The ability to stand quietly is disturbed by degradation of cerebellar systems. Given the complexity of sensorimotor integration invoked to maintain upright posture, the integrity of supratentorial brain structures may also contribute to quiet standing and consequently be vulnerable to interference from cognitive challenges. As cerebellar system disruption is a common concomitant of alcoholism, we examined 46 alcoholics and 43 controls with a force platform to derive physiological indices of quiet standing during cognitive (solving simple, mental arithmetic problems) and visual (eyes closed) challenges. Also tested were relations between tremor velocity and regional gray matter and white matter tissue quality measured with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metric of mean diffusivity (MD), indexing disorganized microstructure. Spectral analysis of sway revealed greater tremor in alcoholic men than alcoholic women or controls. Cognitive dual-tasking elicited excessive tremor in two frequency bands, each related to DTI signs of degradation in separate brain systems: tremor velocity at a low frequency (2-5 Hz/0-2 Hz) correlated with higher MD in the cerebellar hemispheres and superior cingulate bundles, whereas tremor velocity at a higher frequency (5-7 Hz) correlated with higher MD in the motor cortex and internal capsule. These brain sites may represent “tremorgenic networks” that, when disturbed by disease and exacerbated by cognitive dual-tasking, contribute to postural instability, putting affected individuals at heightened risk for falling.
Natalie Zahr
SRI Author
Dynamic Responses of Selective Brain White Matter Fiber Tracts to Binge Alcohol and Recovery in the Rat
To determine the dynamics of white matter vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used in an animal model of alcohol exposure.
Imaging Neuroinflammation? A Perspective from MR Spectroscopy
Neuroinflammatory mechanisms contribute to the brain pathology resulting from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been touted as a suitable method for discriminating in vivo markers of neuroinflammation. The present MRS study was conducted in four groups: alcohol dependent (A, n = 37), HIV-infected (H, n = 33), alcohol dependent + HIV infected (HA, n = 38) and healthy control (C, n = 62) individuals to determine whether metabolites would change in a pattern reflecting neuroinflammation. Significant four-group comparisons were evident only for striatal choline-containing compounds (Cho) and myo-inositol (mI), which follow-up analysis demonstrated were due to higher levels in HA compared with C individuals. To explore the potential relevance of elevated Cho and mI, correlations between blood markers, medication status and alcohol consumption were evaluated in H + HA subjects. Having an acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining event or hepatitis C was associated with higher Cho; lower Cho levels, however, were associated with low thiamine levels and with highly active antiretroviral HIV treatment (HAART). Higher levels of mI were related to greater lifetime alcohol consumed, whereas HAART was associated with lower mI levels. The current results suggest that competing mechanisms can influence in vivo Cho and mI levels, and that elevations in these metabolites cannot necessarily be interpreted as reflecting a single underlying mechanism, including neuroinflammation.
In Vivo Diffusion Tensor Imaging Evidence for Reversible White Matter Microstructural Integrity Disruption: Effects of Abstinence in Rat and Man
SRI Authors: Natalie Zahr, Adolf Pfefferbaum
In Vivo Glutamate Measured with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Behavioral Correlates in Aging
SRI Authors: Natalie Zahr, Adolf Pfefferbaum
