Microstructural alterations of cerebellar peduncles in multiple sclerosis: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background And Purpose: Ataxia, tremors, dysarthria, and sometimes impaired cognition are the signs of cerebellum involvement in multiple sclerosis (MS). These symptoms affect up to 80% of patients and are usually hard to treat. To find the underlying involvement of the cerebellum in MS, we assessed the microstructural alterations with DTI in the cerebellar peduncles of the affected subjects.

Graph theoretical approach to brain remodeling in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory disorder damaging structural connectivity. Natural remodeling processes of the nervous system can, to some extent, restore the damage caused. However, there is a lack of biomarkers to evaluate remodeling in MS.

Larger left hippocampal presubiculum is associated with lower risk of antisocial behavior in healthy adults with childhood conduct history.

Conduct Disorder (CD) is defined as aggressive, antisocial, and rule-breaking behavior during childhood. It is a major risk factor for developing antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. However, nearly half the CDs do not develop ASPD.

Visual Attention and Poor Sleep Quality.

Background: Sleep deprivation disrupts visual attention; however, the effects of chronic poor sleep quality on it are not understood. The dorsal attention network (DAN) and the ventral attention network (VAN) are involved in visual attention and search (VSA), with the DAN being important for the serial attention network and the VAN for parallel "pop-out" visual search.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate correlation of sleep quality with visual attention and search, functional, and tracts' properties of the DAN and VAN.

The forgotten tract of vision in multiple sclerosis: vertical occipital fasciculus, its fiber properties, and visuospatial memory.

Visual disturbances are a common disease manifestation in multiple sclerosis (MS) due to lesions damaging white matter tracts involved in vision. Vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF), a tract located vertically in the occipital lobe, was neglected for more than a century. We hypothesize that VOF is involved in integrating information between dorsal and ventral visual streams.

The Transition of Mild Cognitive Impairment Over Time: An AV45- and FDG-PET Study of Reversion and Conversion Phenomena.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a state between normal cognition and dementia. However, MCI diagnosis does not necessarily guarantee the progression to dementia. Since no previous study investigated brain positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of MCI-- to-normal reversion, we provided PET imaging of MCI- to-normal reversion using the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database.

White matter microstructural associates of apathy-avolition in schizophrenia.

Apathy is present at the onset in nearly half the patients with schizophrenia. Current therapies lack the efficiency to improve apathy in patients. The presence of apathy is also associated with poorer outcomes.

Biological Features of Reversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Normal Cognition: A Study of Cerebrospinal Fluid Markers and Brain Volume.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional condition between normal cognition and dementia. Although a significant proportion of the population with MCI experience reversion to normal cognition, it is still poorly understood.

Objective: This study was designed to extend the present evidence regarding the difference between stable and reverting MCI by including whole brain atrophy measures as possible parameters involved.

Thalamic shape abnormalities in patients with multiple sclerosis-related fatigue.

Thalamus plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis-related fatigue (MSrF). However, the thalamus is a heterogeneous structure and the specific thalamic subregions that are involved in this condition are unclear. Here, we used thalamic shape analysis for the detailed localization of thalamic abnormalities in MSrF.

The Association Between REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Autonomic Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: REM behavior disorder (RBD) can occur in the context of neurodegenerative alpha-synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson's disease (PD). PD patients with RBD (PD-pRBD) represent more severe symptoms and signs compared with those without RBD (PD-nRBD). On another note, autonomic dysfunction in PD patients is categorized as one of the most prominent non-motor symptoms and has been lately the field of interest in research.

White Matter Microstructural Properties Associated with Impaired Attention in Chronic Schizophrenia: A Multi-Center Study.

Attention as a key cognitive function is impaired in schizophrenia, interfering with the normal daily life of the patients. Previous studies on the microstructural correlates of attention in schizophrenia were limited to single fibers, did not include a control group, or did not adjust for drug dosage. In the current study, we investigated the association between microstructural properties of the white matter fibers and attention tests in 81 patients and 79 healthy controls from the Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium database.

Plasma Neurofilament Light Chain Levels Are Associated With Cortical Hypometabolism in Alzheimer Disease Signature Regions.

Neurofilament light chain (NFL) has been recently introduced as a biomarker of early dementia. 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) is a proxy for regional hypometabolism in Alzheimer disease (AD). Globally normalized 18F-FDG-PET values and levels of NFL and tau were obtained from 149 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the baseline cohort of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database.

Anti-inflammatory cytokines in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: In the search for the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), inflammatory markers have emerged as potential candidates. The present meta-analysis was performed on studies examining circulating concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines in people with ASD compared with control subjects without ASD.

Methods: We identified potentially eligible studies by systematically searching electronic databases from inception to February 2018.

A meta-analysis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in autism spectrum disorders: Effects of age, gender, and latitude.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) occur in 1.5% of the general population worldwide. Studies suggest that ASD might have more costs than diabetes and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder by 2025.

HLA-DRB1 polymorphism and susceptibility to multiple sclerosis in the Middle East North Africa region: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis explores association of HLA-DRB1 alleles with MS risk in the Middle-east North Africa (MENA) countries. Divided into two groups of alleles (10 studies, 899 cases/1457 controls) and phenotypes (8 studies, 1,040 cases/1,256 controls), Odds ratios (ORs) of DRB1 distribution in MS subjects were assessed using Cochrane RevMan software. DRB1*15 demonstrated significant association with MS in both groups (OR=1.

Relationship between cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and structural brain network properties in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Pathological accumulation of α-synuclein, amyloid-β , and tau proteins in the brain is considered critical for development of various neurodegenerative diseases.

Objectives: We investigated the association between CSF levels of these biomarkers, brain structural connectivity, and the UPDRS in PD.

Methods: Diffusion tensor images and CSF biomarkers (α-synuclein, amyloid-β , total tau, and phosphorylated tau181) from 132 drug-naïve, nondemented PD patients and 61 healthy controls were obtained from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative database.