Cerebral correlates of cognitive aging: Gray-white-matter differentiation in the medial temporal lobes, and fluid versus crystallized abilities

ImportanceMaternal tobacco use during pregnancy (MTDP) remains a major public health challenge. However, the complete spectrum of effects of MTDP is not fully understood.ObjectivesTo examine the longitudinal associations of MTDP and children’s brain morphometric subcortical volume and gray-white matter contrast (GWC) development.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsCohort study of children aged 9 to 10 years at wave 1 (October 2016 to October 2018) and at a 2-year follow-up (wave 2; August 2018 to January 2021; aged 11-12 years) across 21 US sites in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Data were analyzed from October 2023 to October 2024.ExposureMTDP.Main outcomes and measuresMorphometric brain measures of subcortical volume and GWC.ResultsAmong the 11 448 children (51.5% male; 13.1% Black; 24.0% Hispanic; and 52.9% White) at wave 1, 1607 (16.6%; 95% CI, 13.0%-20.2%) were identified with MTDP exposure. At wave 1, children with MTDP exposure (vs no exposure) exhibited lower GWC in widespread brain regions primarily located in the frontal (eg, superior frontal; regression coefficient [B] = −0.0019; SE, 0.0006; P = .004), parietal (eg, supramarginal; B = −0.0021; SE, 0.0007; P = .002) and temporal lobes (eg, middle temporal; B = −0.0024; SE, 0.0007; P &lt; .001). These differences in GWC continued to be significant at wave 2. In regard to subcortical volume, children with MTDP exposure demonstrated smaller volume of the lateral ventricle (B = −257.5; SE, 78.6; P = .001) and caudate (B = −37.7; SE, 14.0; P = .01) in the left hemisphere at wave 1, and lower volume of the caudate in both left (B = −48.7; SE, 15.9; P = .002) and right hemisphere (B = −45.5; SE, 16.1; P = .01) at wave 2.Conclusions and RelevanceThis cohort study found that MTDP exposure was associated with lower GWC across the whole cortex and smaller caudate nuclei volume compared with no exposure, signifying the importance of preventing MTDP and necessitating further research on this topic.

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Accelerated longitudinal gray/white matter contrast decline in aging in lightly myelinated cortical regions

Vidal-Piñeiro

Walhovd

Storsve

et al. 2016

Human Brain Mapping

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Highly myelinated cortical regions seem to develop early and are more robust to age-related decline. By use of different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures such as contrast between T1- and T2-weighted MRI scans (T1w/T2w) it is now possible to assess correlates of myelin content in vivo. Further, previous studies indicate that gray/white matter contrast (GWC) become blurred as individuals' age, apparently reflecting age-related changes in myelin structure. Here we address whether longitudinal changes in GWC are dependent on initial myelin content within tissue as defined by baseline T1w/T2w contrast, and hypothesize that lightly myelinated regions undergo more decline longitudinally. A sample of 207 healthy adult participants (range: 20-84 years) was scanned twice (interscan interval: 3.6 years). Results showed widespread longitudinal reductions of GWC throughout the cortical surface, especially in the frontal cortices, mainly driven by intensity decay in the white matter. Annual rate of GWC blurring showed acceleration with age in temporal and medial prefrontal regions. Moreover, the anatomical distribution of increased rate of GWC decline with advancing age was strongly related to baseline levels of intracortical myelin. This study provides a first evidence of accelerated regional GWC blurring with advancing age, relates GWC patterns to cortical myeloarchitectonics and supports the hypothesis of increased age-related vulnerability of lightly myelinated areas. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3669-3684, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Cerebral correlates of cognitive aging: Gray-white-matter differentiation in the medial temporal lobes, and fluid versus crystallized abilities

Cited by 26 publications

References 25 publications

Age-Related Regional Differences in Cerebellar Vermis Observed In Vivo

Age-Related Regional Differences in Cerebellar Vermis Observed In Vivo

Prenatal Tobacco Exposure, Brain Subcortical Volumes, and Gray-White Matter Contrast

Accelerated longitudinal gray/white matter contrast decline in aging in lightly myelinated cortical regions

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