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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 16, 2008, 28(16):4210-4215; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5722-07.2008

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Brief Communications
Gray Matter Increase Induced by Practice Correlates with Task-Specific Activation: A Combined Functional and Morphometric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Rüdiger Ilg,¹ Afra M. Wohlschläger,^1,2,3 Christian Gaser,⁴ Yasmin Liebau,¹ Ruth Dauner,⁵ Andreas Wöller,¹ Claus Zimmer,² Josef Zihl,^5,6 and Mark Mühlau¹

Departments of ¹Neurology, ²Neuroradiology, and ³Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany, ⁴Department of Psychiatry, University of Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany, ⁵Department of Psychology, Neuropsychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80802 Munich, Germany, and ⁶Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Neuropsychology Research Group, 80804 Munich, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Rüdiger Ilg, Department of Neurology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Strasse 22, 81675 Munich, Germany. Email: ilg{at}lrz.tum.de

The neurophysiological basis of practice-induced gray matter increase is unclear. To study the relationship of practice-induced gray matter changes and neural activation, we conducted a combined longitudinal functional and morphometric (voxel-based morphometry) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study on mirror reading. Compared with normal reading, mirror reading resulted in an activation of the dorsolateral occipital cortex, medial occipital cortex, superior parietal cortex, medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as well as anterior insula and cerebellum. Daily practice of 15 min for 2 weeks resulted in an increased performance of mirror reading. After correction for pure performance effects, we found a practice-related decrease of activation at the right superior parietal cortex and increase of activation at the right dorsal occipital cortex. The longitudinal voxel-based morphometry analysis yielded an increase of gray matter in the right dorsolateral occipital cortex that corresponded to the peak of mirror-reading-specific activation. This confirms that short-term gray matter signal increase corresponds to task-specific processing. We speculate that practice-related gray matter signal changes in MRI are primarily related to synaptic remodeling within specific processing areas.

Key words: mirror reading; practice; neural plasticity; gray matter changes; voxel-based morphometry; VBM; functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI

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Received Dec. 27, 2007; revised Feb. 6, 2008; accepted Feb. 29, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Rüdiger Ilg, Department of Neurology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Strasse 22, 81675 Munich, Germany. Email: ilg{at}lrz.tum.de

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

Practice Makes Cortex

Emma G. Duerden and Danièle Laverdure-Dupont
J. Neurosci. 2008 28: 8655-8657. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. G. Duerden and D. Laverdure-Dupont Practice Makes Cortex J. Neurosci., August 27, 2008; 28(35): 8655 - 8657. [Full Text] [PDF]

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