AnalyzeDirect 
The corpus callosum connects the left and right sides of the brain, allowing for communication between the two cerebral hemispheres. Abnormalities in the microstructure of this band of nerve fibers compromise the efficiency of motor, sensory and cognitive information transfer within the brain.
Several studies have highlighted that genetic factors may play an important role in the development of the corpus callosum. On the other hand, it has been shown that composition, size and density of the fibers that form this structure change with age.
Therefore, aiming at further investigating the relationship between the influence of genetic variance components and age-related degeneration of the corpus callosum, scientists from the University of New South Wales, Australia, compared brain MRI images of 284 healthy older twins.
From the scans, the researchers performed tracing and parcellation of the corpus callosum using Analyze software. After segmenting this structure, they were able to parcel it into its five sub-regions and estimate measures, such as anisotropy and diffusivity, which reflect the state, integrity and microstructure of its white matter. Their results indicated strong heritability of these values, suggesting that genetic factors significantly contribute to the variability of morphological changes caused by aging. Furthermore, genetic correlations were found when analyzing levels of total brain white matter lesion burden, an indicator of white matter atrophy.
Understanding the role of genetics in the development and age-related modifications of corpus callosum microstructure is a challenging and crucial task. Contributions and findings from this study pave the way for future research in the prevention and treatment of corpus callosum abnormalities. Further investigations will, in fact, focus on identifying specific genetic variants that contribute to age-dependent alterations of this structure.
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Tags: Brain Studies, Corpus Callosum