Interplay between sexual excitation and inhibition: impact on sexual function and neural correlates of erotic stimulus processing in women.

Background: As outlined by the dual control model (DCM), individual differences in the regulation of sexual arousal following sexual stimulation depend on two distinct neurophysiological processes: sexual excitation (SE) and sexual inhibition (SI). Although associations with sexual function, behavior, and cue processing have been demonstrated in previous research, underlying neural correlates remain insufficiently explored. Moreover, interactive effects of SE/SI as proposed by the DCM, as well as factors impacting SE/SI properties, such as the use of oral contraceptives (OCs), have not received adequate attention in existing research.

An evolution of low-field strength MRI.

The paper describes the evolution of low-field MRI from the very early pioneering days in the late 70 s until today. It is not meant to give a comprehensive historical account of the development of MRI, but rather to highlight the different research environments then and now. In the early 90 s, when low-field systems below 1.

Single shot spiral TSE with annulated segmentation.

Purpose: To develop, optimize, and implement a single shot spiral turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence at 3T and to demonstrate its feasibility to acquire artifact free images of the central nervous system with 1 mm spatial resolution in <200 ms.

Theory And Methods: Spiral TSE sequences with annulated spiral segmentation have been implemented with different acquisition modes. In fixed mode, the duration of each spiral segment is fixed to fill the available acquisition time t .

Event-Related Potentials in Women on the Pill: Neural Correlates of Positive and Erotic Stimulus Processing in Oral Contraceptive Users.

Exposure toward positive emotional cues with - and without - reproductive significance plays a crucial role in daily life and regarding well-being as well as mental health. While possible adverse effects of oral contraceptive (OC) use on female mental and sexual health are widely discussed, neural processing of positive emotional stimuli has not been systematically investigated in association with OC use. Considering reported effects on mood, well-being and sexual function, and proposed associations with depression, it was hypothesized that OC users showed reduced neural reactivity toward positive and erotic emotional stimuli during early as well as later stages of emotional processing and also rated these stimuli as less pleasant and less arousing compared to naturally cycling (NC) women.

Neuroprotective effects of dynamic bubble trap use in patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy: a two-arm randomized controlled trial.

Background: During cardiosurgical procedures that use extracorporeal circulation (ECC), a variety of neurological complications can occur, and postoperative cognitive deficits remain an unsolved problem. Among the sources of these complications are intraoperatively detectable cerebral microemboli, which mainly consist of air. This study's purpose was to assess neuroprotective effects of reducing these gaseous microemboli using a dynamic bubble trap (DBT) in patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Positive psychology interventions in in-patients with depression: influences of comorbidity and subjective evaluation of the training programme.

Background: Studies on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have frequently demonstrated benefits for healthy participants and patients. However, effect sizes are moderate, and underlying inter-individual differences in responses were rarely investigated.

Aims: We investigated whether severity of depression and subjective evaluation of PPIs are relevant sources of variance in this respect.

15 Years MR-encephalography.

Objective: This review article gives an account of the development of the MR-encephalography (MREG) method, which started as a mere 'Gedankenexperiment' in 2005 and gradually developed into a method for ultrafast measurement of physiological activities in the brain. After going through different approaches covering k-space with radial, rosette, and concentric shell trajectories we have settled on a stack-of-spiral trajectory, which allows full brain coverage with (nominal) 3 mm isotropic resolution in 100 ms. The very high acceleration factor is facilitated by the near-isotropic k-space coverage, which allows high acceleration in all three spatial dimensions.

Analysis of accelerated 4D flow MRI in the murine aorta by radial acquisition and compressed sensing reconstruction.

Preclinical 4D flow MRI remains challenging and is restricted for parallel imaging acceleration due to the limited number of available receive channels. A radial acquisition with combined parallel imaging and temporal compressed sensing reconstruction was implemented to achieve accelerated preclinical 4D flow MRI. In order to increase the accuracy of the measured velocities, a quantitative evaluation of different temporal regularization weights for the compressed sensing reconstruction based on velocity instead of magnitude data is performed.

Covid-19-Beyond virology: Potentials for maintaining mental health during lockdown.

Background: The current study aimed to assess prevalence of mental disorders during Covid-19 pandemic- and respective lockdown in Germany, and potential behaviors/states that can have protective functions on preventing severe mental problems. Assessing prevalence of mental disorders, as well as to find potential protective variables is very important in order to determine people's psychological suffering. It provides the basis for teaching possible coping styles in order to prevent a major breakdown on mental health.

Females' menstrual cycle and incentive salience: Insights on neural reaction towards erotic pictures and effects of gonadal hormones.

Background: Studies in regard to womens' neural reactivity to erotic and other positive emotional cues in association with sexual hormones are relatively rare and findings rather inconclusive. Concerning the neural reactions towards erotic stimuli, the late positive potential (LPP) is seen as the most relevant ERP-component: More positive amplitudes are supposed to reflect larger motivational salience and higher arousal in reaction to the presented stimuli. Therefore, it was expected that the LPP in reaction to erotic pictures would be more pronounced during fertile periods of the menstrual cycle around ovulation, as well as to be associated with estradiol-levels.

