Advances in DTI studies for diagnoses and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This review summarizes the current state of neuroimaging research on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which allows for the examination of white matter abnormalities in the brain. DTI studies on individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) consistently demonstrate widespread reductions in white matter integrity in various regions of the brain, including the corpus callosum, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortex, which are involved in emotion regulation, decision-making, and cognitive control. However, the reviewed studies often have small sample sizes, and findings vary between studies, highlighting the need for larger and more standardized studies.

An innovative sit-standing seat in urban buses: A new design to prevent falls and non-collision injuries.

Background: Due to the rapid growth of metropolises and the insufficiency of public transportation, nowadays, many people travel on these vehicles in a standing position. This position leads to discomfort and the risk of falling or non-collision incidents for the passengers.

Objective: The present study was conducted to analyze an innovative sit-standing seat to prevent falls and non-collision injuries in standing passengers.

Metabolite Alternations in the Dopamine Circuit Associated with Methamphetamine-Related Psychotic Symptoms: A Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study.

Chronic METH use results in neurodegenerative alternations in the human brain. The present study aimed to assess the long-term METH impact on brain metabolite concentrations in cases meeting the DSM-5 criteria regarding METH use. We recruited 42 METH users meeting the DSM-5 criteria and 21 healthy controls.

White matter microstructure differences in individuals with dependence on cocaine, methamphetamine, and nicotine: Findings from the ENIGMA-Addiction working group.

Background: Nicotine and illicit stimulants are very addictive substances. Although associations between grey matter and dependence on stimulants have been frequently reported, white matter correlates have received less attention.

Methods: Eleven international sites ascribed to the ENIGMA-Addiction consortium contributed data from individuals with dependence on cocaine (n = 147), methamphetamine (n = 132) and nicotine (n = 189), as well as non-dependent controls (n = 333).

A digital viscoelastic liver phantom for investigation of elastographic measurements.

To develop elastography imaging technologies and implement image reconstruction algorithms, testing is done with phantoms. Although the validation step is usually taken using real data and physical phantoms, their geometry as well as composition, biomechanical parameters, and details of applying stress cannot be modified readily. Such considerations have gained increasing importance with the growth of elastography techniques as one of the non-invasive medical imaging modalities, which can map the elastic properties and stiffness of soft tissues.

Identification of the Cognitive Interference Effect Related to Stroop Stimulation: Using Dynamic Causal Modeling of Effective Connectivity in Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Background: The Stroop test is a well-known model to denote the decline in performance under the incongruent condition, which requires selective attention and control of competitive responses. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy can identify activated brain regions associated with the Stroop interference effect.

Objective: This research aims to identify the neural correlates associated with the Stroop tasks within the brain activated regions.

Exploring Two Methods of CBV Estimation in Two Groups of Grade III Gliomas with Different Appearance on Post-Contrast T1 Images.

Background: Many studies have used Cerebral Blood Volume (CBV) for gliomas grading and there has been in good agreement between CBV and tumor grade. Almost all of those studies have emphasized the importance of leakage correction due to the underestimation/overestimation of CBV caused by T1/T2* leakage effect in enhanced cases of tumors, especially high grade ones.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate two methods of CBV estimation in two groups of gliomas with the same grade and different appearance on post contrast T1 images (Enhanced vs.

Novel FMRI-Compatible wrist robotic device for brain activation assessment during rehabilitation exercise.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can be applied to study the effects of rehabilitation strategies for neuroscience research. An MRI-wrist robot is designed and used as a clinical tool to examine the process of the brain plasticity changes. In this robot, the patient actuation is accomplished with two standard air cylinders, located inside the MRI chamber with two degrees of freedom (flexion-extension and ulna-radial deviation) with pneumatic air transmission, consisting of simple mechanism converting rotary motion to linear independently.

Evaluation of contrast agent dose and diffusion coefficient measurement on vessel size index estimation.

Objectives: The goal of this study is to examine the effect of contrast agent (CA) dose and diffusion coefficient on the estimation of vessel size index (VSI).

Materials And Methods: Three groups of four participants were enrolled in this study and two different experiments were performed. Different dose of CA, namely 0.

A Novel Classification Method using Effective Neural Network and Quantitative Magnetization Transfer Imaging of Brain White Matter in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Quantitative Magnetization Transfer Imaging (QMTI) is often used to quantify the myelin content in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions and normal appearing brain tissues. Also, automated classifiers such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) can significantly improve the identification and classification processes of MS clinical datasets.

Objective: We classified patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) from healthy subjects using QMTI and T1 longitudinal relaxation time data of brain white matter, then the performance of three ANN-based classifiers have been investigated.

Differentiation of Edematous, Tumoral and Normal Areas of Brain Using Diffusion Tensor and Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging.

Background: Presurigical planning for glioma tumor resection and radiotherapy treatment require proper delineation of tumoral and peritumoral areas of brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is the most common mathematical model applied for diffusion weighted MRI data. Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) is another mathematical model for DWI data modeling.