Biology subjects

van Haren, N. E. M.

Publications and source records attributed to van Haren, N. E. M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Sex differences in lifespan trajectories and variability of human sulcal and gyral morphology

Sex differences in development and aging of human sulcal morphology have been understudied. We charted sex differences in trajectories and inter-individual variability of global sulcal depth, width, and length, pial surface area, exposed (hull) gyral surface area, unexposed sulcal surface area, cortical thickness, and cortex volume across the lifespan in a longitudinal sample (700 scans, 194 participants two scans, 104 three scans, age range: 16-70 years) of neurotypical males and females. After adjusting for brain volume, females had thicker cortex and steeper thickness decline until age 40 years; trajectories converged thereafter. Across sexes, sulcal shortening was faster before age 40, while sulcal shallowing and widening were faster thereafter. While hull area remained stable, sulcal surface area declined and was more strongly associated with sulcal shortening than with sulcal shallowing and widening. Males showed greater variability for cortex volume and thickness and lower variability for sulcal width. Across sexes, variability decreased with age for all measures except for cortical volume and thickness. Our findings highlight the association between loss of sulcal area, notably through sulcal shortening, with cortex volume loss. Studying sex differences in lifespan trajectories may improve knowledge of individual differences in brain development and the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric conditions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Overlapping but asymmetrical relationships between schizophrenia and autism revealed by brain connectivity

(Abstract included 248 words)Although the relationship between schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has long been debated, it has not yet been fully elucidated. To address this issue, we took advantage of dual (ASD and SSD) classifiers that discriminate patients from their controls based on resting state brain functional connectivity. An SSD classifier using sophisticated machine-learning algorithms that automatically selected SSD- specific functional connections was applied to Japanese datasets including adult patients with SSD in a chronic stage. We demonstrated good performance of the SSD classification for independent validation cohorts. The generalizability was tested by USA and European cohorts in a chronic stage, and one USA cohort including first episode schizophrenia. The specificity was tested by two adult Japanese cohorts of ASD and major depressive disorder, and one European cohort of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The weighted linear summation of the classifiers functional connections constituted the biological dimensions representing neural liability to the disorders. Our previously developed robust ASD classifier constituted the ASD dimension. Distributions of individuals with SSD, ASD and healthy controls were examined on the SSD and ASD biological dimensions. The SSD and ASD populations exhibited overlapping but asymmetrical patterns on the two biological dimensions. That is, the SSD population showed increased liability on the ASD dimension, but not vice versa. Furthermore, the two dimensions were correlated within the ASD population but not the SSD population. Using the two biological dimensions based on resting-state functional connectivity enabled us to quantify and visualize the relationships between SSD and ASD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Evolutionarily developed connections compromised in schizophrenia

The genetic basis and uniquely human character of schizophrenia has led to the notion of human brain evolution to have resulted in vulnerability to the disorder. We examined schizophrenia-related changes in brain connectivity in the context of evolutionary changes in human brain wiring by comparing in-vivo neuroimaging data from humans, chimpanzees and macaque monkeys. We find that evolutionary changes in human connectome organization overlap with the pattern of schizophrenia-related changes in brain connectivity, with connections evolutionary enhanced in the human brain showing significantly more involvement in schizophrenia pathology than connections shared between humans and non-human primates (effects shown in three independent patient-control datasets). Our findings suggest that the evolution of brain wiring in support of complex brain function in humans may have come at the cost of an increased vulnerability to brain dysfunction in disease.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Shared vulnerability for connectome alterations across psychiatric and neurological brain disorders

Macroscale white matter pathways form the infrastructure for large-scale communication in the human brain, a prerequisite for healthy brain function. Conversely, disruptions in the brains connectivity architecture are thought to play an important role in a wide range of psychiatric and neurological brain disorders. Here we show that especially connections important for global communication and network integration are involved in a wide range of brain disorders. We report on a meta-analytic connectome study comprising in total 895 patients and 1,016 controls across twelve neurological and psychiatric disorders. We extracted disorder connectome fingerprints for each of these twelve disorders, which were then combined into a cross-disorder disconnectivity involvement map, representing the involvement of each brain pathway across brain disorders. Our findings show connections central to the brains infrastructure are disproportionally involved across a wide range of disorders. Connections critical for global network communication and integration display high disturbance across disorders, suggesting a general cross-disorder involvement and importance of these pathways in normal function. Taken together, our cross-disorder study suggests a convergence of disconnectivity across disorders to a partially shared disconnectivity substrate of central connections.

neuroscience↗