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White matter microstructural organisation of interhemispheric pathways predicts different stages of bimanual coordination learning in young and older adults
Author(s) -
Zivari Adab Hamed,
Chalavi Sima,
Beets Iseult A. M.,
Gooijers Jolien,
Leunissen Inge,
Cheval Boris,
Collier Quinten,
Sijbers Jan,
Jeurissen Ben,
Swinnen Stephan P.,
Boisgontier Matthieu P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/ejn.13841
Subject(s) - white matter , motor learning , psychology , premotor cortex , fractional anisotropy , primary motor cortex , neuroscience , tractography , motor cortex , diffusion mri , dorsum , cortex (anatomy) , young adult , physical medicine and rehabilitation , developmental psychology , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , anatomy , stimulation , radiology
The ability to learn new motor skills is crucial for activities of daily living, especially in older adults. Previous work in younger adults has indicated fast and slow stages for motor learning that were associated with changes in functional interactions within and between brain hemispheres. However, the impact of the structural scaffolds of these functional interactions on different stages of motor learning remains elusive. Using diffusion‐weighted imaging and probabilistic constrained spherical deconvolution‐based tractography, we reconstructed transcallosal white matter pathways between the left and right primary motor cortices (M1–M1), left dorsal premotor cortex and right primary motor cortex ( LPM d– RM 1) and right dorsal premotor cortex and left primary motor cortex ( RPM d– LM 1) in younger and older adults trained in a set of bimanual coordination tasks. We used fractional anisotropy ( FA ) to assess microstructural organisation of the reconstructed white matter pathways. Older adults showed lower behavioural performance than younger adults and improved their performance more in the fast but less in the slow stage of learning. Linear mixed models predicted that individuals with higher FA of M1–M1 pathways improve more in the fast but less in the slow stage of bimanual learning. Individuals with higher FA of RPM d– LM 1 improve more in the slow but less in the fast stage of bimanual learning. These predictions did not differ significantly between younger and older adults suggesting that, in both younger and older adults, the M1–M1 and RPM d– LM 1 pathways are important for the fast and slow stage of bimanual learning, respectively.