1. Cerebral and cerebellar MRI volumes in Williams syndrome
- Author
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Adriana Sampaio, Cristiana Vasconcelos, Sónia S. Sousa, Catarina Fernandes, Óscar F. Gonçalves, Ana Alexandra Caldas Osório, Montse Fernández Prieto, José Miguel Soares, Angel Carracedo, and Universidade do Minho
- Subjects
Male ,Cerebellum ,Social Sciences ,Córtex Cerebelar ,Nerve Fibers, Myelinated ,Motor symptoms ,0302 clinical medicine ,Síndrome de Williams ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Child ,10. No inequality ,Cerebral Cortex ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Cerebrum ,05 social sciences ,Cognition ,Organ Size ,Anatomy ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Fibras Nervosas Amielínicas ,Clinical Psychology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Cerebellar cortex ,Córtex Cerebral ,Female ,Williams syndrome ,Psychology ,MRI ,Adult ,Adolescent ,050105 experimental psychology ,White matter ,Cerebellar Cortex ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Ressonância Magnética ,Fibras Nervosas Mielinizadas ,Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated ,Science & Technology ,Magnetic resonance imaging ,medicine.disease ,nervous system ,Case-Control Studies ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) present a set of cognitive, affective and motor symptoms that resemble those of patients with lesions to the cerebellum. Although there is some evidence for overall structural alterations in this brain region in WS, explorations on cerebellar white matter and cerebellar cortex volumes remain rather neglected. We aimed to compare absolute and relative cerebellar volumes, as well as patterns of white matter to cortex volumes in this brain region, between a group of individuals with WS and a group of healthy controls. T1 -weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired in 17 individuals with WS and in 15 typically developing individuals. Our results showed that even though individuals from the clinical group had significantly smaller cerebrums (and cerebellums), cerebellar volumes relative to intracranial volumes were significantly enlarged. In addition, while gray matter was relatively spared and white matter disproportionately reduced in the cerebrum in WS, relative cerebellar cortex and white matter volumes were preserved. These findings support the hypothesis that volume alterations in the cerebellum are associated with the cognitive, affective and motor profiles in WS. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2014