TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural Neuroplastic Responses Preserve Functional Connectivity and Neurobehavioural Outcomes in Children Born Without Corpus Callosum
AU - Siffredi, Vanessa
AU - Preti, Maria G
AU - Kebets, Valeria
AU - Obertino, Silvia
AU - Leventer, Richard J
AU - McIlroy, Alissandra
AU - Wood, Amanda G
AU - Anderson, Vicki
AU - Spencer-Smith, Megan M
AU - Van De Ville, Dimitri
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - The corpus callosum is the largest white matter pathway in the brain connecting the two hemispheres. In the context of developmental absence (agenesis) of the corpus callosum (AgCC), a proposed candidate for neuroplastic response is strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways. To test this hypothesis, we assessed structural and functional connectivity in a uniquely large cohort of children with AgCC (n = 20) compared with typically developing controls (TDC, n = 29), and then examined associations with neurobehavioral outcomes using a multivariate data-driven approach (partial least squares correlation, PLSC). For structural connectivity, children with AgCC showed a significant increase in intrahemispheric connectivity in addition to a significant decrease in interhemispheric connectivity compared with TDC, in line with the aforementioned hypothesis. In contrast, for functional connectivity, children with AgCC and TDC showed a similar pattern of intrahemispheric and interhemispheric connectivity. In conclusion, we observed structural strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways in children born without corpus callosum, which seems to allow for functional connectivity comparable to a typically developing brain, and were relevant to explain neurobehavioral outcomes in this population. This neuroplasticity might be relevant to other disorders of axonal guidance, and developmental disorders in which corpus callosum alteration is observed.
AB - The corpus callosum is the largest white matter pathway in the brain connecting the two hemispheres. In the context of developmental absence (agenesis) of the corpus callosum (AgCC), a proposed candidate for neuroplastic response is strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways. To test this hypothesis, we assessed structural and functional connectivity in a uniquely large cohort of children with AgCC (n = 20) compared with typically developing controls (TDC, n = 29), and then examined associations with neurobehavioral outcomes using a multivariate data-driven approach (partial least squares correlation, PLSC). For structural connectivity, children with AgCC showed a significant increase in intrahemispheric connectivity in addition to a significant decrease in interhemispheric connectivity compared with TDC, in line with the aforementioned hypothesis. In contrast, for functional connectivity, children with AgCC and TDC showed a similar pattern of intrahemispheric and interhemispheric connectivity. In conclusion, we observed structural strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways in children born without corpus callosum, which seems to allow for functional connectivity comparable to a typically developing brain, and were relevant to explain neurobehavioral outcomes in this population. This neuroplasticity might be relevant to other disorders of axonal guidance, and developmental disorders in which corpus callosum alteration is observed.
KW - brain plasticity
KW - callosal agenesis
KW - functional connectivity
KW - structural connectivity
KW - structural reorganization
UR - https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhaa289/5941685?redirectedFrom=fulltext
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100280057&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/cercor/bhaa289
DO - 10.1093/cercor/bhaa289
M3 - Article
SN - 1047-3211
VL - 31
SP - 1227
EP - 1239
JO - Cerebral Cortex
JF - Cerebral Cortex
IS - 2
ER -