A new computational model for quantifying blood flow dynamics across myogenically-active cerebral arterial networks.

Cerebral autoregulation plays a key physiological role by limiting blood flow changes in the face of pressure fluctuations. Although the involved cellular processes are mechanically driven, the quantification of haemodynamic forces in in-vivo settings remains extremely difficult and uncertain. In this work, we propose a novel computational framework for evaluating the blood flow dynamics across networks of myogenically active cerebral arteries, which can modulate their muscular tone to stabilize flow (and perfusion pressure) as well as to limit vascular intramural stress.

Methods for and Use of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Psychiatry.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a noninvasive technique for measuring brain activity that uses MRI to measure the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal. Over the 30+ years since the technique was first described (Ogawa et al. 1990), BOLD-fMRI has uncovered much about the organization and function of the human brain and is now beginning to fulfill its promise as a tool for diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of psychiatric conditions.

Development of non-invasive biomarkers for pre-eclampsia through data-driven cardiovascular network models.

Computational models can be at the basis of new powerful technologies for studying and classifying disorders like pre-eclampsia, where it is difficult to distinguish pre-eclamptic patients from non-pre-eclamptic based on pressure when patients have a track record of hypertension. Computational models now enable a detailed analysis of how pregnancy affects the cardiovascular system. Therefore, new non-invasive biomarkers were developed that can aid the classification of pre-eclampsia through the integration of six different measured non-invasive cardiovascular signals.

New treatments: Opportunities and challenges.

Across the spectrum of perinatal mental illness, there exist a variety of effective treatments. However, the available treatments are not always matched to the presentation, resources, constraints, or values of each patient. Furthermore, provider, local, and systemic factors complicate access to current treatment options.

Brexanolone Treatment in a Real-World Patient Population: A Case Series and Pilot Feasibility Study of Precision Neuroimaging.

Purpose/background: Brexanolone is approved for postpartum depression (PPD) by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Brexanolone has outperformed placebo in clinical trials, but less is known about the efficacy in real-world patients with complex social and medical histories. Furthermore, the impact of brexanolone on large-scale brain systems such as changes in functional connectivity (FC) is unknown.

Neural correlates of drinking reduction during a clinical trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder.

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). We hypothesized that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region implicated in cognitive control and goal-directed behavior, plays a role in behavior change during CBT by facilitating the regulation of craving (ROC).

Methods: Treatment-seeking participants with AUD (N = 22) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning both before and after a 12-week, single-arm trial of CBT, using an ROC task that was previously shown to engage the DLPFC.

Modelling arterial thrombus formation in vitro.

Purpose Of Review: Models of arterial thrombus formation represent a vital experimental tool to investigate platelet function and test novel antithrombotic drugs. This review highlights some of the recent advances in modelling thrombus formation in vitro and suggests potential future directions.

Recent Findings: Microfluidic devices and the availability of commercial chips in addition to enhanced accessibility of 3D printing has facilitated a rapid surge in the development of novel in-vitro thrombosis models.

A Novel Cognitive Training Program Targets Stimulus-Driven Attention to Alter Symptoms, Behavior, and Neural Circuitry in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: Pilot Clinical Trial.

Pediatric anxiety disorders are associated with increased stimulus-driven attention (SDA), the involuntary capture of attention by salient stimuli. Increased SDA is linked to increased activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC), especially in the portion corresponding to the ventral attention network (VAN). In this study, we present a small clinical trial using a novel attention training program designed to treat pediatric anxiety by decreasing SDA and activity in the rVLPFC.

Neurocircuitry of treatment in anxiety disorders.

Background: Understanding how treatments change neurobiology is critical to developing predictors of treatment response. This is especially true for anxiety disorders-the most common psychiatric disorders across the lifespan. With this in mind, we examined neurofunctional predictors of treatment response and neurofunctional changes associated with treatment across anxiety disorders.

Telephone clinic outcomes during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: results from an ENT department.

Objective: To study the impact of telemedicine on patient outcomes during a nationwide lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to examine telemedicine consultations of newly referred patients over 7 days during a national lockdown. Overall outcomes of telephone clinics were recorded, measured as either patient discharged, imaging requested, patient referred to another specialty, further telephone follow up required, patient initiated follow up or face-to-face appointment required.

Precision clinical trials: a framework for getting to precision medicine for neurobehavioural disorders.

