Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf119
Qin Tang, Qingquan Cao, Lin Liu, Pan Wang, Huafu Chen, Bharat B Biswal
{"title":"Developmental trajectory deviation for hierarchical function system in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.","authors":"Qin Tang, Qingquan Cao, Lin Liu, Pan Wang, Huafu Chen, Bharat B Biswal","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf119","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a typically neurodevelopmental disorder with intra-/inter-network dysconnectivity, indicating that characterizing its age-dependent hierarchical function system changes is crucial to understanding the disease's course. Combining hierarchical spatial gradient and partial least squares regression analysis methods, we investigated the cortical abnormalities of functional gradient in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and its relationships with genic transcriptomic information. Additionally, we described the hierarchical function system development during childhood using developmental curve fitting analysis. We observed increased functional gradients in the regions within visual and dorsal attention networks, and decreased gradients distributing in the regions with limbic and default mode networks. Compared with the typical developmental age-gradient track curve, individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder exhibited earlier turning points and smaller curve's variation ranges. Gene expression analysis showed a significantly overlapped enrichment pathways associated with nervous system development between the genes we identified and those previously reported. Above-abnormal functional gradients and network-level averaged gradient values exhibited significant correlations with clinical inattention scores in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Overall, our findings characterized changes in hierarchical functional systems and their age-dependent relationships from both macro-neuroimaging and micro-genetic dimensions, advancing understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms behind neurodevelopmental disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf154
Karoline Leiberg, Timo Blattner, Bethany Little, Victor B B Mello, Fernanda H P de Moraes, Christian Rummel, Peter N Taylor, Bruno Mota, Yujiang Wang
{"title":"Multiscale cortical morphometry reveals pronounced regional and scale-dependent variations across the lifespan.","authors":"Karoline Leiberg, Timo Blattner, Bethany Little, Victor B B Mello, Fernanda H P de Moraes, Christian Rummel, Peter N Taylor, Bruno Mota, Yujiang Wang","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf154","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf154","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Characterizing changes in cortical morphology across the lifespan is fundamental for both research and clinical applications. Most studies report a monotonic decrease in commonly used morphometrics, such as cortical thickness and volume, with only subtle regional variations in the rate of decline. However, these findings are limited to a single length scale. Here, we delineate changes across the lifespan in multiscale morphometrics. We applied multiscale morphometric analysis to structural MRI from subjects aged 6 to 88 years from Nathan Kline Institute Rockland Sample (n = 833) and Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (n = 641), and derived population-level lifespan trajectories at multiple length scales. Lifespan trajectories show diverging and even opposing trends at different spatial scales. Larger scales (1.86 mm) displayed the strongest changes across the lifespan (up to 60%) when considering entire cortical hemispheres. Lobal variations also became more pronounced in scales over 0.7 mm. In a proof-of-principle brain age prediction context, multiscale morphometrics provided additional predictive value, boosting the adjusted $R^{2}$ of the model from 0.35 to 0.7. Our study provides a comprehensive multiscale description of cortical morphology across the lifespan, forming foundations for normative models to identify multiscale morphological abnormalities. Our results reveal the complementary information contained in different spatial scales, suggesting that morphometrics should be considered at multiple length scales.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12205997/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144474075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning to combine top-down context and feed-forward representations under ambiguity with apical and basal dendrites.","authors":"Nizar Islah, Guillaume Etter, Mashbayar Tugsbayar, Busra Tugce Gurbuz, Blake Richards, Eilif B Muller","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf134","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One of the hallmark features of neocortical anatomy is the presence of extensive top-down projections into primary sensory areas. It is hypothesized that one of the roles of these top-down projections is to carry contextual information that helps animals to resolve ambiguities in sensory data. One proposed mechanism of contextual integration is a combination of input streams at distinct apical and basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons. Computationally, however, it is yet to be demonstrated how such an architecture could leverage distinct compartments for flexible contextual integration and sensory processing. Here, we implement a deep neural network with distinct apical and basal compartments that integrates (a) contextual information from top-down projections to apical compartments and (b) sensory representations driven by bottom-up projections to basal compartments. In addition, we develop a new contextual integration task using generative modeling. The performance of deep neural networks augmented with our \"apical prior\" exceeds that of single-compartment networks. We find that a sparse subset of neurons of the context-relevant categories receive the largest top-down signals. We further show that this sparse gain modulation is necessary. Altogether, this suggests that the \"apical prior\" could be key for handling the ambiguities that animals encounter in the real world.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12205961/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144474074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf137
Svenja L Kreis, Gabriel Gonzalez-Escamilla, Daniela Mirzac, Muthuraman Muthuraman, Heiko J Luhmann, Sergiu Groppa
