First-in-human experience performing high-resolution cortical mapping using a novel microelectrode array containing 1,024 electrodes.

Localization of function within the brain and central nervous system is an essential aspect of clinical neuroscience. Classical descriptions of functional neuroanatomy provide a foundation for understanding the functional significance of identifiable anatomic structures. However, individuals exhibit substantial variation, particularly in the presence of disorders that alter tissue structure or impact function.

Electrode Location and Domain-Specific Cognitive Change Following Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease.

Background And Objectives: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) motor symptoms. DBS is also associated with postoperative cognitive change in some patients. Previous studies found associations between medial active electrode contacts and overall cognitive decline.

Cognitive outcomes following unilateral magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for essential tremor: findings from two cohorts.

Magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound thalamotomy is a neurosurgical treatment for refractory essential tremor. This study examined cognitive outcomes following unilateral magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound thalamotomy, targeting the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus for essential tremor. The research was conducted at two sites: Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Canada, and West Virginia University School of Medicine Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in West Virginia, USA.

Biomechanical Assessment of Liver Integrity: Prospective Evaluation of Mechanical Versus Acoustic MR Elastography.

Background: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) can quantify tissue biomechanics noninvasively, including pathological hepatic states like metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Purpose: To compare the performance of 2D/3D-MRE using the gravitational (GT) transducer concept with the current commercial acoustic (AC) solution utilizing a 2D-MRE approach. Additionally, quality index markers (QIs) were proposed to identify image pixels with sufficient quality for reliably estimating tissue biomechanics.

Design and Validation of a Patient-Specific Stereotactic Frame for Transcranial Ultrasound Therapy.

Transcranial-focused ultrasound (tFUS) procedures such as neuromodulation and blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening require precise focus placement within the brain. MRI is currently the most reliable tool for focus localization but can be prohibitive for procedures requiring recurrent therapies. We designed, fabricated, and characterized a patient-specific, 3-D-printed, stereotactic frame for repeated tFUS therapy.

Safety of mapping the motor networks in the spinal cord using penetrating microelectrodes in Yucatan minipigs.

Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the safety of mapping spinal cord locomotor networks using penetrating stimulation microelectrodes in Yucatan minipigs (YMPs) as a clinically translational animal model.

Methods: Eleven YMPs were trained to walk up and down a straight line. Motion capture was performed, and electromyographic (EMG) activity of hindlimb muscles was recorded during overground walking.

Clinical safety and feasibility of a novel implantable neuroimmune modulation device for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: initial results from the randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled RESET-RA study.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that causes persistent synovitis, bone damage, and progressive joint destruction. Neuroimmune modulation through electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve activates the inflammatory reflex and has been shown to inhibit the production and release of inflammatory cytokines and decrease clinical signs and symptoms in RA. The RESET-RA study was designed to determine the safety and efficacy of an active implantable device for treating RA.

The Variability of Tryptophan Metabolism in Patients with Mixed Type of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Patients with a mixed type of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-M) experience constipation and diarrhea, which alternate between weeks or months. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is still little understood. The aim of the study was mainly to evaluate the urinary excretion of selected tryptophan (TRP) metabolites during the constipation and diarrhea periods of this syndrome.

MR-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for lithium-induced tremor: a case report and literature review.

Drug-induced tremor is a common side effect of lithium with an occurrence of approximately 25% of patients. Cessation of the offending drug can be difficult, and many medical treatments for drug-induced tremor are ineffective. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been shown in a limited number of case reports to effectively reduce drug-induced tremor, however, which remains an invasive therapeutic option.

Electrode position and cognitive outcome following deep brain stimulation surgery.

Objective: Subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (GPI) deep brain stimulation (DBS) effectively treat motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) but may be associated with cognitive and psychiatric changes in some patients. Evaluation of changes in cognitive and psychiatric symptoms following DBS is complicated by changes in these symptoms that occur as part of the natural disease course. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether electrode position was associated with changes in neurocognitive symptoms in patients who underwent STN and GPI DBS.

Rotating Night Shift Work, Sleep, and Thyroid Cancer Risk in the Nurses' Health Study 2.

Night shift work has been associated with breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer, but evidence on other types of cancer is limited. We prospectively evaluated the association of rotating night shift work, sleep duration, and sleep difficulty with thyroid cancer risk in the Nurses' Health Study 2 (NHS2). We assessed rotating night shift work duration (years) at baseline and throughout follow-up (1989-2015) and sleep characteristics in 2001.

Intraoperative physiology augments atlas-based data in awake deep brain stimulation.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is commonly performed with patients awake to perform intraoperative microelectrode recordings and/or macrostimulation testing to guide final electrode placement. Supplemental information from atlas-based databases derived from prior patient data and visualised as efficacy heat maps transformed and overlaid onto preoperative MRIs can be used to guide preoperative target planning and intraoperative final positioning. Our quantitative analysis of intraoperative testing and corresponding changes made to final electrode positioning aims to highlight the value of intraoperative neurophysiological testing paired with image-based data to optimise final electrode positioning in a large patient cohort.

