Gray Matter Volume Variability in Young Healthy Adults: Influence of Gender Difference and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Genotype. (11th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Watanabe, Hiraku; Kojima, Sho; Nagasaka, Kazuaki; Ohno, Ken; Sakurai, Noriko; Kodama, Naoki; Otsuru, Naofumi; Onishi, Hideaki
• Is Part Of: Cerebral cortex. Volume 32:Number 12(2022)
• Page Start: 2635
• Page End: 2643
• Publication Date: 2021-10-11
• Subjects: brain-derived neurotrophic factor genotype -- gender -- gray matter volume -- voxel-based morphometry; Cerebral cortex -- Periodicals; Brain -- Periodicals; 612.825
• DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab370
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1047-3211

Abstract

Abstract: Although brain gray matter (GM) plastically changes during short-term training, it is still unclear whether brain structures are stable for short periods (several months). Therefore, this study aimed to re-test the short-term variability of GM volumes and to clarify the effect of factors (gender and BDNF-genotype) expected to contribute to such variability. The subjects comprised 41 young healthy adults. T1-weighted images were acquired twice with an interval of approximately 4 months using a 3 T-MRI scanner. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to calculate GM volumes in 47 regions. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Test–retest variability (%TRV) were used as indices of variability. As a result, the ICCs in 43 regions were excellent (ICC > 0.90) and those in 3 regions were good (ICC > 0.80), whereas the ICC in the thalamus was moderate (ICC = 0.694). Women had a higher %TRV than men in 5 regions, and %TRV of the Val66Val group was higher than that of the Met carrier group in 2 regions. Moreover, the Female-Val66Val group had a higher %TRV than the Male-Met carrier group in 3 regions. These results indicate that although the short-term variability of GM volumes is small, it is affected by within-subject factors.