美科学家使用MRI绘制出Williams综合征的语言技能

神经科学家们正在使用一种新型磁性共振成像方法（MRI），试图绘制第一种详细图像，用于揭示Williams综合征如何影响大脑皮层。

这项研究是由来自美国加州洛城加利福尼亚大学(UCLA; USA)的研究人员主持的，研究显示在大脑掌管语言的至关重要的区域，皮层变厚而且变得十分复杂。

独立分布的致密的大脑掌管语言区域的皮层，对语言处理至关重要。在活体绘制出这些异常病变的能力，证明了基因如何控制人大脑皮层发育的，并且有助于临床诊断，更好的了解Williams综合征潜在的遗传触发机制。

Williams综合征是一种遗传性疾病，表现为心脏损害、轻～中度智力缺陷以及其他大脑皮层的病变。Williams综合征的典型患者表现为语言技巧、音乐能力以及社会驱动力方面天赋极高，每2万人中有1人发病。

美国加利福尼亚大学的科学家，根据42名遗传诊断确诊为Williams综合征患者及40名年龄相匹配的正常对照的164个大脑半球MRI扫描的资料，绘制出了大脑皮层的三维图谱。一种皮质层模式匹配得方法，使用了70sulcal标记物在每个大脑进行跟踪，锚着在不同受试者的系列皮质层增厚图谱上，创建组平均图谱，鉴别出皮质层厚度发生改变的区域。研究人员将他们的研究结果发表在2005年4月20日的《神经科学期刊》之上。
 
MRI, Mapping Reveals Williams Syndrome Language Skills
 
Neuroscientists are using a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method to devise the first detailed images demonstrating how Williams syndrome affects the cerebral cortex.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA; USA), showed very defined cortical thickening and complexity in the region of the brain vital for language.

The isolated, condense cortical area in language regions of the brain is crucial to language processes. The ability to map these abnormalities in living individuals demonstrated how genes control development of the human cortex, and also helps in clinical diagnosis and learning more about the syndrome’s underlying genetic trigger.

Williams syndrome is a genetic disorder typified by heart defects, mild to moderate mental retardation, and abnormalities in the outer layer in the cerebral cortex. Individuals with this syndrome typically show high proficiency in language skills, musical ability, and social drive. The syndrome affects 1 in 20,000 individuals.

The UCLA scientists devised detailed three-dimensional (3D) maps of cortical thickness, based on MRI scans of 164 brain hemispheres of 42 individuals with genetically confirmed Williams syndrome and 40 age-matched healthy controls. A cortical pattern-matching method used 72 sulcal landmarks traced on each brain as anchors to align cortical thickness maps across subjects, construct group average maps, and identify areas with changed cortical thickness. The researchers published their findings in the April 20, 2005, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.