TY - JOUR
T1 - Microstructural organization of the corpus callosum in young endurance athletes
T2 - A global tractography study
AU - Tarumi, Takashi
AU - Fukuie, Marina
AU - Yamabe, Takayuki
AU - Kimura, Ryota
AU - Zhu, David C.
AU - Ohyama-Byun, Keigo
AU - Maeda, Seiji
AU - Sugawara, Jun
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22H03491).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Tarumi, Fukuie, Yamabe, Kimura, Zhu, Ohyama-Byun, Maeda and Sugawara.
PY - 2022/11/29
Y1 - 2022/11/29
N2 - Introduction: Aerobic exercise training has been shown to improve microstructural organization of the corpus callosum (CC); however, evidence of this topographic effect is limited. Purpose: To compare the CC microstructural organization between endurance athletes and sedentary adults using a white-matter fiber tractography approach. Materials and methods: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and T1-weighted structural data were collected from 15 male young endurance athletes and 16 age- and sex-matched sedentary adults. DTI data were analyzed with a global probabilistic tractography method based on neighborhood anatomical information. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean, radial (RD), and axial diffusivities were measured in the eight CC tracts: rostrum, genu, splenium, and body’s prefrontal, premotor, central, parietal, and temporal tracts. Cortical thickness of the CC tract endpoints and the CC tract length and volume were also measured. Physical activity level was assessed by metabolic equivalents (METs). Results: The athlete group had an average VO2max of 69.5 ± 3.1 ml/kg/min, which is above 90%ile according to the American College of Sports Medicine guideline. Compared with the sedentary group, the athlete group had higher FA in the CC body’s premotor and parietal tracts and the CC splenium. These tracts showed lower RD in the athlete compared with sedentary group. The voxelwise analysis confirmed that the athlete group had higher FA in the CC and other white matter regions than the sedentary group, including the corona radiata, internal capsule, and superior longitudinal fasciculus. Cortical thickness of the CC tract endpoints and the CC tract lengths and volumes were similar between the two groups. Physical activity levels were positively correlated with FA in the CC body’s parietal (r = 0.486, p = 0.006) and temporal (r = 0.425, p = 0.017) tracts and the CC splenium (r = 0.408, p = 0.023). Conclusion: Young endurance athletes have higher microstructural organization of the CC tracts connected the sensorimotor and visual cortices than the age- and sex-matched sedentary adults.
AB - Introduction: Aerobic exercise training has been shown to improve microstructural organization of the corpus callosum (CC); however, evidence of this topographic effect is limited. Purpose: To compare the CC microstructural organization between endurance athletes and sedentary adults using a white-matter fiber tractography approach. Materials and methods: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and T1-weighted structural data were collected from 15 male young endurance athletes and 16 age- and sex-matched sedentary adults. DTI data were analyzed with a global probabilistic tractography method based on neighborhood anatomical information. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean, radial (RD), and axial diffusivities were measured in the eight CC tracts: rostrum, genu, splenium, and body’s prefrontal, premotor, central, parietal, and temporal tracts. Cortical thickness of the CC tract endpoints and the CC tract length and volume were also measured. Physical activity level was assessed by metabolic equivalents (METs). Results: The athlete group had an average VO2max of 69.5 ± 3.1 ml/kg/min, which is above 90%ile according to the American College of Sports Medicine guideline. Compared with the sedentary group, the athlete group had higher FA in the CC body’s premotor and parietal tracts and the CC splenium. These tracts showed lower RD in the athlete compared with sedentary group. The voxelwise analysis confirmed that the athlete group had higher FA in the CC and other white matter regions than the sedentary group, including the corona radiata, internal capsule, and superior longitudinal fasciculus. Cortical thickness of the CC tract endpoints and the CC tract lengths and volumes were similar between the two groups. Physical activity levels were positively correlated with FA in the CC body’s parietal (r = 0.486, p = 0.006) and temporal (r = 0.425, p = 0.017) tracts and the CC splenium (r = 0.408, p = 0.023). Conclusion: Young endurance athletes have higher microstructural organization of the CC tracts connected the sensorimotor and visual cortices than the age- and sex-matched sedentary adults.
KW - aerobic exercise
KW - corpus callosum
KW - cortical thickness
KW - diffusion tensor imaging
KW - tractography
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U2 - 10.3389/fnins.2022.1042426
DO - 10.3389/fnins.2022.1042426
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143903323
SN - 1662-4548
VL - 16
JO - Frontiers in Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Neuroscience
M1 - 1042426
ER -