Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou, 510370, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, 510370, China.
J Affect Disord. 2021 Mar 1;282:1263-1271. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.038. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
Affective temperaments are regarded as subclinical forms and precursors of mental disorders. It may serve as candidates to facilitate the diagnosis and prediction of mental disorders. Cortical myelination likely characterizes the neurodevelopment and the evolution of cognitive functions and reflects brain functional demand. However, little is known about the relationship between affective temperaments and myelin plasticity. This study aims to analyze the association between the affective temperaments and cortical myelin content (CMC) in human brain.
We measured affective temperaments using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) on 106 healthy adults and used the ratio of T1- and T2-weighted images as the proxy for CMC. Using the unsupervised k-means clustering algorithm, we classified the cortical gray matter into heavily, intermediately, and lightly myelinated regions. The correlation between affective temperaments and CMC was calculated separately for different myelinated regions.
Hyperthymic temperament correlated negatively with CMC in the heavily myelinated (right postcentral gyrus and bilateral precentral gyrus) and lightly myelinated (bilateral frontal and lateral temporal) regions. Cyclothymic temperament showed a downward parabola-like correlation with CMC across the heavily, intermediately, and lightly myel0inated areas of the bilateral parietal-temporal regions.
The analysis was constrained to cortical regions. The results were obtained from healthy subjects and we did not acquired data from patients of affective disorder, which may compromise the generalizability of the present findings.
The findings suggest that hyperthymic and cyclothymic temperaments have a CMC basis in extensive brain regions.
情感气质被认为是精神障碍的亚临床形式和前兆。它可能作为候选者来促进精神障碍的诊断和预测。皮质髓鞘形成可能是认知功能的神经发育和演变的特征，并反映大脑功能需求。然而，人们对情感气质与髓鞘可塑性之间的关系知之甚少。本研究旨在分析人类大脑的情感气质与皮质髓鞘含量（CMC）之间的关系。
我们使用 Memphis、Pisa、Paris 和 San Diego 自动问卷的情感气质评估（TEMPS-A）在 106 名健康成年人中测量了情感气质，并使用 T1 和 T2 加权图像的比值作为 CMC 的代理。使用无监督的 k-均值聚类算法，我们将皮质灰质分为高度、中度和轻度髓鞘化区域。分别计算了不同髓鞘化区域的情感气质与 CMC 之间的相关性。
欣快气质与高度髓鞘化（右侧中央后回和双侧中央前回）和轻度髓鞘化（双侧额部和外侧颞部）区域的 CMC 呈负相关。环性气质与双侧额顶颞叶重度、中度和轻度髓鞘化区域的 CMC 呈抛物线样负相关。
分析仅限于皮质区域。结果来自健康受试者，我们没有从情感障碍患者中获得数据，这可能会影响本研究结果的普遍性。
研究结果表明，欣快和环性气质在广泛的大脑区域中存在 CMC 基础。
