Concordance of functional MRI memory task and resting-state functional MRI connectivity used in surgical planning for pediatric temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: Assessing memory is often critical in surgical evaluation, although difficult to assess in young children and in patients with variable task abilities. While obtaining interpretable data from task-based functional MRI (fMRI) measures is common in compliant and awake patients, it is not known whether functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) data show equivalent results. If this were the case, it would have substantial clinical and research generalizability.

Pediatric hemispherectomy outcome: Adaptive functioning, intelligence, and memory.

Objective: Our purpose was to characterize neuropsychological evaluation (NP) outcome following functional hemispherectomy in a large, representative cohort of pediatric patients.

Methods: We evaluated seizure and NP outcomes and medical variables for all post-hemispherectomy patients from Seattle Children's Hospital epilepsy surgery program between 1996 and 2020. Neuropsychological evaluation outcome tests used were not available on all patients due to the diversity of patient ages and competency that is typical of a representative pediatric cohort; all patients had at least an adaptive functioning or intelligence measure, and a subgroup had memory testing.

Structural MRI and tract-based spatial statistical analysis of diffusion tensor imaging in children with hemimegalencephaly.

Purpose: To investigate the gross white matter abnormalities in the structural brain MR imaging as well as white matter microstructural alterations using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in both affected and contralateral cerebral hemispheres of children with hemimegalencephaly (HMEG).

Methods: From 2003 to 2019, we retrospectively reviewed brain MR images in 20 children (11 boys, 2 days-16.5 years) with HMEG, focusing on gross white matter abnormalities.

Changes in resting-state connectivity in pediatric temporal lobe epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) is a form of fMRI that allows for analysis of blood oxygen level-dependent signal changes within a task-free, resting paradigm. This technique has been shown to have efficacy in evaluating network connectivity changes with epilepsy. Presurgical data from patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy were evaluated using the fcMRI technique to define connectivity changes within and between the diseased and healthy temporal lobes using a within-subjects design.

Corticospinal tract atrophy and motor fMRI predict motor preservation after functional cerebral hemispherectomy.

OBJECTIVE The potential loss of motor function after cerebral hemispherectomy is a common cause of anguish for patients, their families, and their physicians. The deficits these patients face are individually unique, but as a whole they provide a framework to understand the mechanisms underlying cortical reorganization of motor function. This study investigated whether preoperative functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) could predict the postoperative preservation of hand motor function.

GABA alterations in pediatric sport concussion.

Objective: To evaluate whether frontal-lobe magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) would be altered in a sample of adolescents scanned after sport concussion because mild traumatic brain injury is often associated with working memory problems.

Methods: Eleven adolescents (age 14-17 years) who had sustained a first-time sport concussion were studied with MRI/magnetic resonance spectroscopy within 23 to 44 days after injury (mean 30.4 ± 6.

Head Impact Exposure During a Weekend Youth Soccer Tournament.

Concussion is a known risk in youth soccer, but little is known about subconcussive head impacts. The authors provided a prospective cohort study measuring frequency and magnitude of subconcussive head impacts using accelerometry in a middle school-age soccer tournament, and association between head impacts and changes in (1) symptoms, (2) cognitive testing, and (3) advanced neuroimaging. A total of 17 youth completed the study (41% female, mean 12.

Corpus Callosum Diffusion and Connectivity Features in High Functioning Subjects With Pyridoxine-Dependent Epilepsy.

Background: In this observational study, white matter structure, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task-based responses, and functional connectivity were assessed in four subjects with high functioning pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy and age-matched control subjects.

Methods: Four male subjects with pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (mean age 31 years 8 months, standard deviation 12 years 3 months) and age-matched control subjects (32 years 4 months, standard deviation 13 years) were recruited to participate in the study. Diffusion tensor data were collected and postprocessed in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain Software Library to quantify corpus callosum tracts as a means to assess white matter structure.

Callosal alterations in pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy.

