Relationship of neurite architecture to brain activity during task-based fMRI

Christin Schifani; Colin Hawco; Arash Nazeri; Aristotle N. Voineskos

NeuroImage (Nov 2022)

Relationship of neurite architecture to brain activity during task-based fMRI

Christin Schifani,
Colin Hawco,
Arash Nazeri,
Aristotle N. Voineskos

Affiliations

Christin Schifani: Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research Laboratory, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
Colin Hawco: Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research Laboratory, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Arash Nazeri: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
Aristotle N. Voineskos: Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research Laboratory, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Corresponding author at: Vice President Research and Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin, Room T109, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 262
p. 119575

Abstract

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Functional MRI (fMRI) has been widely used to examine changes in neuronal activity during cognitive tasks. Commonly used measures of gray matter macrostructure (e.g., cortical thickness, surface area, volume) do not consistently appear to serve as structural correlates of brain function. In contrast, gray matter microstructure, measured using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), enables the estimation of indices of neurite density (neurite density index; NDI) and organization (orientation dispersion index; ODI) in gray matter. Our study explored the relationship among neurite architecture, BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) fMRI, and cognition, using a large sample (n = 750) of young adults of the human connectome project (HCP) and two tasks that index more cortical (working memory) and more subcortical (emotion processing) targeting of brain functions. Using NODDI, fMRI, structural MRI and task performance data, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that higher working memory- and emotion processing-evoked BOLD activity was related to lower ODI in the right DLPFC, and lower ODI and NDI values in the right and left amygdala, respectively. Common measures of brain macrostructure (i.e., DLPFC thickness/surface area and amygdala volume) did not explain any additional variance (beyond neurite architecture) in BOLD activity. A moderating effect of neurite architecture on the relationship between emotion processing task-evoked BOLD response and performance was observed. Our findings provide evidence that neuro-/social-affective cognition-related BOLD activity is partially driven by the local neurite organization and density with direct impact on emotion processing. In vivo gray matter microstructure represents a new target of investigation providing strong potential for clinical translation.

Published in NeuroImage

ISSN: 1053-8119 (Print); 1095-9572 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuroimage

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