title: Abnormal topological organization of the white matter network in Mandarin speakers with congenital amusia.
abstract: Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that mainly affects the processing of musical pitch. Brain imaging evidence indicates that it is associated with abnormal structural and functional connections in the fronto-temporal region. However, a holistic understanding of the anatomical topology underlying amusia is still lacking. Here, we used probabilistic diffusion tensor imaging tractography and graph theory to examine whole brain white matter structural connectivity in 31 Mandarin-speaking amusics and 24 age- and IQ-matched controls. Amusics showed significantly reduced global connectivity, as indicated by the abnormally decreased clustering coefficient (Cp) and increased normalized shortest path length (λ) compared to the controls. Moreover, amusics exhibited enhanced nodal strength in the right inferior parietal lobule relative to controls. The co-existence of the lexical tone deficits was associated with even more deteriorated global network efficiency in amusics, as suggested by the significant correlation between the increments in normalized shortest path length (λ) and the insensitivity in lexical tone perception. Our study is the first to reveal reduced global connectivity efficiency in amusics as well as an increase in the global connectivity cost due to the co-existed lexical tone deficits. Taken together these results provide a holistic perspective on the anatomical substrates underlying congenital amusia.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xizhuo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Suyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zaixu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Gaolang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nan
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010898:Pitch Perception; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult