Antagonistic behavior of brain networks mediated by low-frequency oscillations: electrophysiological dynamics during internal-external attention switching.

Antagonistic activity of brain networks likely plays a fundamental role in how the brain optimizes its performance by efficient allocation of computational resources. A prominent example involves externally/internally oriented attention tasks, implicating two anticorrelated, intrinsic brain networks: the default mode network (DMN) and the dorsal attention network (DAN). To elucidate electrophysiological underpinnings and causal interplay during attention switching, we recorded intracranial EEG (iEEG) from 25 epilepsy patients with electrode contacts localized in the DMN and DAN.

Outcome of Epilepsy Surgery in MRI-Negative Patients Without Histopathologic Abnormalities in the Resected Tissue.

Background And Objective: Patients with presumed nonlesional focal epilepsy-based on either MRI or histopathologic findings-have a lower success rate of epilepsy surgery compared with lesional patients. In this study, we aimed to characterize a large group of patients with focal epilepsy who underwent epilepsy surgery despite a normal MRI and had no lesion on histopathology. Determinants of their postoperative seizure outcomes were further studied.

Low prevalence of neural autoantibodies in perioperative cerebrospinal fluid samples of epilepsy surgery patients: A multicenter prospective study.

Objective: Refractory epilepsy may have an underlying autoimmune etiology. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of neural autoantibodies in a multicenter national prospective cohort of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy undergoing epilepsy surgery utilizing comprehensive clinical, serologic, and histopathological analyses.

Methods: We prospectively recruited patients undergoing epilepsy surgery for refractory focal epilepsy not caused by a brain tumor from epilepsy surgery centers in the Czech Republic.

Magnetic resonance imaging techniques for indirect assessment of myelin content in the brain using standard T1w and T2w MRI sequences and postprocessing analysis.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has revolutionized our ability to non-invasively study the brain's structural and functional properties. However, detecting myelin, a crucial component of white matter, remains challenging due to its indirect visibility on conventional MRI scans. Myelin plays a vital role in neural signal transmission and is associated with various neurological conditions.

The brain dynamics of visuospatial perspective-taking captured by intracranial EEG.

Visuospatial perspective-taking (VPT) is the ability to imagine a scene from a position different from the one used in self-perspective judgments (SPJ). We typically use VPT to understand how others see the environment. VPT requires overcoming the self-perspective, and impairments in this process are implicated in various brain disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism.

Electrical Source Imaging of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials from Intracranial EEG Signals.

Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) records electrical brain activity with intracerebral electrodes. However, it has an inherently limited spatial coverage. Electrical source imaging (ESI) infers the position of the neural generators from the recorded electric potentials, and thus, could overcome this spatial undersampling problem.

Timing of Allocentric and Egocentric Spatial Processing in Human Intracranial EEG.

Spatial reference frames (RFs) play a key role in spatial cognition, especially in perception, spatial memory, and navigation. There are two main types of RFs: egocentric (self-centered) and allocentric (object-centered). Although many fMRI studies examined the neural correlates of egocentric and allocentric RFs, they could not sample the fast temporal dynamics of the underlying cognitive processes.

Automated Identification of Stereoelectroencephalography Contacts and Measurement of Factors Influencing Accuracy of Frame Stereotaxy.

Objective: Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) is an established invasive diagnostic technique for use in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy evaluated before resective epilepsy surgery. The factors that influence the accuracy of electrode implantation are not fully understood. Adequate accuracy prevents the risk of major surgery complications.

Distinct patterns of interictal intracranial EEG in focal cortical dysplasia type I and II.

Objective: Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is the most common malformation causing refractory focal epilepsy. Surgical removal of the entire dysplastic cortex is crucial for achieving a seizure-free outcome. Precise presurgical distinctions between FCD types by neuroimaging are difficult, mainly in patients with normal magnetic resonance imaging findings.

Tackling the challenges of group network inference from intracranial EEG data.

Introduction: Intracranial EEG (iEEG) data is a powerful way to map brain function, characterized by high temporal and spatial resolution, allowing the study of interactions among neuronal populations that orchestrate cognitive processing. However, the statistical inference and analysis of brain networks using iEEG data faces many challenges related to its sparse brain coverage, and its inhomogeneity across patients.

Methods: We review these challenges and develop a methodological pipeline for estimation of network structure not obtainable from any single patient, illustrated on the inference of the interaction among visual streams using a dataset of 27 human iEEG recordings from a visual experiment employing visual scene stimuli.

Detection of interictal epileptiform discharges in an extended scalp EEG array and high-density EEG-A prospective multicenter study.

Objectives: High counts of averaged interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are key components of accurate interictal electric source imaging (ESI) in patients with focal epilepsy. Automated detections may be time-efficient, but they need to identify the correct IED types. Thus we compared semiautomated and automated detection of IED types in long-term video-EEG (electroencephalography) monitoring (LTM) using an extended scalp EEG array and short-term high-density EEG (hdEEG) with visual detection of IED types and the seizure-onset zone (SOZ).

Efficacy and Safety of K-877 (Pemafibrate), a Selective PPARα Modulator, in European Patients on Statin Therapy.

Objective: High plasma triglyceride (TG) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Fibrates lower TG levels through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) agonism. Currently available fibrates, however, have relatively low selectivity for PPARα.

