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Plasticity in deep and superficial white matter: a DTI study in world class gymnasts

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Abstract

Brain white matter (WM) could be generally categorized into two types, deep and superficial WM. Studies combining these two types WM are important for a better understanding of brain plasticity induced by motor training. In this study, we applied both univariate and multivariate approaches to study gymnastic training-induced plasticity in brain WM. Specifically, we acquired diffusion tensor imaging data from 13 world class gymnasts and 14 non-athlete normal controls, reconstructed brain deep and superficial WM tracts, estimated and compared their fractional anisotropy (FA) difference between the two groups. Taking FA values as the features, we applied logistic regression and support vector machine to distinguish the gymnasts from the controls. Compared to the controls, the gymnasts showed lower FA in four regional deep WM tracts, including the occipital lobe portion of left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF.L), occipital and temporal lobe portion of right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF.R), insular cortex portion of right uncinate fasciculus (UF.R), and parietal lobe portion of right arcuate fasciculus (AF.R). Meanwhile, we found lower FA in the superficial U-shaped tracts within the frontal lobe in the gymnasts compared to the controls. In addition, we detected that mean FA in either the AF.R or the U-shaped tracts connecting the left pars triangularis and superior frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with years of training in the gymnasts. Classification analyses indicated FA in deep WM hold higher potential to distinguish the gymnasts from the controls. Overall, our findings provide a more complete picture of training-induced plasticity in brain WM.

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Abbreviations

ATR:

anterior thalamic radiation

CST:

corticospinal tract

CGC:

cingulum cingulate

IFOF:

Inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus

ILF:

Inferior longitudinal fasciculus

SLF:

Superior longitudinal fasciculus

UF:

Uncinate fasciculus

AF:

Arcuate fasciculus

Tr:

Pars triangularis

SF:

Superior frontal

RMF:

Rostral middle frontal

Op:

Pars opercularis

WCGs:

World class gymnasts

NCs:

Non-athlete normal controls

FA:

Fractional anisotropy

WM:

Gray matter

GM:

Gray matter

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers: 81371535, 81271548, 81428013, and 81471654).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Feng Deng, Ling Zhao, Shufei Zhang, Huiyuan Huang, Lixiang Chen, Xiaoyan Wu, Chen Niu, Yuan He & Ruiwang Huang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Chunlei Liu

  3. Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Chunlei Liu

  4. CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Min Lu

  5. State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Wang

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  1. Feng Deng
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  2. Ling Zhao
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  11. Jun Wang
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Correspondence to Ruiwang Huang.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board of the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning at Beijing Normal University (BNU) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Deng, F., Zhao, L., Liu, C. et al. Plasticity in deep and superficial white matter: a DTI study in world class gymnasts. Brain Struct Funct 223, 1849–1862 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-017-1594-9

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