Motor Skill Acquisition Promotes Human Brain Myelin Plasticity

Lakhani, Bimal; Borich, Michael R.; Jackson, Jacob N.; Wadden, Katie P.; Peters, Sue; Villamayor, Anica; MacKay, Alex L.; Vavasour, Irene M.; Rauscher, Alexander; Boyd, Lara A.

doi:10.1155/2016/7526135

Cited by 84 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The FA value reflects the extent of motion of water molecules and provides information on white matter microstructure, such as axon caliber, fiber density, and myelination. Myelin shows plasticity, which could be the case throughout the entire lifespan (Fields, ; Lakhani et al, ; Sampaio‐Baptista et al, ). It was interesting that the non‐dominant CPCT had higher FA and TV values than the dominant CPCT in the right‐handed population of this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laterality of cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways in a healthy right‐handed population: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Kim

et al. 2018

J of Neuroscience Research

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The cerebellum communicates with the cerebral cortex through the cortico‐ponto‐cerebellar tract (CPCT, cerebellar afferent) and the dentato‐rubro‐thalamo‐cortical tract (DRTCT, cerebellar efferent). This study explored the laterality of CPCT and DRTCT in a right‐handed population. Forty healthy right‐handed subjects (18 males and 22 females with age range of 26–79 years old) who underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were retrospectively enrolled. Bilateral CPCT, DRTCT, and the corticospinal tract (CST) were reconstructed using probabilistic diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Tract volume (TV) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were compared between dominant and non‐dominant tracts. Subjects were divided into age groups (20–40, 41–60, and 61–80 years), and the DTI‐derived parameters of the groups were compared to determine age‐related differences. TV and FA of non‐dominant CPCT were higher than those of dominant CPCT, and the dominant CST was higher than the non‐dominant CST. The TV and FA of DRTCT showed no side‐to‐side difference. The 61–80 years age group had the highest TV of the dominant and non‐dominant DRTCT among the three groups and the highest FA of the non‐dominant CPCT and DRTCT. The results revealed the structural characteristics of CPCT and DRTCT using probabilistic DTT. Normal asymmetric patterns and age‐related changes in cerebellar white matter tracts may be important to researchers investigating cerebro‐cerebellar structural connectivity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laterality of cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways in a healthy right‐handed population: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Kim

et al. 2018

J of Neuroscience Research

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“…Neuroplastic change has recently been observed within the white matter microstructure of the brain following motor learning in young healthy individuals [32] and animals [33], Future studies are needed to evaluate the integral relationship between changes in white matter microstructure, BOLD gray matter response and degree of motor skill learning in the healthy individuals as well as individuals with chronic stroke.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compensatory motor network connectivity is associated with motor sequence learning after subcortical stroke

Wadden

Woodward

Metzak

et al. 2015

Behavioural Brain Research

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Following stroke, functional networks reorganize and the brain demonstrates widespread alterations in cortical activity. Implicit motor learning is preserved after stroke. However the manner in which brain reorganization occurs, and how it supports behaviour within the damaged brain remains unclear. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we evaluated whole brain patterns of functional connectivity during the performance of an implicit tracking task at baseline and retention, following 5 days of practice. Following motor practice, a significant difference in connectivity within a motor network, consisting of bihemispheric activation of the sensory and motor cortices, parietal lobules, cerebellar and occipital lobules, was observed at retention. Healthy subjects demonstrated greater activity within this motor network during sequence learning compared to random practice. The stroke group did not show the same level of functional network integration, presumably due to the heterogeneity of functional reorganization following stroke. In a secondary analysis, a binary mask of the functional network activated from the aforementioned whole brain analyses was created to assess within-network connectivity, decreasing the spatial distribution and large variability of activation that exists within the lesioned brain. The stroke group demonstrated reduced clusters of connectivity within the masked brain regions as compared to the whole brain approach. Connectivity within this smaller motor network correlated with repeated sequence performance on the retention test. Increased functional integration within the motor network may be an important neurophysiological predictor of motor learning-related change in individuals with stroke.

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“…Several factors in the environment seem to be able to modulate white matter (Fields, 2008;Liu et al, 2012;Makinodan et al, 2012;Bergmann and Frisen, 2013;Etxeberria et al, 2016) and would therefore alter the conduction speed of neuronal signalling (Pajevic et al, 2014;Ford et al, 2015;Etxeberria et al, 2016;Arancibia-Carcamo et al, 2017). There is growing evidence indicating that learning a new skill might increase white matter volume, and findings demonstrating that myelination correlates with the learning observed (Hofstetter et al, 2013;Long and Corfas, 2014;Lakhani et al, 2016). For example, piano practicing during childhood has been associated with an increase in white matter volume and changes in the structure of various fiber tracts in adulthood, as measured with DTI (Bengtsson et al, 2005).…”

Section: Developmental Myelination and White Matter Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroglial interactions underpinning myelin plasticity

Faria

Pama

Evans

et al. 2017

Developmental Neurobiology

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The CNS is extremely responsive to an ever-changing environment. Studies of neural circuit plasticity focus almost exclusively on functional and structural changes of neuronal synapses. In recent years, however, myelin plasticity has emerged as a potential modulator of neuronal networks. Myelination of previously unmyelinated axons and changes in the structure of myelin on already-myelinated axons (similar to changes in internode number and length or myelin thickness or geometry of the nodal area) can in theory have significant effects on the function of neuronal networks. In this article, the authors review the current evidence for myelin changes occurring in the adult CNS, highlight some potential underlying mechanisms of how neuronal activity may regulate myelin changes, and explore the similarities between neuronal and myelin plasticity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 93-107, 2018.

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Motor Skill Acquisition Promotes Human Brain Myelin Plasticity

Cited by 84 publications

References 40 publications

Laterality of cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways in a healthy right‐handed population: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Laterality of cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways in a healthy right‐handed population: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Compensatory motor network connectivity is associated with motor sequence learning after subcortical stroke

Neuroglial interactions underpinning myelin plasticity

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