Impaired value-based decision-making in Parkinson's disease apathy.

Apathy is a common and disabling complication of Parkinson's disease characterized by reduced goal-directed behaviour. Several studies have reported dysfunction within prefrontal cortical regions and projections from brainstem nuclei whose neuromodulators include dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. Work in animal and human neuroscience have confirmed contributions of these neuromodulators on aspects of motivated decision-making.

Disrupted limbic-prefrontal effective connectivity in response to fearful faces in lifetime depression.

Background: Multiple brain imaging studies of negative emotional bias in major depressive disorder (MDD) have used images of fearful facial expressions and focused on the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. The results have, however, been inconsistent, potentially due to small sample sizes (typically N<50). It remains unclear if any alterations are a characteristic of current depression or of past experience of depression, and whether there are MDD-related changes in effective connectivity between the two brain regions.

Structural brain correlates of childhood trauma with replication across two large, independent community-based samples.

Introduction: Childhood trauma and adversity are common across societies and have strong associations with physical and psychiatric morbidity throughout the life-course. One possible mechanism through which childhood trauma may predispose individuals to poor psychiatric outcomes is via associations with brain structure. This study aimed to elucidate the associations between childhood trauma and brain structure across two large, independent community cohorts.

Proprioceptive contribution to oculomotor control in humans.

Stretch receptors in the extraocular muscles (EOMs) inform the central nervous system about the rotation of one's own eyes in the orbits. Whereas fine control of the skeletal muscles hinges critically on proprioceptive feedback, the role of proprioception in oculomotor control remains unclear. Human behavioural studies provide evidence for EOM proprioception in oculomotor control, however, behavioural and electrophysiological studies in the macaque do not.

Cohort profile for the STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) study: A depression-focused investigation of Generation Scotland, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging assessments.

STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) is a population-based study built on the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS) resource. The aim of STRADL is to subtype major depressive disorder (MDD) on the basis of its aetiology, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and brain imaging assessments. The GS:SFHS provides an important opportunity to study complex gene-environment interactions, incorporating linkage to existing datasets and inclusion of early-life variables for two longitudinal birth cohorts.

Prior context influences motor brain areas in an auditory oddball task and prefrontal cortex multitasking modelling.

In this study, the relationship of orienting of attention, motor control and the Stimulus- (SDN) and Goal-Driven Networks (GDN) was explored through an innovative method for fMRI analysis considering all voxels in four experimental conditions: standard target (Goal; G), novel (N), neutral (Z) and noisy target (NG). First, average reaction times (RTs) for each condition were calculated. In the second-level analysis, 'distracted' participants, as indicated by slower RTs, evoked brain activations and differences in both hemispheres' neural networks for selective attention, while the participants, as a whole, demonstrated mainly left cortical and subcortical activations.

Alcohol Binge Drinking: Negative and Positive Valence System Abnormalities.

Background: Each year, 3 million deaths occur owing to alcohol misuse. Translational studies are crucial to translate preclinical findings to patients. Preclinical studies have highlighted abnormalities in specific brain systems, with these forming the basis of allostasis theory.

Blunted medial prefrontal cortico-limbic reward-related effective connectivity and depression.

Major depressive disorder is a leading cause of disability and significant mortality, yet mechanistic understanding remains limited. Over the past decade evidence has accumulated from case-control studies that depressive illness is associated with blunted reward activation in the basal ganglia and other regions such as the medial prefrontal cortex. However it is unclear whether this finding can be replicated in a large number of subjects.

Developing patient-centred MRI safety culture: a quality improvement report.

Objective: Despite having a detailed MRI-safety questionnaire check at the point of referral, we have encountered a significant number of near-misses with patients being identified with MRI-Unsafe devices at the time of appointments, making this an important safety hazard.

