functional regions" was evaluated. Relative to controls, the AUD group exhibited different VPL-based functional connectivity: an anticorrelation between VPL and a bilateral middle temporal lobe region observed in controls became a positive correlation in the AUD group; an anticorrelation between the VPL and the cerebellum was stronger in the AUD than control group. AUD-associated altered connectivity between anterior thalamus and hippocampus as a substrate of memory compromise was not supported; instead, connectivity differences from controls selective to VPL and cerebellum demonstrated a relationship with impaired balance. These preliminary findings support substructure-level evaluation in future studies focused on discerning the role of the thalamus in AUD-associated cognitive and motor deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Honnorat
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
| | - Manojkumar Saranathan
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Arizona College of Medicine, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ, 85724, USA.
| | - Edith V Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Rd., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Adolf Pfefferbaum
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Rd., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Kilian M Pohl
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Rd., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Natalie M Zahr
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Rd., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
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Chipika RH, Finegan E, Li Hi Shing S, McKenna MC, Christidi F, Chang KM, Doherty MA, Hengeveld JC, Vajda A, Pender N, Hutchinson S, Donaghy C, McLaughlin RL, Hardiman O, Bede P. "Switchboard" malfunction in motor neuron diseases: Selective pathology of thalamic nuclei in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and primary lateral sclerosis. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 27:102300. [PMID: 32554322 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The thalamus is a key cerebral hub relaying a multitude of corticoefferent and corticoafferent connections and mediating distinct extrapyramidal, sensory, cognitive and behavioural functions. While the thalamus consists of dozens of anatomically well-defined nuclei with distinctive physiological roles, existing imaging studies in motor neuron diseases typically evaluate the thalamus as a single structure. Based on the unique cortical signatures observed in ALS and PLS, we hypothesised that similarly focal thalamic involvement may be observed if the nuclei are individually evaluated. A prospective imaging study was undertaken with 100 patients with ALS, 33 patients with PLS and 117 healthy controls to characterise the integrity of thalamic nuclei. ALS patients were further stratified for the presence of GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansions in C9orf72. The thalamus was segmented into individual nuclei to examine their volumetric profile. Additionally, thalamic shape deformations were evaluated by vertex analyses and focal density alterations were examined by region-of-interest morphometry. Our data indicate that C9orf72 negative ALS patients and PLS patients exhibit ventral lateral and ventral anterior involvement, consistent with the ‘motor’ thalamus. Degeneration of the sensory nuclei was also detected in C9orf72 negative ALS and PLS. Both ALS groups and the PLS cohort showed focal changes in the mediodorsal-paratenial-reuniens nuclei, which mediate memory and executive functions. PLS patients exhibited distinctive thalamic changes with marked pulvinar and lateral geniculate atrophy compared to both controls and C9orf72 negative ALS. The considerable ventral lateral and ventral anterior pathology detected in both ALS and PLS support the emerging literature of extrapyramidal dysfunction in MND. The involvement of sensory nuclei is consistent with sporadic reports of sensory impairment in MND. The unique thalamic signature of PLS is in line with the distinctive clinical features of the phenotype. Our data confirm phenotype-specific patterns of thalamus involvement in motor neuron diseases with the preferential involvement of nuclei mediating motor and cognitive functions. Given the selective involvement of thalamic nuclei in ALS and PLS, future biomarker and natural history studies in MND should evaluate individual thalamic regions instead overall thalamic changes.