The goal of precision medicine (individually tailored treatments) is not being achieved for neurobehavioural conditions such as psychiatric disorders. Traditional randomized clinical trial methods are insufficient for advancing precision medicine because of the dynamic complexity of these conditions. We present a pragmatic solution: the precision clinical trial framework, encompassing methods for individually tailored treatments.

Individual-specific functional connectivity of the amygdala: A substrate for precision psychiatry.

The amygdala is central to the pathophysiology of many psychiatric illnesses. An imprecise understanding of how the amygdala fits into the larger network organization of the human brain, however, limits our ability to create models of dysfunction in individual patients to guide personalized treatment. Therefore, we investigated the position of the amygdala and its functional subdivisions within the network organization of the brain in 10 highly sampled individuals (5 h of fMRI data per person).

Charting the expansion of strategic exploratory behavior during adolescence.

Although models of exploratory decision making implicate a suite of strategies that guide the pursuit of information, the developmental emergence of these strategies remains poorly understood. This study takes an interdisciplinary perspective, merging computational decision making and developmental approaches to characterize age-related shifts in exploratory strategy from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were 149 12-28-year-olds who completed a computational explore-exploit paradigm that manipulated reward value, information value, and decision horizon (i.

Resting-state connectivity biomarkers define neurophysiological subtypes of depression.

Biomarkers have transformed modern medicine but remain largely elusive in psychiatry, partly because there is a weak correspondence between diagnostic labels and their neurobiological substrates. Like other neuropsychiatric disorders, depression is not a unitary disease, but rather a heterogeneous syndrome that encompasses varied, co-occurring symptoms and divergent responses to treatment. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a large multisite sample (n = 1,188), we show here that patients with depression can be subdivided into four neurophysiological subtypes ('biotypes') defined by distinct patterns of dysfunctional connectivity in limbic and frontostriatal networks.

Individual differences in frontolimbic circuitry and anxiety emerge with adolescent changes in endocannabinoid signaling across species.

Anxiety disorders peak in incidence during adolescence, a developmental window that is marked by dynamic changes in gene expression, endocannabinoid signaling, and frontolimbic circuitry. We tested whether genetic alterations in endocannabinoid signaling related to a common polymorphism in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which alters endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) levels, would impact the development of frontolimbic circuitry implicated in anxiety disorders. In a pediatric imaging sample of over 1,000 3- to 21-y-olds, we show effects of the FAAH genotype specific to frontolimbic connectivity that emerge by ∼12 y of age and are paralleled by changes in anxiety-related behavior.

FAAH genetic variation enhances fronto-amygdala function in mouse and human.

Cross-species studies enable rapid translational discovery and produce the broadest impact when both mechanism and phenotype are consistent across organisms. We developed a knock-in mouse that biologically recapitulates a common human mutation in the gene for fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) (C385A; rs324420), the primary catabolic enzyme for the endocannabinoid anandamide. This common polymorphism impacts the expression and activity of FAAH, thereby increasing anandamide levels.

Neural Evidence for the Flexible Control of Mental Representations.

This study was designed to explore neural evidence for the simultaneous engagement of multiple mental codes while retaining a visual object in short-term memory (STM) and, if successful, to explore the neural bases of strategic prioritization among these codes. We used multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data to track patterns of brain activity associated with three common mental codes: visual, verbal, and semantic. When participants did not know which dimension of a sample stimulus would be tested, patterns of brain activity during the memory delay indicated that a visual representation was quickly augmented with both verbal and semantic re-representations of the stimulus.

Teens impulsively react rather than retreat from threat.

There is a significant inflection in risk taking and criminal behavior during adolescence, but the basis for this increase remains largely unknown. An increased sensitivity to rewards has been suggested to explain these behaviors, yet juvenile offences often occur in emotionally charged situations of negative valence. How behavior is altered by changes in negative emotional processes during adolescence has received less attention than changes in positive emotional processes.

Default mode network mechanisms of transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is an established treatment for depression, but its underlying mechanism of action remains unknown. Abnormalities in two large-scale neuronal networks-the frontoparietal central executive network (CEN) and the medial prefrontal-medial parietal default mode network (DMN)-are consistent findings in depression and potential therapeutic targets for TMS. Here, we assessed the impact of TMS on activity in these networks and their relation to treatment response.

The diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration in parotid lumps.

Introduction: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a safe and quick method of diagnosing superficial lumps, which aids preoperative planning. However, FNA of the parotid gland has not gained the widespread acceptance noted in other head and neck lumps. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of FNA of the parotid gland to differentiate benign and malignant disease, and to determine the impact on surgical outcome.