Recent-onset schizophrenia and adolescent cannabis use: MRI evidence for structural hyperconnectivity?

There is growing evidence that brain white matter abnormalities are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Cannabis use is an independent risk factor for schizophrenia.We tested the hypothesis that cannabis use during early adolescence is associated with white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia patients.

A prospective cohort study on sustained effects of low-dose ecstasy use on the brain in new ecstasy users.

It is debated whether ecstasy use has neurotoxic effects on the human brain and what the effects are of a low dose of ecstasy use. We prospectively studied sustained effects (>2 weeks abstinence) of a low dose of ecstasy on the brain in ecstasy-naive volunteers using a combination of advanced MR techniques and self-report questionnaires on psychopathology as part of the NeXT (Netherlands XTC Toxicity) study. Outcomes of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI), and questionnaires on depression, impulsivity, and sensation seeking were compared in 30 subjects (12M, 21.

Effects of psychotherapy on hippocampal volume in out-patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: a MRI investigation.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have especially reported smaller hippocampal volume in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), most of them war or sexual abuse victims. The present study compares the hippocampal volumes of out-patients with PTSD who had low co-morbidity rates to those of trauma-exposed control subjects without PTSD, and measures hippocampal volume changes in these patients after brief eclectic psychotherapy. We hypothesized that smaller hippocampal volumes are specific to PTSD and that hippocampal volume changes after effective psychotherapy would be measurable.

Smaller hippocampal volume in Dutch police officers with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Background: Previous magnetic resonance imaging studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have reported smaller hippocampal volume, especially in war and sexual abuse victims. Our aim was to assess hippocampal volume in traumatized police officers with and without PTSD in the absence of alcohol abuse and moderate to severe major depression.

Methods: In a case-matched control study, 14 police officers with current PTSD and 14 traumatized police officers without lifetime PTSD were examined using magnetic resonance imaging.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging for neurosurgical planning in neurooncology.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique that is widely available and can be used to determine the spatial relationships between tumor tissue and eloquent brain areas. Within certain limits, this functional information can be applied in the field of neurosurgery as a pre-operative mapping tool to minimize damage to eloquent brain areas. In this article, we review the literature on the use of fMRI for neurosurgical planning.

Reproducibility of functional MR imaging results using two different MR systems.

Background And Purpose: In the application of functional MR imaging for presurgical planning, high reproducibility is required. We investigated whether the reproducibility of functional MR imaging results in healthy volunteers depended on the MR system used.

Methods: Visual functional MR imaging reproducibility experiments were performed with 12 subjects, by using two comparable 1.

Vertebra disc ratio as a parameter for bone marrow involvement and its application in Gaucher disease.

Objective: To establish the vertebra disc ratio (VDR), the ratio of the average T1-weighted gray value of disc L3 and intervertebral disc L3/L4, as a parameter for bone marrow involvement. To explore its value as alternative for bone marrow fat fraction measured with Dixon Quantitative Chemical Shift Imaging (Ff) in Gaucher disease (GD).

Methods: Age dependency and normal value for the VDR were determined in 46 controls.