Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Brain Structure - a Neuroradiological Investigation into White Matter Hyperintensities, Atrophy, and Microbleeds.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established treatment for severe depression, yet it remains stigmatized due to public perceptions linking it with brain injury. Despite extensive research, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying ECT are not fully elucidated. Recent findings suggest that ECT may work through disrupting depression circuitry.

The STRAT-PARK cohort: A personalized initiative to stratify Parkinson's disease.

The STRAT-PARK initiative aims to provide a platform for stratifying Parkinson's disease (PD) into biological subtypes, using a bottom-up, multidisciplinary biomarker-based and data-driven approach. PD is a heterogeneous entity, exhibiting high interindividual clinicopathological variability. This diversity suggests that PD may encompass multiple distinct biological entities, each driven by different molecular mechanisms.

Evaluation of traditional targeted axillary dissection eligibility criteria for node-positive breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a prospective multicenter registry.

Introduction: Targeted axillary dissection (TAD) is performed after neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) to decrease the rate of non-therapeutic axillary dissection (ALND) for patients with node-positive breast cancer. In order to ensure the oncologic safety of TAD, eligibility criteria resulting in a low false negative rate (FNR) have been proposed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the traditional criteria.

Similarities and differences between intermittent and continuous resting-state fMRI.

Introduction: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) block-design experiments typically include active ON-blocks with presentation of cognitive tasks which are contrasted with OFF- blocks with no tasks presented. OFF-blocks in between ON-blocks can however, also be seen as a proxy for intermittent periods of resting, inducing temporary resting-states. We still do not know if brain activity during such intermittent periods reflects the same kind of resting-state activity as that obtained during a continuous period, as is typically the case in studies of the classic Default Mode Network (DMN).

Microstructural changes precede depression in patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis lesions in the brain and spinal cord can lead to different symptoms, including cognitive and mood changes. In this study we explore the temporal relationship between early microstructural changes in subcortical volumes and cognitive and emotional function in a longitudinal cohort study of patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Methods: In vivo imaging in forty-six patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis was performed annually over 3 years magnetic resonance imaging.

Brief international cognitive assessment for MS (BICAMS) and global brain volumes in early stages of MS - A longitudinal correlation study.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients with multiple sclerosis, even in the early stages of the disease. The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS) is a short screening tool developed to assess cognitive function in everyday clinical practice.

Objective: To investigate associations between volumetric brain measures derived from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination and performance on BICAMS subtests in early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Arterial input functions in dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC-MRI) in longitudinal evaluation of brain metastases.

Background: Dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) could be helpful to separate true disease progression from pseudo-progression in brain metastases when assessing the need for retreatment. However, the selection of arterial input functions (AIFs) is not standardized for analysis, limiting its use for this application.

Purpose: To compare population-based AIFs, AIFs specific to each patient, and AIFs specific to every visit in the longitudinal follow-up of brain metastases.

Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI may contribute in prediction of stereotactic radiosurgery outcome in brain metastases.

Background: Following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), predicting treatment response is not possible at an early stage using structural imaging alone. Hence, the current study aims at investigating whether dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI estimated prior to SRS can provide predictive biomarkers in response to SRS treatment and characterize vascular characteristics of pseudo-progression.

Methods: In this retrospective study, perfusion-weighted DSC-MRI image data acquired with a temporal resolution of 1.

The NADPARK study: A randomized phase I trial of nicotinamide riboside supplementation in Parkinson's disease.

We conducted a double-blinded phase I clinical trial to establish whether nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) replenishment therapy, via oral intake of nicotinamide riboside (NR), is safe, augments cerebral NAD levels, and impacts cerebral metabolism in Parkinson's disease (PD). Thirty newly diagnosed, treatment-naive patients received 1,000 mg NR or placebo for 30 days. NR treatment was well tolerated and led to a significant, but variable, increase in cerebral NAD levels-measured by phosphorous magnetic resonance spectroscopy-and related metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Effects of Multi-Shell Free Water Correction on Glioma Characterization.

Diffusion MRI is a useful tool to investigate the microstructure of brain tumors. However, the presence of fast diffusing isotropic signals originating from non-restricted edematous fluids, within and surrounding tumors, may obscure estimation of the underlying tissue characteristics, complicating the radiological interpretation and quantitative evaluation of diffusion MRI. A multi-shell regularized free water (FW) elimination model was therefore applied to separate free water from tissue-related diffusion components from the diffusion MRI of 26 treatment-naïve glioma patients.

Negative valence of hallucinatory voices as predictor of cortical glutamatergic metabolite levels in schizophrenia patients.

Objectives: Negative emotional valence of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in schizophrenia can be a source of distress and is considered a strong predictor of illness severity. Previous studies have found glutamate to mediate AVH severity in frontal and temporal brain regions, however, they do not specifically address emotional valence of AVH. The role of glutamate for the experience of negative- versus positive emotional valence of AVH is therefore unknown and was investigated in the current study.

Simultaneous Measurement of the BOLD Effect and Metabolic Changes in Response to Visual Stimulation Using the MEGA-PRESS Sequence at 3 T.

The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) effect that provides the contrast in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been demonstrated to affect the linewidth of spectral peaks as measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and through this, may be used as an indirect measure of cerebral blood flow related to neural activity. By acquiring MR-spectra interleaved with frames without water suppression, it may be possible to image the BOLD effect and associated metabolic changes simultaneously through changes in the linewidth of the unsuppressed water peak. The purpose of this study was to implement this approach with the MEGA-PRESS sequence, widely considered to be the standard sequence for quantitative measurement of GABA at field strengths of 3 T and lower, to observe how changes in both glutamate (measured as Glx) and GABA levels may relate to changes due to the BOLD effect.

