Quantifying brain development in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study: The magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy protocol.

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. The acquisition of multimodal magnetic resonance-based brain development data is central to the study's core protocol. However, application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods in this population is complicated by technical challenges and difficulties of imaging in early life.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Activation During Unscripted Discourse in People With Poststroke Aphasia.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to determine the feasibility of employing a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task that captured activation associated with overt, unscripted (or free) discourse of people with aphasia (PWA), using a continuous scan paradigm.

Method: Seven participants (six females, ages 48-70 years) with chronic poststroke aphasia underwent two fMRI scanning sessions that included a discourse fMRI paradigm that consisted of five 1-min picture description tasks, using personally relevant photographs, interspersed with two 30-s control periods where participants looked at a fixation cross. Audio during the continuous fMRI scan was collected and marked with speaking times and coded for correct information units.

Language Outcomes of Children Born Very Preterm in Relation to Early Maternal Depression and Anxiety.

Unaddressed maternal psychological distress within the first year postpartum is known to have numerous negative consequences on the child's developmental outcomes, including language acquisition. This study examined the relationship between early maternal psychosocial factors and the language outcomes of children born very preterm (VPT; ≤32 weeks gestational age). It used data from the Cincinnati Infant Neurodevelopment Early Prediction Study, an ongoing National-Institutes-of-Health-funded prospective, multicenter cohort investigation of VPT infants.

Altered white matter organization and its correlations with executive functioning among adolescents with epilepsy.

Deficits in executive functions (EF) are a common comorbidity among adolescents with epilepsy. EF deficits were previously correlated with altered connectivity of the fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular neural networks. The current study investigated white matter integrity in adolescents with epilepsy (n = 29) relative to healthy controls (n = 19).

Neural Changes in Children With Residual Speech Sound Disorder After Ultrasound Biofeedback Speech Therapy.

Purpose: Children with residual speech sound disorders (RSSD) have shown differences in neural function for speech production, as compared to their typical peers; however, information about how these differences may change over time and relative to speech therapy is needed. To address this gap, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine functional activation and connectivity on adaptations of the syllable repetition task (SRT-Early Sounds and SRT-Late Sounds) in children with RSSD before and after a speech therapy program.

Method: Sixteen children with RSSD completed an fMRI experiment before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) a speech therapy program with ultrasound visual feedback for /ɹ/ misarticulation.

Tolerability of transcranial magnetic stimulation language mapping in children.

Objective: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has emerged as a viable non-invasive method for mapping language networks. Little is known about the tolerability of transcranial magnetic stimulation language mapping in children.

Methods: Children aged 5-18 years underwent bilateral language mapping using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to target 33 sites/hemisphere.

Altered white matter connectivity in children with congenital heart disease with single ventricle physiology.

Children born with congenital heart disease (CHD) have seen a dramatic decrease in mortality thanks to surgical innovations. However, there are numerous risk factors associated with CHD that can disrupt neurodevelopment. Recent studies have found that psychological deficits and structural brain abnormalities persist into adulthood.

Asymmetric information flow in brain networks supporting expressive language in childhood.

Low-beta (13-23 Hz) event-related desynchrony (ERD), a neural signature of expressive language, lateralizes from bilateral to left hemisphere in development. In contrast, low-beta event-related synchrony (ERS), thought to reflect inhibition, lateralizes from bilateral to the right hemisphere across development. Using whole-brain directed connectivity analyses, we aimed to characterize hemispheric and regional contributions to expressive language, in childhood.

Speech cortical activation and connectivity in typically developing children and those with listening difficulties.

Listening difficulties (LiD) in people who have normal audiometry are a widespread but poorly understood form of hearing impairment. Recent research suggests that childhood LiD are cognitive rather than auditory in origin. We examined decoding of sentences using a novel combination of behavioral testing and fMRI with 43 typically developing children and 42 age matched (6-13 years old) children with LiD, categorized by caregiver report (ECLiPS).

Neural alterations in opioid-exposed infants revealed by edge-centric brain functional networks.

Prenatal opioid exposure has been linked to adverse effects spanning multiple neurodevelopmental domains, including cognition, motor development, attention, and vision. However, the neural basis of these abnormalities is largely unknown. A total of 49 infants, including 21 opioid-exposed and 28 controls, were enrolled and underwent MRI (43 ± 6 days old) after birth, including resting state functional MRI.

Prediction of Naming Outcome With fMRI Language Lateralization in Left Temporal Epilepsy Surgery.

Background And Objectives: Naming decline after left temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery is common and difficult to predict. Preoperative language fMRI may predict naming decline, but this application is still lacking evidence. We performed a large multicenter cohort study of the effectiveness of fMRI in predicting naming deficits after left TLE surgery.