Common and dissociable effects of oxytocin and lorazepam on the neurocircuitry of fear.

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) represent the gold standard of anxiolytic pharmacotherapy; however, their clinical benefit is limited by side effects and addictive potential. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop novel and safe anxiolytics. The peptide hormone oxytocin (OXT) exhibits anxiolytic-like properties in animals and humans, but whether OXT and BZDs share similar effects on the neural circuitry of fear is unclear.

Schizotypy, social stress and the emergence of psychotic-like states - A case for benign schizotypy?

Schizotypy is a personality-organisation related to schizophrenia-liability as well as the emergence of psychotic symptoms and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in non-schizophrenic individuals. It has been suggested that some non-schizophrenic individuals may exhibit PLEs frequently, but in a fashion that is not distressing but life-enhancing ("benign schizotypy"). In schizophrenia and at-risk individuals, however, psychotic symptoms are not only distressing, but also triggered stress.

Image-based assessment of uncertainty in quantification of carotid lumen.

Measurements of the vessel lumen diameter are often used to determine the degree of atherosclerotic disease in carotid arteries. However, quantification results vary with imaging technique and acquisition settings. We aim at providing a tool that quantifies the lumen diameter on different image datasets and gives an estimate of quantification uncertainties, so that they can be taken into consideration when evaluating and comparing measurements.

Oxytocin enhances the pain-relieving effects of social support in romantic couples.

Social support plays a vital role in physical and mental well-being. The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in modulating pair-bonding and affiliative behaviors, but whether OXT contributes to the analgesic effects of a romantic partner's touch remains elusive. In the present randomized placebo-controlled, between-group, functional magnetic resonance imaging study involving 194 healthy volunteers (97 heterosexual couples), we tested the effects of intranasal OXT (24 IU) on handholding as a common mode of expressing emotional support in romantic couples.

Preoperative Assessment of Neural Elements in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis by Upright Magnetic Resonance Imaging: An Implication for Routine Practice?

Introduction Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a kinetic-dependent disease typically aggravating during spinal loading. To date, assessment of LSS is usually performed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, conventional supine MRI is associated with significant drawbacks as it does not truly reflect physiological loads, experienced by discoligamentous structures during erect posture.

A positive-psychological intervention reduces acute psychosis-proneness.

Background: While individuals at ultra-risk for schizophrenia are characterized by high negative/disorganised but low positive schizotypy, schizophrenia patients are usually high in all three schizotypy facets. Thus, avoiding increases in positive schizotypy in ultra-high risk individuals may constitute of form of schizophrenia-prevention. A possible method of reducing positive schizotypy could be Positive-Psychological intervention (PI).

Fluctuations of estradiol during women's menstrual cycle: Influences on reactivity towards erotic stimuli in the late positive potential.

Background: While several studies examined the reactivity towards negative emotional stimuli across women's menstrual cycle, only few investigated responses to positive emotional cues in association with sexual hormones on a neural level. Therefore, the aim of the current EEG-experiment was to study the differential reactivity towards positive (erotic) words during the menstrual cycle (i.e.

Preclinical 4D-flow magnetic resonance phase contrast imaging of the murine aortic arch.

Purpose: Cardiovascular diseases remain the number one death cause worldwide. Preclinical 4D flow phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging can provide substantial insights in the analysis of aortic pathophysiologies in various animal models. These insights may allow a better understanding of pathophysiologies, therapy monitoring, and can possibly be translated to humans.

How the brain codes intimacy: The neurobiological substrates of romantic touch.

Humans belong to a minority of mammalian species that exhibit monogamous pair-bonds, thereby enabling biparental care of offspring. The high reward value of interpersonal closeness and touch in couples is a key proximate mechanism facilitating the maintenance of enduring romantic bonds. However, surprisingly, the neurobiological underpinnings mediating the unique experience of a romantic partner's touch remain unknown.

No evidence for blocking the return of fear by disrupting reconsolidation prior to extinction learning.

Fear extinction is a central model for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Initial research has reported that the single presentation of a conditioned stimulus prior to extinction learning can permanently block the return of fear. However, only few studies have explored this issue and could not always replicate the findings.

The ventral fiber pathway for pantomime of object use.

The current concept of a dual loop system of brain organization predicts a domain-general dual-pathway architecture involving dorsal and ventral fiber connections. We investigated if a similar dichotomy of brain network organization applies for pantomime (P) and imitation of meaningless gestures (I). Impairments of these tasks occur after left hemispheric brain lesions causing apraxia.

Impact of COMT Val158Met-polymorphism on appetitive conditioning and amygdala/prefrontal effective connectivity.

Appetitive conditioning is an important mechanism for the development, maintenance, and treatment of psychiatric disorders like substance abuse. Therefore, it is important to identify genetic variations, which impact appetitive conditioning. It has been suggested that the Val(158) Met-polymorphism in the Catechol-O-Methyl-Transferase (COMT) is associated with the alteration of neural processes of appetitive conditioning due to the central role of the dopaminergic system in reward processing.