The Fornix and Limbic System

Lövblad, Karl‐Olof; Schaller, Karl; Vargas, Maria Isabel

doi:10.1053/j.sult.2014.06.005

Cited by 52 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Furthermore, Chang et al found lower FA in the corpus callosum, fornix, and cingulum both in 135 individuals with schizophrenia and 86 with bipolar disorder than in 156 healthy controls, but not in 108 with MDD; these results are consistent with our findings [49]. The corpus callosum is an extensive bilateral hemisphere relay center and connects extensive networks subserving memory, attention, language, intelligence, and emotional states; the fornix is located at the center of the limbic system and contains pathways that connect brain regions important for memory performance, emotion regulation, and reward processing, such as the hippocampus, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens [50][51][52]. The cingulum bundles, which are the primary intrahemispheric association pathways for the medial cingulate cortex and temporal lobe structures, are located above the corpus callosum.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

White matter microstructural alterations across four major psychiatric disorders: mega-analysis study in 2937 individuals

et al. 2019

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Identifying both the commonalities and differences in brain structures among psychiatric disorders is important for understanding the pathophysiology. Recently, the ENIGMA-Schizophrenia DTI Working Group performed a large-scale meta-analysis and reported widespread white matter microstructural alterations in schizophrenia; however, no similar crossdisorder study has been carried out to date. Here, we conducted mega-analyses comparing white matter microstructural differences between healthy comparison subjects (HCS; N = 1506) and patients with schizophrenia (N = 696), bipolar disorder (N = 211), autism spectrum disorder (N = 126), or major depressive disorder (N = 398; total N = 2937 from 12 sites). In comparison with HCS, we found that schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder share similar white matter microstructural differences in the body of the corpus callosum; schizophrenia and bipolar disorder featured comparable changes in the limbic system, such as the fornix and cingulum. By comparison, alterations in tracts connecting neocortical areas, such as the uncinate fasciculus, were observed only in schizophrenia. No significant difference was found in major depressive disorder. In a direct comparison between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, there were no significant differences. Significant differences between schizophrenia/bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder were found in the limbic system, which were similar to the differences in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder relative to HCS. While schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may have similar pathological characteristics, the biological characteristics of major depressive disorder may be close to those of HCS. Our findings provide insights into nosology and encourage further investigations of shared and unique pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

White matter microstructural alterations across four major psychiatric disorders: mega-analysis study in 2937 individuals

et al. 2019

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“…Regional changes are more common. Gray matter (GM) was found to be decreased in many brain regions in both hemispheres, among others in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [34], which is involved in higher functions and working memory [35]; different areas involved in visuospatial processing [36]; the frontal cortex; and limbic and paralimbic structures [15,29], which are mainly involved in emotion processing and memory [37]. Disease duration was inversely related to GM volume in various, mainly subcortical, regions [12,29], but not in others, including the hippocampus and amygdala [29].…”

Section: Longitudinal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive impairment in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: disease burden, determinants and possible future interventions

Beers

Janssen

Gosker

et al. 2018

Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine

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Introduction: Cognitive impairment (CI) is an important but an under-recognized extra-pulmonary feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is related to the burden of disability, worse health outcomes, and impaired self-management. Areas covered: CI includes deterioration of a wide range of cognitive functions, such as memory and various executive functions. Risk of hospitalization might be higher in patients with COPD compared to those without, with CI negatively impacting the wellbeing of patients with COPD. Disease-specific factors such as hypoxemia and inflammation, lifestyle factors such as dietary insufficiencies and lack of physical activity, and comorbidities such as obstructive sleep apnea and depression are likely to synergistically contribute to the development of CI in COPD. Tailored interventions can possibly improve CI in COPD, but this needs further investigation. Expert commentary: Further research is warranted involving the optimization of neuropsychological testing for screening and outcome assessment, longitudinal studies to investigate the development of CI in COPD over time, and randomized clinical trials to test the feasibility and efficacy of promising interventions.

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“…Microstructure in white matter tracts as assessed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and gray matter volume estimated from high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images predict behavioral task performance in healthy older adults (Antonenko et al, 2012;Sasson et al, 2013). Episodic memory, as one of the most vulnerable cognitive domains in aging (Nyberg et al, 2012), is mediated by hippocampal networks, including the hippocampus itself and the fornix as its major efferent white matter pathway (Metzler-Baddeley et al, 2011;Lovblad et al, 2014;Antonenko et al, 2016b;Gorbach et al, 2017;Anblagan et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dentate Gyrus Volume Mediates the Effect of Fornix Microstructure on Memory Formation in Older Adults

Hayek

Thams

Flöel

et al. 2020

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Age-related deterioration in white and gray matter is linked to cognitive deficits. Reduced microstructure of the fornix, the major efferent pathway of the hippocampus, and volume of the dentate gyrus (DG), may cause age-associated memory decline. However, the linkage between these anatomical determinants and memory retrieval in healthy aging are poorly understood. In 30 older adults, we acquired diffusion tensor and T1-weighted images for individual deterministic tractography and volume estimation. A memory task, administered outside of the scanner to assess retrieval of learned associations, required discrimination of previously acquired picture-word pairs. The results showed that fornix fractional anisotropy (FA) and left DG volumes were related to successful retrieval. These brain-behavior associations were observed for correct rejections, but not hits, indicating specificity of memory network functioning for detecting false associations. Mediation analyses showed that left DG volume mediated the effect of fornix FA on memory (48%), but not vice versa. These findings suggest that reduced microstructure induces volume loss and thus negatively affects retrieval of learned associations, complementing evidence of a pivotal role of the fornix in healthy aging. Our study offers a neurobehavioral model to explain variability in memory retrieval in older adults, an important prerequisite for the development of interventions to counteract cognitive decline.

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The Fornix and Limbic System

Cited by 52 publications

References 30 publications

White matter microstructural alterations across four major psychiatric disorders: mega-analysis study in 2937 individuals

White matter microstructural alterations across four major psychiatric disorders: mega-analysis study in 2937 individuals

Cognitive impairment in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: disease burden, determinants and possible future interventions

Dentate Gyrus Volume Mediates the Effect of Fornix Microstructure on Memory Formation in Older Adults

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