Abnormalities of structural brain connectivity in pediatric brain tumor survivors.

Background: Pediatric brain tumor survivors are at an increased risk for white matter (WM) injury. However, damage to whole-brain structural connectivity is unelucidated. The impact of treatment on WM connectivity was investigated.

Structural connectivity and intelligence in brain-injured children.

In children, higher general intelligence corresponds with better processing speed ability. However, the relationship between structural brain connectivity and processing speed in the context of intelligence is unclear. Furthermore, the impact of brain injury on this relationship is also unknown.

A controlled clinical crossover trial of exercise training to improve cognition and neural communication in pediatric brain tumor survivors.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of aerobic exercise training to improve controlled attention, information processing speed and neural communication during increasing task load and rest in pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) treated with cranial radiation.

Methods: Participants completed visual-motor Go and Go/No-Go tasks during magnetoencephalography recording prior to and following the completion of 12-weeks of exercise training. Exercise-related changes in response accuracy and visual-motor latency were evaluated with Linear Mixed models.

Survival and functional outcomes of molecularly defined childhood posterior fossa ependymoma: Cure at a cost.

Background: Posterior fossa ependymoma (PFE) comprises 2 groups, PF group A (PFA) and PF group B (PFB), with stark differences in outcome. However, to the authors' knowledge, the long-term outcomes of PFA ependymoma have not been described fully. The objective of the current study was to identify predictors of survival and neurocognitive outcome in a large consecutive cohort of subgrouped patients with PFE over 30 years.

Altered brain morphology after focal radiation reveals impact of off-target effects: implications for white matter development and neurogenesis.

Background: Children with brain tumors treated with cranial radiation therapy (RT) often exhibit cognitive late effects, commonly associated with reduced white matter (WM) volume and decreased neurogenesis. The impact of radiation damage in particular regions or tissues on brain development as a whole has not been elucidated.

Methods: We delivered whole-brain or focal radiation (8 Gy single dose) to infant mice.

Complementary strategies for developing Gd-free high-field T₁ MRI contrast agents based on Mn(III) porphyrins.

Mn(III) porphyrin (MnP) holds the promise of addressing the emerging challenges associated with Gd-based clinical MRI contrast agents (CAs), namely, Gd-related adverse effect and decreasing sensitivity at high clinical magnetic fields. Two complementary strategies for developing new MnPs as Gd-free CAs with optimized biocompatibility were established to improve relaxivity or clearance rate. MnPs with distinct and tunable pharmacokinetic properties can consequently be constructed for different in vivo applications at clinical field of 3 T.