Abstract #4975

Time course of structural neuroplasticity induced by procedural motor learning: DTI vs SANDI

Guillermina Griffa¹, Marco Palombo², Abraham Yeffal¹, Hong-Hsi Lee³, Susie Y. Huang³, and Valeria Della-Maggiore¹

¹IFIBIO-Houssay, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina, ²Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology and School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK., Cardiff, United Kingdom, ³Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA., Boston, MA, United States

Synopsis

Keywords: Gray Matter, Neuroscience, motor learning, plasticity, SANDI

Motivation: Performance gains during motor sequence learning (MSL) are linked to increased hippocampal activity and fast changes in mean diffusivity. Yet, DTI is not biologically specific.

Goal(s): To identify the biological compartment(s) driving changes in gray-matter microstructure during MSL.

Approach: We applied SANDI to multi-shell-DWI acquired in 28 subjects on the Connectome scanner before, 30 min, and 24h post MSL training.

Results: MSL-induced transient changes in DTI were associated with a temporary increase in soma fraction at 30 min, compatible with a fast homeostatic response (e.g. astrocytic swelling). Long-lasting DTI changes were associated with an increment in neurite fraction compatible with structural remodelling.

Impact: Our work may broaden the scope of understanding of human hippocampal memory and help pinpoint the biological substrates of plasticity. Moreover, it may set the basis for developing a biologically meaningful biomarker of neuroplasticity to detect early signs of neuropathology.

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