Structural Neuroplastic Responses Preserve Functional Connectivity and Neurobehavioural Outcomes in Children Born Without Corpus Callosum

Vanessa Siffredi; Maria G Preti; Valeria Kebets; Silvia Obertino; Richard J Leventer; Alissandra McIlroy; Amanda G Wood; Vicki Anderson; Megan M Spencer-Smith; Dimitri Van De Ville

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhaa289

Structural Neuroplastic Responses Preserve Functional Connectivity and Neurobehavioural Outcomes in Children Born Without Corpus Callosum

Cereb Cortex. 2021 Jan 5;31(2):1227-1239. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa289.

Authors

Vanessa Siffredi^{1

2

3

4}, Maria G Preti^{1

2}, Valeria Kebets^{2

5}, Silvia Obertino^{1

2}, Richard J Leventer^{6

7

8}, Alissandra McIlroy³, Amanda G Wood^{3

9

10}, Vicki Anderson^{3

11

8

12}, Megan M Spencer-Smith^{3

13}, Dimitri Van De Ville^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Bioengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Geneva 1202, Switzerland.
² Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Geneva 1206, Switzerland.
³ Brain and Mind Research, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.
⁴ Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Geneva 1206, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clinical Imaging Research Centre, N.1 Institute for Health and Memory Networks Program, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.
⁸ Neuroscience Research, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.
⁹ School of Life and Health Sciences & Aston Neuroscience Institute, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK.
¹⁰ School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia.
¹¹ School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
¹² Department of Psychology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.
¹³ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia.

PMID: 33108795
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa289

Abstract

The corpus callosum is the largest white matter pathway in the brain connecting the two hemispheres. In the context of developmental absence (agenesis) of the corpus callosum (AgCC), a proposed candidate for neuroplastic response is strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways. To test this hypothesis, we assessed structural and functional connectivity in a uniquely large cohort of children with AgCC (n = 20) compared with typically developing controls (TDC, n = 29), and then examined associations with neurobehavioral outcomes using a multivariate data-driven approach (partial least squares correlation, PLSC). For structural connectivity, children with AgCC showed a significant increase in intrahemispheric connectivity in addition to a significant decrease in interhemispheric connectivity compared with TDC, in line with the aforementioned hypothesis. In contrast, for functional connectivity, children with AgCC and TDC showed a similar pattern of intrahemispheric and interhemispheric connectivity. In conclusion, we observed structural strengthening of intrahemispheric pathways in children born without corpus callosum, which seems to allow for functional connectivity comparable to a typically developing brain, and were relevant to explain neurobehavioral outcomes in this population. This neuroplasticity might be relevant to other disorders of axonal guidance, and developmental disorders in which corpus callosum alteration is observed.

Keywords: brain plasticity; callosal agenesis; functional connectivity; structural connectivity; structural reorganization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Agenesis of Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging
Agenesis of Corpus Callosum / physiopathology*
Child
Child Behavior / physiology*
Child Behavior / psychology
Cohort Studies
Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging
Corpus Callosum / physiology*
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Male
Nerve Net / diagnostic imaging
Nerve Net / physiology*
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*