Heart failure-induced brain myelin changes and differences between sexes.

Heart failure (HF) leads to brain injury in autonomic, respiratory, mood, and cognitive control sites, revealed as tissue volume loss, altered metabolites, and impaired diffusion tissue properties. The extent of myelin changes in HF and variations within sexes are unclear. Our aim was to examine regional brain subcortical and white matter myelin integrity in HF patients over control subjects, as well as differences between sexes using T1- and T2-weighted clinical images.

Brain Changes Linked to Cognitive Symptomatology in Homeless Youth.

Youth impacted by homelessness experience diminished cognition due to a variety of reasons including mental health symptoms, alcohol and substance use, and adverse childhood experiences. However, the status of specific brain regions which could impact important cognitive functions in homeless youth remains unclear. In this pilot comparative and correlational study, a series of demographic, psychological, cognitive assessments, and brain magnetic resonance imaging were performed in 10 male youth experiencing homelessness and 9 age-matched healthy male controls (age range: 18-25 years).

Brain regional homogeneity changes after short-term positive airway pressure treatment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) reveal functional changes in brain sites involved in autonomic, cognitive, and mood regulations. However, it is unclear whether these brain changes reverse with short-term positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment. Our aim was to examine brain functional changes in response to 3-months of PAP treatment using regional homogeneity (ReHo) measures, where increased and decreased ReHo value indicates hyper- and hypo-local neural activities, respectively, and considered as functional deficits.

Poor Sleep Quality Linked to Decreased Brain Gray Matter Density in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Poor sleep is common in adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), which may contribute to brain tissue changes. However, the impact of sleep quality on brain tissue in T2DM individuals is unclear. We aimed to evaluate differential sleep quality with brain changes, and brain tissue integrity in T2DM patients.

Regional Brain Gray Matter Changes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) show cognitive and mood impairment, indicating potential for brain injury in regions that control these functions. However, brain tissue integrity in cognition, anxiety, and depression regulatory sites, and their associations with these functional deficits in T2DM subjects remain unclear. We examined gray matter (GM) changes in 34 T2DM and 88 control subjects using high-resolution T1-weighted images, collected from a 3.

Caudate nuclei volume alterations and cognition and mood dysfunctions in adolescents with single ventricle heart disease.

Adolescents with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) exhibit mood and cognitive deficits, which may result from injury to the basal ganglia structures, including the caudate nuclei. However, the integrity of the caudate in SVHD adolescents is unclear. Our aim was to examine the global and regional caudate volumes, and evaluate the relationships between caudate volumes and cognitive and mood scores in SVHD and healthy adolescents.

Prefrontal cortex brain damage and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: This study examined brain tissue integrity in sites that controls cognition (prefrontal cortices; PFC) and its relationships to glycemic outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: We examined 28 T2DM patients (median age 57.1 years; median body mass index [BMI] 30.

Heart Failure Self-care Associated With Brain Injury in Executive Control Regions.

Background: Inadequate self-care is linked to poor health outcomes in heart failure (HF). Self-care depends on decision-making abilities, but links between self-care and brain injury to executive decision-making regulatory areas (prefrontal cortices) are unclear.

Objective: We investigated the relationships between HF self-care and status of prefrontal cortices.

Reduced brain mammillary body volumes and memory deficits in adolescents who have undergone the Fontan procedure.

Background: Adolescents with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) who have undergone the Fontan procedure show cognitive/memory deficits. Mammillary bodies are key brain sites that regulate memory; however, their integrity in SVHD is unclear. We evaluated mammillary body (MB) volumes and their associations with cognitive/memory scores in SVHD and controls.

Aberrant Brain Functional Connectivity Dynamic Responses to the Valsalva Maneuver in Heart Failure.

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) show abnormal autonomic activities, which may stem from altered functional connectivity (FC) between different brain sites.

Methods And Results: We evaluate insular and cerebellar FC with other brain areas, before, during, and after the Valsalva challenge, with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 35 HF and 35 control subjects. Significant insular FC emerged with striatum, thalamus, and anterior cingulate.

Altered brain diffusion tensor imaging indices in adolescents with the Fontan palliation.

Purpose: Single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) patients show injury in brain sites that regulate autonomic, mood, and cognitive functions. However, the nature (acute or chronic changes) and extent of brain injury in SVHD are unclear. Our aim was to examine regional brain tissue damage in SVHD over controls using DTI-based mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) procedures.

Correlations between Waist and Neck Circumferences and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Characteristics.

Purpose: The body mass index (BMI), an estimate of body fat, provides a rather imprecise indication of risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We examined whether other measures, including waist and neck circumference, provide improved indicators of risk in treatment-naïve OSA subjects.

