Dataset Information

Correlating anterior insula gray matter volume changes in young people with clinical and neurocognitive outcomes: an MRI study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The anterior insula cortex is considered to be both the structural and functional link between experience, affect, and behaviour. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown changes in anterior insula gray matter volume (GMV) in psychosis, bipolar, depression and anxiety disorders in older patients, but few studies have investigated insula GMV changes in young people. This study examined the relationship between anterior insula GMV, clinical symptom severity and neuropsychological performance in a heterogeneous cohort of young people presenting for mental health care.

Methods

Participants with a primary diagnosis of depression (n?=?43), bipolar disorder (n?=?38), psychosis (n?=?32), anxiety disorder (n?=?12) or healthy controls (n?=?39) underwent structural MRI scanning, and volumetric segmentation of the bilateral anterior insula cortex was performed using the FreeSurfer application. Statistical analysis examined the linear and quadratic correlations between anterior insula GMV and participants' performance in a battery of clinical and neuropsychological assessments.

Results

Compared to healthy participants, patients had significantly reduced GMV in the left anterior insula (t?=?2.05, p?=?.042) which correlated with reduced performance on a neuropsychological task of attentional set-shifting (??=?.32, p?=?.016). Changes in right anterior insula GMV was correlated with increased symptom severity (r?=?.29, p?=?.006) and more positive symptoms (r?=?.32, p?=?.002).

Conclusions

By using the novel approach of examining a heterogeneous cohort of young depression, anxiety, bipolar and psychosis patients together, this study has demonstrated that insula GMV changes are associated with neurocognitive deficits and clinical symptoms in such young patients.

SUBMITTER: Hatton SN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3468394 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Correlating anterior insula gray matter volume changes in young people with clinical and neurocognitive outcomes: an MRI study.

Hatton Sean N SN Lagopoulos Jim J Hermens Daniel F DF Naismith Sharon L SL Bennett Maxwell R MR Hickie Ian B IB

BMC psychiatry 20120520

<h4>Background</h4>The anterior insula cortex is considered to be both the structural and functional link between experience, affect, and behaviour. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown changes in anterior insula gray matter volume (GMV) in psychosis, bipolar, depression and anxiety disorders in older patients, but few studies have investigated insula GMV changes in young people. This study examined the relationship between anterior insula GMV, clinical symptom severity and neurop ...[more]

PMID: 22607202

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Project description:BackgroundDespite decades of research, there is continued uncertainty regarding whether autism is associated with a specific profile of gray matter (GM) structure. This inconsistency may stem from the widespread use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods that combine indices of GM density and GM volume. If GM density or volume, but not both, prove different in autism, the traditional VBM approach of combining the two indices may obscure the difference. The present study measures GM density and volume separately to examine whether autism is associated with alterations in GM volume, density, or both.MethodsDifferences in MRI-based GM density and volume were examined in 6-25 year-olds with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (n = 213, 80.8% male, IQ 47-154) and a typically developing (TD) sample (n = 190, 71.6% male, IQ 67-155). High-resolution T1-weighted anatomical images were collected on a single MRI scanner. Regional density and volume were estimated via whole-brain parcellation comprised of 1625 parcels. Parcel-wise analyses were conducted using generalized additive models while controlling the false discovery rate (FDR, q < 0.05). Volume differences in the 68-region Desikan-Killiany atlas derived from Freesurfer were also examined, to establish the generalizability of findings across methods.ResultsNo density differences were observed between the autistic and TD groups, either in individual parcels or whole brain mean density. Increased volume was observed in autism compared to the TD group when controlling for Age, Sex, and IQ, both at the level of the whole brain (total volume) and in 45 parcels (2.8% of total parcels). Parcels with greater volume included inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyrus, inferior and superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, and fusiform gyrus. Converging evidence from a standard Freesurfer pipeline also identified greater volume in a number of overlapping regions.LimitationsThe method for determining "density" is not a direct measure of neuronal density, and this study cannot reveal underlying cellular differences. While this study represents possibly the largest single-site sample of its kind, it is underpowered to detect very small differences.ConclusionsThese results provide compelling evidence that autism is associated with regional GM volumetric differences, which are more prominent than density differences. This underscores the importance of examining volume and density separately, and suggests that direct measures of volume (e.g. region-of-interest or tensor-based morphometry approaches) may be more sensitive to autism-relevant differences in neuroanatomy than concentration/density-based approaches.

Dataset Information

Correlating anterior insula gray matter volume changes in young people with clinical and neurocognitive outcomes: an MRI study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Correlating anterior insula gray matter volume changes in young people with clinical and neurocognitive outcomes: an MRI study.

Similar Datasets

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