Disruption of Accumbens and Thalamic White Matter Connectivity Revealed by Diffusion Tensor Tractography in Young Men with Genetic Risk for Obesity.

ABSTRACT: Background: Neurovascular coupling is associated with white matter (WM) structural integrity, and it is regulated by specific subtypes of dopaminergic receptors. An altered activity of such receptors, highly expressed in reward-related regions, has been reported in carriers of obesity-risk alleles of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene. Among the reward-related regions, the thalamus and the nucleus accumbens are particularly vulnerable to blood pressure dysregulation due to their peculiar anatomo-vascular characteristics, and have been consistently reported to be altered in early-stage obesity. We have thus hypothesized that a disruption in thalamus and nucleus accumbens WM microstructure, possibly on neurovascular basis, could potentially be a predisposing factor underlying the

SUBMITTER: Olivo G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5826967 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature