Tracking longitudinal thalamic volume changes during early stages of SCA1 and SCA2.

Purpose: Spinocerebellar ataxia SCA1 and SCA2 are adult-onset hereditary disorders, due to triplet CAG expansion in their respective causative genes. The pathophysiology of SCA1 and SCA2 suggests alterations of cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway and its connections to the basal ganglia. In this framework, thalamic integrity is crucial for shaping efficient whole-brain dynamics and functions.

Longitudinal neurofunctional changes in medication overuse headache patients after mindfulness practice in a randomized controlled trial (the MIND-CM study).

Background: Mindfulness practice has gained interest in the management of Chronic Migraine associated with Medication Overuse Headache (CM-MOH). Mindfulness is characterized by present-moment self-awareness and relies on attention control and emotion regulation, improving headache-related pain management. Mindfulness modulates the Default Mode Network (DMN), Salience Network (SN), and Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN) functional connectivity.

Brain activation during processing of mouth actions in patients with disorders of consciousness.

In the past 2 decades, several attempts have been made to promote a correct diagnosis and possible restorative interventions in patients suffering from disorders of consciousness. Sensory stimulation has been proved to be useful in sustaining the level of arousal/awareness and to improve behavioural responsiveness with a significant effect on oro-motor functions. Recently, action observation has been proposed as a stimulation strategy in patients with disorders of consciousness, based on neurophysiological evidence that the motor cortex can be activated not only during action execution but also when actions are merely observed in the absence of motor output, or during listening to action sounds and speech.

Loneliness as neurobehavioral issue in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: In elderly people loneliness represents a risk factor for dementia and may negatively impact on mental and physical health. The specific contribute of loneliness to cognitive and behavioral functioning have not yet been determined in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our hypothesis was that loneliness may be related to motor dysfunction with a negative impact on cognitive and behavioral decline, possibly related to specific cortical involvement.

Involvement of the ipsilateral-to-the-pain anterior-superior hypothalamic subunit in chronic cluster headache.

Background: Despite hypothalamus has long being considered to be involved in the pathophysiology of cluster headache, the inconsistencies of previous neuroimaging studies and a limited understanding of the hypothalamic areas involved, impede a comprehensive interpretation of its involvement in this condition.

Methods: We used an automated algorithm to extract hypothalamic subunit volumes from 105 cluster headache patients (57 chronic and 48 episodic) and 59 healthy individuals; after correcting the measures for the respective intracranial volumes, we performed the relevant comparisons employing logist regression models. Only for subunits that emerged as abnormal, we calculated their correlation with the years of illness and the number of headache attacks per day, and the effects of lithium treatment.

Efficacy of mindfulness added to treatment as usual in patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse headache: a phase-III single-blind randomized-controlled trial (the MIND-CM study).

Background: Mindfulness gained considerable attention for migraine management, but RCTs are lacking. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a six-sessions mindfulness-based treatment added to treatment as usual (TaU) in patients with Chronic Migraine (CM) and Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) on headache frequency, medication intake, quality of life, disability, depression and anxiety, cutaneous allodynia, awareness of inner states, work-related difficulties, and disease cost.

Methods: In this Phase-III single-blind RCT carried out in a specialty Italian headache center, 177 patients with CM and MOH were randomized 1:1 to either TaU (withdrawal from overused drugs, education on proper medication use and lifestyle issues, and tailored prophylaxis) or mindfulness-based intervention added to TaU (TaU + MIND).

Case report: Multiple brain intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia: incidence, diagnostic challenges, and management approach.

Multiple hemorrhagic brain lesions are mainly diagnosed based on clinico-radiological features integrated with histological data. Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH), or Masson's tumor, is a very rare entity, particularly when localized in the brain. In this study, we describe a case of multiple recurrent brain IPEHs and provide details on the diagnostic phase, therapeutic approaches, and related challenges.

A multimodal imaging approach to foreign accent syndrome. A case report.