{"title":"Frequency- and layer-specific effects of high-frequency STN stimulation on mouse motor cortical areas in vivo.","authors":"Svenja L Kreis, Gabriel Gonzalez-Escamilla, Daniela Mirzac, Muthuraman Muthuraman, Heiko J Luhmann, Sergiu Groppa","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective evidence-based therapy for Parkinson's disease; however, its effects on the motor network are unclear. In anesthetized mice we studied the layer (L)- and frequency-specific effects of DBS on the connectivity between STN and rostral and caudal forelimb area (RFA and CFA) layers, the respective homologs to human premotor and motor cortex. Multi-site extracellular recordings served to quantify local field potential-driven activity at rest and during burst STN stimulation at multiple stimulation-frequencies for 10 min. The combination of frequency-specific coherence and information flow dynamics from effective connectivity (EC) demonstrated that 160 Hz STN stimulation increases the high-γ power in RFA and CFA. Additionally, 160 Hz STN stimulation reduced the β- and high γ-frequency coherence between RFA, CFA, and STN, as well as the EC from STN towards RFA and CFA, but no change in the connectivity from cortex towards STN was attested, demonstrating hyperdirect pathway activation. Our work provides empirical insights into the mechanisms of action of DBS, which represent an important basis for the further development of this therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf143
Lachlan T Strike, Katie L McMahon, Sarah E Medland, Greig I de Zubicaray
{"title":"Genetic and environmental contributions to ReHo and fALFF in early adolescence vary across brain regions.","authors":"Lachlan T Strike, Katie L McMahon, Sarah E Medland, Greig I de Zubicaray","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf143","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research on genetic and environmental influences on brain function generally focuses on connections between brain areas. A different yet unexplored approach is to examine activity within local brain regions. We investigated the influence of genes and environmental effects on two specific measures of local brain function: regional homogeneity and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations. Participants were drawn from a sample of adolescent twins on two occasions (mean ages 11.5 and 13.2 yr, n = 278 and 248). Results showed that genetic and environmental factors influenced brain function in almost all 210 cortical regions examined. Moreover, genetic and common environmental factors influencing regional homogeneity and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values at wave 1 (9 to 14 yr) also influenced values at wave 2 (10 to 16 yr) for many regions. However, the influence of genetic and common environmental factors varied across the cortex, exhibiting different patterns in different regions. Furthermore, we found new (ie independent) genetic and environmental influences on brain activity at wave 2, again with regional patterns. Exploratory analyses found weak associations between anxiety and depressive symptoms and local brain function in several regions of the temporal lobe. These findings are consistent with similar studies of other resting-state functional MRI metrics (ie functional connectivity).</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12205945/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the neural mechanisms of ADHD in children: a multifeature cross-task fNIRS analysis.","authors":"Mengxiang Chu, Jiaojiao Ren, Lijuan Yang, Yunxiang Ma, Zhengyu Zhong, Xiaowei He, Hongbo Guo, Xiao Li, Jingjing Yu, Zhaohui Wang","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf155","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibit multidimensional abnormalities of brain function, and the identification of key brain regions is often inconsistent across studies due to the influence of specific cognitive demands and feature selection. We conducted multifeature cross-task analysis and correlation analysis of functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based functional activity and connectivity under both resting state and verbal fluency task. Results reveal that more pronounced brain activation differences were observed in the right hemisphere of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder group compared with healthy controls, particularly in channels 7 and 13, with cross-task consistent activation patterns. The strongest connectivity appeared between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right frontopolar cortex in both resting state and verbal fluency task. Meanwhile, the task-related significant differences were mainly found in the left hemisphere, with fewer connectivity differences between tasks than between groups. Furthermore, a complex nonlinear relationship was identified between brain activation intensity and functional connectivity in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, a negative correlation in resting state, and a positive correlation in half of the brain regions (including bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) during verbal fluency task. These findings support the existing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder mechanisms and supplement the complexity of cross-task brain functional reorganization and fixed functional abnormalities, thereby advancing research on the neurobiological basis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144494895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-05-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf122
Don M Tucker, Phan Luu, Karl J Friston
{"title":"Adaptive consolidation of active inference: excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms for organizing feedforward and feedback memory systems in sleep.","authors":"Don M Tucker, Phan Luu, Karl J Friston","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf122","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf122","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cognitive self-organization rests on activity-dependent plasticity to extend the ontogenetic process of neural differentiation and integration of the cerebral cortex in each act of cognition. This account of neurocognitive growth can be formulated in terms of active inference and learning. The organism regulates synaptic connectivity as it seeks its goals actively, through excitatory, feedforward expectancies that manifest its species-specific affordances. These adaptive expectancies are modified reactively, through inhibitory feedback error-correction to fit and predict environmental encounters. Although adaptive behavior, and concomitant synaptic plasticity, occur during waking, the synaptic architecture requires ongoing consolidation and refinement during sleep. We propose that memory consolidation during sleep is a continuation of the neurodevelopmental process that proceeds through a kind of inversion of waking active inference: NREM sleep first refines the brain's representations of new, unpredicted experiences during waking, implementing inhibitory mechanisms of long-term depression that both differentiate and stabilize new representations for consolidation. REM sleep then updates the organism's generative world model in light of this new learning through excitatory long-term potentiation of synaptic plasticity. REM thereby reconsolidates and integrates the organism's adaptive, feedforward predictions, the Bayesian priors for effective coping.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144149389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-05-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf120
