Dataset Information

Alterations in midline cortical thickness and gyrification patterns mapped in children with 22q11.2 deletions.

ABSTRACT: The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (velocardiofacial/DiGeorge syndrome) is a neurogenetic condition associated with visuospatial deficits, as well as elevated rates of attentional disturbance, mood disorder, and psychosis. Previously, we detected pronounced cortical thinning in superior parietal and right parieto-occipital cortices in patients with this syndrome, regions critical for visuospatial processing. Here we applied cortical pattern-matching algorithms to structural magnetic resonance images obtained from 21 children with confirmed 22q11.2 deletions (ages 8-17) and 13 demographically matched comparison subjects, in order to map cortical thickness across the medial hemispheric surfaces. In addition, cortical models were remeshed in frequency space to compute their surface complexity. Cortical maps revealed a pattern of localized thinning in the ventromedial occipital-temporal cortex, critical for visuospatial representation, and the anterior cingulate, a key area for attentional control. However, children with 22q11.2DS showed significantly increased gyral complexity bilaterally in occipital cortex. Regional gray matter volumes, particularly in medial frontal cortex, were strongly correlated with both verbal and nonverbal cognitive functions. These findings suggest that aberrant parieto-occipital brain development, as evidenced by both increased complexity and cortical thinning in these regions, may be a neural substrate for the deficits in visuospatial and numerical understanding characteristic of this syndrome.

SUBMITTER: Bearden CE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2733329 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Alterations in midline cortical thickness and gyrification patterns mapped in children with 22q11.2 deletions.

Bearden Carrie E CE van Erp Theo G M TG Dutton Rebecca A RA Lee Agatha D AD Simon Tony J TJ Cannon Tyrone D TD Emanuel Beverly S BS McDonald-McGinn Donna D Zackai Elaine H EH Thompson Paul M PM

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) 20080514 1

The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (velocardiofacial/DiGeorge syndrome) is a neurogenetic condition associated with visuospatial deficits, as well as elevated rates of attentional disturbance, mood disorder, and psychosis. Previously, we detected pronounced cortical thinning in superior parietal and right parieto-occipital cortices in patients with this syndrome, regions critical for visuospatial processing. Here we applied cortical pattern-matching algorithms to structural magnetic resonance images ...[more]

PMID: 18483006

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Project description:Humans are known to have significant and consistent differences in thickness throughout the cortex, with thick outer gyral folds and thin inner sulcal folds. Our previous work has suggested a mechanical basis for this thickness pattern, with the forces generated during cortical folding leading to thick gyri and thin sulci, and shown that cortical thickness varies along a gyral-sulcal spectrum in humans. While other primate species are expected to exhibit similar patterns of cortical thickness, it is currently unknown how these patterns scale across different sizes, forms, and foldedness. Among primates, brains vary enormously from roughly the size of a grape to the size of a grapefruit, and from nearly smooth to dramatically folded; of these, human brains are the largest and most folded. These variations in size and form make comparative neuroanatomy a rich resource for investigating common trends that transcend differences between species. In this study, we examine 12 primate species in order to cover a wide range of sizes and forms, and investigate the scaling of their cortical thickness relative to the surface geometry. The 12 species were selected due to the public availability of either reconstructed surfaces and/or population templates. After obtaining or reconstructing 3D surfaces from publicly available neuroimaging data, we used our surface-based computational pipeline (https://github.com/mholla/curveball) to analyze patterns of cortical thickness and folding with respect to size (total surface area), geometry (i.e. curvature, shape, and sulcal depth), and foldedness (gyrification). In all 12 species, we found consistent cortical thickness variations along a gyral-sulcal spectrum, with convex shapes thicker than concave shapes and saddle shapes in between. Furthermore, we saw an increasing thickness difference between gyri and sulci as brain size increases. Our results suggest a systematic folding mechanism relating local cortical thickness to geometry. Finally, all of our reconstructed surfaces and morphometry data are available for future research in comparative neuroanatomy.

Dataset Information

Alterations in midline cortical thickness and gyrification patterns mapped in children with 22q11.2 deletions.

Publications

Alterations in midline cortical thickness and gyrification patterns mapped in children with 22q11.2 deletions.

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