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Zou JS, Wang YW, Han RR, Yuan KX, Zhao LM. [Acoustic response characteristics of posterior intralaminar nucleus of auditory thalamus in mice]. Zhonghua Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi 2019; 54:670-675. [PMID: 31550758 DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1673-0860.2019.09.005] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Objective: To study the response characteristics of the posterior intralaminar nucleus (PIN) of auditory thalamus in VGluT2-Cre transgenic adult mice when exposed to white noise and 10K pure tone stimulation. Methods: All adult male Vglut2-Cre mice (8-12 weeks) were used in this study between Oct, 2017 and Oct, 2018. Using the calcium signal fiber photometry method, optic fiber was employed to locate on PIN by injecting AAV-hSyn-DIO-GCaMP6m virus, and thereafter, the activity of the target cluster neurons during different acoustic stimuli was recorded. Matlab was used for data processing and statistical analysis. Results: (1)In both white noise and 10 kHz pure tone as a continuous three-second stimulation, the peak amplitude of calcium signal activity generated in PIN by white noise was superior to that of pure tone, the statistic result showed significantly difference (n=6, t=2.404, P=0.037 1) . (2)In addition, when white noise and 10K pure tone played as consecutive 3 or 5 pips within three-second stimulation, the stimulus-following ability in a consecutive 3 pulses play within 3 seconds was far better than a consecutive 5 pips play within 3 seconds (in both white noise and 10 kHz pure tone), yet consecutive 3 pips play showed greater signal attenuation speed than that in consecutive 5 pips play, the statistic result showed significantly difference (n=6, t=2.748 P=0.033 4) .(3)Regardless of the intra-group comparisons between white noise and 10 kHz pure tone stimulation, PIN showed better signal response in a consecutive 3 pips play than consecutive 5 pips play or a continuous three-second stimulation. When came to the statistical analysis, the acoustic response degree of a continuous three-second stimulation was an intermediate between two others, both consecutive 3 or 5 pips play showed significantly difference. Conclusions: The results suggest that under the same acoustic intensity, VGluT2-Cre transgenic adult mice's PIN shows greater signal response in white noise than pure tone. PIN shows greater signal attenuation to repetition play of 10 kHz pure tone, which implies PIN shows stronger adaptation to 10 kHz pure tone than to white noise. Lastly, PIN is more responsive to a complex sound information (white noise) than to simple sound information (pure tone).
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Affiliation(s)
- J S Zou
- Clinical Medical College, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
| | - Y W Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - R R Han
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Weifang People's Hospital, Weifang 261000, China
| | - K X Yuan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - L M Zhao
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261031, China
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15
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Su JH, Thomas FT, Kasoff WS, Tourdias T, Choi EY, Rutt BK, Saranathan M. Thalamus Optimized Multi Atlas Segmentation (THOMAS): fast, fully automated segmentation of thalamic nuclei from structural MRI. Neuroimage 2019; 194:272-282. [PMID: 30894331 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [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: 10/23/2018] [Revised: 02/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The thalamus and its nuclei are largely indistinguishable on standard T1 or T2 weighted MRI. While diffusion tensor imaging based methods have been proposed to segment the thalamic nuclei based on the angular orientation of the principal diffusion tensor, these are based on echo planar imaging which is inherently limited in spatial resolution and suffers from distortion. We present a multi-atlas segmentation technique based on white-matter-nulled MP-RAGE imaging that segments the thalamus into 12 nuclei with computation times on the order of 10 min on a desktop PC; we call this method THOMAS (THalamus Optimized Multi Atlas Segmentation). THOMAS was rigorously evaluated on 7T MRI data acquired from healthy volunteers and patients with multiple sclerosis by comparing against manual segmentations delineated by a neuroradiologist, guided by the Morel atlas. Segmentation accuracy was very high, with uniformly high Dice indices: at least 0.85 for large nuclei like the pulvinar and mediodorsal nuclei and at least 0.7 even for small structures such as the habenular, centromedian, and lateral and medial geniculate nuclei. Volume similarity indices ranged from 0.82 for the smaller nuclei to 0.97 for the larger nuclei. Volumetry revealed that the volumes of the right anteroventral, right ventral posterior lateral, and both right and left pulvinar nuclei were significantly lower in MS patients compared to controls, after adjusting for age, sex and intracranial volume. Lastly, we evaluated the potential of this method for targeting the Vim nucleus for deep brain surgery and focused ultrasound thalamotomy by overlaying the Vim nucleus segmented from pre-operative data on post-operative data. The locations of the ablated region and active DBS contact corresponded well with the segmented Vim nucleus. Our fast, direct structural MRI based segmentation method opens the door for MRI guided intra-operative procedures like thalamotomy and asleep DBS electrode placement as well as for accurate quantification of thalamic nuclear volumes to follow progression of neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason H Su
- Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Francis T Thomas
- Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Willard S Kasoff
- Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Thomas Tourdias
- Service de Neuroimagerie Diagnostique et Thérapeutique, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | | | - Brian K Rutt
- Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Manojkumar Saranathan
- Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
