Anagnostopoulou Alexandra, Styliadis Charis, Kartsidis Panagiotis, Romanopoulou Evangelia, Zilidou Vasiliki, Karali Chrysi, Karagianni Maria, Klados Manousos, Paraskevopoulos Evangelos, Bamidis Panagiotis D
Medical Physics Laboratory, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
School of Biology, Faculty of Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Netw Neurosci. 2021 Mar 1;5(1):274-294. doi: 10.1162/netn_a_00177. eCollection 2021.
Understanding the neuroplastic capacity of people with Down syndrome (PwDS) can potentially reveal the causal relationship between aberrant brain organization and phenotypic characteristics. We used resting-state EEG recordings to identify how a neuroplasticity-triggering training protocol relates to changes in the functional connectivity of the brain's intrinsic cortical networks. Brain activity of 12 PwDS before and after a 10-week protocol of combined physical and cognitive training was statistically compared to quantify changes in directed functional connectivity in conjunction with psychosomatometric assessments. PwDS showed increased connectivity within the left hemisphere and from left-to-right hemisphere, as well as increased physical and cognitive performance. Our findings reveal a strong adaptive neuroplastic reorganization as a result of the training that leads to a less-random network with a more pronounced hierarchical organization. Our results go beyond previous findings by indicating a transition to a healthier, more efficient, and flexible network architecture, with improved integration and segregation abilities in the brain of PwDS. Resting-state electrophysiological brain activity is used here for the first time to display meaningful relationships to underlying Down syndrome processes and outcomes of importance in a translational inquiry. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04390321.
了解唐氏综合征患者(PwDS)的神经可塑性能力可能会揭示异常脑组织结构与表型特征之间的因果关系。我们使用静息态脑电图记录来确定一种触发神经可塑性的训练方案与大脑内在皮质网络功能连接变化之间的关系。在一项为期10周的身体和认知联合训练方案前后,对12名PwDS的大脑活动进行了统计学比较,以结合心理测量评估来量化定向功能连接的变化。PwDS在左半球内以及从左半球到右半球的连接性增加,同时身体和认知表现也有所提高。我们的研究结果揭示了训练导致的强大适应性神经可塑性重组,形成了一个随机性较小、层次组织更明显的网络。我们的结果超越了以往的发现,表明向更健康、更高效和更灵活的网络架构转变,PwDS大脑的整合和分离能力得到改善。静息态脑电生理活动在此首次用于展示与唐氏综合征潜在过程及转化研究中重要结果的有意义关系。该试验已在ClinicalTrials.gov注册,标识符为NCT04390321。