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White and grey matter relations to simple, choice, and cognitive reaction time in spina bifida

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Abstract

Elevated reaction time (RT) is common in brain disorders. We studied three forms of RT in a neurodevelopmental disorder, spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM), characterized by regional alterations of both white and grey matter, and typically developing individuals aged 8 to 48 years, in order to establish the nature of the lifespan-relations of RT and brain variables. Cognitive accuracy and RT speed and variability were all impaired in SBM relative to the typically developing group, but the most important effects of SBM on RT are seen on tasks that require a cognitive decision rule. Individuals with SBM are impaired not only in speeded performance, but also in the consistency of their performance on tasks that extend over time, which may contribute to poor performance on a range of cognitive tasks. The group with SBM showed smaller corrected corpus callosum proportions, larger corrected cerebellar white matter proportions, and larger corrected proportions for grey matter in the Central Executive and Salience networks. There were clear negative relations between RT measures and corpus callosum, Central Executive, and Default Mode networks in the group with SBM; relations were not observed in typically developing age peers. Statistical mediation analyses indicated that corpus callosum and Central Executive Network were important mediators. While RT is known to rely heavily on white matter under conditions of typical development and in individuals with adult-onset brain injury, we add the new information that additional involvement of grey matter may be important for a key neuropsychological function in a common neurodevelopmental disorder.

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Abbreviations

CEN:

Central executive network

DMN:

Default mode network

GM:

Grey matter

IQ:

Intelligence quotient

ms:

Millisecond

ROI:

Region of interest

RT:

Reaction time

SBM:

Spina bifida myelomeningocele

SES:

Socioeconomic status

SN:

Salience network

TD:

Typically developing

WM:

White matter

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant (P01 HD35946-06, “Spina Bifida: Cognitive and Neurobiological Variability”). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health. We thank Caroline Roncadin for assistance with the adapting her RT paradigms for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Maureen Dennis & Nevena Simic

  2. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Maureen Dennis

  3. Music and Health Research Collaboratory, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Maureen Dennis

  4. Department of Psychology, and Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES), University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Paul T. Cirino, W. Pat Taylor & Jack M. Fletcher

  5. Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Jenifer Juranek

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  1. Maureen Dennis
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  2. Paul T. Cirino
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  3. Nevena Simic
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  4. Jenifer Juranek
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  5. W. Pat Taylor
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  6. Jack M. Fletcher
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Correspondence to Nevena Simic.

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Dennis, M., Cirino, P.T., Simic, N. et al. White and grey matter relations to simple, choice, and cognitive reaction time in spina bifida. Brain Imaging and Behavior 10, 238–251 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-015-9388-2

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