Wang Qiang
Email Address
biewqia@nus.edu.sg
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Publication Functional and structural networks of lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortex as potential neural pathways for depression in childhood(Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2019) Wang Q.; Poh J.S.; Wen D.J.; Broekman B.F.P.; Chong Y.-S.; Yap F.; Shek L.P.; Gluckman P.D.; Fortier M.V.; Qiu A.; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE; DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL; PAEDIATRICS; OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGYBackground: Converging evidence suggests that the lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortices (lOFC and mOFC) may contribute distinct neural mechanisms in depression. This study investigated the relations of their functional and structural organizations with postnatal maternal depressive symptoms in young children. Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and structural magnetic resonance imaging were acquired in children at age 4 (n�=�199) and 6 years (n�=�234). Child's withdrawal behavior problems were assessed using Child's Behavior Checklist. Results: In 4-year-old girls, postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with the lOFC functional connectivity with the visual network but negatively with the cognitive control network. The lOFC functional connectivity with the visual network and cerebellum, which was influenced by postnatal maternal depressive symptoms, was also associated with child's withdrawal behavior problems in 6-year-old girls. Moreover, postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were also negatively associated with the mOFC functional connectivity with the cognitive control and motor networks in 4-year-old girls. Furthermore, postnatal maternal depressive symptoms influenced the structural connectivity of left mOFC with the right middle frontal cortex and left inferior temporal cortex in 4-year-old girls. Unlike girls, boys showed that postnatal maternal depressive symptoms selectively impacted the mOFC functional connectivity with the memory system at age 6 years. Conclusion: Our study provided novel evidence on the distinct neural mechanisms of the lOFC and mOFC structural and functional organizations for intergenerational transmission of maternal depression to the offspring. Boys and girls may potentially employ different neural mechanisms to adapt to maternal environment at different timings of early life. � 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Publication Fronto-parietal numerical networks in relation with early numeracy in young children(Springer Verlag, 2019-01-15) Zhang H.; Wee C.-Y.; Poh J.S.; Wang Q.; Shek L.P.; Chong Y.-S.; Fortier M.V.; Meaney M.J.; Broekman B.F.P.; Qiu A.; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PHYSIOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE; DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL; PAEDIATRICSEarly numeracy provides the foundation of acquiring mathematical skills that is essential for future academic success. This study examined numerical functional networks in relation to counting and number relational skills in preschoolers at 4 and 6 years of age. The counting and number relational skills were assessed using school readiness test (SRT). Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) was acquired in 123 4-year-olds and 146 6-year-olds. Among them, 61 were scanned twice over the course of 2 years. Meta-analysis on existing task-based numeracy fMRI studies identified the left parietal-dominant network for both counting and number relational skills and the right parietal-dominant network only for number relational skills in adults. We showed that the fronto-parietal numerical networks, observed in adults, already exist in 4-year and 6-year-olds. The counting skills were associated with the bilateral fronto-parietal network in 4-year-olds and with the right parietal-dominant network in 6-year-olds. Moreover, the number relational skills were related to the bilateral fronto-parietal and right parietal-dominant networks in 4-year-olds and had a trend of the significant relationship with the right parietal-dominant network in 6-year-olds. Our findings suggested that neural fine-tuning of the fronto-parietal numerical networks may subserve the maturation of numeracy in early childhood. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.Publication Behavioral heterogeneity in relation with brain functional networks in young children(Oxford University Press, 2018) Wee C.-Y.; Poh J.S.; Wang Q.; Broekman B.F.P.; Chong Y.-S.; Kwek K.; Shek L.P.; Saw S.-M.; Gluckman P.D.; Fortier M.V.; Meaney M.J.; Qiu A.; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PHYSIOLOGY; SAW SWEE HOCK SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH; PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE; DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL; PAEDIATRICS; OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGYThis study aimed to identify distinct behavioral profiles in a population-based sample of 654 4-year-old children and characterize their relationships with brain functional networks using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Young children showed 7 behavioral profiles, including a super healthy behavioral profile with the lowest scores across all Child Behavior CheckList (CBCL) subscales (G1) and other 6 behavioral profiles, respectively with pronounced withdrawal (G2), somatic complaints (G3), anxiety and withdrawal (G4), somatic complaints and withdrawal (G5), the mixture of emotion, withdrawal, and aggression (G6), and attention (G7) problems. Compared with children in G1, children with withdrawal shared abnormal functional connectivities among the sensorimotor networks. Children in emotionally relevant problems shared the common pattern among the attentional and frontal networks. Nevertheless, children in sole withdrawal problems showed a unique pattern of connectivity alterations among the sensorimotor, cerebellar, and salience networks. Children with somatic complaints showed abnormal functional connectivities between the attentional and subcortical networks, and between the language and posterior default mode networks. This study provides novel evidence on the existence of behavioral heterogeneity in early childhood and its associations with specific functional networks that are clinically relevant phenotypes for mental illness and are apparent from early childhood. @ The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.Publication Reliability and construct validity of two versions of Chalder fatigue scale among the general population in mainland China(2016) Jing, M.-J; Lin, W.-Q; Wang, Q; Wang, J.-J; Tang, J; Jiang, E.-S; Lei, Y.