Aim: While there have been isolated reports of callosal morphology differences in pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (PDE), a rare autosomal disorder caused by ALDH7A1 gene mutations, no study has systematically evaluated callosal features in a large sample of patients. This study sought to overcome this knowledge gap.

Method: Spanning a wide age range from birth to 48 years, corpus callosum morphology and cross-sectional cerebral area were measured in 30 individuals with PDE (12 males, 18 females, median age 3.

Diffusion tensor imaging of the superior cerebellar peduncle identifies patients with posterior fossa syndrome.

Introduction: Posterior fossa tumors are the most common brain tumor of children. Aggressive resection correlates with long-term survival. A high incidence of posterior fossa syndrome (PFS), impairing the quality of life in many survivors, has been attributed to damage to bilateral dentate nucleus or to cerebellar output pathways.

Tissue localization during resective epilepsy surgery.

Object: Imaging-guided surgery (IGS) systems are widely used in neurosurgical practice. During epilepsy surgery, the authors routinely use IGS landmarks to localize intracranial electrodes and/or specific brain regions. The authors have developed a technique to coregister these landmarks with pre- and postoperative scans and the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) standard space brain MRI to allow 1) localization and identification of tissue anatomy; and 2) identification of Brodmann areas (BAs) of the tissue resected during epilepsy surgery.

Imaging of deep brain stimulation leads using extended Hounsfield unit CT.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a routine therapy for Parkinson's disease. Standard CT imaging, often used to evaluate DBS electrodes in patients with limited benefit or significant side effects, has limitations including inability to distinguish different metallic components of the DBS lead. CT imaging with an extended Hounsfield unit (EHU) scale allows advanced image processing techniques to detect individual electrodes.

Distributed XQuery-Based Integration and Visualization of Multimodality Brain Mapping Data.

This paper addresses the need for relatively small groups of collaborating investigators to integrate distributed and heterogeneous data about the brain. Although various national efforts facilitate large-scale data sharing, these approaches are generally too "heavyweight" for individual or small groups of investigators, with the result that most data sharing among collaborators continues to be ad hoc. Our approach to this problem is to create a "lightweight" distributed query architecture, in which data sources are accessible via web services that accept arbitrary query languages but return XML results.

MindSeer: a portable and extensible tool for visualization of structural and functional neuroimaging data.

Background: Three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of multimodality neuroimaging data provides a powerful technique for viewing the relationship between structure and function. A number of applications are available that include some aspect of 3-D visualization, including both free and commercial products. These applications range from highly specific programs for a single modality, to general purpose toolkits that include many image processing functions in addition to visualization.

Unobtrusive integration of data management with fMRI analysis.

This note describes a software utility, called X-batch which addresses two pressing issues typically faced by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neuroimaging laboratories (1) analysis automation and (2) data management. The first issue is addressed by providing a simple batch mode processing tool for the popular SPM software package (http://www.fil.

Server-based approach to web visualization of integrated three-dimensional brain imaging data.

The authors describe a client-server approach to three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of neuroimaging data, which enables researchers to visualize, manipulate, and analyze large brain imaging datasets over the Internet. All computationally intensive tasks are done by a graphics server that loads and processes image volumes and 3-D models, renders 3-D scenes, and sends the renderings back to the client. The authors discuss the system architecture and implementation and give several examples of client applications that allow visualization and analysis of integrated language map data from single and multiple patients.

Shape-based cortical surface segmentation for visualization brain mapping.

We describe a knowledge-based approach to cortical surface segmentation that uses learned knowledge of the overall shape and range of variation of the cortex (excluding the detailed gyri and sulci) to guide the search for the grey-CSF boundary in a structural MRI image volume. The shape knowledge is represented by a radial surface model, which is a type of geometric constraint network (GCN) that we hypothesize can represent shape by networks of locally interacting constraints. The shape model is used in a protocol for visualization-based mapping of cortical stimulation mapping (CSM) sites onto the brain surface, prior to integration with other mapping modalities or as input to existing surface analysis and reconfiguration programs.