Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, United States of America.
Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 24;16(3):e0236303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236303. eCollection 2021.
We present an exploratory cross-sectional analysis of the effect of season and weather on Freesurfer-derived brain volumes from a sample of 3,279 healthy individuals collected on two MRI scanners in Hartford, CT, USA over a 15 year period. Weather and seasonal effects were analyzed using a single linear regression model with age, sex, motion, scan sequence, time-of-day, month of the year, and the deviation from average barometric pressure, air temperature, and humidity, as covariates. FDR correction for multiple comparisons was applied to groups of non-overlapping ROIs. Significant negative relationships were found between the left- and right- cerebellum cortex and pressure (t = -2.25, p = 0.049; t = -2.771, p = 0.017). Significant positive relationships were found between left- and right- cerebellum cortex and white matter between the comparisons of January/June and January/September. Significant negative relationships were found between several subcortical ROIs for the summer months compared to January. An opposing effect was observed between the supra- and infra-tentorium, with opposite effect directions in winter and summer. Cohen's d effect sizes from monthly comparisons were similar to those reported in recent psychiatric big-data publications, raising the possibility that seasonal changes and weather may be confounds in large cohort studies. Additionally, changes in brain volume due to natural environmental variation have not been reported before and may have implications for weather-related and seasonal ailments.
我们对来自美国康涅狄格州哈特福德市两台 MRI 扫描仪的 3279 名健康个体的样本进行了季节和天气对 Freesurfer 衍生脑容量影响的探索性横断面分析。使用单一线性回归模型分析天气和季节效应，协变量包括年龄、性别、运动、扫描序列、一天中的时间、一年中的月份以及与平均气压、空气温度和湿度的偏差。对非重叠 ROI 组进行了 FDR 校正多重比较。发现左、右小脑皮质与压力之间存在显著负相关（t=-2.25，p=0.049;t=-2.771，p=0.017）。发现左、右小脑皮质与白质之间存在显著正相关，比较的是 1 月/6 月和 1 月/9 月。与 1 月相比，夏季几个皮质下 ROI 与压力呈显著负相关。幕上和幕下之间存在相反的效应，冬季和夏季的效应方向相反。与最近的精神病学大数据出版物报道的结果相比，每月比较的 Cohen's d 效应大小相似，这表明季节性变化和天气可能是大型队列研究中的混杂因素。此外，由于自然环境变化导致的脑容量变化以前没有报道过，可能对与天气相关的和季节性的疾病有影响。