Structural brain differences in essential tremor and Parkinson's disease deep brain stimulation patients.

Background: Essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are the most common tremor disorders and are common indications for deep brain stimulation (DBS). In some patients, PD and ET symptoms overlap and diagnosis can be challenging based on clinical criteria alone. The objective of this study was to identify structural brain differences between PD and ET DBS patients to help differentiate these disorders and improve our understanding of the different brain regions involved in these pathologic processes.

Long-term neuropsychological outcomes of deep brain stimulation in early-stage Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: The pilot trial of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) randomized 30 patients (medication duration 0.5-4 years; without dyskinesia or motor fluctuations) to receive optimal drug therapy alone (early ODT) or subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS plus ODT (early DBS + ODT). This study reports long-term neuropsychological outcomes from the early DBS pilot trial.

Long-term outcomes of mesial temporal laser interstitial thermal therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and subsequent surgery for seizure recurrence: a multi-centre cohort study.

Background: Magnetic resonance-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) is a minimally invasive alternative to surgical resection for drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). Reported rates of seizure freedom are variable and long-term durability is largely unproven. Anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) remains an option for patients with MRgLITT treatment failure.

Connectivity Profile for Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in Early Stage Parkinson Disease.

Objective: This study was undertaken to describe relationships between electrode localization and motor outcomes from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) in early stage Parkinson disease (PD) pilot clinical trial.

Methods: To determine anatomical and network correlates associated with motor outcomes for subjects randomized to early DBS (n = 14), voxelwise sweet spot mapping and structural connectivity analyses were carried out using outcomes of motor progression (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part III [UPDRS-III] 7-day OFF scores [∆baseline➔24 months, MedOFF/StimOFF]) and symptomatic motor improvement (UPDRS-III ON scores [%∆baseline➔24 months, MedON/StimON]).

Results: Sweet spot mapping revealed a location associated with slower motor progression in the dorsolateral STN (anterior/posterior commissure coordinates: 11.

The Usefulness of the Low-FODMAP Diet with Limited Tryptophan Intake in the Treatment of Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

(1) Background: A low-FODMAP diet is often recommended in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, but it does not improve abdominal symptoms in all patients, and an alternative diet is desirable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a low-FODMAP diet with a concomitant reduction in tryptophan (TRP) intake in irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea predominance (IBS-D) in relation to its metabolism via the serotonin and kynurenine pathways. (2) Methods: 40 healthy people (Group I, Controls) and 80 patients with IBS-D were included in the study.

Reduced Intake of Dietary Tryptophan Improves Beneficial Action of Budesonide in Patients with Lymphocytic Colitis and Mood Disorders.

Lymphocytic colitis (LC) is a gastrointestinal (GI) tract disease with poorly known pathogenesis, but some environmental and lifestyle factors, including certain dietary components, may play a role. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which plays important structural and functional roles as a component of many proteins. It is important in the development and maintenance of the body, in which it is metabolized in two main pathways: kynurenine (KYN) and serotonin.

Changes in Tryptophan Metabolism on Serotonin and Kynurenine Pathways in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

(1) Background: L-tryptophan is a substrate for the synthesis of many biological compounds through the serotonin and kynurenine pathways. These compounds have a significant influence on gastrointestinal functions and mental processes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the urinary excretion of selected tryptophan metabolites in patients with constipation-predominant and diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C and IBS-D, respectively), related to somatic and mental symptoms.

Beneficial Effect of Increased Tryptophan Intake on Its Metabolism and Mental State of the Elderly.

The elderly often suffer from sleep disorders and depression, which contribute to mood disorders. In our previous work, we showed that elderly individuals with mood disorders had a lower intake of TRP and recommended a TRP-based dietary intervention to improve the mental state of such individuals. In this work, we assessed the impact of a TRP-rich diet on the mental state of, and TRP metabolism in, elderly individuals with mood disorders.

Drop Weight Testing of Samples Made of Different Building Materials Designed for the Protection of Classified Information.

Classified information is information of vital importance to the State, which must be protected against disclosure, misuse, damage, unauthorized reproduction, destruction, loss or theft in the interest of the State. At present, there are four levels of classification. For each classification level, precise requirements are laid down for the material of the walls, partitions and ceilings of the rooms in which classified information is stored.

The clinical value of breath ammonia determination in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Unlabelled: Gastrointestinal tract is the major source of ammonia (NH3). NH3 is produced by bacterial hydrolysis of urea as well as by bacterial protein deamination. The intensity of this process depends on protein intake and the amount of gut bacteria.