BrainNET, Health and Technology District, Vancouver, Canada; Faculty of Individualized Interdisciplinary Studies, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
BrainNET, Health and Technology District, Vancouver, Canada; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
Neuroimage. 2022 Nov;263:119644. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119644. Epub 2022 Sep 25.
White matter (WM) neuroplasticity in the human brain has been tracked non-invasively using advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques, with increasing evidence for improved axonal transmission efficiency as a central mechanism. The current study is the culmination of a series of studies, which characterized the structure-function relationship of WM transmission efficiency in the cortico-spinal tract (CST) during motor learning. Here, we test the hypothesis that increased transmission efficiency is linked directly to increased myelination using myelin water imaging (MWI). MWI was used to evaluate neuroplasticity-related improvements in the CST. The MWI findings were then compared to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) results, with the secondary hypothesis that radial diffusivity (RD) would have a stronger relationship than axial diffusivity (AD) if the changes were due to increased myelination. Both MWI and RD data showed the predicted pattern of significant results, strongly supporting that increased myelination plays a central role in WM neuroplasticity.
利用先进的磁共振成像技术，非侵入性地追踪人类大脑的白质（WM）神经可塑性，越来越多的证据表明轴突传输效率的提高是其核心机制。本研究是一系列研究的总结，这些研究描述了运动学习过程中皮质脊髓束（CST）WM 传输效率的结构-功能关系。在这里，我们使用髓鞘水成像（MWI）来测试传输效率增加与髓鞘形成直接相关的假设。MWI 用于评估 CST 中与神经可塑性相关的改善。然后将 MWI 结果与弥散张量成像（DTI）结果进行比较，第二个假设是如果变化归因于髓鞘形成，那么径向弥散度（RD）的相关性将强于轴向弥散度（AD）。MWI 和 RD 数据都显示出了预期的显著结果模式，这强烈支持髓鞘形成在 WM 神经可塑性中起着核心作用。