White Matter Microstructural Differences between Hallucinating and Non-Hallucinating Schizophrenia Spectrum Patients.

The relation between auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) and white matter has been studied, but results are still inconsistent. This inconsistency may be related to having only a single time-point of AVH assessment in many studies, not capturing that AVH severity fluctuates over time. In the current study, AVH fluctuations were captured by utilizing a longitudinal design and using repeated (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale) PANSS questionnaire interviews over a 12 month period.

Effects of motion correction, sampling rate and parametric modelling in dynamic contrast enhanced MRI of the temporomandibular joint in children affected with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is typically involved in 45-87% of children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Accurate diagnosis of JIA is difficult as various clinical tests, including MRI, disagree. The purpose of this study is to optimize the methodological aspects of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) MRI of the TMJ in children.

Dynamic switching between intrinsic and extrinsic mode networks as demands change from passive to active processing.

In this study we report on the relationship between default and extrinsic mode networks across alternating brief periods of rest and active task processing. Three different visual tasks were used in a classic fMRI ON-OFF block design where task (ON) blocks alternated with equal periods of rest (OFF) blocks: mental rotation, working memory and mental arithmetic. We showed the existence of a generalized task-positive network, labelled the extrinsic mode network (EMN) that is anti-correlated with the default mode network (DMN) as processing demands shifted from rest to active processing.

Malignant Phyllodes Tumor in an Adolescent Female: A Rare Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Primary breast neoplasms are rare in adolescent females, most of which are benign. Phyllodes tumors constitute a remarkably small subset of breast neoplasms (0.3-0.

Intra-Regional Glu-GABA vs Inter-Regional Glu-Glu Imbalance: A 1H-MRS Study of the Neurochemistry of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia.

Glutamate (Glu), gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA), and excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance have inconsistently been implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia. Elevated Glu levels in language regions have been suggested to mediate auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), the same regions previously associated with neuronal hyperactivity during AVHs. It is, however, not known whether alterations in Glu levels are accompanied by corresponding GABA alterations, nor is it known if Glu levels are affected in brain regions with known neuronal hypo-activity.

Dynamic up- and down-regulation of the default (DMN) and extrinsic (EMN) mode networks during alternating task-on and task-off periods.

Using fMRI, Hugdahl et al. (2015) reported the existence of a general-domain cortical network during active task-processing which was non-specific to the cognitive task being processed. They labelled this network the extrinsic mode network (EMN).

Association between socioeconomic factors and outcomes in breast cancer.

Background: Persistent socioeconomic disparities are evident in the delivery of health care. Despite previous research into health disparities, the extent of the effect of economic inequalities in the management of breast cancer is not well understood. The purpose of our study is to perform a national assessment of the impact of economic factors on key aspects of breast cancer management.

MEGA-PRESS and PRESS measure oxidation of glutathione in a phantom.

Purpose: Investigate the possibility of measuring changes in glutathione (GSH) concentration using the MRS PRESS and MEGA-PRESS sequences by tracking the natural oxidation of GSH, and to examine the accuracy of the two methods.

Methods: 122 GSH edited MEGA-PRESS and PRESS acquisitions were acquired on a "braino" based phantom +3.0 mM GSH during a period of 11 days.

No Effects of Anodal tDCS on Local GABA and Glx Levels in the Left Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus.

A number of studies investigating the biological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have found that it may affect local levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate and glutamine (commonly measured together as "Glx" in spectroscopy), and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), however, these effects depend largely on the stimulation parameters used and the cortical area targeted. Given that different cortical areas may respond to stimulation in different ways, the purpose of this experiment was to assess the as yet unexplored biological effects of tDCS in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), an area that has attracted some attention as a potential target for the treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia patients. Biochemical changes were monitored using continuous, online MRS at a field strength of 3 Tesla.

Oncotype DX Recurrence Score as a Predictor of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

Background: The Oncotype DX assay has been validated in predicting response to adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Its role in neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) has not been established.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was used to identify all patients with T1-T3, ER-positive, HER2-negative primary invasive breast cancer diagnosed from 2010 to 2015 who had Oncotype DX recurrence scores (RS) and received NCT.

Current Practice and New Developments in the Use of In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for the Assessment of Key Metabolites Implicated in the Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) has become a valuable tool for investigating the biochemical bases of both normal processes in the healthy brain and elucidating the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. As a rapidly advancing field, new developments in pulse sequence design have seen new possibilities arise in terms of what can be done with in vivo spectroscopy. While the applications of MRS are numerous, this review has been confined to the use of single voxel spectroscopy in the assessment of five key metabolites and their roles in schizophrenia: N-acetylaspartate (NAA), glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutathione (GSH).

Worsening head bleeds in elderly blunt head trauma patients taking antithrombotics: Delayed CT head fails to change management.

Background: Most elderly trauma patients suffer blunt head injury and many utilize antithrombotic (AT) medications. The utility of delayed CT-head (D-CTH) in neurologically intact elderly patients using AT who have an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on presentation is unknown. We hypothesized that D-CTH would not alter clinical management and aimed to evaluate the role of D-CTH in this population.

Surgical Risk Factors for the Delayed Initiation of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer.

Background: Timely administration of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer is associated with a survival benefit. Specific elements of surgical management may lead to delays initiating chemotherapy, resulting in unfavorable outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between surgical factors and delayed chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.