Intravenous Drug Use Is Novel Predictor of Infectious Intracranial Aneurysms in Patients with Infective Endocarditis.

Introduction: Infectious intracranial aneurysms (IIAs) are a rare but potentially devastating complication of infective endocarditis. The clinical and radiographic findings that predispose patients to IIA remain poorly understood.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of consecutive endocarditis patients undergoing catheter-based angiography at a single tertiary-level academic center during the period of July 2013-December 2017.

Influence of alcoholism and cholesterol on TSPO binding in brain: PET [C]PBR28 studies in humans and rodents.

Neuroinflammation appears to contribute to neurotoxicity observed with heavy alcohol consumption. To assess whether chronic alcohol results in neuroinflammation we used PET and [C]PBR28, a ligand that binds to the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), to compare participants with an alcohol use disorder (AUD: n = 19) with healthy controls (HC: n = 17), and alcohol-dependent (n = 9) with -nondependent rats (n = 10). Because TSPO is implicated in cholesterol's transport for steroidogenesis, we investigated whether plasma cholesterol levels influenced [C]PBR28 binding.

Physical activity measured with wrist and ankle accelerometers: Age, gender, and BMI effects.

Physical activity (PA) is associated with various aspects of physical and mental health and varies by age and BMI. We aimed to compare PA measures obtained with wrist and ankle accelerometers and characterize their associations with age and BMI. We assessed PA mean and PA variability (indexed by coefficient of variation (CV)) at daytime and nighttime periods for seven consecutive days (M = 152.

Striatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptor Availability Varies Across Smoking Status.

To assess how tobacco smoking status affects baseline dopamine D2/D3 (D2R) receptor availability and methylphenidate-induced dopamine (DA) release, we retrospectively analyzed D2R availability measures of 8 current smokers, 10 ex-smokers, and 18 nonsmokers who were scanned with positron emission tomography and [C]raclopride, after administration of an injection of placebo or 0.5 mg/kg i.v.

Dynamic brain glucose metabolism identifies anti-correlated cortical-cerebellar networks at rest.

It remains unclear whether resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rfMRI) networks are associated with underlying synchrony in energy demand, as measured by dynamic 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoroglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). We measured absolute glucose metabolism, temporal metabolic connectivity (t-MC) and rfMRI patterns in 53 healthy participants at rest. Twenty-two rfMRI networks emerged from group independent component analysis (gICA).

Neuroimaging the Effectiveness of Substance Use Disorder Treatments.

Neuroimaging techniques to measure the function and biochemistry of the human brain such as positron emission tomography (PET), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are powerful tools for assessing neurobiological mechanisms underlying the response to treatments in substance use disorders. Here, we review the neuroimaging literature on pharmacological and behavioral treatment in substance use disorder. We focus on neural effects of medications that reduce craving (e.