Episodic Memory, Hippocampal Volume, and Function for Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients Regarding Amyloid Pathology.

Background: Previous studies of hippocampal function and volume related to episodic memory deficits in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have produced mixed results including increased or decreased activity and volume. However, most of them have not included biomarkers, such as amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition which is the hallmark for early identification of the Alzheimer's disease continuum.

Objective: We investigated the role of Aβ deposition, functional hippocampal activity and structural volume in aMCI patients and healthy elderly controls (HC) using a new functional MRI (fMRI) ecological episodic memory task.

Cortical surface abnormalities are different depending on the stage of schizophrenia: A cross-sectional vertexwise mega-analysis of thickness, area and gyrification.

Background: Brain magnetic resonance imaging studies have not investigated the cortical surface comprehensively in schizophrenia subjects by assessing thickness, surface area and gyrification separately during the first-episode of psychosis (FEP) or chronic schizophrenia (ChSch).

Methods: We investigated cortical surface abnormalities in 137 FEP patients and 240 ChSch subjects compared to 297 Healthy Controls (HC) contributed by five cohorts. Maps showing results of vertexwise between-group comparisons of cortical thickness, area, and gyrification were produced using T1-weighted datasets processed using FreeSurfer 5.

Brain activity patterns during phonological verbal fluency performance with varying levels of difficulty: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in Portuguese-speaking healthy individuals.

A large number of functional neuroimaging studies have investigated the brain circuitry which is engaged during performance of phonological verbal fluency tasks, and the vast majority of these have been carried out in English. Although there is evidence that this paradigm varies depending on the language spoken, it is unclear if this difference is associated with differences in brain activation patterns. Also, there is neuroimaging evidence that the patterns of regional cerebral activation during verbal fluency tasks may vary with the level of task demanded.

Cognitive control associated with irritability induction: an autobiographical recall fMRI study.

Objective: Despite the relevance of irritability emotions to the treatment, prognosis and classification of psychiatric disorders, the neurobiological basis of this emotional state has been rarely investigated to date. We assessed the brain circuitry underlying personal script-driven irritability in healthy subjects (n = 11) using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Method: Blood oxygen level-dependent signal changes were recorded during auditory presentation of personal scripts of irritability in contrast to scripts of happiness or neutral emotional content.