Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Asymmetry of the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex: Evidences from Multiple Modalities of MRI

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Neuroinformatics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has been consistently implicated in cognitive control processes. Many studies have found higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left anterior cingulum bundle (aCB) than in the right. However, the asymmetry of gray matter density (GMD) is not clear. Using multiple modalities of MRI, we investigated both FA and GMD in the dACC in two independent groups of healthy participants (50 per group, 18–24 years old, half males and half females). Consistent with previous findings, the mean FA of the left aCB was significantly higher than that of the right. Males showed higher FA in the bilateral aCB than females. Voxel-based analysis of GMD in the dACC presented a region-specific significant asymmetry: right > left in the lower part (around callosal sulcus) but left > right in the upper part (around cingulate sulcus). No significant sex effect was found for GMD in the dACC. All these results were almost the same across the two independent groups. The complex pattern of asymmetry in GMD may imply highly differentiated functions of the dACC. Future fine-scale structural and diffusion MRI studies and a battery of cognitive behavioral measurements are needed to fully elucidate the asymmetry of the dACC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashburner, J., & Friston, K. J. (2005). Unified segmentation. Neuroimage, 26(3), 839–851.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, G., Frazier, J. A., Rauch, S. L., Seidman, L. J., Whalen, P. J., Jenike, M. A., et al. (1999). Anterior cingulate cortex dysfunction in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder revealed by fMRI and the Counting Stroop. Biological Psychiatry, 45(12), 1542–1552.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, G., Luu, P., & Posner, M. I. (2000). Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(6), 215–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, G., Vogt, B. A., Holmes, J., Dale, A. M., Greve, D., Jenike, M. A., et al. (2002). Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: a role in reward-based decision making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99(1), 523–528.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, H. C., & Damasio, A. R. (1980). Human cerebral asymmetries evaluated by computed tomography. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 43(10), 873–878.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, R. W. (1996). AFNI: software for analysis and visualization of functional magnetic resonance neuroimages. Computers and Biomedical Research, 29(3), 162–173.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dickstein, S. G., Bannon, K., Castellanos, F. X., & Milham, M. P. (2006). The neural correlates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an ALE meta-analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 47(10), 1051–1062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Embick, D., Marantz, A., Miyashita, Y., O’Neil, W., & Sakai, K. L. (2000). A syntactic specialization for Broca’s area. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 97(11), 6150–6154.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fornito, A., Whittle, S., Wood, S. J., Velakoulis, D., Pantelis, C., & Yücel, M. (2006). The influence of sulcal variability on morphometry of the human anterior cingulate and paracingulate cortex. Neuroimage, 33(3), 843–854.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fornito, A., Yücel, M., Wood, S. J., Adamson, C., Velakoulis, D., Saling, M. M., et al. (2008a). Surface-based morphometry of the anterior cingulate cortex in first episode schizophrenia. Human Brain Mapping, 29(4), 478–489.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fornito, A., Yung, A. R., Wood, S. J., Phillips, L. J., Nelson, B., Cotton, S., et al. (2008b). Anatomic abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex before psychosis onset: an MRI study of ultra-high-risk individuals. Biological Psychiatry, 64(9), 758–765.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fornito, A., Wood, S. J., Whittle, S., Fuller, J., Adamson, C., Saling, M. M., et al. (2008c). Variability of the paracingulate sulcus and morphometry of the medial frontal cortex: associations with cortical thickness, surface area, volume, and sulcal depth. Human Brain Mapping, 29(2), 222–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fujiwara, H., Namiki, C., Hirao, K., Miyata, J., Shimizu, M., Fukuyama, H., et al. (2007). Anterior and posterior cingulum abnormalities and their association with psychopathology in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Schizophrenia Research, 95(1–3), 215–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gong, G., Jiang, T., Zhu, C., Zang, Y., Wang, F., Xie, S., et al. (2005a). Asymmetry analysis of cingulum based on scale-invariant parameterization by diffusion tensor imaging. Human Brain Mapping, 24(2), 92–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gong, G., Jiang, T., Zhu, C., Zang, Y., He, Y., Xie, S., et al. (2005b). Side and handedness effects on the cingulum from diffusion tensor imaging. Neuroreport, 16(15), 1701–1705.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hiscock, M., Inch, R., Jacek, C., Hiscock-Kalil, C., & Kalil, K. M. (1994). Is there a sex difference in human laterality? I. An exhaustive survey of auditory laterality studies from six neuropsychology journals. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 16(3), 423–435.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huster, R. J., Westerhausen, R., Kreuder, F., Schweiger, E., & Wittling, W. (2007). Morphologic asymmetry of the human anterior cingulate cortex. Neuroimage, 34(3), 888–895.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huster, R. J., Westerhausen, R., Kreuder, F., Schweiger, E., & Wittling, W. (2009). Hemispheric and gender related differences in the midcingulum bundle: a DTI study. Human Brain Mapping, 30(2), 383–391.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huster, R. J., Westerhausen, R., Pantev, C., & Konrad, C. (2010). The role of the cingulate cortex as neural generator of the N200 and P300 in a tactile response inhibition task. Human Brain Mapping, 31(8), 1260–1271.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., MacDonald, A. W., 3rd, Johnson, M. K., Stenger, V. A., Aizenstein, H., et al. (2005). Decreased conflict- and error-related activity in the anterior cingulate cortex in subjects with schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(10), 1833–1839.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kubicki, M., Westin, C. F., Nestor, P. G., Wible, C. G., Frumin, M., Maier, S. E., et al. (2003). Cingulate fasciculus integrity disruption in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging study. Biological Psychiatry, 54(11), 1171–1180.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LeMay, M. (1977). Asymmetries of the skull and handedness. Phrenology revisited. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 32(2), 243–253.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X. (1983). The distribution of left and right handedness in Chinese people (in Chinese). Acta Psycholog Sinica, 15(3), 268–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luders, E., Gaser, C., Jancke, L., & Schlaug, G. (2004). A voxel-based approach to gray matter asymmetries. Neuroimage, 22(2), 656–664.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Makris, N., Buka, S. L., Biederman, J., Papadimitriou, G. M., Hodge, S. M., Valera, E. M., et al. (2008). Attention and executive systems abnormalities in adults with childhood ADHD: a DT-MRI study of connections. Cerebral Cortex, 18(5), 1210–1220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marquardt, R. K., Levitt, J. G., Blanton, R. E., Caplan, R., Asarnow, R., Siddarth, P., et al. (2005). Abnormal development of the anterior cingulate in childhood-onset schizophrenia: a preliminary quantitative MRI study. Psychiatry Research, 138(3), 221–233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menzler, K., Belke, M., Wehrmann, E., Krakow, K., Lengler, U., Jansen, A., et al. (2011). Men and women are different: diffusion tensor imaging reveals sexual dimorphism in the microstructure of the thalamus, corpus callosum and cingulum. Neuroimage, 54(4), 2557–2562.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell, L. J., Westin, C. F., & Golby, A. J. (2009). Tract-based morphometry for white matter group analysis. Neuroimage, 45(3), 832–844.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Park, H. J., Westin, C. F., Kubicki, M., Maier, S. E., Niznikiewicz, M., Baer, A., et al. (2004). White matter hemisphere asymmetries in healthy subjects and in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor MRI study. Neuroimage, 23(1), 213–223.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paus, T., Otaky, N., Caramanos, Z., MacDonald, D., Zijdenbos, A., D’Avirro, D., et al. (1996). In vivo morphometry of the intrasulcal gray matter in the human cingulate, paracingulate, and superior-rostral sulci: hemispheric asymmetries, gender differences and probability maps. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 376(4), 664–673.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perlini, C., Bellani, M., & Brambilla, P. (2012). Structural imaging techniques in schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01868.x.

