Background: Individuals with corpus callosum dysgenesis (CCD) lack the clear disconnection syndrome that is characteristic of individuals in whom the corpus callosum has been surgically severed. One potential explanation for this paradox is that the anterior commissure undergoes neuroplastic remodeling in CCD to improve interhemispheric communication between the brain hemispheres.
Methods: A cohort of sixteen individuals with CCD (and sixteen sex and age-matched neurotypical controls) underwent multi-shell diffusion magnetic resonance high-field imaging (dMRI) at 7-Tesla to assess the anatomy of the anterior commissure for evidence of neuroplasticity.
Results: No significant group-wise differences in midsagittal anterior commissure volumes were detected between the CCD and control cohorts, although there were CCD individuals within the cohort who exhibited volumes that were either substantially larger or smaller than their neurotypical counterparts. Axonal intracellular volume fractions were reduced across the CCD white matter, including regions of the anterior commissure, and tractographic analyses were unable to identify any novel connections projecting through the anterior commissure that were unique to CCD individuals. Finally, variances in the neuroanatomy of the anterior commissure in the CCD cohort did not correlate with performance on neuropsychological tasks that are highly dependent upon interhemispheric communication.
Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there are individuals within the CCD population in whom it is unlikely that the anterior commissure is the primary substrate for interhemispheric communication. Consequently, other, presently unknown, compensatory mechanisms are likely involved in supporting this function.
Keywords: Agenesis of the corpus callosum; Anterior commissure; Corpus callosum dysgenesis; Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging.
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