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Ex Vivo Optogenetic Dissection of Fear Circuits in Brain Slices

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Published on: April 5, 2016

Changes in cortical morphology resulting from long-term amygdala damage.

Aaron D Boes¹, Sonya Mehta, David Rudrauf

¹Department of Pediatric Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, USA.

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

|September 8, 2011

Summary

Long-standing bilateral amygdala lesions in humans cause structural brain changes in connected cortical regions. This study reveals remote gray matter alterations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Neuroanatomy
Brain Imaging

Background:

The amygdala is crucial for emotion, cognition, and behavior, interacting with various brain regions.
While functional changes in connected areas after amygdala lesions are known, long-term structural effects remain unclear.

Observation:

This study analyzed structural MRI data from two patients with long-standing bilateral amygdala lesions (S.M. and A.P.) compared to controls.
Regions of interest and vertex-based analyses were performed.

Findings:

Patients with bilateral amygdala lesions exhibited proportional gray matter volume increases in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC).
Cortical thickness was elevated in the vmPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) but reduced in the ventral visual stream.
No significant morphometric changes were observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or dorsal visual stream.

Implications:

These findings demonstrate that chronic amygdala damage can lead to remote structural morphometric changes in interconnected cortical areas.
This research provides the first human evidence of remote brain morphology alterations following amygdala lesions.
Understanding these structural consequences is vital for interpreting the effects of amygdala pathology in neuropsychiatric disorders.