Cortical Thickness of Native Tibetans in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wu, Wei; Wang, X.; Gong, Qiyong; Fan, Ming; Zhang, J.

doi:10.3174/ajnr.a5050

Cited by 17 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, the regions that showed higher CT in the right superior temporal gyrus and left occipital lobe in our Han subjects also showed larger GM volume in America females aged 25.1 ± 4.5 years [40]. In the present study, we have also analyzed brain structural differences between Han males and Tibetan males and brain structural differences between Han females and Tibetan females, and the results showed that the sex differences of brains were consistent with that found in our previous study in Tibetans and Han subjects [41].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Sex Differences of the Brain Structural Adaptation to Hypoxic Environment

Fan¹,

Zhao²,

Zhao

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Different physiological and pathological patterns have been found in the two sexes at high altitude. However, sex differences in brains remain unknown. Methods: T1-weighted MRI scanned in 61 Tibetan males and 68 Tibetan females aged 17-23, and Freesurfer was used to detect brain structures. Neuropsychological tests were also performed. Matched lowland Han subjects were controls. Results: Both Tibetan and Han males had larger global gray matter (GM) volume and white matter volume than females, while Tibetan but not Han female brains contained a larger proportion of GM than male brains. Tibetan females had significant smaller regional GM volume in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus, pars opercularis, and right caudal middle frontal gyrus, and moreover, GM volume in the left pars opercularis positively correlated with digit span score. However, Tibetans females had significantly thicker cortices in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus, left pars triangularis, right rostral middle frontal gyrus, and right pars triangularis than males and cortical thickness in these regions negatively correlated with altitude. In Tibetan females but not males, the negative correlation of cortical thickness with altitude has been testified by global analysis. Conversely, Han subjects showed discrepant sex differences in brains with Tibetans, showing larger regional GM volume and thicker cortices in different brain areas. Conclusion: A distinct pattern of sex differences exists between Tibetan and Han brains. Female brains may be more tolerable to hypoxia. Sex differences in the brains of Tibetans may be related to different neuropsychiatric performances in the two sexes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Sex Differences of the Brain Structural Adaptation to Hypoxic Environment

Fan¹,

Zhao²,

Zhao

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Figure shows the overlaps of brain regions showing correlations of both cortical thickness (data shown in a previous study and CBF with altitude, which include the left posterior cingulate cortex and superior/middle temporal gyri.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Regional cerebral blood flow in natives at high altitude: An arterial spin labeled MRI study

Wang

Yuan

et al. 2018

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At the node level, several frontal regions showed effects of HA adaptive genetic variants, including the anterior orbital gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal triangular gyrus and middle cingulate, and paracingulate gyri. These regions show HA adaptive alterations in both local morphology and interregional connectivity (Chen et al, ; Wei et al, ). Interestingly, most of the regions belonged to the right frontal and parietal module, which plays a key role in the top‐down modulation of various visual processes as discussed above.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anatomically, this module overlaps, to a great extent, with the ventral visual pathway that courses through the occipitotemporal cortex to the anterior part of the inferior temporal gyrus. As a key region in the ventral visual streams, the middle temporal gyrus shows altered morphology in native Tibetans compared with that in lowlanders, and the alterations are positively correlated with altitude (Wei et al, ). Here, our finding implies a decrease in the FNs interconnecting different components of the ventral visual pathway with increasing adaption to HA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding phenotype, respiratory and circulatory systems are the two most salient physiological processes to manifest HA adaptive alterations, including larger chest circumference, greater lung diffusing capacity, and greater maximum heart rate in highlanders compared with those in lowlanders (Gilbert‐Kawai, Milledge, Grocott, & Martin, ). Following these physiological alterations, brain structure and function are inevitably affected due to the high oxygen consumption of the brain, such as modifications in local brain features (Wei, Wang, Gong, Fan, & Zhang, ; Zhang, Zhang, et al, ), intraregional neural synchronization (Chen, Fan, et al, ), and interregional functional and structural connectivity (Chen, Li, et al, ). Finally, given the numerous brain alterations, neuropsychological adaption to HA is unsurprising since the brain is the basis and carrier of behavior and cognition (Smith et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neural network correlates of high‐altitude adaptive genetic variants in Tibetans: A pilot, exploratory study

Guo

Fan

et al. 2020

Human Brain Mapping

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although substantial progress has been made in the identification of genetic substrates underlying physiology, neuropsychology, and brain organization, the genotype-phenotype associations remain largely unknown in the context of highaltitude (HA) adaptation. Here, we related HA adaptive genetic variants in three gene loci (EGLN1, EPAS1, and PPARA) to interindividual variance in a set of physiological characteristics, neuropsychological tests, and topological attributes of largescale structural and functional brain networks in 135 indigenous Tibetan highlanders. Analyses of individual HA adaptive single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed that specific SNPs selectively modulated physiological characteristics (erythrocyte level, ratio between forced expiratory volume in the first second to forced vital capacity, arterial oxygen saturation, and heart rate) and structural network centrality (the left anterior orbital gyrus) with no effects on neuropsychology or functional brain networks. Further analyses of genetic adaptive scores, which summarized the overall degree of genetic adaptation to HA, revealed significant correlations only with structural brain networks with respect to local interconnectivity of the whole networks, intermodule communication between the right frontal and parietal module and the left occipital module, nodal centrality in several frontal regions, and connectivity strength of a subnetwork predominantly involving in intramodule edges in the right temporal and occipital module. Moreover, the associations were dependent on gene loci, weight types, or topological scales.Together, these findings shed new light on genotype-phenotype interactions under HA hypoxia and have important implications for developing new strategies to optimize organism and tissue responses to chronic hypoxia induced by extreme environments or diseases.

show abstract

Cortical Thickness of Native Tibetans in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: High-altitude environmental factors and genetic variants together could have exerted their effects on the human brain. The present study was designed to investigate the cerebral morphology in high-altitude native Tibetans.

Cited by 17 publications

References 79 publications

Sex Differences of the Brain Structural Adaptation to Hypoxic Environment

Sex Differences of the Brain Structural Adaptation to Hypoxic Environment

Regional cerebral blood flow in natives at high altitude: An arterial spin labeled MRI study

Neural network correlates of high‐altitude adaptive genetic variants in Tibetans: A pilot, exploratory study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About