This article describes a case of Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) in an Italian woman who developed a Canadian-like foreign accent without brain damage (functional FAS). The patient underwent an in-depth neuroimaging and (neuro)psychological evaluation. Language networks in the frontotemporal-parietal areas were typically activated bilaterally through fMRI and MEG assessments based on task-based data.

The central autonomic system revisited - Convergent evidence for a regulatory role of the insular and midcingulate cortex from neuroimaging meta-analyses.

The autonomic nervous system regulates dynamic body adaptations to internal and external environment changes. Capitalizing on two different algorithms (that differ in empirical assumptions), we scrutinized the meta-analytic convergence of human neuroimaging studies investigating the neural basis of peripheral autonomic signal processing. Among the selected studies, we identified 42 records reporting 44 different experiments and testing 758 healthy individuals.

Neurophysiology-Guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy: A Synergistic Approach For Motor Function Preservation. Technical Note.

Background: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive ablative technique with specific indications for neuro-oncology, especially in the case of lesions in eloquent areas. Even being performed through a small catheter under stereotactic conditions, the risk of damaging vital structures such as white matter tracts or cortical eloquent areas is not negligible. The mechanism of damage can be related to catheter insertion or to excessive laser ablation.

Mesocorticolimbic system abnormalities in chronic cluster headache patients: A neural signature?

Background: Converging evidence suggests that anatomical and functional mesocorticolimbic abnormalities support the chronicization of pain disorders.

Methods: We mapped structural and functional alterations of the mesocorticolimbic system in a sample of chronic cluster headache patients (n = 28) in comparison to age and sex-matched healthy individuals (n = 28) employing structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI.

Results: Univariate logistic regression models showed that several of the examined structures/areas (i.

Quantitative MRI Harmonization to Maximize Clinical Impact: The RIN-Neuroimaging Network.

Neuroimaging studies often lack reproducibility, one of the cardinal features of the scientific method. Multisite collaboration initiatives increase sample size and limit methodological flexibility, therefore providing the foundation for increased statistical power and generalizable results. However, multisite collaborative initiatives are inherently limited by hardware, software, and pulse and sequence design heterogeneities of both clinical and preclinical MRI scanners and the lack of benchmark for acquisition protocols, data analysis, and data sharing.

Resting State Functional Connectivity Signatures of MRgFUS Vim Thalamotomy in Parkinson's Disease: A Preliminary Study.

Magnetic Resonance-guided high-intensity Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) for tremor has increasingly gained interest as a new non-invasive alternative to standard neurosurgery. Resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) correlates of MRgFUS have not been extensively investigated yet. A region of interest (ROI)-to-ROI rs-FC MRI "connectomic" analysis focusing on brain regions relevant for tremor was conducted on 15 tremor-dominant patients with Parkinson's disease who underwent MRgFUS.

Chronic cluster headache: A study of the telencephalic and cerebellar cortical thickness.

Purpose: Previous studies on brain morphological alterations in chronic cluster headache revealed inconsistent findings.

Method: The present cross-sectional explorative study determined telencephalic and cerebellar cortex thickness alterations in a relatively wide sample of chronic cluster headache patients (n = 28) comparing them to matched healthy individuals.

Results: The combination of two highly robust state-of-the-art approaches for thickness estimation (Freesurfer, CERES), strengthened by functional characterization of the identified abnormal regions, revealed four main results: chronic cluster headache patients show 1) cortical thinning in the right middle cingulate cortex, left posterior insula, and anterior cerebellar lobe, regions involved in nociception's sensory and sensory-motor aspects and possibly in autonomic functions; 2) cortical thinning in the left anterior superior temporal sulcus and the left collateral/lingual sulcus, suggesting neuroplastic maladaptation in areas possibly involved in social cognition, which may promote psychiatric comorbidity; 3) abnormal functional connectivity among some of these identified telencephalic areas; 4) the identified telencephalic areas of cortical thinning present robust interaction, as indicated by the functional connectivity results, with the left posterior insula possibly playing a pivotal role.