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Planche V, Su JH, Mournet S, Saranathan M, Dousset V, Han M, Rutt BK, Tourdias T. White-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T reveals thalamic lesions and atrophy of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler 2019; 26:987-992. [PMID: 30730233 DOI: 10.1177/1352458519828297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [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: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Investigating the degeneration of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains challenging. METHODS White-matter-nulled (WMn) MPRAGE, MP-FLAIR, and standard T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on MS patients (n = 15) and matched controls (n = 12). Thalamic lesions were counted in individual sequences and lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured. Volumes of 12 thalamic nuclei were measured using an automatic segmentation pipeline specifically developed for WMn-MPRAGE. RESULTS WMn-MPRAGE showed more thalamic MS lesions (n = 35 in 9 out of 15 patients) than MP-FLAIR (n = 25) and standard T1 (n = 23), which was associated with significant improvement of CNR (p < 0.0001). MS patients had whole thalamus atrophy (p = 0.003) with lower volumes found for the anteroventral (p < 0.001), the pulvinar (p < 0.0001), and the habenular (p = 0.004) nuclei. CONCLUSION WMn-MPRAGE and automatic thalamic segmentation can highlight thalamic MS lesions and measure patterns of focal thalamic atrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Planche
- Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS UMR 5293, Bordeaux, France; University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Jason H Su
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Vincent Dousset
- University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; INSERM U1215, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France
| | - May Han
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Brian K Rutt
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Thomas Tourdias
- University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; INSERM U1215, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France
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García-Brito S, Aldavert-Vera L, Huguet G, Álvarez A, Kádár E, Segura-Torres P. Increased training compensates for OX1R blockage-impairment of spatial memory and c-Fos expression in different cortical and subcortical areas. Behav Brain Res 2018; 353:21-31. [PMID: 29953904 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 02/19/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2018] [Accepted: 05/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
It has been suggested that the orexin system modulates learning and memory-related processes. However, the possible influence that training could have on the effect of the blockade of orexin-A selective receptor (OX1R) on a spatial memory task has not been explored. Therefore, the present study attempts to compare the effects of OX1R antagonist SB-334867 infusion on spatial memory in two different conditions in the Morris Water Maze (MWM). This experiment evaluated the animals' performance in weak training (2 trials per session) vs strong training (6 trials per session) protocols in a spatial version of the MWM. We found that in the 2-trial condition the post-training SB-334867 infusion had a negative effect on consolidation as well as on the retention and reversal learning of the task 72 h later. This effect was not apparent in the 6-trial condition. In addition, while the strong training groups showed a general increase in c-Fos expression in several brain areas of the hippocampal-thalamic-cortical circuit, SB-334867 administration had the opposite effect in areas that have been previously reported to have a high density of OX1R. Specifically, the SB-infused group in the 2-trial condition showed a decrease in c-Fos immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus, granular retrosplenial and prelimbic cortices, and centrolateral thalamic nucleus. This was not observed for subjects in the 6-trial condition. The activation of these areas could constitute a neuroanatomical substrate involved in the compensatory mechanisms of training upon SB-334867 impairing effects on a MWM spatial task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soleil García-Brito
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Institut de Neurociències, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Laura Aldavert-Vera
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Institut de Neurociències, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Huguet
- Universitat de Girona, Departament de Biologia, 17071 Girona, Spain
| | - Adam Álvarez
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Institut de Neurociències, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisabet Kádár
- Universitat de Girona, Departament de Biologia, 17071 Girona, Spain
| | - Pilar Segura-Torres
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Institut de Neurociències, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Battistella G, Najdenovska E, Maeder P, Ghazaleh N, Daducci A, Thiran JP, Jacquemont S, Tuleasca C, Levivier M, Bach Cuadra M, Fornari E. Robust thalamic nuclei segmentation method based on local diffusion magnetic resonance properties. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 222:2203-16. [PMID: 27888345 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-016-1336-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2016] [Accepted: 11/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The thalamus is an essential relay station in the cortical–subcortical connections. It is characterized by a complex anatomical architecture composed of numerous small nuclei, which mediate the involvement of the thalamus in a wide range of neurological functions. We present a novel framework for segmenting the thalamic nuclei, which explores the orientation distribution functions (ODFs) from diffusion magnetic resonance images at 3 T. The differentiation of the complex intra-thalamic microstructure is improved by using the spherical harmonic (SH) representation of the ODFs, which provides full angular characterization of the diffusion process in each voxel. The clustering was performed using the k-means algorithm initialized in a data-driven manner. The method was tested on 35 healthy volunteers and our results show a robust, reproducible and accurate segmentation of the thalamus in seven nuclei groups. Six of them closely matched the anatomy and were labeled as anterior, ventral anterior, medio-dorsal, ventral latero-ventral, ventral latero-dorsal and pulvinar, while the seventh cluster included the centro-lateral and the latero-posterior nuclei. Results were evaluated both qualitatively, by comparing the segmented nuclei to the histological atlas of Morel, and quantitatively, by measuring the clusters’ extent and the clusters’ spatial distribution across subjects and hemispheres. We also showed the robustness of our approach across different sequences and scanners, as well as intra-subject reproducibility of the segmented clusters using additional two scan–rescan datasets. We also observed an overlap between the path of the main long-connection tracts passing through the thalamus and the spatial distribution of the nuclei identified with our clustering algorithm. Our approach, based on SH representations of the ODFs, outperforms the one based on angular differences between the principle diffusion directions, which is considered so far as state-of-the-art method. Our findings show an anatomically reliable segmentation of the main groups of thalamic nuclei that could be of potential use in many clinical applications.
