Tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is central to the study of human brain connectivity. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain data set with ground truth tracts, we organized an open international tractography challenge, which resulted in 96 distinct submissions from 20 research groups. Here, we report the encouraging finding that most state-of-the-art algorithms produce tractograms containing 90% of the ground truth bundles (to at least some extent). However, the same tractograms contain many more invalid than valid bundles, and half of these invalid bundles occur systematically across research groups. Taken together, our results demonstrate and confirm fundamental ambiguities inherent in tract reconstruction based on orientation information alone, which need to be considered when interpreting tractography and connectivity results. Our approach provides a novel framework for estimating reliability of tractography and encourages innovation to address its current limitations.

Previous studies have shown greater atrophy in grey and white matter of various brain regions in patients with Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment than in those without. These anatomical differences likely account for the distinct clinical profiles observed between those groups, but do not account for the evolution of regional brain degradation observed as the disease evolves. Although we have shown recently that cortical thinning correlates significantly more with disease duration in Parkinson's patients with mild cognitive impairment than in those without, to the best of our knowledge no study to date has explored this longitudinally. The present study investigated the longitudinal changes of the cortical and subcortical grey matter in patients with Parkinson's disease with and without mild cognitive impairment. Additionally, these two groups were compared with healthy controls. We found a higher rate of cortical thinning in the temporal, occipital, parietal and supplementary motor area, in patients with Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment compared with both cognitively stable patients and healthy controls. On the other hand cognitively stable patients had only one lateral occipital and one fusiform cluster with increased rate of thinning compared with healthy individuals. Correlating the rate of change of cortical thickness with the results of Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores revealed significant thinning associated with cognitive decline in the group of all patients, in similar regions including temporal and medial occipital lobe. Finally, a significant decrease in the volume of the amygdala and nucleus accumbens was observed specifically in patients with Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment. These results indicate that the early presence of mild cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease is associated with a faster rate of grey matter thinning in various cortical regions as well as a significant diminishment of limbic subcortical structures. This specific pattern of brain degradation associated with the early presence of mild cognitive impairment might serve as a marker of development toward dementia.

Sleep slow waves (SWs) change considerably throughout normal aging. In humans, SWs are generated and propagate on a structural backbone of highly interconnected cortical regions that form most of the default mode network, such as the insula, cingulate cortices, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and medial frontal lobe. Regions in this network undergo cortical thinning and breakdown in structural and functional connectivity over the course of normal aging. In this study, we investigated how changes in cortical thickness (CT), a measure of gray matter integrity, are involved in modifications of sleep SWs during adulthood in humans. Thirty young (mean age ϭ 23.49 years; SD ϭ 2.79) and 33 older (mean age ϭ 60.35 years; SD ϭ 5.71) healthy subjects underwent a nocturnal polysomnography and T1 MRI. We show that, when controlling for age, higher SW density (nb/min of nonrapid eye movement sleep) was associated with higher CT in cortical regions involved in SW generation surrounding the lateral fissure (insula, superior temporal, parietal, middle frontal), whereas higher SW amplitude was associated with higher CT in middle frontal, medial prefrontal, and medial posterior regions. Mediation analyses demonstrated that thinning in a network of cortical regions involved in SW generation and propagation, but also in cognitive functions, explained the age-related decrease in SW density and amplitude. Altogether, our results suggest that microstructural degradation of specific cortical regions compromise SW generation and propagation in older subjects, critically contributing to age-related changes in SW oscillations.

Sports-related concussions have been shown to lead to persistent subclinical anomalies of the motor and cognitive systems in young asymptomatic athletes. In advancing age, these latent alterations correlate with detectable motor and cognitive function decline. Until now, the interacting effects of concussions and the normal ageing process on white matter tract integrity remain unknown. Here we used a tract-based spatial statistical method to uncover potential white matter tissue damage in 15 retired athletes with a history of concussions, free of comorbid medical conditions. We also investigated potential associations between white matter integrity and declines in cognitive and motor functions. Compared to an age- and education-matched control group of 15 retired athletes without concussions, former athletes with concussions exhibited widespread white matter anomalies along many major association, interhemispheric, and projection tracts. Group contrasts revealed decreases in fractional anisotropy, as well as increases in mean and radial diffusivity measures in the concussed group. These differences were primarily apparent in fronto-parietal networks as well as in the frontal aspect of the corpus callosum. The white matter anomalies uncovered in concussed athletes were significantly associated with a decline in episodic memory and lateral ventricle expansion. Finally, the expected association between frontal white matter integrity and motor learning found in former non-concussed athletes was absent in concussed participants. Together, these results show that advancing age in retired athletes presenting with a history of sports-related concussions is linked to diffuse white matter abnormalities that are consistent with the effects of traumatic axonal injury and exacerbated demyelination. These changes in white matter integrity might explain the cognitive and motor function declines documented in this population.

Fiber tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is at the heart of connectivity studies of the human brain. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain dataset with ground truth white matter tracts, we organized an open international tractography challenge, which resulted in 96 distinct submissions from 20 research groups. While most state-of-the-art algorithms reconstructed 90% of ground truth bundles to at least some extent, on average they produced four times more invalid than valid bundles. About half of the invalid bundles occurred systematically in the majority of submissions. Our results demonstrate fundamental ambiguities inherent to tract reconstruction methods based on diffusion orientation information, with critical consequences for the approach of diffusion tractography in particular and human connectivity studies in general.

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Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a major risk factor for Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Anatomical gray matter abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop areas remain under studied in iRBD patients. We acquired T1-weighted images and administrated quantitative motor tasks in 41 patients with polysomnography-confirmed iRBD and 41 healthy subjects. Cortical thickness and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses were performed to investigate local cortical thickness and gray matter volume changes, vertex-based shape analysis to investigate shape of subcortical structures, and structure-based volumetric analyses to investigate volumes of subcortical and brainstem structures. Cortical thickness analysis revealed thinning in iRBD patients in bilateral medial superior frontal, orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate cortices, and the right dorsolateral primary motor cortex. VBM results showed lower gray matter volume in iRBD patients in the frontal lobes, anterior cingulate gyri, and caudate nucleus. Shape analysis revealed extensive surface contraction in the external and internal segments of the left pallidum. Clinical and motor impaired features in iRBD were associated with anomalies of the motor cortico-subcortical loop. In summary, iRBD patients showed numerous gray matter structural abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop, which are associated with lower motor performance and clinical manifestations of iRBD.

Color discrimination deficit is a common nonmotor manifestation of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the pathophysiology of this dysfunction remains poorly understood. Although retinal structure changes found in PD have been suggested to cause color discrimination deficits, the impact of cognitive impairment and cortical alterations remains to be determined. We investigated the contribution of cognitive impairment to color discrimination deficits in PD and correlated them with cortical anomalies. Sixty-six PD patients without dementia and 20 healthy controls performed the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test and underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for mild cognitive impairment diagnosis. In a subgroup of 26 PD patients, we also used high-definition neuroanatomical magnetic resonance imaging for cortical thickness and diffusion tensor analysis. PD patients with mild cognitive impairment performed poorly on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test compared with PD patients without mild cognitive impairment and controls. In PD patients, performance on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test was correlated with measures of visuospatial abilities and executive functions. Neuroimaging analysis revealed higher mean and radial diffusivity values in right posterior white-matter structures that correlated with poor performance on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test. No cortical thickness correlation reached significance. This study showed that cognitive impairment makes a major contribution to the color discrimination deficits reported in PD. Thus, performance on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test may reflect cognitive impairment more than color discrimination deficits in PD. Poor performance on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test was also associated with white-matter alterations in right posterior brain regions.