Methods And Materials: A two-part survey was performed to assess referrer compliance of asking MRI-questionnaires. 120 outpatients across 3 MRI sites were interviewed at the time of appointment to confirm whether their referrers completed the MRI questionnaires with them at the time of referral.

The Neurobiology of Personal Control During Reward Learning and Its Relationship to Mood.

Background: The majority of reward learning neuroimaging studies have not focused on the motivational aspects of behavior, such as the inherent value placed on choice itself. The experience and affective value of personal control may have particular relevance for psychiatric disorders, including depression.

Methods: We adapted a functional magnetic resonance imaging reward task that probed the value placed on exerting control over one's decisions, termed choice value, in 122 healthy participants.

fMRI evidence supporting the role of memory conflict in the déjà vu experience.

Attempts to generate déjà vu experimentally have largely focused on engineering partial familiarity for stimuli, relying on an ensuing, but unprompted evaluation of conflict to generate the experience. Without verification that experimentally-generated familiarity is accompanied by the awareness of stimulus novelty, these experimental procedures potentially provide an incomplete déjà vu analogue. We used a modified version of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory procedure to generate both familiarity and novelty within a déjà vu analogue - we coupled experimentally-generated familiarity with cues indicating that the familiarity was erroneous, using this additional source of mnemonic information to generate cognitive conflict in our participants.

Prevalence and Distribution of Atherosclerosis in a Low- to Intermediate-Risk Population: Assessment with Whole-Body MR Angiography.

Purpose To quantify the burden and distribution of asymptomatic atherosclerosis in a population with a low to intermediate risk of cardiovascular disease. Materials and Methods Between June 2008 and February 2013, 1528 participants with 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease less than 20% were prospectively enrolled. They underwent whole-body magnetic resonance (MR) angiography at 3.

Systemic arteriosclerosis is associated with left ventricular remodeling but not atherosclerosis: a TASCFORCE study.

Background: Arteriosclerosis (arterial stiffening) is associated with future cardiovascular events, with this effect postulated to be due to its effect on cardiac afterload, atherosclerosis (plaque formation) progression or both, but with limited evidence examining these early in disease formation. The aim of the current study is to examine the association between arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis and ventricular remodelling in a population at low-intermediate cardiovascular risk.

Methods: One thousand six hundred fifty-one subjects free of clinical cardiovascular disease and with a < 20% 10 year cardiovascular risk score underwent a cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) study and whole body CMR angiogram.

Left Ventricular Noncompaction: Anatomical Phenotype or Distinct Cardiomyopathy?

Background: There is considerable overlap between left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) and other cardiomyopathies. LVNC has been reported in up to 40% of the general population, raising questions about whether it is a distinct pathological entity, a remodeling epiphenomenon, or merely an anatomical phenotype.

Objectives: The authors determined the prevalence and predictors of LVNC in a healthy population using 4 cardiac magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic criteria.

Prevalence of unrecognized myocardial infarction in a low-intermediate risk asymptomatic cohort and its relation to systemic atherosclerosis.

Aims: Unrecognized myocardial infarctions (UMIs) have been described in 19-30% of the general population using late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance. However, these studies have focused on an unselected cohort including those with known cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of the current study was to ascertain the prevalence of UMIs in a non-high-risk population using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

3T MRI investigation of cardiac left ventricular structure and function in a UK population: The tayside screening for the prevention of cardiac events (TASCFORCE) study.

Purpose: To scan a volunteer population using 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI of the left ventricular (LV) structure and function in healthy volunteers has been reported extensively at 1.

Randomized, controlled trial of insulin for acute poststroke hyperglycemia.

Objective: Poststroke hyperglycemia is common and is associated with increased risk of death and dependence, but appropriate management remains uncertain. Glucose potassium insulin (GKI) infusion did not benefit patients with moderate poststroke hyperglycemia in a recent trial. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), previous studies identified a relationship between recruitment of ischemic tissue to the final infarct and hyperglycemia, possibly mediated by brain lactic acidosis.