Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2014 10-16 May 2014 Milan, Italy

SCIENTIFIC SESSION
Neuro Developmental & Pediatric Disorders

 
Monday 12 May 2014
Yellow 1, 2 & 3  16:30 - 18:30 Moderators: Hao Huang, Ph.D., Petra S. Hüppi, M.D.

16:30 0222.   
Cerebral blood flow deficits in the Tc1 mouse model of Down’s syndrome
Holly E Holmes1, Frances Wiseman2, James M O'Callaghan1, Jack A Wells1, Victor LJ Tybulewicz3, Elizabeth MC Fisher2, and Mark F Lythgoe1
1Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, London, Greater London, United Kingdom, 2Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Institute of Neurology, London, Greater London, United Kingdom, 3MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, Greater London, United Kingdom

 
Down's syndrome (DS) is a genetic condition caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21. Individuals with DS have a greater predisposition to Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is believed to be caused by the extra dosage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene: a known AD risk factor which lies on chromosome 21. AD-like blood flow changes have previously been observed in clinical DS studies. We unveil cerebral blood flow changes in the Tc1 mouse model of DS in the absence of APP. These results suggest that other genes on chromosome 21 may be contributing to these AD-like patterns of hypoperfusion.

 
16:42 0223.   V1a antagonism normalizes a social brain network in valproate rat model of autism revealed by functional MRI
Thomas Mueggler1, Dany D D'Souza1, Barbara Biemans1, Andreas Bruns1, Basil Künnecke1, Patrick Schnider2, Christophe Grundschober1, and Markus von Kienlin1
1Pharma Research & Early Development, DTA Neuroscience, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland, 2Pharma Research & Early Development, Small Molecule Research, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland

 
The neuropeptide vasopressin is thought to play an important role in regulating social behavior. Here we investigated its role in the rat valproate (VPA) model of autism which has phenotypical changes similar to the human condition. In VPA rats we identified altered perfusion as a surrogate of disturbed neural activity in brain regions implicated in social behavior. Chronic treatment with a vasopressin V1a receptor-specific antagonist, reversed perfusion deficits in key regions such as the striatum, ventral tegmental area and superior colliculus suggesting that V1a antagonists have the potential to improve core symptoms of autism such as social interaction.

 
16:54 0224.   Age-related abnormalities of white matter tracts in autism spectrum disorder: A diffusion spectrum imaging study using whole brain tract-specific analysis
Chien-Hung Lu1, Yu-Jen Chen2, Yu-Chun Lo2, Yung-Chin Hsu2, Susan Shur-Fen Gau3,4, and Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng2,4
1School of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Center for Optoelectronic Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, 3Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, 4Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

 
This study aimed to investigate the differences of white matter tracts across a wide range of age between autism spectrum disorder and typically developing participants using diffusion spectrum imaging. In our findings, with a large sample size (63 : 63) and a broad range of age (7-29 years). GFA presented an atypical growth pattern in ASD compared to TD in several white matter tracts. The present data suggested that the time trajectory may differentiate brain maturation in ASD.

 
17:06 0225.   Diffusion MR of Auditory and Language Pathways in Children with 16p11.2 Deletions and Duplications
Jeffrey I Berman1,2, Darina Chudnovskaya1, Wendy K Chung3, John E Spiro4, Timothy PL Roberts1,2, and Simons VIP Consortium4
1Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 2Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States,3Columbia University, New York, United States, 4Simons Foundation, New York, New York, United States

 
Genetic copy number variation of 16p11.2 has been associated with developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study uses diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) to quantify microstructural alterations to the auditory radiation, Heschl’s gyrus, and arcuate fasciculus in children with 16p11.2 deletion or duplication. A significant effect of genetic copy number variation on FA, MD, and radial diffusivity was observed in each of the regions measured (p<0.05). Mean and radial diffusivities were consistently higher in the copy number variation groups indicating alterations of white matter microstructure which may impair function.

 
17:18 0226.   Glutamate and GABA in Children with ADHD and Complex Motor Stereotypies: A 7T ¹H MRS Study
Alena Horska1, Xin Wang1, Matthew Ryan2, Martha B Denckla2, Peter B Barker1, Harvey S Singer1, and E Mark Mahone2
1Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, 2Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States

 
Using single voxel ¹H MRS at 7T, concentrations of the neurotransmitters glutamate (Glu) and GABA were measured in prefrontal and fronto-striatal regions in pediatric patients 5-10 years old, diagnosed with ADHD and complex motor stereotypies (CMS). The control group was comprised of age-matched healthy typically developing children. Compared with controls, both patient groups had a lower overall mean GABA/Cr ratio (calculated from the 4 regions examined) and a lower striatal GABA/Cr ratio. No group differences in the GABA/Cr and NAA/Cr ratios were detected.

