How we get a grip: Microstructural neural correlates of manual grip strength in children
Olivia Surgent,
Jose Guerrero-Gonzalez,
Douglas C. Dean, III,
Gregory R. Kirk,
Nagesh Adluru,
Steven R. Kecskemeti,
Andrew L. Alexander,
Brittany G. Travers
Affiliations
Olivia Surgent
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Jose Guerrero-Gonzalez
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Douglas C. Dean, III
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Gregory R. Kirk
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Nagesh Adluru
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Steven R. Kecskemeti
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Andrew L. Alexander
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Brittany G. Travers
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Occupational Therapy Program in the Department of Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Corresponding author's contact information: Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Room 435, Madison, WI 53705, United States
Maximal grip strength is associated with a variety of health-related outcome measures and thus may be reflective of the efficiency of foundational brain-body communication. Non-human primate models of grip strength strongly implicate the cortical lateral grasping network, but little is known about the translatability of these models to human children. Further, it is unclear how supplementary networks that provide proprioceptive information and cerebellar-based motor command modification are associated with maximal grip strength. Therefore, this study employed high resolution, multi-shell diffusion and quantitative T1 imaging to examine how variations in lateral grasping, proprioception input, and cortico-cerebellar modification network white matter microstructure are associated with variations in grip strength across 70 children. Results indicated that stronger grip strength was associated with higher lateral grasping and proprioception input network fractional anisotropy and R1, indirect measures consistent with stronger microstructural coherence and increased myelination. No relationships were found in the cerebellar modification network. These results provide a neurobiological mechanism of grip behavior in children which suggests that increased myelination of cortical sensory and motor pathways is associated with stronger grip. This neurobiological mechanism may be a signature of pediatric neuro-motor behavior more broadly as evidenced by the previously demonstrated relationships between grip strength and behavioral outcome measures across a variety of clinical and non-clinical populations.
