Electrophysiological Correlates of Morphological Neuroplasticity in Human Callosal Dysgenesis

PLoS One. 2016 Apr 7;11(4):e0152668. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152668. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

In search for the functional counterpart of the alternative Probst and sigmoid bundles, considered as morphological evidence of neuroplasticity in callosal dysgenesis, electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence analysis was combined with high resolution and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. Data of two patients with callosal agenesis, plus two with typical partial dysgenesis with a remnant genu, and one atypical patient with a substantially reduced genu were compared to those of fifteen neurotypic controls. The interhemispheric EEG coherence between homologous nontemporal brain regions corresponded to absence or partial presence of callosal connections. A generalized coherence reduction was observed in complete acallosal patients, as well as coherence preservation in the anterior areas of the two patients with a remnant genu. jThe sigmoid bundles found in three patients with partial dysgenesis correlated with augmented EEG coherence between anterior regions of one hemisphere and posterior regions of the other. These heterologous (crossed) interhemispheric connections were asymmetric in both imaging and EEG patterns, with predominance of the right-anterior-to-left-posterior connections over the mirror ones. The Probst bundles correlated with higher intrahemispheric long-distance coherence in all patients. The significant correlations observed for the delta, theta and alpha bands indicate that these alternative pathways are functional, although the neuropsychological nature of this function is still unknown.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Agenesis of Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging*
  • Agenesis of Corpus Callosum / physiopathology*
  • Brain Waves*
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neuronal Plasticity*
  • Radiography

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.3124042

Grants and funding

This work was funded by different grants from the Brazilian Council for Development of Science and Technology (CNPq), the CAPES Foundation, Brazilian Ministry of Education, the Rio de Janeiro Foundation for the Support of Science (FAPERJ) and intramural grants from D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.