Diffusion tensor imaging point to ongoing functional impairment in HIV-infected children at age 5, undetectable using standard neurodevelopmental assessments

Ackermann, Christelle; Andronikou, Savvas; Saleh, Muhammad G.; Kidd, Martin; Cotton, Mark F.; Meintjes, Ernesta M.; Laughton, Barbara

doi:10.1186/s12981-020-00278-z

Table 3 WM tracts in which clusters showing FA reductions and MD increases in HIV + children compared to controls are located, the function of the implicated tracts and neurodevelopmental tests that assess said function

From: Diffusion tensor imaging point to ongoing functional impairment in HIV-infected children at age 5, undetectable using standard neurodevelopmental assessments

Tract	Tract function [53]	Griffiths mental development scales Subscale used	Beery-Buktenica test of visual motor integration
Corticospinal Tract	Descending projection fibres connecting motor area to the spinal cord. Arise from motor cortex of pre- and postcentral gyrus	Locomotor	Beery motor Co-ordination
Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus	Association fibres—unite different cortical areas within the same hemisphere. Bidirectional bundles connecting the frontal lobe to the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes Function: integration of auditory and speech nuclei, spatial awareness and symmetric processing Interruption decreases the ability to repeat spoken language and can also cause unilateral neglect	Hearing and Language Eye and Hand Coordination Performance	Beery—VMI Beery—Visual Perception
Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus	Connects the cortices of the anterior temporal and posterior occipital lobe and joins the inferior aspect of the SLF Function: visual emotion and visual memory Interruption may result in unilateral visual neglect, visual amnesia and hallucinations and also visual hypo emotionality	Eye and Hand Coordination Performance Practical Reasoning	Beery—VMI Beery-visual perception
Inferior Fronto Occipital Fasciculus	Connects the ipsilateral frontal and occipital, posterior parietal and temporal lobes. Function: integration of auditory and visual association cortices with the prefrontal cortex	Personal-Social Language Practical Reasoning	Beery—VMI Beery-Visual Perception
Forceps Minor	The forceps minor is the anterior part of the corpus callosum, it connects the homologous regions of the anterior frontal lobes between two hemispheres. Among the regions included are the front polar cortex which has been shown to be important for cognitive behavioural control, decision making, and attention control	Personal-Social Language Performance Practical Reasoning
Uncinate Fasciculus	Connects the orbital and inferior frontal gyri rectus to the anterior temporal lobe. It has the longest period of development in terms of FA and is the only WM tract that continues to develop beyond 30 years Part of the limbic system Integrity of the tract has been related to proficiency in auditory-verbal memory and declarative memory	Language Performance Practical reasoning

R right, L left, CST corticospinal tract, SLF superior longitudinal fasciculus, ILF inferior longitudinal fasciculus, IFOF inferior fronto occipital fasciculus, UF uncinate fasciculus

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