The triple nexus in the brain: corpus callosum, brain asymmetry and cognition
Poster No:
700
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Chenghui Zhang1, Yilamujiang Abuduaini1, Bolong Wang1, Xiangzhen Kong1,2,3
Institutions:
1Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China, 2Department of Psychiatry of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310016, China, 3The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
First Author:
Chenghui Zhang
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Co-Author(s):
Yilamujiang Abuduaini
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Bolong Wang
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China
Xiangzhen Kong
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University|Department of Psychiatry of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine|The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China|Hangzhou 310016, China|Hangzhou 310058, China
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University|Department of Psychiatry of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine|The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou 310058, China|Hangzhou 310016, China|Hangzhou 310058, China
Introduction:
The corpus callosum (CC), a remarkable structure in the human brain, serves as a vital bridge of communication between the left and right hemispheres. Two theories exist regarding its specific functions (Güntürkün et al. 2020). One theory suggests that the CC serves to inhibit neural activity in the nondominant hemisphere to enhance hemispheric specialization, while the other suggests that it serves to facilitate and enhance interhemispheric interaction. Some studies have suggested that the CC may serve both inhibitory and excitatory functions, depending on the specific neural circuits involved (Van et al. 2011). The present study aims to investigate the large-scale associations between the CC and hemispheric structural asymmetries, and the potential roles in cognitive function.
Methods:
Data (N = 40070; 46-82 years old) were obtained from the UK Biobank as part of research application of 75807. These data included fractional anisotropy (FA) of the three CC segments: genu, body, and splenium, morphometric measures (cortical thickness [CT], surface area [SA], and gray matter volume [GMV]) of the 62 cortical regions (31 per hemisphere), and behavioral data of cognitive functions. First, we ran a canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to investigate the multivariate association between the CC segments and the asymmetries of cortical regions. We split the total samples into two datasets for showing the reliability of the CCA results: Dataset #1 with 26955 participants whose cognitive function data were available; Dataset #2 with the remaining 13115 participants whose cognitive function data were not available in the database. Three pairs of components were obtained for each analysis. Next, we explored the functional correlates of these components using a linear regression. The general cognitive ability was included as the independent variable in the regression, which was derived from the first principal component of the principal component analysis of the 10 variables of cognitive functions. Variables including sex, age, imaging assessment center, and others were included as covariates. Finally, we examined the mediation model with the general cognitive ability as the dependent variable, the CC components as the mediator, and hemispheric asymmetry components as independent variable.
Results:
Three pairs of components were derived from each CCA of the CC and hemispheric asymmetry features, and similar results, particularly for the first component, were obtained in the two independent datasets (Fig. 1). Each component showed various correlations with the cognitive functions (Fig. 2). While the mediation effects were significant in most cases, we found that the mediation effect with the first pair of components from the CCA were the most pronounced (p = 6.7x10-16) (Fig. 2).
Conclusions:
Our results provided robust evidence for the link between the CC and hemispheric asymmetry based on the large-scale datasets. The mediation analyses further support the role of the interhemispheric communications on the indirect link between hemispheric asymmetries and cognitive function. It provides a new perspective for revealing the mechanisms between corpus callosum, brain asymmetry, and cognition.
Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging:
Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Multivariate Approaches 2
Keywords:
Other - corpus callosum, brain asymmetry, cognition, hemispheric specialzation
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
van der Knaap LJ, 'How does the corpus callosum mediate interhemispheric transfer? A review.', Behavioural brain research, 223(1), 211-221.