| 1. |
- Burzynska, Agnieszka Z., et al.
(author)
-
A Scaffold for Efficiency in the Human Brain
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 33:43, s. 17150-17159
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The comprehensive relations between healthy adult human brain white matter(WM) microstructure and gray matter (GM) function, and their joint relations to cognitive performance, remain poorly understood. We investigated these associations in 27 younger and 28 older healthy adults by linking diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected during an n-back working memory task. We present a novel application of multivariate Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis that permitted the simultaneous modeling of relations between WM integrity values from all major WM tracts and patterns of condition-related BOLD signal across all GM regions. Our results indicate that greater microstructural integrity of the major WM tracts was negatively related to condition-related blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal in task-positive GM regions. This negative relationship suggests that better quality of structural connections allows for more efficient use of task-related GM processing resources. Individuals with more intact WM further showed greater BOLD signal increases in typical task-negative regions during fixation, and notably exhibited a balanced magnitude of BOLD response across task-positive and-negative states. Structure-function relations also predicted task performance, including accuracy and speed of responding. Finally, structure-function behavior relations reflected individual differences over and above chronological age. Our findings provide evidence for the role of WM microstructure as a scaffold for the context-relevant utilization of GM regions.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Li, Shu-Chen, et al.
(author)
-
Aging magnifies the effects of dopamine transporter and D2 receptor genes on backward serial memory
- 2013
-
In: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 34:1, s. 358.e1-358.e10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aging compromises dopamine transporter (DAT) and receptor mechanisms in the frontostriatal circuitry. In a sample of 1288 younger and older adults, we investigated (i) whether individual differences in genotypes of the DAT gene (i.e., SLC6A3, the DAT variable number of tandem repeat 9/9, 9/10, and 10/10) and in the D2 receptor (DRD2) gene (i.e., the C957T [rs6277] CC and any T) interactively contribute to phenotype variations in episodic memory performance; and (ii) whether these genetic effects are magnified in older adults, because of considerable declines in the dopamine functions. Our results showed that carrying genotypes associated with higher levels of striatal synaptic dopamine (DAT 9/9) and higher density of extrastriatal D2 receptors (C957T CC) were associated with better backward serial recall, an episodic memory task with high encoding and retrieval demands. Critically, the gene-gene interaction effect was reliably stronger in older than in younger adults. In line with the resource modulation hypothesis, our findings suggest that aging-related decline in brain phenotypes (e.g., dopamine functions) could alter the relations between genotypes and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., episodic memory).
|
|
