Structural Neuroplasticity Effects of Singing in Chronic Aphasia.

Singing-based treatments of aphasia can improve language outcomes, but the neural benefits of group-based singing in aphasia are unknown. Here, we set out to determine the structural neuroplasticity changes underpinning group-based singing-induced treatment effects in chronic aphasia. Twenty-eight patients with at least mild nonfluent poststroke aphasia were randomized into two groups that received a 4-month multicomponent singing intervention (singing group) or standard care (control group).

Brain magnetic resonance imaging findings six months after critical COVID-19: A prospective cohort study.

Background: COVID-19 patients suffered from neurological symptoms in the acute phase. Whether this led to long-term consequences was unknown. We studied long-term brain MRI findings in ICU-treated COVID-19 patients and compared them with findings in groups with less severe acute disease.

Neurological Music Therapy Rebuilds Structural Connectome after Traumatic Brain Injury: Secondary Analysis from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common and devastating neurological condition, associated often with poor functional outcome and deficits in executive function. Due to the neuropathology of TBI, neuroimaging plays a crucial role in its assessment, and while diffusion MRI has been proposed as a sensitive biomarker, longitudinal studies evaluating treatment-related diffusion MRI changes are scarce. Recent evidence suggests that neurological music therapy can improve executive functions in patients with TBI and that these effects are underpinned by neuroplasticity changes in the brain.

Neuroanatomical correlates of speech and singing production in chronic post-stroke aphasia.

A classical observation in neurology is that aphasic stroke patients with impairments in speech production can nonetheless sing the same utterances. This preserved ability suggests a distinctive neural architecture for singing that could contribute to speech recovery. However, to date, these structural correlates remain unknown.

Resting-State Network Plasticity Induced by Music Therapy after Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by a complex pattern of abnormalities in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and network dysfunction, which can potentially be ameliorated by rehabilitation. In our previous randomized controlled trial, we found that a 3-month neurological music therapy intervention enhanced executive function (EF) and increased grey matter volume in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in patients with moderate-to-severe TBI ( = 40). Extending this study, we performed longitudinal rsFC analyses of resting-state fMRI data using a ROI-to-ROI approach assessing within-network and between-network rsFC in the frontoparietal (FPN), dorsal attention (DAN), default mode (DMN), and salience (SAL) networks, which all have been associated with cognitive impairment after TBI.

Impact of ZnO Addition on Er Near-Infrared Emission, the Formation of Ag Nanoparticles, and the Crystallization of Sodium Fluorophosphate Glass.

The impact of the progressive addition of ZnO up to 5 mol% on the thermal, structural, and optical properties of Er-doped phosphate glasses within the system NaPO-NaF-ZnO-AgO is discussed. The glass network was found to depolymerize upon the addition of ZnO. This promotes a slight increase in the intensity of the emission at 1.

Comparison of Black Bone MRI and 3D-CT in the preoperative evaluation of patients with craniosynostosis.

Purpose: Black Bone (BB) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a nonionizing imaging method and a recent alternative to computed tomography (CT) in the examination of cranial deformities. The purpose of this study was to compare BB-MRI and routine 3D-CT in the preoperative evaluation of patients with craniosynostosis.

Methods: At our center, we have routinely performed preoperative CT of the skull and brain MRI for patients with clinical suspicion of craniosynostosis.

Impact of AgO Content on the Optical and Spectroscopic Properties of Fluoro-Phosphate Glasses.

Glasses with the system (84.60-x) NaPO-5 ZnO-(9.40-x) NaF-x AgO-1 ErO, (x = 0, 2, 4, and 6) (mol%) were synthesized by the conventional melt-quenching method.

Music Therapy Enhances Executive Functions and Prefrontal Structural Neuroplasticity after Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes lifelong cognitive deficits, particularly impairments of executive functioning (EF). Musical training and music-based rehabilitation have been shown to enhance cognitive functioning and neuroplasticity, but the potential rehabilitative effects of music in TBI are still largely unknown. The aim of the present crossover randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to determine the clinical efficacy of music therapy on cognitive functioning in TBI and to explore its neural basis.

Comparison of reconstruction and acquisition choices for quantitative T2* maps and synthetic contrasts.

