open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/85511

Microscopic Fractional Anisotropy Detects Cognitive Training-Induced Microstructural Brain Changes

英語

cognitive training

2022-02

MDPI

Tomography

8(1)

33-44

Cognitive training-induced neuroplastic brain changes have been reported. This prospective study evaluated whether microscopic fractional anisotropy (mu FA) derived from double diffusion encoding (DDE) MRI could detect brain changes following a 4 week cognitive training. Twenty-nine healthy volunteers were recruited and randomly assigned into the training (n = 21) and control (n = 8) groups. Both groups underwent brain MRI including DDE MRI and 3D-T1-weighted imaging twice at an interval of 4-6 weeks, during which the former underwent the training. The training consisted of hour-long dual N-back and attention network tasks conducted five days per week. Training and time-related changes of DDE MRI indices (mu FA, fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD)) and the gray and white matter volume were evaluated using mixed-design analysis of variance. In addition, any significant imaging indices were tested for correlation with cognitive training-induced task performance changes, using partial correlation analyses. mu FA in the left middle frontal gyrus decreased upon the training (53 voxels, uncorrected p < 0.001), which correlated moderately with response time changes in the orienting component of attention (r = -0.521, uncorrected p = 0.032). No significant training and time-related changes were observed for other imaging indices. Thus, mu FA can become a sensitive index to detect cognitive training-induced neuroplastic changes.

学術雑誌論文

Version of Record

2379-1381