Brain fingerprint and subjective mood state across the menstrual cycle.

Background: Brain connectome fingerprinting represents a recent and valid approach in assessing individual identifiability on the basis of the subject-specific brain functional connectome. Although this methodology has been tested and validated in several neurological diseases, its performance, reliability and reproducibility in healthy individuals has been poorly investigated. In particular, the impact of the changes in brain connectivity, induced by the different phases of the menstrual cycle (MC), on the reliability of this approach remains unexplored.

Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening from a Genetic Counseling Prospective: Pre and Post-Genetic Counseling Regarding Rare Chromosomal Abnormalities and Incidental Finding.

Background: Arising in the late 1990s, when a promising role in prenatal diagnostics was first delineated for circulating fetal DNA, non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) have been increasingly used with more frequency and popularity. These exams have been used as a prenatal screening tests for genetic diseases. Initially, they were developed for the investigation of the main fetal chromosomal aneuploidies, but lately they have also been used to rule out genomic microrearrangements and monogenic conditions.

Brain network topological changes in inflammatory bowel disease: an exploratory study.

Although the aetio-pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is not entirely clear, the interaction between genetic and adverse environmental factors may induce an intestinal dysbiosis, resulting in chronic inflammation having effects on the large-scale brain network. Here, we hypothesized inflammation-related changes in brain topology of IBD patients, regardless of the clinical form [ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD)]. To test this hypothesis, we analysed source-reconstructed magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals in 25 IBD patients (15 males, 10 females; mean age ± SD, 42.

Altered spreading of fast aperiodic brain waves relates to disease duration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that patients affected by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) show an altered spatio-temporal spreading of neuronal avalanches in the brain, and that this may related to the clinical picture.

Methods: We obtained the source-reconstructed magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals from thirty-six ALS patients and forty-two healthy controls. Then, we used the construct of the avalanche transition matrix (ATM) and the corresponding network parameter nodal strength to quantify the changes in each region, since this parameter provides key information about which brain regions are mostly involved in the spreading avalanches.

The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Brain Fingerprint Stability: A Magnetoencephalography Validation Study.

This study examined the stability of the functional connectome (FC) over time using fingerprint analysis in healthy subjects. Additionally, it investigated how a specific stressor, namely sleep deprivation, affects individuals' differentiation. To this aim, 23 healthy young adults underwent magnetoencephalography (MEG) recording at three equally spaced time points within 24 h: 9 a.

Flexibility of brain dynamics is increased and predicts clinical impairment in relapsing-remitting but not in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Large-scale brain activity has long been investigated under the erroneous assumption of stationarity. Nowadays, we know that resting-state functional connectivity is characterized by aperiodic, scale-free bursts of activity (i.e.

Brain flexibility increases during the peri-ovulatory phase as compared to early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.

The brain operates in a flexible dynamic regime, generating complex patterns of activity (i.e. neuronal avalanches).

The effect of dopaminergic treatment on whole body kinematics explored through network theory.

Three-dimensional motion analysis represents a quantitative approach to assess spatio-temporal and kinematic changes in health and disease. However, these parameters provide only segmental information, discarding minor changes of complex whole body kinematics characterizing physiological and/or pathological conditions. We aimed to assess how levodopa intake affects the whole body, analyzing the kinematic interactions during gait in Parkinson's disease (PD) through network theory which assess the relationships between elements of a system.

Topological changes of fast large-scale brain dynamics in mild cognitive impairment predict early memory impairment: a resting-state, source reconstructed, magnetoencephalography study.

Functional connectivity has been used as a framework to investigate widespread brain interactions underlying cognitive deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, many functional connectivity metrics focus on the average of the periodic activities, disregarding the aperiodic bursts of activity (i.e.

Reduced clinical connectome fingerprinting in multiple sclerosis predicts fatigue severity.

Background: Brain connectome fingerprinting is progressively gaining ground in the field of brain network analysis. It represents a valid approach in assessing the subject-specific connectivity and, according to recent studies, in predicting clinical impairment in some neurodegenerative diseases. Nevertheless, its performance, and clinical utility, in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) field has not yet been investigated.

MRI and steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis: first report of conus medullaris involvement and literature review of the known neuroimaging profiles.

Background: Steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (SREAT) is a rare but potentially reversible autoimmune encephalopathy. The most frequent neuroimaging correlates are normal brain MRI or non-specific white matter hyperintensities.

Methods: We present the first description of conus medullaris involvement, also providing an extensive review of MRI patterns described so far.

Immunomodulatory effects of ocrelizumab and candidate biomarkers for monitoring treatment response in multiple sclerosis.

Ocrelizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody designed to bind to the CD20 molecule, resulting in a rapid depletion of B-cells; however, it has been shown that lymphocyte subpopulations other than B-cells are affected by the drug. To review the effects of ocrelizumab on circulating lymphocytes and identify candidate biomarkers to predict and monitor treatment response. A literature search for the most relevant articles from 2006 to 2022 was conducted in PubMed and Scopus.

Singular cases of Alzheimer's disease disclose new and old genetic "acquaintances".

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common age-related dementia. Besides its typical presentation with amnestic syndrome at onset, atypical AD cases are being increasingly recognized, often in presenile age.

Objectives: To provide an extensive clinical and genetic characterization of six AD patients carrying one or more singular features, including age of onset, atypical phenotype and disease progression rate.