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Bender B, Wagner S, Klose U. Optimized depiction of thalamic substructures with a combination of T1-MPRAGE and phase: MPRAGE. Clin Neuroradiol 2017; 27:511-8. [PMID: 27119153 DOI: 10.1007/s00062-016-0513-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deep brain stimulation has received increasing attention in recent years as a treatment option for many neurological diseases. The thalamic nuclei in particular are widely used as targets. The goal of the present work was to evaluate whether the combination of two known MRI techniques can lead to identification of thalamic substructures at 3 T. METHODS In nine healthy subjects, an optimized 3D magnetization prepared rapid acquisition GRE (MPRAGE) protocol and phase data from a 3D GRE sequence were combined to form a new contrast (MPRAGE*). The depiction of 13 thalamic substructures was rated by two independent raters in the MPRAGE, phase and MPRAGE* image on a five-point scale. Inter-rater reliability was scored with a weighted Cohen's kappa. RESULTS Inter-rater reliability was good, with the average weighted κ = 0.68. No significant difference between the depiction of the thalamic substructures between phase and MPRAGE images could be found. MPRAGE* showed a significantly better depiction of thalamic substructures in comparison to MPRAGE and phase (p < 0.001 for both cases). CONCLUSION The combination of an optimized MPRAGE protocol with phase data to form an MPRAGE* image leads to a further improvement in the depiction of thalamic substructures, which enables the depiction of thalamic nuclei at 3 T.
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Donadieu M, Le Fur Y, Confort-Gouny S, Le Troter A, Guye M, Ranjeva JP. Evidencing different neurochemical profiles between thalamic nuclei using high resolution 2D-PRESS semi-LASER (1)H-MRSI at 7 T. MAGMA 2016; 29:491-501. [PMID: 27059982 DOI: 10.1007/s10334-016-0556-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2015] [Revised: 03/25/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To demonstrate that high resolution (1)H semi-LASER MRSI acquired at 7 T permits discrimination of metabolic patterns of different thalamic nuclei. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirteen right-handed healthy volunteers were explored at 7 T using a high-resolution 2D-semi-LASER (1)H-MRSI sequence to determine the relative levels of N-Acetyl Aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho) and creatine-phosphocreatine (Cr) in eight VOIs (volume <0.3 ml) centered on four different thalamic nuclei located on the Oxford thalamic connectivity atlas. Post-processing was done using the CSIAPO software. Chemical shift displacement of metabolites was evaluated on a phantom and correction factors were applied to in vivo data. RESULTS The global assessment (ANOVA p < 0.05) of the neurochemical profiles (NAA, Cho and Cr levels) with thalamic nuclei and hemispheres as factors showed a significant global effect (F = 11.98, p < 0.0001), with significant effect of nucleus type (p < 0.0001) and hemisphere (p < 0.0001). Post hoc analyses showed differences in neurochemical profiles between the left and the right hemisphere (p < 0.05), and differences in neurochemical profiles between nuclei within each hemisphere (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION For the first time, using high resolution 2D-PRESS semi-LASER (1)H-MRSI acquired at 7 T, we demonstrated that the neurochemical profiles were different between thalamic nuclei, and that these profiles were dependent on the brain hemisphere.
