Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2025
Whole-brain Segmentation and Change-point Analysis of Anatomical Brain MRI—Application in Premanifest Huntington's Disease
Published on: June 9, 2018
Alterations in brain structure and function associated with pediatric growth hormone deficiency: A multi-modal
Zhibo Zhou1, Yunyun Luo1, Xiaoxing Gao2
1Key Laboratory of Endocrinology of National Health Commission, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Department of Endocrinology, Chinese Research Center for Behavior Medicine in Growth and Development, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Introduction:
Pediatric growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a disease resulting from impaired growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) axis but the effects of GHD on children's cognitive function, brain structure and brain function were not yet fully illustrated.
Methods:
Full Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, structural imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were assessed in 11 children with GHD and 10 matched healthy controls.
Results:
(1) The GHD group showed moderate cognitive impairment, and a positive correlation existed between IGF-1 levels and cognitive indices. (2) Mean diffusivity was significantly increased in both corticospinal tracts in GHD group. (3) There were significant positive correlations between IGF-1 levels and volume metrics of left thalamus, left pallidum and right putamen but a negative correlation between IGF-1 levels and cortical thickness of the occipital lobe. And IGF-1 levels negatively correlated with fractional anisotropy in the superior longitudinal fasciculus and right corticospinal tract. (4) Regional homogeneity (ReHo) in the left hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus was negatively correlated with IGF-1 levels; the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and ReHo in the paracentral lobe, postcentral gyrus and precentral gyrus were also negatively correlated with IGF-1 levels, in which region ALFF fully mediates the effect of IGF-1 on working memory index.
Conclusion:
Multiple subcortical, cortical structures, and regional neural activities might be influenced by serum IGF-1 levels. Thereinto, ALFF in the paracentral lobe, postcentral gyrus and precentral gyrus fully mediates the effect of IGF-1 on the working memory index.