Dysregulated anterior insula reactivity as robust functional biomarker for chronic pain-Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies.

Neurobiological pain models propose that chronic pain is accompanied by neurofunctional changes that mediate pain processing dysfunctions. In contrast, meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies in chronic pain conditions have not revealed convergent evidence for robust alterations during experimental pain induction. Against this background, the present neuroimaging meta-analysis combined three different meta-analytic approaches with stringent study selection criteria for case-control functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments during acute pain processing with a focus on chronic pain disorders.

The Frontal Aslant Tract: A Systematic Review for Neurosurgical Applications.

The frontal aslant tract (FAT) is a recently identified white matter tract connecting the supplementary motor complex and lateral superior frontal gyrus to the inferior frontal gyrus. Advancements in neuroimaging and refinements to anatomical dissection techniques of the human brain white matter contributed to the recent description of the FAT anatomical and functional connectivity and its role in the pathogenesis of several neurological, psychiatric, and neurosurgical disorders. Through the application of diffusion tractography and intraoperative electrical brain stimulation, the FAT was shown to have a role in speech and language functions (verbal fluency, initiation and inhibition of speech, sentence production, and lexical decision), working memory, visual-motor activities, orofacial movements, social community tasks, attention, and music processing.

Corrigendum: Preservation of Language Processing and Auditory Performance in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Assessment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.

Preservation of Language Processing and Auditory Performance in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Assessment.

The impact of language impairment on the clinical assessment of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DOC) is unknown or underestimated and may mask the presence of conscious behavior. In a group of DOC patients ( = 11; time post-injury range: 5-252 months), we investigated the main neural functional and structural underpinnings of linguistic processing, and their relationship with the behavioral measures of the auditory function using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). We assessed the integrity of the brainstem auditory pathways, of the left superior temporal gyrus and arcuate fasciculus, the neural activity elicited by passive listening of an auditory language task, and the mean hemispheric glucose metabolism.

Understanding Cluster Headache Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Cluster headache is an excruciating pain syndrome characterized by unilateral head pain attacks, lasting between 15 and 180 min, accompanied by marked ipsilateral cranial autonomic symptoms, such as lacrimation and conjunctival injection. Despite important insights provided by neuroimaging studies and deep brain stimulation findings, the pathophysiology of cluster headache and its pathways of chronicization are still elusive. In this mini-review, we will provide an overview of the functional and structural neuroimaging studies in episodic and chronic cluster headache conditions conducted to clarify the underlying pathophysiology.

Cognitive Syndromes and C9orf72 Mutation Are Not Related to Cerebellar Degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Objective: The notion that cerebellar pathology may contribute to cognitive impairment in ALS, especially in patients with C9orf72 repeated expansion, has been inconsistently reported. This study aimed exploring the relationship between cerebellar involvement, cognitive impairment and C9orf72 repeated expansion of patients with ALS.

Methods: Quantitative assessment of cerebellar lobules has been investigated in 66 non-demented patients with ALS and 28 healthy controls (HCs).

Cluster headache: insights from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The comprehension of cluster headache (CH) has greatly benefited from the tremendous progress of the neuroimaging techniques over the last 20 years. Since the pioneering study of May et al. (1998), the neuroimaging results have indeed revolutionized the conception of this disease, now considered as a dysfunction of the central nervous system.

Influence of formulation, receptor fluid, and occlusion, on in vitro drug release from topical dosage forms, using an automated flow-through diffusion cell.

An automated flow-through diffusion cell apparatus was used for comparing the release rates of a naphthoic acid derivative, CD 271, from different topical formulations. The influence of the following parameters on CD 271 release from the formulations was investigated: receptor fluid composition, occlusion, weight of tested formulation, and dosage form type. The amount of tested formulation was shown to have no significant effect on the apparent release constant and lag time for an anionic oil-in-water emulsion and an aqueous gel.