Methods: We studied 59 OSA subjects [age, 48.

Brain structural changes associated with aberrant functional responses to the Valsalva maneuver in heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) patients show inability to regulate autonomic functions in response to autonomic challenges. The autonomic deficits may stem from brain tissue injury in central autonomic regulatory areas, resulting from ischemic and hypoxic processes accompanying the condition. However, the direct evaluation of correlations between brain structural injury and functional timing and magnitude of neural signal patterns within affected areas, which may lead to impaired autonomic outflow, is unclear.

Sex-specific hippocampus volume changes in obstructive sleep apnea.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show hippocampal-related autonomic and neurological symptoms, including impaired memory and depression, which differ by sex, and are mediated in distinct hippocampal subfields. Determining sites and extent of hippocampal sub-regional injury in OSA could reveal localized structural damage linked with OSA symptoms.

Methods: High-resolution T1-weighted images were collected from 66 newly-diagnosed, untreated OSA (mean age ± SD: 46.

Altered resting-state hippocampal and caudate functional networks in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Introduction: Brain structural injury and metabolic deficits in the hippocampus and caudate nuclei may contribute to cognitive and emotional deficits found in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. If such contributions exist, resting-state interactions of these subcortical sites with cortical areas mediating affective symptoms and cognition should be disturbed. Our aim was to examine resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of the hippocampus and caudate to other brain areas in OSA relative to control subjects, and to relate these changes to mood and neuropsychological scores.

Obstructive sleep apnea and cortical thickness in females and males.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects approximately 10% of adults, and alters brain gray and white matter. Psychological and physiological symptoms of the disorder are sex-specific, perhaps related to greater injury occurs in female than male patients in white matter. Our objective was to identify influences of OSA separated by sex on cortical gray matter.

Validation of time to task performance assessment method in simulation: A comparative design study.

Background: There is a lack of objective and valid measures for assessing nursing clinical competence which could adversely impact patient safety. Therefore, we evaluated an objective assessment of clinical competence, Time to Task (ability to perform specific, critical nursing care activities within 5 min), and compared it to two subjective measures, (Lasater Clinical Judgement Rubric [LCJR] and common "pass/fail" assessment).

Design/methods: Using a prospective, "Known Groups" (Expert vs.

Brain abnormalities in cognition, anxiety, and depression regulatory regions in adolescents with single ventricle heart disease.

Background: Single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) adolescents show cognitive impairments and anxiety and depressive symptoms, indicating the possibility of brain injury in regions that control these functions. However, brain tissue integrity in cognition, anxiety, and depression regulatory sites in SVHD remains unclear. We examined brain tissue changes in SVHD compared to controls using T2-relaxometry procedures, which measure free water content and show tissue injury.

Regional brain gray matter changes in adolescents with single ventricle heart disease.

Adolescents with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) show autonomic, mood, and cognitive deficits, indicating aberrations in brain areas that regulate these functions. However, the gray matter integrity in autonomic, mood, and cognitive control sites is unclear. We examined regional brain gray matter changes, using high-resolution T1-weighted images (3.

Reduced regional cerebral blood flow in patients with heart failure.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) patients show significant lateralized neural injury, accompanied by autonomic, mood and cognitive deficits. Both gray and white matter damage occurs and probably develops from altered cerebral blood flow (CBF), a consequence of impaired cardiac output. However, the distribution of regional CBF changes in HF patients is unknown, but is an issue in determining mechanisms of neural injury.

Validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Screener in Adolescents and Young Adults With and Without Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: Cognitive deficits are common, long-term sequelae in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) who have undergone surgical palliation. However, there is a lack of a validated brief cognitive screening tool appropriate for the outpatient setting for adolescents with CHD. One candidate instrument is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire.

Predictors of Memory Deficits in Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Disease Compared to Healthy Controls.

Introduction: Adolescents and young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) show a range of memory deficits, which can dramatically impact their clinical outcomes and quality of life. However, few studies have identified predictors of these memory changes. The purpose of this investigation was to identify predictors of memory deficits in adolescents and young adults with CHD after surgical palliation compared to healthy controls.

Non-Gaussian Diffusion Imaging Shows Brain Myelin and Axonal Changes in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is accompanied by brain changes in areas that regulate autonomic, cognitive, and mood functions, which were initially examined by Gaussian-based diffusion tensor imaging measures, but can be better assessed with non-Gaussian measures. We aimed to evaluate axonal and myelin changes in OSA using axial (AK) and radial kurtosis (RK) measures.

Materials And Methods: We acquired diffusion kurtosis imaging data from 22 OSA and 26 controls; AK and RK maps were calculated, normalized, smoothed, and compared between groups using analysis of covariance.