Region of Interest Densitometry Analysis of Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Dehiscence on Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: To evaluate a region of interest (ROI) method of analyzing anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) corneal densitometry (CD) in the setting of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) dehiscence.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of eyes that underwent (1) DMEK for Fuchs dystrophy (2) between 2018 to 2020 with (3) a partial DMEK dehiscence on AS-OCT, (4) involvement of only one side of the graft, (5) high-quality corneal AS-OCT scan, and (6) location of dehiscence within the central 5.5 mm of the cornea.

Ictal gamma-band interactions localize ictogenic nodes of the epileptic network in focal cortical dysplasia.

Objective: Epilepsy surgery fails in > 30% of patients with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). The seizure persistence after surgery can be attributed to the inability to precisely localize the tissue with an endogenous potential to generate seizures. In this study, we aimed to identify the critical components of the epileptic network that were actively involved in seizure genesis.

Properties of Elasto-Hydrodynamic Oil Film in Meshing of Harmonic Drive Gears.

Among the essential issues facing designers of strain wave gears, the provision for correct lubrication should be of paramount importance. The present paper presents the results of research on elasto-hydrodynamic oil film in meshing of a harmonic drive with an involute tooth profile. The research was carried out based on theoretical models developed by Dowson and Higginson.

Mapping the Scene and Object Processing Networks by Intracranial EEG.

Human perception and cognition are based predominantly on visual information processing. Much of the information regarding neuronal correlates of visual processing has been derived from functional imaging studies, which have identified a variety of brain areas contributing to visual analysis, recognition, and processing of objects and scenes. However, only two of these areas, namely the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and the lateral occipital complex (LOC), were verified and further characterized by intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG).

CD11c dendritic cells mediate antigen-specific suppression in extracorporeal photopheresis.

Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) represents one of the most widespread and effective cell therapies for graft-versus-host disease and other T cell-mediated disorders. However, the key factors affecting the therapeutic efficacy of ECP remain unclear. We hypothesized that therapeutic effects are mediated by ECP-treated antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DC).

Spatial navigation in early multiple sclerosis: a neglected cognitive marker of the disease?

Background: Cognitive deficits are common in early multiple sclerosis (MS), however, spatial navigation changes and their associations with brain pathology remain poorly understood.

Objective: To characterize the profile of spatial navigation changes in two main navigational strategies, egocentric (self-centred) and allocentric (world-centred), and their associations with demyelinating and neurodegenerative changes in early MS.

Methods: Participants with early MS after the first clinical event (n = 51) and age-, gender- and education-matched controls (n = 42) underwent spatial navigation testing in a real-space human analogue of the Morris water maze task, comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, and MRI brain scan with voxel-based morphometry and volumetric analyses.

XEN Gel Stent in Medically Refractory Open-Angle Glaucoma: Results and Observations After One Year of Use in the United States.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering and safety of XEN stent in medically refractory, progressive, open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Methods: Forty-seven eyes of 42 patients were treated with XEN stent alone or combined with phacoemulsification.

Results: Mean IOP decreased from 22.

Health-related quality of life, neuropsychiatric symptoms and structural brain changes in clinically isolated syndrome.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are frequent in multiple sclerosis, where are associated with structural brain changes, but have been less studied in clinically isolated syndrome (CIS).

Objective: To characterize HRQoL, neuropsychiatric symptoms (depressive symptoms, anxiety, apathy and fatigue), their interrelations and associations with structural brain changes in CIS.

Methods: Patients with CIS (n = 67) and demographically matched healthy controls (n = 46) underwent neurological and psychological examinations including assessment of HRQoL, neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive functioning, and MRI brain scan with global, regional and lesion load volume measurement.

European trends in epilepsy surgery.

Objective: Resective surgery is effective in treating drug-resistant focal epilepsy, but it remains unclear whether improved diagnostics influence postsurgical outcomes. Here, we compared practice and outcomes over 2 periods 15 years apart.

Methods: Sixteen European centers retrospectively identified 2 cohorts of children and adults who underwent epilepsy surgery in the period of 1997 to 1998 (n = 562) or 2012 to 2013 (n = 736).

Cognitive impairment and structural brain changes in patients with clinically isolated syndrome at high risk for multiple sclerosis.

Patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), unlike those with multiple sclerosis (MS), have a selective cognitive impairment which is not consistently related to structural brain changes. Our objective was to characterize a profile of cognitive impairment and its association with structural brain changes in patients with CIS who are at high risk of developing MS. Patients with CIS at high risk for MS on interferon-beta (n = 51) and age-, gender-, and education-matched controls (n = 44) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing and MRI brain scan with voxel-based morphometry.

Exploring the relationship between treatment satisfaction, perceived improvements in functioning and well-being and gambling harm reduction among clients of pathological gambling treatment programs.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between treatment service quality, perceived improvement in social, functional, and material well-being and reduction in gambling behaviors among clients of Nevada state-funded pathological gambling treatment programs. Utilizing survey data from 361 clients from 2009 to 2010, analyses revealed that client satisfaction with treatment services is positively associated with perceived improvements in social, functional, and material well-being, abstinence from gambling, reduction in gambling thoughts and reduction in problems associated with gambling, even after controlling for various respondent characteristics. These findings can be useful to treatment program staff in managing program development and allocating resources.