-X; Wang, P.-X; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERINGThe 14-item Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) is widely used, while the 11-item version is seldom to be found in current research in mainland China. The objectives of the present study is to compare the reliability and construct validity between these two versions and to confirm which may be better for the mainland Chinese setting. Based on a cross-sectional health survey with a constructive questionnaire, 1887 individuals aged 18 years or above were selected. Socio-demographic, health-related, gynecological data were collected, and 11-item and 14-item Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) were used to assess fatigue. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were performed to test the fit of models of the two versions. Confirmatory factor analysis of the two versions of CFS did not support the two-factor theorized models. In addition, a three-factor ESEM model of the 11-item version, but not the 14-item version, showed better factor structure and fitness than the other models examined. Both the versions had good internal consistency reliability and a satisfactory internal consistency (W = 0.78-0.96, omega coefficient indicates the internal consistency reliability) was obtained from the optimal model. This study provided evidence for satisfactory reliability and structural validity for the three-factor model of the 11-item version, which was proven to be superior to the 14-item version for this data. @ 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Publication Maladaptive synaptic plasticity in L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia(2016) Wang, Q; Zhang, W; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERINGThe emergence of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID) in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) could be due to maladaptive plasticity of corticostriatal synapses in response to L-DOPA treatment. A series of recent studies has revealed that LID is associated with marked morphological plasticity of striatal dendritic spines, particularly cell type-specific structural plasticity of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the striatum. In addition, evidence demonstrating the occurrence of plastic adaptations, including aberrant morphological and functional features, in multiple components of cortico-basal ganglionic circuitry, such as primary motor cortex (M1) and basal ganglia (BG) output nuclei. These adaptations have been implicated in the pathophysiology of LID. Here, we briefly review recent studies that have addressed maladaptive plastic changes within the cortico-BG loop in dyskinetic animal models of PD and patients with PD. © 2016 Wang and Zhang.Publication Sex-Dependent Associations among Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Child Reward Network, and Behaviors in Early Childhood(Oxford University Press, 2020) Wang Q.; Zhang H.; Poh J.S.; Pecheva D.; Broekman B.F.P.; Chong Y.-S.; Shek L.P.; Gluckman P.D.; Fortier M.V.; Meaney M.J.; Qiu A.; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE; DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL; PAEDIATRICS; OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGYMaternal depression is associated with disrupted neurodevelopment in offspring. This study examined relationships among postnatal maternal depressive symptoms, the functional reward network and behavioral problems in 4.5-year-old boys (57) and girls (65). We employed canonical correlation analysis to evaluate whether the resting-state functional connectivity within a reward network, identified through an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of fMRI studies, was associated with postnatal maternal depressive symptoms and child behaviors. The functional reward network consisted of three subnetworks, that is, the mesolimbic, mesocortical, and amygdala-hippocampus reward subnetworks. Postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with the functional connectivity of the mesocortical subnetwork with the mesolimbic and amygdala-hippocampus complex subnetworks in girls and with the functional connectivity within the mesocortical subnetwork in boys. The functional connectivity of the amygdala-hippocampus subnetwork with the mesocortical and mesolimbic subnetworks was associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems in girls, while in boys, the functional connectivity of the mesocortical subnetwork with the amygdala-hippocampus complex and the mesolimbic subnetworks was associated with the internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. Our findings suggest that the functional reward network might be a promising neural phenotype for effects of maternal depression and potential intervention to nurture child behavioral development. @ 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.Publication Maternal sensitivity predicts anterior hippocampal functional networks in early childhood(Springer Verlag, 2019) Wang Q.; Zhang H.; Wee C.-Y.; Lee A.; Poh J.S.; Chong Y.-S.; Tan K.H.; Gluckman P.D.; Yap F.; Fortier M.V.; Rifkin-Graboi A.; Qiu A.; BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL; OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGYMaternal care influences child hippocampal development. The hippocampus is functionally organized along an anterior–posterior axis. Little is known with regards to the extent maternal care shapes offspring anterior and posterior hippocampal (aHPC, pHPC) functional networks. This study examined maternal behavior, especially maternal sensitivity, at 6 months postpartum in relation to aHPC and pHPC functional networks of children at age 4 and 6 years. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at 6 months via the “Maternal Behavior Q Sort (MBQS) mini for video”. Subsequently, 61 and 76 children underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), respectively, at 4 and 6 years of age. We found that maternal sensitivity assessed at 6 months postpartum was associated with the right aHPC functional networks in children at both 4 and 6 years of age. At age 4 years, maternal sensitivity was associated positively with the right aHPC’s functional connectivity with the sensorimotor network and negatively with the aHPC’s functional connectivity with the top–down cognitive control network. At 6 years of age, maternal sensitivity was linked positively with the right aHPC’s functional connectivity with the visual-processing network. Our findings suggested that maternal sensitivity in infancy has a long-term impact on the anterior hippocampal functional network in preschool children, implicating a potential role of maternal care in shaping child brain development in early life. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.