Mapping callosal morphology and cognitive correlates

Background: Abnormalities of the corpus callosum (CC) have been documented in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), ranging from subtle decrements in its size to partial and even complete agenesis. Prenatal exposure to alcohol is also known to result in neurocognitive deficits. Objective: To 1) investigate abnormalities in size, shape, and location of the CC within the brain in individuals with FAS and in those exposed to high amounts of alcohol prenatally but without FAS (PEA group); and 2) determine if there is a relationship between callosal dysmorphology and cognitive test performance. Methods: MRI and novel surface-based image analytic methods were used. Twenty alcohol-exposed subjects (8 to 22 years) along with 21 normal controls (8 to 25 years) were studied with high-resolution MRI and measures of verbal learning and visuospatial abilities. Results: In addition to callosal area reductions, most severe in the splenium, the CC is significantly displaced in patients exposed to alcohol prenatally. In the alcohol-exposed group, this structure lies more anterior and inferior in posterior regions with relatively normal localization of anterior regions. These findings are significant in the FAS group, and a similar but less severe pattern is observed in the PEA patients. The authors show that the amount of CC displacement is correlated with impairment in verbal learning ability and that CC displacement is a better predictor of verbal learning than regional CC area. The brain–behavior relationship is only significant within the alcohol-exposed group, and the effect is not solely mediated by overall impaired verbal intellectual functioning. Conclusions: These results further emphasize the vulnerability of midline brain structures to prenatal alcohol exposure.

[1]  F. Bookstein,et al.  Attention: Prenatal alcohol and continuities of vigilance and attentional problems from 4 through 14 years , 1995, Development and Psychopathology.

[2]  U Bellugi,et al.  Callosal morphology concurs with neurobehavioral and neuropathological findings in two neurodevelopmental disorders. , 1992, Archives of neurology.

[3]  E P Riley,et al.  A review of the neurobehavioral deficits in children with fetal alcohol syndrome or prenatal exposure to alcohol. , 1998, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[4]  E P Riley,et al.  Abnormalities of the corpus callosum in children prenatally exposed to alcohol. , 1995, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

[5]  N C Andreasen,et al.  Magnetic resonance imaging of brain anomalies in fetal alcohol syndrome. , 1997, Pediatrics.

[6]  A L Reiss,et al.  Corpus callosum morphology in children with Tourette syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , 1996, Neurology.

[7]  A. Toga,et al.  High-Resolution Random Mesh Algorithms for Creating a Probabilistic 3D Surface Atlas of the Human Brain , 1996, NeuroImage.

[8]  J. Jeret,et al.  Frequency of agenesis of the corpus callosum in the developmentally disabled population as determined by computerized tomography. , 1985, Pediatric neuroscience.

[9]  J. Rapoport,et al.  Quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. , 1996, Archives of general psychiatry.

[10]  E. Courchesne,et al.  Reduced size of corpus callosum in autism. , 1995, Archives of neurology.

[11]  C Riccio,et al.  Dyslexia and corpus callosum morphology. , 1995, Archives of neurology.

[12]  A. Toga,et al.  Mapping morphology of the corpus callosum in schizophrenia. , 2000, Cerebral cortex.

[13]  P. Osterrieth.  Le test de copie d'une figure complexe , 1944 .

[14]  D. Delis,et al.  Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure with or without physical features of fetal alcohol syndrome leads to IQ deficits. , 1997, The Journal of pediatrics.

[15]  E P Riley,et al.  Verbal learning and memory in children with fetal alcohol syndrome. , 1996, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[16]  A. Falek,et al.  A comparison of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure and attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder. , 1997, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[17]  A. Toga,et al.  Three-Dimensional Statistical Analysis of Sulcal Variability in the Human Brain , 1996, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[18]  Arthur W. Toga,et al.  A Probabilistic Atlas of the Human Brain: Theory and Rationale for Its Development The International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM) , 1995, NeuroImage.

[19]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  MRI‐PET Registration with Automated Algorithm , 1993, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[20]  A. Rey.  L'examen psychologique dans les cas d'encéphalopathie traumatique. (Les problems.). , 1941 .

[21]  E. K. Turner,et al.  FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME , 1978, Paediatrics & child health.

[22]  S Arndt,et al.  An MRI study of the corpus callosum in autism. , 1997, The American journal of psychiatry.

[23]  E P Riley,et al.  Implicit and explicit memory functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure , 1999, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[24]  K Genz,et al.  Ethanol-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration and fetal alcohol syndrome. , 2000, Science.

[25]  B. J. Casey,et al.  Quantitative morphology of the corpus callosum in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. , 1994, The American journal of psychiatry.

[26]  A. Toga,et al.  Cortical variability and asymmetry in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. , 1998, Cerebral cortex.

[27]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  A nonparametric method for automatic correction of intensity nonuniformity in MRI data , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[28]  A. Toga,et al.  Localizing Age-Related Changes in Brain Structure between Childhood and Adolescence Using Statistical Parametric Mapping , 1999, NeuroImage.

[29]  E Courchesne,et al.  Cross‐sectional area of the posterior hippocampus in autistic patients with cerebellar and corpus callosum abnormalitiGs , 1995, Neurology.

[30]  Anthony Gamst,et al.  Brain dysmorphology in individuals with severe prenatal alcohol exposure , 2001 .

[31]  J. Reich,et al.  Antisocial traits in psychiatrically ill veterans without antisocial personality disorder: relationship to Axis I disorders and effects on functioning , 1997, Psychiatry Research.

[32]  Vasken Kollokian,et al.  Performance analysis of automatic techniques for tissue classification in magnetic resonance images of the human brain , 1996 .

[33]  T. Jernigan,et al.  Abnormal development of the cerebellar vermis in children prenatally exposed to alcohol: size reduction in lobules I-V. , 1996, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[34]  Edith Kaplan,et al.  The Boston qualitative scoring system for the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure: Description and interrater reliability , 1994 .

[35]  Paul M. Thompson,et al.  Detection, visualization and animation of abnormal anatomic structure with a deformable probabilistic brain atlas based on random vector field transformations , 1997, Medical Image Anal..

[36]  Paul M. Thompson,et al.  Anatomically Driven Strategies for High-Dimensional Brain Image Warping and Pathology Detection , 1999 .

[37]  Michael W. Miller,et al.  Number of axons in the corpus callosum of the mature Macaca nemestrina: Increases caused by prenatal exposure to ethanol , 1999, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[38]  E P Riley,et al.  Neuropsychological comparison of alcohol-exposed children with or without physical features of fetal alcohol syndrome. , 1998, Neuropsychology.

[39]  V. P. Johnson,et al.  Fetal alcohol syndrome: craniofacial and central nervous system manifestations. , 1996, American journal of medical genetics.

[40]  F. Bookstein,et al.  Neuropsychological deficits in adolescents with fetal alcohol syndrome: clinical findings. , 1998, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[41]  Jagath C. Rajapakse,et al.  Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of the corpus callosum in childhood onset schizophrenia , 1997, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[42]  Wiley Mittenberg,et al.  Memory Indices of LD Readers Using the California Verbal Learning Test for Children , 1990 .

[43]  E P Riley,et al.  Executive functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. , 1999, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[44]  H. Lubs,et al.  Neuroanatomic differences between dyslexic and normal readers on magnetic resonance imaging scans. , 1991, Archives of neurology.