TY - JOUR
T1 - Working memory training impacts the mean diffusivity in the dopaminergic system
AU - Takeuchi, Hikaru
AU - Taki, Yasuyuki
AU - Nouchi, Rui
AU - Hashizume, Hiroshi
AU - Sekiguchi, Atsushi
AU - Kotozaki, Yuka
AU - Nakagawa, Seishu
AU - Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto
AU - Sassa, Yuko
AU - Kawashima, Ryuta
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Yuki Yamada for operating the MRI scanner, Haruka Nouchi for conducting the psychological tests, the subjects, and all our other colleagues in IDAC, Tohoku University for their support. This study was supported by JST/RISTEX, JST/CREST, a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (KAKENHI 23700306) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (KAKENHI 25700012) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The authors would like to thank Enago ( www.enago.jp ) for the English language review.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, The Author(s).
PY - 2015/11/26
Y1 - 2015/11/26
N2 - Dopaminergic transmission plays a critical role in working memory (WM). Mean diffusivity (MD) is a sensitive and unique neuroimaging tool for detecting microstructural differences particularly in the areas of the dopaminergic system. Despite previous investigation of the effects of WM training (WMT) on dopamine receptor binding potentials, the effects of WMT on MD remain unknown. In this study, we investigated these effects in young adult subjects who either underwent WMT or received no intervention for 4 weeks. Before and after the intervention or no-intervention periods, subjects underwent scanning sessions in diffusion-weighted imaging to measure MD. Compared with no intervention, WMT resulted in an increase in MD in the bilateral caudate, right putamen, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area. Furthermore, the increase in performance on WMT tasks was significantly positively correlated with the mean increase in MD in the clusters of the left DLPFC and of the right ACC. These results suggest that WMT caused microstructural changes in the regions of the dopaminergic system in a way that is usually interpreted as a reduction in neural components.
AB - Dopaminergic transmission plays a critical role in working memory (WM). Mean diffusivity (MD) is a sensitive and unique neuroimaging tool for detecting microstructural differences particularly in the areas of the dopaminergic system. Despite previous investigation of the effects of WM training (WMT) on dopamine receptor binding potentials, the effects of WMT on MD remain unknown. In this study, we investigated these effects in young adult subjects who either underwent WMT or received no intervention for 4 weeks. Before and after the intervention or no-intervention periods, subjects underwent scanning sessions in diffusion-weighted imaging to measure MD. Compared with no intervention, WMT resulted in an increase in MD in the bilateral caudate, right putamen, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area. Furthermore, the increase in performance on WMT tasks was significantly positively correlated with the mean increase in MD in the clusters of the left DLPFC and of the right ACC. These results suggest that WMT caused microstructural changes in the regions of the dopaminergic system in a way that is usually interpreted as a reduction in neural components.
KW - Diffusion-weighted imaging
KW - Dopamine
KW - MRI
KW - Mean diffusivity
KW - Plasticity
KW - Training
KW - Working memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942337401&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84942337401&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00429-014-0845-2
DO - 10.1007/s00429-014-0845-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 25023736
AN - SCOPUS:84942337401
VL - 220
SP - 3101
EP - 3111
JO - Brain Structure and Function
JF - Brain Structure and Function
SN - 1863-2653
IS - 6
ER -