Faculty Profiles - OGURA Aya

Individual voxel-based morphometry adjusting covariates in multiple system atrophy

Reserve and Maintenance in the Aging Brain: A Longitudinal Study of Healthy Older Adults.

Bagarinao E, Watanabe H, Maesawa S, Kawabata K, Hara K, Ohdake R, Ogura A, Mori D, Yoneyama N, Imai K, Yokoi T, Kato T, Koyama S, Katsuno M, Wakabayashi T, Kuzuya M, Hoshiyama M, Isoda H, Naganawa S, Ozaki N, Sobue G

eNeuro Vol. 9 ( 1 ) 2022.1

Connectivity impairment of cerebellar and sensorimotor connector hubs in Parkinson's disease.

Bagarinao E, Kawabata K, Watanabe H, Hara K, Ohdake R, Ogura A, Masuda M, Kato T, Maesawa S, Katsuno M, Sobue G

Brain communications Vol. 4 ( 5 ) page： fcac214 2022

Bridging large-scale cortical networks: Integrative and function-specific hubs in the thalamus

Kawabata Kazuya, Bagarinao Epifanio, Watanabe Hirohisa, Maesawa Satoshi, Mori Daisuke, Hara Kazuhiro, Ohdake Reiko, Masuda Michihito, Ogura Aya, Kato Toshiyasu, Koyama Shuji, Katsuno Masahisa, Wakabayashi Toshihiko, Kuzuya Masafumi, Hoshiyama Minoru, Isoda Haruo, Naganawa Shinji, Ozaki Norio, Sobue Gen

ISCIENCE Vol. 24 ( 10 ) page： 103106 2021.10

Ebina Junya, Hara Kazuhiro, Watanabe Hirohisa, Kawabata Kazuya, Yamashita Fumio, Kawaguchi Atsushi, Yoshida Yusuke, Kato Toshiyasu, Ogura Aya, Masuda Michihito, Ohdake Reiko, Mori Daisuke, Maesawa Satoshi, Katsuno Masahisa, Kano Osamu, Sobue Gen

PARKINSONISM & RELATED DISORDERS Vol. 90 page： 114 - 119 2021.9

Language：Japanese Publisher：Parkinsonism and Related Disorders

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate whether novel individual voxel-based morphometry adjusting covariates (iVAC), such as age, sex, and total intracranial volume, could increase the accuracy of a diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA) and enable the differentiation of MSA from Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: We included 53 MSA patients (MSA-C: 33, MSA-P: 20), 53 PD patients, and 189 healthy controls in this study. All participants underwent high-resolution T1-weighted imaging (WI) and T2-WI with a 3.0-T MRI scanner. We evaluated the occurrence of significant atrophic findings in the pons/middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) and putamen on iVAC and compared these findings with characteristic changes on T2-WI. Results: On iVAC, abnormal findings were observed in the pons/MCP of 96.2% of MSA patients and in the putamen of 80% of MSA patients; however, on T2-WI, they were both observed at a frequency of 60.4% in MSA patients. On iVAC, all but one MSA-P patient (98.1%) showed significant atrophic changes in the pons/MCP or putamen. By contrast, 69.8% of patients with MSA showed abnormal signal changes in the pons/MCP or putamen on T2-WI. iVAC yielded 95.0% sensitivity and 96.2% specificity for differentiating MSA-P from PD. Conclusion: iVAC enabled us to recognize the morphological characteristics of MSA visually and with high accuracy compared to T2-WI, indicating that iVAC is a potential diagnostic screening tool for MSA.

DOI： 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2021.07.025

Clinicoradiological features in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with olfactory dysfunction

Masuda Michihito, Watanabe Hirohisa, Ogura Aya, Ohdake Reiko, Kato Toshiyasu, Kawabata Kazuya, Hara Kazuhiro, Nakamura Ryoichi, Atsuta Naoki, Epifanio Bagarinao, Katsuno Masahisa, Sobue Gen

AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION Vol. 22 ( 3-4 ) page： 260 - 266 2021.4

Language：Japanese Publisher：Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor neuron involvement. Although olfactory dysfunction has been described in ALS, clinicoradiological features associated with the olfactory dysfunction remain poorly understood. Methods: We enrolled 30 patients with ALS and age- and sex-matched 53 healthy controls (HCs). All participants underwent the odor stick identification test for Japanese (OSIT-J) and clinical assessments, including disease duration, ALSFRS-R, site of onset, forced vital capacity, and cognitive examinations that reflected the general, executive, memory and language function. We investigated the associations between OSIT-J score and clinical features and examined atrophic changes by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis to MRI. Results: The OSIT-J score was significantly lower in ALS patients than HCs (6.9 ± 3.2 vs. 9.8 ± 1.9, p < 0.001). In ALS, there were significant relationships between OSIT-J score and age at examination, frontal assessment battery, word fluencies, digit span forward, and ADAS-Jcog recognition, but not education, disease type, duration, ALSFRS-R and, %VC. Multiple regression analysis with stepwise method showed the only ADAS-Jcog recognition substantially predicted OSIT-J score. VBM analysis with age, sex, total intracranial volume, and ADAS-Jcog recognition as covariates showed OSIT-J scores were substantially correlated with atrophic changes of left orbital cortex consisting of gyrus rectus and medial orbital gyrus and right hippocampus in ALS. Conclusion: ALS patients could show substantial olfactory dysfunction in association with orbital cortex and hippocampus involvements. The olfactory examination could be a useful marker for screening of frontotemporal alteration in ALS.

DOI： 10.1080/21678421.2020.1859544

Resting State Networks Related to the Maintenance of Good Cognitive Performance During Healthy Aging.

Maesawa S, Mizuno S, Bagarinao E, Watanabe H, Kawabata K, Hara K, Ohdake R, Ogura A, Mori D, Nakatsubo D, Isoda H, Hoshiyama M, Katsuno M, Saito R, Ozaki N, Sobue G

Frontiers in human neuroscience Vol. 15 page： 753836 2021

Language：English Publisher：Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Purpose: Maintenance of cognitive performance is important for healthy aging. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between brain networks and cognitive function in subjects maintaining relatively good cognitive performance. Methods: A total of 120 subjects, with equal number of participants from each age group between 20 and 70 years, were included in this study. Only participants with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination – Revised (ACE-R) total score greater than 83 were included. Anatomical T1-weighted MR images and resting-state functional MR images (rsfMRIs) were taken from all participants using a 3-tesla MRI scanner. After preprocessing, several factors associated with age including the ACE-R total score, scores of five domains, sub-scores of ACE-R, and brain volumes were tested. Morphometric changes associated with age were analyzed using voxel based morphometry (VBM) and changes in resting state networks (RSNs) were examined using dual regression analysis. Results: Significant negative correlations with age were seen in the total gray matter volume (GMV, r = −0.58), and in the memory, attention, and visuospatial domains. Among the different sub-scores, the score of the delayed recall (DR) showed the highest negative correlation with age (r = −0.55, p < 0.001). In VBM analysis, widespread regions demonstrated negative correlation with age, but none with any of the cognitive scores. Quadratic approximations of cognitive scores as functions of age showed relatively delayed decline compared to total GMV loss. In dual regression analysis, some cognitive networks, including the dorsal default mode network, the lateral dorsal attention network, the right / left executive control network, the posterior salience network, and the language network, did not demonstrate negative correlation with age. Some regions in the sensorimotor networks showed positive correlation with the DR, memory, and fluency scores. Conclusion: Some domains of the cognitive test did not correlate with age, and even the highly correlated sub-scores such as the DR score, showed delayed decline compared to the loss of total GMV. Some RSNs, especially involving cognitive control regions, were relatively maintained with age. Furthermore, the scores of memory, fluency, and the DR were correlated with the within-network functional connectivity values of the sensorimotor network, which supported the importance of exercise for maintenance of cognition.

DOI： 10.3389/fnhum.2021.753836