Structural and Functional MRI Differences in Master Sommeliers: A Pilot Study on Expertise in the Brain - PubMed (original) (raw)

doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00414. eCollection 2016.

Karthik R Sreenivasan 1, David M Weintraub 1, Deanna Baldock 1, Michael Noback 1, Meghan E Pierce 1, Johannes Frasnelli 2, Jay James 3, Erik Beall 4, Xiaowei Zhuang 1, Dietmar Cordes 1, Gabriel C Leger 1

Affiliations

Structural and Functional MRI Differences in Master Sommeliers: A Pilot Study on Expertise in the Brain

Sarah J Banks et al. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016.

Abstract

Our experiences, even as adults, shape our brains. Regional differences have been found in experts, with the regions associated with their particular skill-set. Functional differences have also been noted in brain activation patterns in some experts. This study uses multimodal techniques to assess structural and functional patterns that differ between experts and non-experts. Sommeliers are experts in wine and thus in olfaction. We assessed differences in Master Sommeliers' brains, compared with controls, in structure and also in functional response to olfactory and visual judgment tasks. MRI data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry as well as automated parcellation to assess structural properties, and group differences between tasks were calculated. Results indicate enhanced volume in the right insula and entorhinal cortex, with the cortical thickness of the entorhinal correlating with experience. There were regional activation differences in a large area involving the right olfactory and memory regions, with heightened activation specifically for sommeliers during an olfactory task. Our results indicate that sommeliers' brains show specialization in the expected regions of the olfactory and memory networks, and also in regions important in integration of internal sensory stimuli and external cues. Overall, these differences suggest that specialized expertise and training might result in enhancements in the brain well into adulthood. This is particularly important given the regions involved, which are the first to be impacted by many neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: MRI; entorhinal cortex; expertise; insula; olfaction.

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Figures

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1

Apparatus during scanning. Medical grade air enters the olfactometer which controls release of air into one of eight channels, opened when instructed by the Presentation program. The air then traveled in a tube to one of eight bottles, seven of which included either wine or non-wine liquid, the other was empty. The air then went in a different tube to the mask attached to the face of the participant. The birdcage coil used during imaging is not depicted in the picture. Visual stimuli were presented using a mirror above the participant’s head.

FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2

Example of two stimulus presentations showing an olfactory stimulus (red or white wine) and a visual stimulus (fingerprint or zebra).

FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3

Regions of enhanced volume in sommeliers and their correlation with experience: The entorhinal cortices (12, -8.5, -17.8) (A) and right insula (37, 12, 4.5) (B), regions of greater volume in sommeliers compared with controls as depicted as an overlay on the MNI brain. The thickness of the right entorhinal cortex is positively correlated with experience (C), while the right insula thickness has no statistically significant relationship (D).

FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4

The six clusters that were significant during interaction between group and task. This figure was generated using the BrainNet viewer for a full list of all areas involved, see Table 3.

FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5

Beta values within the clusters found to be significant during the interaction, for each group and each task.

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