Loss of inhibition in sensorimotor networks in focal hand dystonia.

Objective: To investigate GABA-ergic receptor density and associated brain functional and grey matter changes in focal hand dystonia (FHD).

Methods: 18 patients with FHD of the right hand and 18 age and gender matched healthy volunteers (HV) participated in this study. We measured the density of GABA-A receptors using [C] Flumazenil and perfusion using [O] HO.

The effect of daclizumab on brain atrophy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Daclizumab is a monoclonal antibody that reduces inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Through a retrospective analysis, our objective was to determine whether daclizumab treatment reduces the rate of brain structure atrophy in comparison to a mixture of other disease-modifying therapies (mainly different interferon β preparations). We analyzed MRI examinations (1332 scans from 70 MS cases) obtained between 2000 and 2011 in a single center and processed with an automated brain segmentation method.

Anatomical correlates of blepharospasm.

Background: Focal dystonia is a neurological disorder characterized by unwanted muscle spasms. Blepharospasm is a focal dystonia producing an involuntary closure of the eyelid. Its etiology is unknown.

A magnetization transfer imaging study of corpus callosum myelination in young children with autism.

Background: Several lines of evidence suggest that autism may be associated with abnormalities in white matter development. However, inconsistencies remain in the literature regarding the nature and extent of these abnormalities, partly because of the limited types of measurements that have been used. Here, we used magnetization transfer imaging to provide insight into the myelination of the corpus callosum in children with autism.

Evidence of left inferior frontal-premotor structural and functional connectivity deficits in adults who stutter.

The neurophysiological basis for stuttering may involve deficits that affect dynamic interactions among neural structures supporting fluid speech processing. Here, we examined functional and structural connectivity within corticocortical and thalamocortical loops in adults who stutter. For functional connectivity, we placed seeds in the left and right inferior frontal Brodmann area 44 (BA44) and in the ventral lateral nucleus (VLN) of the thalamus.