Real-time estimation of the optimal coil placement in transcranial magnetic stimulation using multi-task deep learning.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has emerged as a promising neuromodulation technique with both therapeutic and diagnostic applications. As accurate coil placement is known to be essential for focal stimulation, computational models have been established to help find the optimal coil positioning by maximizing electric fields at the cortical target. While these numerical simulations provide realistic and subject-specific field distributions, they are computationally demanding, precluding their use in real-time applications.

Decreased eukaryotic initiation factors expression upon temozolomide treatment-potential novel implications for eIFs in glioma therapy.

Purpose: Since glioma therapy is currently still limited until today, new treatment options for this heterogeneous group of tumours are of great interest. Eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) are altered in various cancer entities, including gliomas. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the potential of eIFs as novel targets in glioma treatment.

Twenty-Three Months Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Primary Motor Cortex for Refractory Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Single-Case Study.

Treatment refractory or recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a severe chronic pain illness. Single-session repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to elicit analgesic effects in several craniofacial pain syndromes, including TN. However, the safety and long-term effect of multi-session rTMS for TN have yet to be fully explored.

The structural connectivity of the human angular gyrus as revealed by microdissection and diffusion tractography.

The angular gyrus (AG) has been described in numerous studies to be consistently activated in various functional tasks. The angular gyrus is a critical connector epicenter linking multiple functional networks due to its location in the posterior part of the inferior parietal cortex, namely at the junction between the parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. It is thus crucial to identify the different pathways that anatomically connect this high-order association region to the rest of the brain.

The vertical superior longitudinal fascicle and the vertical occipital fascicle.

Association fibers of the human brain have long been considered to exclusively follow an anterior-posterior direction. Using magnetic resonance imaging techniques that allow in-vivo fiber dissection, vertically oriented association fibers have been rediscovered or newly described. Aside from the frontal aslant tract (FAT) in the frontal lobe, the vertical occipital fascicle (VOF) and the vertical portion of the superior longitudinal fascicle system (vSLF) have been studied in recent years.

Comparing the Impact of Multi-Session Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal and Primary Motor Cortex Neuronavigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (nrTMS) on Chronic Pain Patients.

Repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to produce an analgesic effect and therefore has a potential for treating chronic refractory pain. However, previous studies used various stimulation parameters (including cortical targets), and the best stimulation protocol is not yet identified. The present study investigated the effects of multi-session 20 Hz (2000 pulses) and 5 Hz (1800 pulses) rTMS stimulation of left motor cortex (M1-group) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC-group), respectively.

A Profound Basic Characterization of eIFs in Gliomas: Identifying eIF3I and 4H as Potential Novel Target Candidates in Glioma Therapy.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an utterly devastating cerebral neoplasm and current therapies only marginally improve patients' overall survival (OS). The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway participates in gliomagenesis through regulation of cell growth and proliferation. Since it is an upstream regulator of the rate-limiting translation initiation step of protein synthesis, controlled by eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs), we aimed for a profound basic characterization of 17 eIFs to identify potential novel therapeutic targets for gliomas.

Dissociating Arithmetic Operations in the Parietal Cortex Using 1 Hz Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: The Importance of Strategy Use.

The triple-code model (TCM) of number processing suggests the involvement of distinct parietal cortex areas in arithmetic operations: the bilateral horizontal segment of the intraparietal sulcus (hIPS) for arithmetic operations that require the manipulation of numerical quantities (e.g., subtraction) and the left angular gyrus (AG) for arithmetic operations that require the retrieval of answers from long-term memory (e.

Impact of Priming on Effectiveness of TMS in Detecting Language-eloquent Brain Areas in Tumor Patients.

Background And Study Aims:  Language is characteristically human, and preserving it is critical when resecting tumors in language-eloquent brain areas. Navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (nrTMS) has been used in recent years as a noninvasive technique to identify preoperatively the language-eloquent cortical areas in tumor patients. An important objective is to increase the sensitivity and specificity of nrTMS in detecting language-related areas and increase the positive correlation of its results to that of intraoperative direct cortical stimulation (DCS).

The DNA methylation landscape of glioblastoma disease progression shows extensive heterogeneity in time and space.

Glioblastoma is characterized by widespread genetic and transcriptional heterogeneity, yet little is known about the role of the epigenome in glioblastoma disease progression. Here, we present genome-scale maps of DNA methylation in matched primary and recurring glioblastoma tumors, using data from a highly annotated clinical cohort that was selected through a national patient registry. We demonstrate the feasibility of DNA methylation mapping in a large set of routinely collected FFPE samples, and we validate bisulfite sequencing as a multipurpose assay that allowed us to infer a range of different genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptional characteristics of the profiled tumor samples.

Symmetry of the arcuate fasciculus and its impact on language performance of patients with brain tumors in the language-dominant hemisphere.

OBJECTIVE Cerebral damage in frontal, parietal, and temporal brain areas and, probably more importantly, their interconnections can lead to deficits in language. However, neural plasticity and repair allow the brain to partly compensate for neural injury, mediated by both functional and structural changes. In this study, the authors sought to systematically investigate the relationship between language performance in brain tumor patients and structural perisylvian pathways (i.

Pre- and postoperative neurocognitive deficits in brain tumor patients assessed by a computer based screening test.

Neurocognitive assessment becomes increasingly important in neuro-oncology. The presence and degree of neurocognitive deficits in patients with brain tumors appear to be important not only as outcome measures but also in treatment planning and as possible prognostic markers for tumor-progression. Common screening methods for neurocognitive deficits are often insufficient in uncovering subtle changes or harbor the risk of being observer-dependent and time-consuming.

Treatment results and outcome in elderly patients with glioblastoma multiforme--a retrospective single institution analysis.

Objective: Although glioblastoma multiforme is more common in patients older than 65 years, the elderly population is often excluded from clinical studies. Decision making in this subgroup can be challenging due to the lack of evidence for different neurosurgical and adjuvant treatment strategies.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated clinical, treatment and survival data of 124 consecutive patients over 65 years of age with supratentorial glioblastoma multiforme.

Hepatocyte growth factor is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with advanced heart failure.

Objective: To assess the prognostic value of the mitogenic, antiapoptotic, angiogenic and antifibrotic hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in heart failure (HF).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting/patients: Assessment of HGF levels at inclusion in 351 patients with advanced HF (median 75 years, interquartile range (IQR) 63-82, 66% male).

Prognostic value of pigment epithelium-derived factor in patients with advanced heart failure.

Objective: Whereas angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting vessels, may be beneficial in restoring failing myocardium, apoptosis may contribute to the progression of heart failure (HF). We investigated the role of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a recently discovered antiangiogenic factor with additional proapoptotic effects, in patients with advanced HF.

Methods: We assayed PEDF levels in 351 patients with advanced HF at baseline.