 
17:30 0227.   
Multimodal imaging classification of ADHD: brain functional connectivity and cortical thickness
Po-Hsiang Chan1, Yu-Sheng Tseng1, Chun-jung Chen1, Teng-Yi Huang1, and Tzu-Chao Chuang2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipe, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C, Taipei, Taiwan

 
This study aims to develop a classification method based on support vector machine (SVM) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. We proposed to use SVM to classify subject groups based on the brain functional connectivity obtained from resting-state fMRI datasets and brain cortical thickness obtained from 3D T1 MPRAGE datasets. We identified that SVM classifier did not perform well (accuracy of ~ 57%) if all the available features were selected into SVM training. Using the proposed feature selection approach, the maximum accuracies increased to 68 ¡V 99 %. The results support that feature selection according to absolute weightings of a pre-trained SVM hyperplane is an efficient method to increase the classification accuracies.

 
17:42 0228.   Medication with Stimulants Modifies the Mean Diffusivity in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: a DTI Study
Rodrigo de Luis-Garcia1, Gemma Cabus-Pinol2, Carlos Imaz-Roncero2, Daniel Argibay-Quinones1, Gonzalo Barrio-Arranz1, Santiago Aja-Fernandez1, and Carlos Alberola-Lopez1
1Laboratorio de Procesado de Imagen, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain, 2Hospital Clinico Universitario, Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

 
The impact of ADHD on white matter connectivity has not been well stablished yet, and the effects of treatment on the brain structure have not been sufficiently explored. We investigated the effects of ADHD and treatment with methylphenidate in the white matter of children using a tractography selection method that allows the robust extraction of several fiber bundles of interest. Differences in the Mean Diffusivity were found between ADHD patients under treatment and normal controls and between ADHD patients under treatment and drug-naive ADHD patients, indicating that the use of psychostimulants may modify the brain connectivity.

 
17:54 0229.   
Conduct disorder and callous unemotional traits are related to the microstructure of the dorsal default-mode network
Arjun Sethi1, Quinton Deeley1, Sagari Sarkar1, Marco Catani1, Flavio Dell'Acqua1, Declan DGM Murphy1, and Michael C Craig1
1Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, England, United Kingdom

 
This work supports the importance of the white matter underpinning a mediodorsal component of the default-mode network (the dorsal cingulum) in conduct disorder and callous unemotional traits. Diffusion MRI tractography shows that decreased radial diffusivity in this tract portion is reduced in adolescents with conduct disorder, and that radial diffusivity is negatively correlated with callous-unemotional traits in the whole sample.

 
18:06 0230.   
Differentiation of white-matter differences across sub-clinical psychotic experiences using diffusion tensor and quantitative relaxometry imaging
Mark Drakesmith1, Anirban Dutt2, Glyn Lewis3, Anthony S David2, and Derek K Jones1
1CUBRIC, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, 2Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Academic Unit of Psychiatry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

 
Few studies have examined white-matter correlates of psychotic experiences in an at-risk population. We show using DTI and quantitative T1 white-matter differences associated with sub-clinical psychotic experiences. Individuals with psychotic experiences show reduced FA, AD and increased RD in left medial frontal white matter. No differences in T1 were identified. A number of variables, especially auditory hallucinations, negatively correlate with FA, globally. Some variables also negatively correlate with T1, suggesting a positive correlation with myelination. Future identification of subjects who transition to full psychosis will enable isolation of more specific white-matter predictors of psychosis.

 
18:18 0231.   Longitudinal comparison of the “default mode” deactivations in adolescents prenatally exposed to cocaine
Zhihao Li1, Priya Santhanam1, Claire Coles2, Mary Ellen Lynch2, Stephan Hamann3, and Xiaoping Hu1
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory University & Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 2Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 3Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

 
The present fMRI study examined the developmental effect of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on default mode network (DMN) deactivations in longitudinally followed adolescents. Comparing age 17 to 15 while performing the same memory task, DMN deactivation was reduced in the control group but increased in the adolescents with PCE. The present results provide direct evidence supporting the view of a long-term effect of PCE on arousal regulation.