Processing Speed is Correlated with Cerebral Health Markers in the Frontal Lobes As Quantified by Neuroimaging

Overview

Journal Neuroimage

Specialty Radiology

Date 2009 Oct 3

PMID 19796691

Citations 83

Authors

P Kochunov

T Coyle

J Lancaster

D A Robin

J Hardies

V Kochunov

G Bartzokis

J Stanley

D Royall

A E Schlosser

M Null

P T Fox

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We explored relationships between decline in cognitive processing speed (CPS) and change in frontal lobe MRI/MRS-based indices of cerebral integrity in 38 healthy adults (age 57-90 years). CPS was assessed using a battery of four timed neuropsychological tests: Grooved Pegboard, Coding, Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Category Fluency (Fruits and Furniture). The neuropsychological tests were factor analyzed to extract two components of CPS: psychomotor (PM) and psychophysical (PP). MRI-based indices of cerebral integrity included three cortical measurements per hemisphere (GM thickness, intergyral and sulcal spans) and two subcortical indices (fractional anisotropy (FA), measured using track-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and the volume of hyperintense WM (HWM)). MRS indices included levels of choline-containing compounds (GPC+PC), phosphocreatine plus creatine (PCr+Cr), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA), measured bilaterally in the frontal WM bundles. A substantial fraction of the variance in the PM-CPS (58%) was attributed to atrophic changes in frontal WM, observed as increases in sulcal span, declines in FA values and reductions in concentrations of NAA and choline-containing compounds. A smaller proportion (20%) of variance in the PP-CPS could be explained by bilateral increases in frontal sulcal span and increases in HWM volumes.

Citing Articles

Accelerating Heritability, Genetic Correlation, and Genome-Wide Association Imaging Genetic Analyses in Complex Pedigrees.

Donohue B, Gao S, Nichols T, Adhikari B, Ma Y, Jahanshad N Hum Brain Mapp. 2024; 45(17):e70044.

PMID: 39593222 PMC: 11599162. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.70044.

The Impact of Ageing on Episodic Memory Retrieval: How Valence Influences Neural Functional Connectivity.

Constantinou M, Pecchinenda A, Burianova H, Yankouskaya A NeuroSci. 2024; 5(4):542-564.

PMID: 39585108 PMC: 11587483. DOI: 10.3390/neurosci5040040.

Harnessing the frontal aslant tract's structure to assess its involvement in cognitive functions: new insights from 7-T diffusion imaging.

Serrano-Sponton L, Lange F, Dauth A, Krenzlin H, Perez A, Januschek E Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):17455.

PMID: 39075100 PMC: 11286763. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67013-w.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of White Matter Maturation after Pre-Adolescence: A Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging Study.

Farrher E, Grinberg F, Khechiashvili T, Neuner I, Konrad K, Jon Shah N Brain Sci. 2024; 14(5).

PMID: 38790472 PMC: 11119177. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14050495.

Sulcal Morphometry Predicts Mild Cognitive Impairment Conversion to Alzheimer's Disease.

Sighinolfi G, Mitolo M, Pizzagalli F, Stanzani-Maserati M, Remondini D, Rochat M J Alzheimers Dis. 2024; 99(1):177-190.

PMID: 38640154 PMC: 11191431. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-231192.

References

Salthouse T . Relations between cognitive abilities and measures of executive functioning. Neuropsychology. 2005; 19(4):532-545. DOI: 10.1037/0894-4105.19.4.532. View

Oscar-Berman M, Marinkovic K . Alcoholism and the brain: an overview. Alcohol Res Health. 2004; 27(2):125-33. PMC: 6668884. View

Kraemer H, Yesavage J, Taylor J, Kupfer D . How can we learn about developmental processes from cross-sectional studies, or can we?. Am J Psychiatry. 2000; 157(2):163-71. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.2.163. View

Conturo T, McKinstry R, Akbudak E, Robinson B . Encoding of anisotropic diffusion with tetrahedral gradients: a general mathematical diffusion formalism and experimental results. Magn Reson Med. 1996; 35(3):399-412. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.1910350319. View