Andrew R Yoblinski, Jyoti Dubey, Tyler Myers, Nitya Sathees, David W Volk, Kenneth N Fish, Marianne L Seney
{"title":"Brain region and sex differences in human microglia morphology and function.","authors":"Andrew R Yoblinski, Jyoti Dubey, Tyler Myers, Nitya Sathees, David W Volk, Kenneth N Fish, Marianne L Seney","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf120","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf120","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microglia exhibit complex and dynamic morphology that is linked to function. Altered microglia function has been implicated in multiple diseases of the brain, including elevated phagocytosis of neuronal dendritic spines in schizophrenia. However, understanding the relationship between altered microglia and pathophysiology first requires a clearer picture of microglia morphology in the non-diseased brain, which has yet to be fully established. Here, we deploy immunostaining and confocal microscopy to sample over 1,300 microglia from two prefrontal cortex (PFC) subregions in postmortem human brain (3 males, 3 females). We use Neurolucida 360 to trace the 3-dimensional structure of these microglia and quantify interactions with dendritic spines. We find that PFC microglia in male subjects display overall more complex branching than in female subjects, and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) microglia are more complexly branched with more round somas than those in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), irrespective of sex. Furthermore, a lower proportion of phagocytic burden in sgACC microglia involves engulfment of dendritic spines compared to DLPFC. Overall, our results paint a detailed and nuanced picture of microglia morphology and function in subjects unaffected by psychiatric or neurologic illness that can be used as a benchmark for future studies of the diseased brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12106278/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144149394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Behavioral, cellular, and molecular changes in two animal models of bipolar disorder mania: sleep deprivation-induced mice and Clock-mutant mice.","authors":"Rong-Jun Ni, Yi-Yan Wang, Yu-Mian Shu, Ying-Ying Wei, Jin-Xue Wei, Lian-Sheng Zhao, Xiao-Hong Ma","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf090","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep disturbances are prevalent in bipolar disorder (BD) patients, and the circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (Clock) gene plays a significant role in this process. The role of microglia (the brain-resident immune cells) in mediating this process remains uncertain. In this study, our findings showed that sleep loss induces mania-like behavior, microglial loss, and time-dependent gene expression changes. Moreover, diurnal oscillations in circadian rhythm-associated and inflammation-related gene expression in the mouse prefrontal cortex (PFC) were altered following sleep deprivation (SD). Further correlative analysis revealed correlations in gene expression between marker genes for microglia and Clock genes. In addition, the Clock mutation induces mania-like behavior, inhibition of neural activity, and microglial loss. Transcriptomic analysis revealed significant alterations in inflammatory pathways, circadian rhythm-related pathways, and the major histocompatibility protein complex in ClockΔ19 mice. Subsequent correlative analysis demonstrated significant correlations in gene expression among inflammation-, circadian rhythm-, and synapse-related genes within the PFC and hypothalamus of both male and female ClockΔ19 mice. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated behavioral, cellular, and molecular changes in SD-induced mice and Clock-mutant mice models. Microglia and CLOCK were associated with mania-like behaviors. Future research will likely focus on microglia-targeted approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of BD.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144149391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-05-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf105
Pernilla Andersson, Xin Li, Jonas Persson
{"title":"Hippocampal and prefrontal GABA and glutamate concentration contribute to component processes of working memory in aging.","authors":"Pernilla Andersson, Xin Li, Jonas Persson","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf105","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Both animal and human studies indicate that individual variation in the neurometabolites gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate is linked to cognitive function. Age-related differences in these neurometabolites could potentially explain lower cognitive ability in older age. Working memory-the capacity to hold a limited amount of information online for a short period-has a central role in cognition, and this ability is also impaired in older individuals. Here, we investigated the relationship between gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA+) levels and a composite measure of glutamate/glutamine (Glx) in the hippocampus and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and how these neurochemical markers relate to working memory in younger and older adults. Across age groups, we found a significant positive association between working memory accuracy and Glx in the IFG, as well as a significant negative association between GABA+ in this region and proactive interference. Age-stratified analyses demonstrated significant positive associations between components of working memory and hippocampal/IFG Glx, as well as a significant negative association between IFG GABA+ and proactive interference in older adults only. These results provide novel evidence for a specific involvement of excitatory Glx and working memory accuracy as well as inhibitory GABA+ for control of proactive interference in working memory, and how these effects are differentially affected by age.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12066406/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143976259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}