Preliminary Outcomes of Combined Treadmill and Overground High-Intensity Interval Training in Ambulatory Chronic Stroke.

Purpose: Locomotor high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a promising intervention for stroke rehabilitation. However, overground translation of treadmill speed gains has been somewhat limited, some important outcomes have not been tested and baseline response predictors are poorly understood. This pilot study aimed to guide future research by assessing preliminary outcomes of combined overground and treadmill HIIT.

The role of visual attention in dyslexia: Behavioral and neurobiological evidence.

Poor phonological processing has typically been considered the main cause of dyslexia. However, visuo-attentional processing abnormalities have been described as well. The goal of the present study was to determine the involvement of visual attention during fluent reading in children with dyslexia and typical readers.

Mapping the human corticoreticular pathway with multimodal delineation of the gigantocellular reticular nucleus and high-resolution diffusion tractography.

The corticoreticular pathway (CRP) is a major motor tract that transmits cortical input to the reticular formation motor nuclei and may be an important mediator of motor recovery after central nervous system damage. However, its cortical origins, trajectory and laterality are incompletely understood in humans. This study aimed to map the human CRP and generate an average CRP template in standard MRI space.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation as Stand-Alone Treatment for Post-Stroke Aphasia: Effects on Language and Verbal Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

BACKGROUND There is an ongoing need for facilitating language recovery in chronic post-stroke aphasia. The primary aim of this study (NCT01512264) was to examine if noninvasive intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) applied to the injured left-hemispheric cortex promotes language improvements and fMRI changes in post-stroke aphasia. MATERIAL AND METHODS Participants were randomized to 3 weeks of sham (Tx0) or 1-3 weeks of iTBS (Tx123).

Effects of prenatal opioid exposure on functional networks in infancy.

Prenatal opioid exposure has been linked to altered neurodevelopment and visual problems such as strabismus and nystagmus. The neural substrate underlying these alterations is unclear. Resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rsfMRI) is an advanced and well-established technique to evaluate brain networks.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Language Following Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy Primed with Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation in 13 Patients with Post-Stroke Aphasia.

BACKGROUND Aphasia is a debilitating consequence of stroke. This study aimed to investigate the role of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation changes during overt language tasks in promoting language improvements following constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) primed with intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) in 13 patients with aphasia following ischemic stroke. MATERIAL AND METHODS Participants with post-stroke aphasia participated in CIAT primed with iTBS on 10 consecutive weekdays.

Neuroimaging of the Syllable Repetition Task in Children With Residual Speech Sound Disorder.

Purpose This study investigated phonological and speech motor neural networks in children with residual speech sound disorder (RSSD) during an overt Syllable Repetition Task (SRT). Method Sixteen children with RSSD with /ɹ/ errors (6F [female]; ages 8;0-12;6 [years;months]) and 16 children with typically developing speech (TD; 8F; ages 8;5-13;7) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Children performed the SRT ("SRT-Early Sounds") with the phonemes /b, d, m, n, ɑ/ and an adapted version ("SRT-Late Sounds") with the phonemes /ɹ, s, l, tʃ, ɑ/.

Beta synchrony for expressive language lateralizes to right hemisphere in development.

A left perisylvian network is known to support language in healthy adults. Low-beta (13-23 Hz) event-related desynchrony (ERD) has been observed during verb generation, at approximately 700-1200 ms post-stimulus presentation in past studies; the signal is known to reflect increased neuronal firing and metabolic demand during language production. In contrast, concurrent beta event-related synchrony (ERS) is thought to reflect neuronal inhibition but has not been well studied in the context of language.

Altered functional network connectivity and working memory dysfunction in adolescents with epilepsy.

Adolescents with epilepsy are at risk for deficits in working memory, which could lead to learning difficulties and poor academic outcomes. We used task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine potential disruption in working memory function in adolescents with epilepsy as compared to healthy controls. We recruited 29 adolescents (13-17 years) with non-lesional epilepsy and 20 healthy controls.

Functional magnetic resonance brain imaging of imagined walking to study locomotor function after stroke.

Objective: Imagined walking has yielded insights into normal locomotor control and could improve understanding of neurologic gait dysfunction. This study evaluated brain activation during imagined walking in chronic stroke.

Methods: Ten persons with stroke and 10 matched controls completed a walking test battery and a magnetic resonance imaging session including imagined walking and knee extension tasks.

Longer Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers.

An adverse relationship between screen exposure time and brain functional/structural connectivity was reported in typically developing children, specifically related to neurobiological correlates of reading ability. As children with reading difficulties (RD) suffer from impairments in reading and executive functions (EF), we sought to determine the association between the ratio of screen time duration to reading time duration and functional connectivity of EF networks to the entire brain in children with RD compared to typical readers (TRs) using resting state data. Screen/reading time ratio was related to reduced reading and EF abilities.