Jeehye Seo1, Byung-Kook Lee2, Seong-Uk Jin1, Kyung Eun Jang1, Jang Woo Park1, Yang-Tae Kim3, Sin-Jae Park4, Kyoung Sook Jeong5, Jungsun Park6, Ahro Kim7, Yangho Kim8, Yongmin Chang9. 1. Department of Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea. 2. Korean Industrial Health Association, Seoul, South Korea. 3. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea. 4. Department of Psychiatry, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea. 5. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. 6. Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, South Korea. 7. Department of Neurology, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. 8. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea. Electronic address: yanghokm@nuri.net. 9. Department of Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Radiology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Molecular Medicine, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea. Electronic address: ychang@knu.ac.kr.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: It is well known that lead exposure induces neurotoxic effects, which can result in dysfunction in a variety of cognitive capacities including executive function. However, few studies have used fMRI to examine the direct neural correlates of executive function in participants with past lead exposure. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate possible alterations in the neural correlates of executive function in the previously lead-exposed brain. METHODS: Forty-three lead-exposed and 41 healthy participants were enrolled. During the fMRI scans, participants performed two modified versions of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) differing in cognitive demand, and a task that established a high-level baseline condition (HLB). RESULTS: The neural activation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was greater in healthy controls than in participants with lead exposure when contrasting the difficult version of the WCST with the HLB. Moreover, cortical activation was found to be inversely associated with blood lead concentration after controlling for covariates. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that lead exposure can induce functional abnormalities in distributed cortical networks related to executive function, and that lead-induced neurotoxicity may be persistent rather than transient.
INTRODUCTION: It is well known that lead exposure induces neurotoxic effects, which can result in dysfunction in a variety of cognitive capacities including executive function. However, few studies have used fMRI to examine the direct neural correlates of executive function in participants with past lead exposure. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate possible alterations in the neural correlates of executive function in the previously lead-exposed brain. METHODS: Forty-three lead-exposed and 41 healthy participants were enrolled. During the fMRI scans, participants performed two modified versions of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) differing in cognitive demand, and a task that established a high-level baseline condition (HLB). RESULTS: The neural activation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was greater in healthy controls than in participants with lead exposure when contrasting the difficult version of the WCST with the HLB. Moreover, cortical activation was found to be inversely associated with blood lead concentration after controlling for covariates. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that lead exposure can induce functional abnormalities in distributed cortical networks related to executive function, and that lead-induced neurotoxicity may be persistent rather than transient.
Authors: Janina Manzieri Prado-Rico; Eun-Young Lee; Ernest W Wang; Jeff D Yanosky; Lan Kong; Hairong Chen; Ana Navas-Acien; Guangwei Du; Mechelle M Lewis; Richard B Mailman; Xuemei Huang Journal: Toxicol Sci Date: 2022-05-26 Impact factor: 4.109