  • Pierpaoli, C., Jezzard, P., Basser, P. J., Barnett, A., & Di Chiro, G. (1996). Diffusion tensor MR imaging of the human brain. Radiology, 201(3), 637–648.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pujol, J., Deus, J., Losilla, J. M., & Capdevila, A. (1999). Cerebral lateralization of language in normal left-handed people studied by functional MRI. Neurology, 52(5), 1038–1043.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schermuly, I., Fellgiebel, A., Wagner, S., Yakushev, I., Stoeter, P., Schmitt, R., et al. (2010). Association between cingulum bundle structure and cognitive performance: an observational study in major depression. European Psychiatry, 25(6), 355–360.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shim, G., Jung, W. H., Choi, J. S., Jung, M. H., Jang, J. H., Park, J. Y., et al. (2009). Reduced cortical folding of the anterior cingulate cortex in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 34(6), 443–449.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shima, K., & Tanji, J. (1998). Role for cingulate motor area cells in voluntary movement selection based on reward. Science, 282(5392), 1335–1338.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spoletini, I., Cherubini, A., Di Paola, M., Banfi, G., Rüsch, N., Martinotti, G., et al. (2009). Reduced fronto-temporal connectivity is associated with frontal gray matter density reduction and neuropsychological deficit in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 108(1–3), 57–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szaflarski, J. P., Binder, J. R., Possing, E. T., McKiernan, K. A., Ward, B. D., & Hammeke, T. A. (2002). Language lateralization in left-handed and ambidextrous people: fMRI data. Neurology, 59(2), 238–244.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takao, H., Abe, O., Yamasue, H., Aoki, S., Sasaki, H., Kasai, K., et al. (2011). Gray and white matter asymmetries in healthy individuals aged 21–29 years: a voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study. Human Brain Mapping, 32(10), 1762–1773.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Takei, K., Yamasue, H., Abe, O., Yamada, H., Inoue, H., Suga, M., et al. (2009). Structural disruption of the dorsal cingulum bundle is associated with impaired Stroop performance in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 114(1–3), 119–127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toga, A. W., & Thompson, P. M. (2003). Mapping brain asymmetry. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(1), 37–48.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tzourio-Mazoyer, N., Landeau, B., Papathanassiou, D., Crivello, F., Etard, O., Delcroix, N., et al. (2002). Automated anatomical labeling of activations in SPM using a macroscopic anatomical parcellation of the MNI MRI single-subject brain. Neuroimage, 15(1), 273–289.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, B. A., Berger, G. R., & Derbyshire, S. W. (2003). Structural and functional dichotomy of human midcingulate cortex. The European Journal of Neuroscience, 18(11), 3134–3144.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F., Sun, Z., Cui, L., Du, X., Wang, X., Zhang, H., et al. (2004). Anterior cingulum abnormalities in male patients with schizophrenia determined through diffusion tensor imaging. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(3), 573–575.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yan, C., & Zang, Y. (2010). DPARSF: a MATLAB toolbox for “Pipeline” data analysis of resting-state fMRI. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 4, 13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yücel, M., Pantelis, C., Stuart, G. W., Wood, S. J., Maruff, P., Velakoulis, D., et al. (2002). Anterior cingulate activation during stroop task performance A PET to MRI coregistration study of individual patients with schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(2), 251–254.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Y., He, Y., Zhu, C., Cao, Q., Sui, M., Liang, M., et al. (2007). Altered baseline brain activity in children with ADHD revealed by resting-state functional MRI. Brain and Development, 29(2), 83–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zetzsche, T., Meisenzahl, E. M., Preuss, U. W., Holder, J. J., Kathmann, N., Leinsinger, G., et al. (2001). In-vivo analysis of the human planum temporale (PT): does the definition of PT borders influence the results with regard to cerebral asymmetry and correlation with handedness? Psychiatry Research, 107(2), 99–115.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from NSFC (30770594, 81020108022) and the National High Technology Program of China (863) (2008AA02Z405).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders and the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310015, China

    Jue Wang, Dong-Qiang Liu, Han Zhang & Yu-Feng Zang

  2. National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Jue Wang, Wei-Xuan Zhu, Zhang-Ye Dong & Yu-Feng Zang

Authors
  1. Jue Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dong-Qiang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Han Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Wei-Xuan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhang-Ye Dong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yu-Feng Zang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu-Feng Zang.

Additional information

Jue Wang and Dong-Qiang Liu contributed equally.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(PDF 456 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, J., Liu, DQ., Zhang, H. et al. Asymmetry of the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex: Evidences from Multiple Modalities of MRI. Neuroinform 11, 149–157 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-012-9167-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-012-9167-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation