Ultra high density imaging arrays in diffuse optical tomography for human brain mapping improve image quality and decoding performance.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has dramatically advanced non-invasive human brain mapping and decoding. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) non-invasively measure blood oxygen fluctuations related to brain activity, like fMRI, at the brain surface, using more-lightweight equipment that circumvents ergonomic and logistical limitations of fMRI. HD-DOT grids have smaller inter-optode spacing (~ 13 mm) than sparse fNIRS (~ 30 mm) and therefore provide higher image quality, with spatial resolution ~ 1/2 that of fMRI, when using the several source-detector distances (13-40 mm) afforded by the HD-DOT grid.

Multisensory naturalistic decoding with high-density diffuse optical tomography.

Significance: Decoding naturalistic content from brain activity has important neuroscience and clinical implications. Information about visual scenes and intelligible speech has been decoded from cortical activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrocorticography, but widespread applications are limited by the logistics of these technologies.

Aim: High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) offers image quality approaching that of fMRI but with the silent, open scanning environment afforded by optical methods, thus opening the door to more naturalistic research and applications.

Firearm injury survivors report extreme high risk for poor physical and mental health outcomes early after hospital discharge necessitating multidisciplinary care.

Background: Up to 20-40% of survivors of any traumatic injury develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression after injury. Firearm injury survivors may be at even higher risk for adverse outcomes. We aimed to characterize PTSD and depression risk, pain symptoms, and ongoing functional limitations in firearm injury survivors early after hospital discharge.

Proof-of-concept for integrating multimodal digital health assessments into lifestyle interventions for older adults with dementia risk factors.

Multimodal digital health assessments overcome the limitations of patient-reported outcomes by allowing for continuous and passive monitoring but remain underutilized in older adult lifestyle interventions for brain health. Therefore, we aim to (1) report ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and ActiGraph adherence among older adults during a lifestyle intervention; and (2) use dynamic data collected via EMA and ActiGraph to examine person-specific patterns of mindfulness, steps, and sleep throughout the intervention. We analyzed EMA and ActiGraph data from a pilot study of the 8-week My Healthy Brain program (N = 10) lifestyle group for older adults (60+) with subjective cognitive decline.

Substructure-Specific Antibodies Against Fentanyl Derivatives.

Structural variants of the synthetic opioid fentanyl are a major threat to public health. Following an investigation showing that many derivatives are poorly detected by commercial lateral flow and related assays, we created hapten conjugate vaccines using an immunogenic virus-like particle carrier and eight synthetic fentanyl derivatives designed to mimic the structural features of several of the more dangerous analogues. Immunization of mice elicited strong antihapten humoral responses, allowing the screening of hundreds of hapten-specific hybridomas for binding strength and specificity.