Structural Plasticity of the Primary and Secondary Olfactory cortices: Increased Gray Matter Volume Following Surgical Treatment for Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Publication date: Available online 13 October 2018Source: NeuroscienceAuthor(s): K.L. Whitcroft, J. Fischer, P. Han, C. Raue, M. Bensafi, V. Gudziol, P. Andrews, T. HummelAbstractFunctional plasticity of the adult brain is well established. Recently, the structural counterpart to such plasticity has been suggested by neuroimaging studies showing experience-dependent differences in gray matter (GM) volumes. Within the primary and secondary olfactory cortices, reduced GM volumes have been demonstrated in patients with olfactory loss. However, these cross-sectional studies do not provide causal evidence for GM volume change, and thereby structural plasticity. Disorders of the peripheral olfactory system, such as chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), provide an ideal model to study GM structural plasticity, given that patients may experience long periods of olfactory impairment, followed by near complete recovery with treatment. We therefore performed a prospective longitudinal study in patients undergoing surgical treatment for CRS. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate GM volume change in 12 patients (M:F = 7:5; 47.2 ± 14.9 years), 3 months post-op. There was a significant improvement in olfactory function according to birhinal psychophysical testing. We performed a voxel-wise region of interest analysis, with significance corrected for number of regions (p < 0.0036corr). We found significantly increased post-operative GM volumes within the primary (...
Source: Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research