title: Cognitive and connectome properties detectable through individual differences in graphomotor organization.
abstract: We investigated whether graphomotor organization during a digitized Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) would be associated with cognitive and/or brain structural differences detected with a tractography-derived structural connectome of the brain. 72 non-demented/non-depressed adults were categorized based on whether or not they used 'anchor' digits (i.e., 12, 3, 6, 9) before any other digits while completing dCDT instructions to "draw the face of a clock with all the numbers and set the hands to 10 after 11". 'Anchorers' were compared to 'non-anchorers' across dCDT, additional cognitive measures and connectome-based metrics. In the context of grossly intact clock drawings, anchorers required fewer strokes to complete the dCDT and outperformed non-anchorers on executive functioning and learning/memory/recognition tasks. Anchorers had higher local efficiency for the left medial orbitofrontal and transverse temporal cortices as well as the right rostral anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus versus non-anchorers suggesting better regional integration within local networks involving these regions; select aspects of which correlated with cognition. Results also revealed that anchorers' exhibited a higher degree of modular integration among heteromodal regions of the ventral visual processing stream versus non-anchorers. Thus, an easily observable graphomotor distinction was associated with 1) better performance in specific cognitive domains, 2) higher local efficiency suggesting better regional integration, and 3) more sophisticated modular integration involving the ventral ('what') visuospatial processing stream. Taken together, these results enhance our knowledge of the brain-behavior relationships underlying unprompted graphomotor organization during dCDT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States. Electronic address: mlamar@psych.uic.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lamar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Olusola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ajilore
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States; Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, United States.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leow
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States; Department of Psychology, Goldsmith's University, London, England SE14 6NW, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Johnson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: GadElkarim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States; Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, United States; Department of Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Shaolin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Aifeng
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: The Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA 01805, United States.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Penney
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, School of Osteopathic Medicine-Rowan University, Stratford, NJ 08084, United States.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Libon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D063132:Connectome; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Aging; Clock drawing; Digital Clock drawing; Executive functioning; Human connectome; Neural network