Abstract:
Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is an increasingly popular multimodal mind-body practice with potential cognitive benefits, yet the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects, particularly in relation to brain white matter (WM) microstructure, remain largely unknown. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the attention network test (ANT) to compare 22 TCC practitioners and 18 healthy controls. We found extensive differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) between the two groups. Specifically, TCC practitioners had significantly different diffusion metrics in the corticospinal tract (CST), fornix (FX)/stria terminalis (ST), and cerebral peduncle (CP). We also observed a significant correlation between increased FA values in the right CP and ANT performance in TCC practitioners. Our findings suggest that optimized regional WM microstructure may contribute to the complex information processing associated with TCC practice, providing insights for preventing cognitive decline and treating neurological disorders with cognitive impairment in clinical rehabilitation.
摘要:
太极拳(TCC)是一种日益流行的多模式心身练习,具有潜在的认知益处,然而这些影响背后的神经生物学机制,特别是与脑白质(WM)微观结构有关,基本上是未知的。在这项研究中,我们使用扩散张量成像(DTI)和注意力网络测试(ANT)比较了22名TCC从业者和18名健康对照者.我们发现分数各向异性(FA)存在广泛差异,平均扩散率(MD),轴向扩散率(AD),两组之间的径向扩散率(RD)。具体来说,TCC从业者在皮质脊髓束(CST)中的扩散指标显着不同,穹窿(FX)/纹状体(ST),和脑花梗(CP)。我们还观察到正确CP中FA值的增加与TCC从业者的ANT表现之间存在显着相关性。我们的发现表明,优化的区域WM微观结构可能有助于与TCC实践相关的复杂信息处理,为临床康复中预防认知功能减退和治疗神经系统疾病伴认知障碍提供见解。