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Poh JS, Li Y, Ratnarajah N, Fortier MV, Chong YS, Kwek K, Saw SM, Gluckman PD, Meaney MJ, Qiu A. Developmental synchrony of thalamocortical circuits in the neonatal brain. Neuroimage 2015; 116:168-76. [PMID: 25812713 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [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: 12/31/2014] [Revised: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 03/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The thalamus is a deep gray matter structure and consists of axonal fibers projecting to the entire cortex, which provide the anatomical support for its sensorimotor and higher-level cognitive functions. There is limited in vivo evidence on the normal thalamocortical development, especially in early life. In this study, we aimed to investigate the developmental patterns of the cerebral cortex, the thalamic substructures, and their connectivity with the cortex in the first few weeks of the postnatal brain. We hypothesized that there is developmental synchrony of the thalamus, its cortical projections, and corresponding target cortical structures. We employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and divided the thalamus into five substructures respectively connecting to the frontal, precentral, postcentral, temporal, and parietal and occipital cortex. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure cortical thickness. We found age-related increases in cortical thickness of bilateral frontal cortex and left temporal cortex in the early postnatal brain. We also found that the development of the thalamic substructures was synchronized with that of their respective thalamocortical connectivity in the first few weeks of the postnatal life. In particular, the right thalamo-frontal substructure had the fastest growth in the early postnatal brain. Our study suggests that the distinct growth patterns of the thalamic substructures are in synchrony with those of the cortex in early life, which may be critical for the development of the cortical and subcortical functional specialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joann S Poh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore
| | - Yue Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Nagulan Ratnarajah
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Marielle V Fortier
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore
| | - Yap-Seng Chong
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore
| | - Kenneth Kwek
- Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore
| | - Seang-Mei Saw
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Peter D Gluckman
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore; Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Michael J Meaney
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Canada; Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Psychobiology, McGill University, Canada
| | - Anqi Qiu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Clinical Imaging Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore.
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Tourdias T, Saranathan M, Levesque IR, Su J, Rutt BK. Visualization of intra- thalamic nuclei with optimized white-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T. Neuroimage 2013; 84:534-45. [PMID: 24018302 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.08.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [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: 05/27/2013] [Revised: 07/27/2013] [Accepted: 08/29/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Novel MR image acquisition strategies have been investigated to elicit contrast within the thalamus, but direct visualization of individual thalamic nuclei remains a challenge because of their small size and the low intrinsic contrast between adjacent nuclei. We present a step-by-step specific optimization of the 3D MPRAGE pulse sequence at 7T to visualize the intra-thalamic nuclei. We first measured T1 values within different sub-regions of the thalamus at 7T in 5 individuals. We used these to perform simulations and sequential experimental measurements (n=17) to tune the parameters of the MPRAGE sequence. The optimal set of parameters was used to collect high-quality data in 6 additional volunteers. Delineation of thalamic nuclei was performed twice by one rater and MR-defined nuclei were compared to the classic Morel histological atlas. T1 values within the thalamus ranged from 1400ms to 1800ms for adjacent nuclei. Using these values for theoretical evaluations combined with in vivo measurements, we showed that a short inversion time (TI) close to the white matter null regime (TI=670ms) enhanced the contrast between the thalamus and the surrounding tissues, and best revealed intra-thalamic contrast. At this particular nulling regime, lengthening the time between successive inversion pulses (TS=6000ms) increased the thalamic signal and contrast and lengthening the α pulse train time (N*TR) further increased the thalamic signal. Finally, a low flip angle during the gradient echo acquisition (α=4°) was observed to mitigate the blur induced by the evolution of the magnetization along the α pulse train. This optimized set of parameters enabled the 3D delineation of 15 substructures in all 6 individuals; these substructures corresponded well with the known anatomical structures of the thalamus based on the classic Morel atlas. The mean Euclidean distance between the centers of mass of MR- and Morel atlas-defined nuclei was 2.67mm (±1.02mm). The reproducibility of the MR-defined nuclei was excellent with intraclass correlation coefficient measured at 0.997 and a mean Euclidean distance between corresponding centers of mass found at first versus second readings of 0.69mm (±0.38mm). This 7T strategy paves the way to better identification of thalamic nuclei for neurosurgical planning and investigation of regional changes in neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Tourdias
- Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging, Radiology Department, Stanford University, 1201 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305-5488, USA.
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