The interplay of genetic and environmental factors on the morphology of the limbic cortex and hippocampal subfields: Insights from an MRI twin study.

Introduction: The limbic system and the hippocampus are complex brain structures with key roles in memory, emotions, sexual stimulation and learning, with subregion abnormalities associated with a range of disorders and psychopathologies. Our study aimed to explore the heritability of specific subfield structures within the limbic system and hippocampus first in a Caucasian twin sample with volBrain pipeline.

Materials And Methods: 59 healthy adult Caucasian twin pairs from the Hungarian Twin Registry without any history of previous neurodegenerative or cerebrovascular diseases underwent brain MRI on a 3.

Heritability of Subcortical Grey Matter Structures.

: Subcortical grey matter structures play essential roles in cognitive, affective, social, and motoric functions in humans. Their volume changes with age, and decreased volumes have been linked with many neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of our study was to examine the heritability of six subcortical brain volumes (the amygdala, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens) and four general brain volumes (the total intra-cranial volume and the grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume) in twins.

Genetic and Environmental Effects on the Development of White Matter Hyperintensities in a Middle Age Twin Population.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) indicate white matter brain lesions in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can be used as a marker for brain aging and cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Twin studies revealed substantial but not uniform WMH heritability in elderly twins. The objective of our study was to investigate the genetic and environmental components of WMH, as well as their importance in a healthy twin population, utilizing 3T MRI scanners in a middle-aged twin population.

Microstructural alterations measured by diffusion tensor imaging following transcatheter aortic valve replacement and their association with cerebral ischemic injury and cognitive function - a prospective study.

Purpose: We assessed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metric changes of the corpus callosum and cingulum correlated to postprocedural ischemic lesion load (ILL) and cognitive performance in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Methods: TAVR subjects had DTI post-TAVR (≤ 8 days) and at 6 months (78 participants, males 56%, age 78.8 years ± 6.

Circadian Variation of Migraine Attack Onset Affects fMRI Brain Response to Fearful Faces.

Background: Previous studies suggested a circadian variation of migraine attack onset, although, with contradictory results - possibly because of the existence of migraine subgroups with different circadian attack onset peaks. Migraine is primarily a brain disorder, and if the diversity in daily distribution of migraine attack onset reflects an important aspect of migraine, it may also associate with interictal brain activity. Our goal was to assess brain activity differences in episodic migraine subgroups who were classified according to their typical circadian peak of attack onset.

[Correction of the physiological artefacts at pre-surgical clinical functional MR].

Background And Purpose: Pre-surgical functional MRI (fMRI) is an important modality of examinations before brain surgery. There are several artefacts (e.g.

Increased activation of the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex to citalopram challenge in migraine: an fMRI study.

Background: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a key structure of the pain processing network. Several structural and functional alterations of this brain area have been found in migraine. In addition, altered serotonergic neurotransmission has been repeatedly implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine, although the exact mechanism is not known.

Association between migraine frequency and neural response to emotional faces: An fMRI study.

Previous studies have demonstrated that migraine is associated with enhanced perception and altered cerebral processing of sensory stimuli. More recently, it has been suggested that this sensory hypersensitivity might reflect a more general enhanced response to aversive emotional stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and emotional face stimuli (fearful, happy and sad faces), we compared whole-brain activation between 41 migraine patients without aura in interictal period and 49 healthy controls.

Altered neural activity to monetary reward/loss processing in episodic migraine.

The dysfunctions of the mesolimbic cortical reward circuit have been proposed to contribute to migraine pain. Although supporting empirical evidence was mainly found in connection with primary rewards or in chronic migraine where the pain experience is (almost) constant. Our goal however was to investigate the neural correlates of secondary reward/loss anticipation and consumption using the monetary incentive delay task in 29 episodic migraine patients and 41 headache-free controls.

Are the Variants of the Circle of Willis Determined by Genetic or Environmental Factors? Results of a Twin Study and Review of the Literature.

Background: Anatomic variants of the circle of Willis (CW) are commonly observed in healthy subjects. Genetic and environmental factors influencing these variants remain unclear. Our aim was to assess the genetic and environmental background affecting variant CW phenotypes.

Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates tumor response following palliative embolization of a recurrent shoulder plasmacytoma.

We report the palliative embolization and functional imaging follow-up of a recurrent shoulder plasmacytoma. The multiple myeloma patient complained of severe pain and discomfort, while he could not tolerate further chemotherapy. The left shoulder lesion had earlier received a high dose of irradiation.

[Role of the intraoperative electrical brain stimulation in conserving the speech and language function in neurosurgical procedures on conscious patients].

Aim Of The Study: To summarize the results gained with awake craniotomies, which were performed in either low grade glioma patients or epilepsy surgical patients whose tumor or epileptogenic zone, was in the vicinity of eloquent, mostly language, cortices. PATIENT SELECTION AND METHODS: In our retrospective study we selected 16 patients who were operated awake between 1999-2011 at the Neurosurgical Department of MAV Kórház Budapest, or at the National Institute of Neurosciences in Budapest, or at the Neurosurgical Department of the University of Debrecen in Debrecen. In the presurgical evaluation if it was possible we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging, tractography and detailed neuropsychological testing.

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging for cortical mapping in epilepsy].

It is not only the total curative resection of pathological tissue or the minimization of symptoms to be considered in epilepsy surgery or other neurosurgical procedures, it is equally desirable to maintain the best possible quality of life. Cortical mapping methods can help achieve this goal by delineating eloquent areas, i.e.

[Surgical treatment of resistant epilepsy, caused by hemispherical dysgenesis--case report].

A part of patients with the therapy resistant epilepsy can be cured by surgical interventions. The more concordant the presurgical evaluation data, the better prognosis the patient has postoperatively. In case of discordant examination data, multimodal evaluation or case-specific decision might be successful.