Structural modulation of brain development by oxygen: evidence on adolescents migrating from high altitude to sea level environment

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 9;8(7):e67803. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067803. Print 2013.

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate structural modulation of brain by high level of oxygen during its peak period of development. Voxel-based morphometry analysis of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics analysis of WM fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusion (MD) based on MRI images were carried out on 21 Tibetan adolencents (15-18 years), who were born and raised in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (2900-4700 m) and have lived at sea level (SL) in the last 4 years. The control group consisted of matched Tibetan adolescents born and raised at high altitude all the time. SL immigrants had increased GM volume in the left insula, left inferior parietal gyrus, and right superior parietal gyrus and decreased GM in the left precentral cortex and multiple sites in cerebellar cortex (left lobule 8, bilateral lobule 6 and crus 1/2). Decreased WM volume was found in the right superior frontal gyrus in SL immigrants. SL immigrants had higher FA and lower MD at multiple sites of WM tracts. Moreover, we detected changes in ventilation and circulation. GM volume in cerebellum lobule 8 positively correlated with diastolic pressure, while GM volume in insula positively correlated vital capacity and hypoxic ventilatory response. Our finding indicate that the structural modulations of GM by high level of oxygen during its peak period of development are related to respiratory and circulatory regulations, while the modulation in WM mainly exhibits an enhancement in myelin maturation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Altitude*
  • Anisotropy
  • Brain / growth & development
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Male
  • Neuroimaging
  • Organ Size
  • Oxygen Consumption*

Grants and funding

This work was funded by National Science Foundation of China (30425008, 60628101, 31071041, 81030027, 81227002, and 81220108013) and the National Key Project (Grant No. 2012CB518200). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.