Simultaneous PET/MR Imaging of Human Brain Plasticity

Multimodal Associations of Human Brain Plasticity Investigated With Simultaneous PET/MR Imaging

Background: Neuronal plasticity is the brain's ability to continuously adapt to experiences and learning of new skills. Although this affects multiple characteristics of the brain such as structure, function and metabolism, direct interactions between these aspects are largely missing.

Aim: Using recent advancements in neuroimaging we aim to identify novel relationships how neuronal plasticity is related across these characteristics.

Design: 40 healthy subjects will undergo two simultaneous PET/MR measurements at baseline and after 4 weeks. During the measurements a cognitively challenging task will be performed and the training group (20 subjects) will practice during the 4-week period.

Implications: We combine simultaneous PET/MR and novel task-specific PET imaging to study brain metabolism, structure and function in a single measurement session. This provides optimal sensitivity for assessment of multimodal neuroplasticity associations. Knowledge how cognitive training affects multiple characteristics of the brain will also increase our understanding of disorders like depression, dementia and brain injuries, since these are diagnosed with cognitive evaluations. Considering the vast usage of the applied imaging procedures in diagnosis and therapy monitoring, the thorough investigation of multimodal associations offers benefit for the interpretability of neuroimaging in clinical routine.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Neuronal Plasticity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Tetris

Detailed Description

Methodological details: Each subject will undergo two PET/MR examinations. Imaging will include PET as well as acquisition of structural and functional MRI. Task-specific glucose metabolism will be quantified with the radioligand [18F]FDG. Gray matter volume and white matter microstructure will be assessed with T1-weighted and diffusion weighted MRI, respectively. Functional imaging will focus on functional connectivity during rest and task as well as cerebral blood flow as acquired with ASL.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Austria
  • Vienna, Austria
    • Recruiting
    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna
    • Contact: Rupert Lanzenberger, Assoc Prof; Phone Number: 35760 +43140400; Email: rupert.lanzenberger@meduniwien.ac.at
    • Principal Investigator: Andreas Hahn, Ass Prof

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 30 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age range 21-30 years
• Right-handedness
• Willingness and competence to sign the informed consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of or current physical, neurological or psychiatric disorder
• History of or current substance abuse or medication including antipsychotic, antidepressant and antianxiety agents
• Pregnancy or current breastfeeding
• Contraindications for MRI-scanning (e.g., metal implants, steel grafts, etc), including dental implants causing signal artifacts
• For subjects participating in earlier studies using ionizing radiation, the total radiation exposure of 30mSv over the last 10 years must not be exceeded, as specified in the Austrian legislation on radiation protection
• Regular players of the video game Tetris (3 years before scanning).
• Failure to comply with the study protocol or to follow the instructions of the investigating team

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Training; 20 healthy participants, 4 week training of a challenging cognitive task (Tetris) between PET/MR measurements	Behavioral: Tetris; The video game Tetris is a cognitively challenging task, which requires mental rotation, problem solving and fast visuo-spatial and motor coordination.
NO_INTERVENTION: Control; 20 healthy participants, no training between PET/MR measurements

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Training induced changes in imaging parameters	Imaging parameters are glucose metabolism ([18F]FDG PET), cerebral blood flow (arterial spin labeling MRI), functional connectivity (resting-state and task fMRI), gray matter volume (T1-weighted MRI) and white matter structure (diffusion weighted MRI)	4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cognitive performance	Training induced changes in performance of the video game (score per minute)	4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Rupert Lanzenberger
• Investigators: Study Director: Rupert Lanzenberger, Assoc Prof, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hahn A, Breakspear M, Rischka L, Wadsak W, Godbersen GM, Pichler V, Michenthaler P, Vanicek T, Hacker M, Kasper S, Lanzenberger R, Cocchi L. Reconfiguration of functional brain networks and metabolic cost converge during task performance. Elife. 2020 Apr 21;9:e52443. doi: 10.7554/eLife.52443.

Helpful Links

• Neuroimaging Labs, Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): May 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): November 1, 2020
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): November 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 28, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): April 2, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 23, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 19, 2019
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: PSY-NIL-0005

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No