Functional activity of the caudate mediates the relation between early childhood microstructural variations and
Pei Huang1, Mya Thway Tint1, Marissa Lee1
1Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.
Insights
Childhood caudate microstructure predicts later functional activity, which fully mediates the link between early brain changes and metabolic syndrome scores. This highlights early brain development
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Metabolic syndrome in children is a risk factor for future cardiovascular disease.
- The caudate nucleus's role in metabolic syndrome risk requires further investigation.
- Understanding the interplay between structural and functional brain measures is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between caudate nucleus measures and metabolic syndrome scores in children.
- To examine the relationship between functional and structural neuroimaging data of the caudate.
- To explore mediation effects of brain measures and inhibitory control on metabolic syndrome risk.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal birth cohort study utilizing neuroimaging data from 4.5, 6.0, and 7.5 years.
- Assessed metabolic syndrome scores at 8.0 years.
- Employed Pearson correlation, linear regression, and mediation analysis to link caudate fractional anisotropy (FA), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and inhibitory control with metabolic syndrome scores.
Main Results:
- Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the left caudate at 4.5 years correlated with metabolic syndrome scores.
- Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) of the left caudate at 7.5 years also correlated with metabolic syndrome scores.
- fALFF at 7.5 years fully mediated the relationship between FA at 4.5 years and metabolic syndrome scores; inhibitory control did not mediate this relationship.
Conclusions:
- Early childhood caudate microstructure (at 4.5 years) predicts later functional activity (at 7.5 years).
- This later functional activity fully mediates the association between early microstructural changes and metabolic syndrome risk at 8.0 years.
- Findings emphasize the critical role of early brain development in metabolic health trajectories.
Background:
Metabolic syndrome score in children assesses the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in future. We aim to probe the role of the caudate in relation to the metabolic syndrome score. Furthermore, using both functional and structural neuroimaging, we aim to examine the interplay between functional and structural measures.
Methods:
A longitudinal birth cohort study with functional and structural neuroimaging data obtained at 4.5, 6.0 and 7.5 years and metabolic syndrome scores at 8.0 years was used. Pearson correlation and linear regression was used to test for correlation fractional anisotropy (FA) and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) of the caudate with metabolic syndrome scores. Mediation analysis was used to test if later brain measures mediated the relation between earlier brain measures and metabolic syndrome scores. Inhibitory control was also tested as a mediator of the relation between caudate brain measures and metabolic syndrome scores.
Results:
FA at 4.5 years and fALFF at 7.5 years of the left caudate was significantly correlated with metabolic syndrome scores. Post-hoc mediation analysis showed that fALFF at 7.5 years fully mediated the relation between FA at 4.5 years and metabolic syndrome scores. Inhibitory control was significantly correlated with fALFF at 7.5 years, but did not mediate the relation between fALFF at 7.5 years and metabolic syndrome scores.
Conclusions:
We found that variations in caudate microstructure at 4.5 years predict later variation in functional activity at 7.5 years. This later variation in functional activity fully mediates the relation between microstructural changes in early childhood and metabolic syndrome scores at 8.0 years.
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