Where the brain’s wiring is damaged matters

An international team of researchers, co-led by Asst Prof Tan Chin Hong from NTU’s School of Social Sciences, has found that where this damage occurs in the brain makes a difference to patients’ behaviour.

The team analysed the brain scans and behavioural data of nearly 3,000 patients from Austria, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States. They found that when the white matter connecting the brain’s outer layer to deeper parts of the brain is damaged, patients tend to be apathetic. This means they are less motivated and interested in doing things.

On the other hand, patients are more hyperactive, restless and impulsive when there is injury to the white matter linking any of the following areas: the front and back of the brain, the left and right sides of the brain’s back, or the frontal areas with deeper brain structures.

The study found no link between where white matter blood vessel damage occurs and mood swings or psychosis, which is often associated with hallucinations.

These findings could help clinicians predict behavioural and psychological changes in dementia patients and tailor treatments based on where the white matter injury occurs.

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Read the study, “Tract-specific white matter hyperintensities and neuropsychiatric syndromes: a multicentre memory clinic study”, in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (2025), DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2024-334264.

The article appeared first in NTU's research & innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #26, May 2026).