Simultaneous Assessment of White Matter Changes in Microstructure and Connectedness in the Blind Brain
Joint Authors
Ptito, Maurice
Kupers, Ron
Reislev, Nina Linde
Dyrby, Tim Bjørn
Siebner, Hartwig Roman
Source
Issue
Vol. 2016, Issue 2016 (31 Dec. 2016), pp.1-12, 12 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2016-01-05
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
12
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human brain has provided converging evidence that visual deprivation induces regional changes in white matter (WM) microstructure.
It remains unclear how these changes modify network connections between brain regions.
Here we used diffusion-weighted MRI to relate differences in microstructure and structural connectedness of WM in individuals with congenital or late-onset blindness relative to normally sighted controls.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provided voxel-specific microstructural features of the tissue, while anatomical connectivity mapping (ACM) assessed the connectedness of each voxel with the rest of the brain.
ACM yielded reduced anatomical connectivity in the corpus callosum in individuals with congenital but not late-onset blindness.
ACM did not identify any brain region where blindness resulted in increased anatomical connectivity.
DTI revealed widespread microstructural differences as indexed by a reduced regional fractional anisotropy (FA).
Blind individuals showed lower FA in the primary visual and the ventral visual processing stream relative to sighted controls regardless of the blindness onset.
The results show that visual deprivation shapes WM microstructure and anatomical connectivity, but these changes appear to be spatially dissociated as changes emerge in different WM tracts.
They also indicate that regional differences in anatomical connectivity depend on the onset of blindness.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Reislev, Nina Linde& Dyrby, Tim Bjørn& Siebner, Hartwig Roman& Kupers, Ron& Ptito, Maurice. 2016. Simultaneous Assessment of White Matter Changes in Microstructure and Connectedness in the Blind Brain. Neural Plasticity،Vol. 2016, no. 2016, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1113206
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Reislev, Nina Linde…[et al.]. Simultaneous Assessment of White Matter Changes in Microstructure and Connectedness in the Blind Brain. Neural Plasticity No. 2016 (2016), pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1113206
American Medical Association (AMA)
Reislev, Nina Linde& Dyrby, Tim Bjørn& Siebner, Hartwig Roman& Kupers, Ron& Ptito, Maurice. Simultaneous Assessment of White Matter Changes in Microstructure and Connectedness in the Blind Brain. Neural Plasticity. 2016. Vol. 2016, no. 2016, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1113206
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1113206