Aboitiz F, SCHEIBEL A, Fisher R, Zaidel E . Fiber composition of the human corpus callosum. Brain Res. 1992; 598(1-2):143-53. DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(92)90178-c. View

Horsfield M, Jones D . Applications of diffusion-weighted and diffusion tensor MRI to white matter diseases - a review. NMR Biomed. 2002; 15(7-8):570-7. DOI: 10.1002/nbm.787. View

Raz N, Head D, Dupuis J, Acker J . Neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive aging: evidence from structural magnetic resonance imaging. Neuropsychology. 1998; 12(1):95-114. DOI: 10.1037//0894-4105.12.1.95. View

Jelsing J, Rostrup E, Markenroth K, Paulson O, Gundersen H, Hemmingsen R . Assessment of in vivo MR imaging compared to physical sections in vitro--a quantitative study of brain volumes using stereology. Neuroimage. 2005; 26(1):57-65. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.01.005. View

Salthouse T, Atkinson T, Berish D . Executive functioning as a potential mediator of age-related cognitive decline in normal adults. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2003; 132(4):566-94. DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.132.4.566. View

10.

Chang L, Friedman J, Ernst T, Zhong K, Tsopelas N, Davis K . Brain metabolite abnormalities in the white matter of elderly schizophrenic subjects: implication for glial dysfunction. Biol Psychiatry. 2007; 62(12):1396-404. PMC: 2222890. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.05.025. View

11.

Raz N . The cognitive correlates of white matter abnormalities in normal aging: a quantitative review. Neuropsychology. 2000; 14(2):224-32. DOI: 10.1037//0894-4105.14.2.224. View

12.

Hedden T, Gabrieli J . Healthy and pathological processes in adult development: new evidence from neuroimaging of the aging brain. Curr Opin Neurol. 2005; 18(6):740-7. DOI: 10.1097/01.wco.0000189875.29852.48. View

13.

Brooks J, Roberts N, Kemp G, Gosney M, Lye M, Whitehouse G . A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of age-related changes in frontal lobe metabolite concentrations. Cereb Cortex. 2001; 11(7):598-605. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/11.7.598. View

14.

Kochunov P, Lancaster J, Thompson P, Toga A, Brewer P, Hardies J . An optimized individual target brain in the Talairach coordinate system. Neuroimage. 2002; 17(2):922-7. View

15.

Raz N, Gunning F, Head D, Dupuis J, McQuain J, Briggs S . Selective aging of the human cerebral cortex observed in vivo: differential vulnerability of the prefrontal gray matter. Cereb Cortex. 1997; 7(3):268-82. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/7.3.268. View

16.

Kochunov P, Lancaster J, Glahn D, Purdy D, Laird A, Gao F . Retrospective motion correction protocol for high-resolution anatomical MRI. Hum Brain Mapp. 2006; 27(12):957-62. PMC: 6871401. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20235. View

17.

Bartzokis G, Cummings J, Sultzer D, Henderson V, Nuechterlein K, Mintz J . White matter structural integrity in healthy aging adults and patients with Alzheimer disease: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Arch Neurol. 2003; 60(3):393-8. DOI: 10.1001/archneur.60.3.393. View

18.

Charlton R, McIntyre D, Howe F, Morris R, Markus H . The relationship between white matter brain metabolites and cognition in normal aging: the GENIE study. Brain Res. 2007; 1164:108-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.06.027. View

19.

Schweinsburg B, Alhassoon O, Taylor M, Gonzalez R, Videen J, Brown G . Effects of alcoholism and gender on brain metabolism. Am J Psychiatry. 2003; 160(6):1180-3. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.6.1180. View

20.

Song S, Sun S, Ju W, Lin S, Cross A, Neufeld A . Diffusion tensor imaging detects and differentiates axon and myelin degeneration in mouse optic nerve after retinal ischemia. Neuroimage. 2003; 20(3):1714-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.07.005. View