Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 23;10(1):12364. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69277-4.
Zinc is a biologically essential element and involved in a wide range of cellular processes. Here, we investigated the associations of zinc levels in hair with brain activity during the n-back working memory task using functional magnetic resonance imaging, fractional anisotropy (FA) of diffusion tensor imaging, and cognitive differences in a study cohort of 924 healthy young adults. Our findings showed that greater hair zinc levels were associated with lower brain activity during working memory in extensive areas in the default mode network (i.e., greater task-induced deactivation) as well as greater FA in white matter areas near the hippocampus and posterior limbs of the internal capsule. These findings advance previous non-neuroimaging findings of zinc's associations with excitability, excitability-associated disorders, and myelination.
锌是一种生物必需元素，参与广泛的细胞过程。在这里，我们使用功能磁共振成像、扩散张量成像的各向异性分数 (FA) 和一个由 924 名健康年轻成年人组成的研究队列，研究了头发中锌水平与 n 回工作记忆任务期间大脑活动之间的关联。我们的发现表明，头发中锌含量越高，默认模式网络中广泛区域的工作记忆期间大脑活动越低（即任务引起的去激活越大），以及靠近海马体和内囊后肢的白质区域的 FA 越高。这些发现推进了先前关于锌与兴奋性、兴奋性相关疾病和髓鞘形成之间关联的非神经影像学研究结果。
