title: Dominant hemisphere lateralization of cortical parasympathetic control as revealed by frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: The brain continuously influences and perceives the physiological condition of the body. Related cortical representations have been proposed to shape emotional experience and guide behavior. Although previous studies have identified brain regions recruited during autonomic processing, neurological lesion studies have yet to delineate the regions critical for maintaining autonomic outflow. Even greater controversy surrounds hemispheric lateralization along the parasympathetic-sympathetic axis. The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), featuring progressive and often asymmetric degeneration that includes the frontoinsular and cingulate cortices, provides a unique lesion model for elucidating brain structures that control autonomic tone. Here, we show that bvFTD is associated with reduced baseline cardiac vagal tone and that this reduction correlates with left-lateralized functional and structural frontoinsular and cingulate cortex deficits and with reduced agreeableness. Our results suggest that networked brain regions in the dominant hemisphere are critical for maintaining an adaptive level of baseline parasympathetic outflow.
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143; Mental Health Program, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia;
authors.forename: Christine C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Virginia E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders Program, Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore;
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143; Brain and Behavior Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Efstathios D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Gennatas
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Alice Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stables
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Joel H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650;
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Levenson
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143;
authors.forename: Bruce L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-1207; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143; Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143 wseeley@memory.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Seeley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: autonomic neuroscience; emotion; frontotemporal dementia; lateralization; salience network