Aim And Scope: A Gradient Echo Plural Contrast Imaging technique (GEPCI) is a post-processing method, which can be used to obtain quantitative T2* values and generate multiple synthetic contrasts from a single acquisition. However, scan duration and image reconstruction from k-space data present challenges in a clinical workflow. This study aimed at optimizing image reconstruction and acquisition duration to facilitate a post-processing method for synthetic image contrast creation in clinical settings.

Use of black-bone MRI in the diagnosis of the patients with posterior plagiocephaly.

Purpose: Ionising radiation exposure is especially harmful to brain development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether black-bone (BB) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a non-ionising imaging method, offers an alternative to ionising imaging methods such as computed tomography (CT) in the examination of cranial deformities.

Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a total of 408 children were referred to the Craniofacial Centre at the Helsinki University Hospital for further examination due to flatness of the posterior skull.

A novel measure of reliability in Diffusion Tensor Imaging after data rejections due to subject motion.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is commonly challenged by subject motion during data acquisition, which often leads to corrupted image data. Currently used procedure in DTI analysis is to correct or completely reject such data before tensor estimations, however assessing the reliability and accuracy of the estimated tensor in such situations has evaded previous studies. This work aims to define the loss of data accuracy with increasing image rejections, and to define a robust method for assessing reliability of the result at voxel level.

A body-sized phantom for evaluation of diffusion-weighted MRI data using conventional, readout-segmented, and zoomed echo-planar sequences.

Background: Abdominal diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has been rapidly increasing during the last few years. For the evaluation of new DWI techniques, the development of suitable phantoms and quality assurance methods is important.

Purpose: To construct a body-diameter phantom for abdominal DWI and study the impact of different acquisition options on image quality.

Safety in simultaneous EEG-fMRI at 3 T: temperature measurements.

Background: In simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), safety of the EEG equipment is ensured by the manufacturer only for localizers and fMRI sequences. To conduct a clinically feasible simultaneous EEG-fMRI study, other sequences, e.g.

Data quality in fMRI and simultaneous EEG-fMRI.

Object: To evaluate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG)-fMRI data quality in an organization using several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems.

Materials And Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging measurements were carried out twice with a uniform gel phantom on five different MRI systems with field strengths of 1.5 and 3.

Effect of varying displays and room illuminance on caries diagnostic accuracy in digital dental radiographs.

In clinical practice, digital radiographs taken for caries diagnostics are viewed on varying types of displays and usually in relatively high ambient lighting (room illuminance) conditions. Our purpose was to assess the effect of room illuminance and varying display types on caries diagnostic accuracy in digital dental radiographs. Previous studies have shown that the diagnostic accuracy of caries detection is significantly better in reduced lighting conditions.

Functional plasticity of the motor cortical structures demonstrated by navigated TMS in two patients with epilepsy.

Background: Recently, navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) has been suggested to be useful in preoperative functional localization of motor cortex in patients having tumors close to the somatomotor cortex. Resection of tumors in anatomically predicted eloquent areas without adverse effects have emphasized functional plasticity elicited by intracranial pathology.

Objective: To describe functional plasticity of motor cortex indicated by nTMS in two patients with epilepsy.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) in Finland: technological and physical prospects after 20 years of experiences.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a binary radiotherapy method developed to treat patients with certain malignant tumours. To date, over 300 treatments have been carried out at the Finnish BNCT facility in various on-going and past clinical trials. In this technical review, we discuss our research work in the field of medical physics to form the groundwork for the Finnish BNCT patient treatments, as well as the possibilities to further develop and optimize the method in the future.

MRI quality assurance using the ACR phantom in a multi-unit imaging center.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrumentation is vulnerable to technical and image quality problems, and quality assurance is essential. In the studied regional imaging center the long-term quality assurance has been based on MagNET phantom measurements. American College of Radiology (ACR) has an accreditation program including a standardized image quality measurement protocol and phantom.

More severe epilepsy and cognitive impairment in the offspring of a mother with mosaicism for the ring 20 chromosome.

Purpose: Ring chromosome 20 [r(20)] syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder. Cases tend to be sporadic. We elucidate the characteristics of an inherited r(20) mosaicism by describing the clinical features of three family members: a mother and her two children.