Locus Coeruleus Degeneration in Essential Tremor With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Neuromelanin MRI Study.

Objective: Our aim was to research the neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (NM-MRI) features of the locus coeruleus (LC) in essential tremor (ET) patients of various cognitive states and to explore the relationships between these features and cognition.

Methods: We recruited three groups of participants, including 30 ET patients with mild cognitive impairment (ET-MCI), 57 ET patients with normal cognition (ET-NC), and 105 healthy controls (HCs). All participants underwent MRI scanning and clinical evaluation.

Decreased brain function and anxiety-related loops in harm-avoidance personality: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Personality is a unique and relatively stable psychological concept that defines individual human beings. It strongly influences long-term behavioral styles such as emotional expression. This study aims to elucidate the brain functional underpinning behind personality.

LRRK2 mutation contributes to decreased free water in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in manifest and premanifest Parkinson's disease.

Background: Free-water imaging can predict and monitor dopamine system degeneration in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, brain cholinergic function has not been investigated to date in LRRK2 mutation carriers with or without PD using free-water imaging.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of LRRK2 mutations on the cholinergic system in manifest and premanifest stages of PD using free-water imaging.

Wider and faster degeneration of white matter in Parkinson's disease with possible REM sleep behaviour disorder.

Background: In Parkinson's disease (PD), rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) signifies a poorer prognosis, yet its impact on white matter (WM) degeneration remains unclear. The study examined the effect of RBD on WM alterations in PD progression.

Methods: The study included 45 PD patients with possible RBD (PD-pRBD), 38 PD patients without possible RBD (PD-npRBD), and 79 healthy controls (HC).

Longitudinal changes in white matter free water in cerebral small vessel disease: Relationship to cerebral blood flow and white matter fiber alterations.

White matter (WM) free water (FW) is a potential imaging marker for cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). This study aimed to characterize longitudinal changes in WM FW and investigate factors contributing to its elevation in CSVD. We included 80 CSVD patients and 40 normal controls (NCs) with multi-modality MRI data.

Unsupervised definition of two clinical subtypes of Essential tremor and the underlying brain topology.

Background: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most prevalent neurological diseases varying considerably in clinical manifestations and prognosis, which indicates the existence of subtypes. Identifying ET subtypes is crucial for explaining clinical heterogeneity. This study aimed to identify ET subtypes using unsupervised clustering analysis based on clinical manifestations and explore underlying brain topology within both functional and structural networks.

Spatiotemporal neurodegeneration of the substantia nigra and its connecting cortex and subcortex in Parkinson's disease.

Background And Purpose: Neurodegeneration is uneven in Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to investigate spatiotemporal neurodegeneration in functional subregions of the substantia nigra (SN) and their connected cortex and subcortex in people with PD.

Methods: A total of 120 patients with early-stage PD, 45 patients with advanced PD, and 120 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled.

The association of motor reserve and clinical progression in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To explore the association of motor reserve (MR) and clinical progression in Parkinson's disease.

Methods: This longitudinal study using data from the Parkinson's progression markers initiative. Patients with de novo PD who underwent dopamine transporter scans at baseline and finished at least five years clinical follow-up assessments (including motor, cognitive, and non-motor symptoms) were included.

Connectome-based predictive modelling of ageing, overall cognitive functioning and memory performance.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and brain functional connectome (we use 'brain connectome' hereafter for simplicity) have advanced our understanding of the ageing brain and age-related changes in cognitive function. Previous studies have investigated the association among brain connectome and age, global cognition, and memory function separately. However, very few have predicted age, overall cognitive functioning and memory performance in a single study to better understand their complex relationship.

Glymphatic system dysfunction and risk of clinical milestones in patients with Parkinson disease.

Background And Purpose: Glymphatic dysfunction may play a significant role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. We aimed to evaluate the association between glymphatic dysfunction and the risk of malignant event/clinical milestones in Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: This study included 236 patients from August 2014 to December 2020.

Progression of hippocampal subfield atrophy and asymmetry in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects the hippocampus during its progression, but the specific observable changes of hippocampal subfields during disease progression remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed an event-based model (EBM) to determine the sequence of occurrence of hippocampal subfield atrophy in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD cohorts. Subjects (207) were included: 86 MCI, 53 AD, and 68 healthy controls from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).

Contrastive machine learning reveals Parkinson's disease specific features associated with disease severity and progression.

Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibits heterogeneity in terms of symptoms and prognosis, likely due to diverse neuroanatomical alterations. This study employs a contrastive deep learning approach to analyze Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data from 932 PD patients and 366 controls, aiming to disentangle PD-specific neuroanatomical alterations. The results reveal that these neuroanatomical alterations in PD are correlated with individual differences in dopamine transporter binding deficit, neurodegeneration biomarkers, and clinical severity and progression.

Brain structure, amyloid, and behavioral features for predicting clinical progression in subjective cognitive decline.

As a potential preclinical stage of Alzheimer's dementia, subjective cognitive decline (SCD) reveals a higher risk of future cognitive decline and conversion to dementia. However, it has not been clear whether SCD status increases the clinical progression of older adults in the context of amyloid deposition, cerebrovascular disease (CeVD), and psychiatric symptoms. We identified 99 normal controls (NC), 15 SCD individuals who developed mild cognitive impairment in the next 2 years (P-SCD), and 54 SCD individuals who did not (S-SCD) from ADNI database with both baseline and 2-year follow-up data.

Long-term prosthetic-associated subclinical thrombotic events evaluation by cardiac CTA after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: incidence and outcomes.

Objective: To observe prosthetic-associated subclinical thrombotic events (PASTE) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) by cardiac CTA, and assess their impact on long-term patient outcomes.

Materials: We prospectively and consecutively enrolled 188 patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with TAVI from February 2014 to April 2017. At 5 years, 61 of 141 survived patients who had completed annual follow-up CTA (≥ 5 years) were included.

Assessing the Role of Locus Coeruleus Degeneration in Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease with Sleep Disorders.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the locus coeruleus (LC) in sleep-wake regulation. Both essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) share common sleep disorders, such as poor quality of sleep (QoS). LC pathology is a feature of both diseases.

Distinct patterns of voxel- and connection-based white matter hyperintensity distribution and associated factors in early-onset and late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: The distribution of voxel- and connection-based white matter hyperintensity (WMH) patterns in early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), as well as factors associated with these patterns, remain unclear.

Method: We analyzed the WMH distribution patterns in EOAD and LOAD at the voxel and connection levels, each compared with their age-matched cognitively unimpaired participants. Linear regression assessed the independent effects of amyloid and vascular risk factors on WMH distribution patterns in both groups.

Cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β and cerebral microbleed are associated with distinct neuropsychiatric sub-syndromes in cognitively impaired patients.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are prevalent in cognitively impaired individuals including Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Whereas several studies have reported the associations between NPS with AD pathologic biomarkers and cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), but it remains unknown whether AD pathology and SVD contribute to different sub-syndromes independently or aggravate same symptoms synergistically.

Method: We included 445 cognitively impaired individuals (including 316 MCI and 129 AD) with neuropsychiatric, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (Aβ42, p-tau, and t-tau) and multi-model MRI data.

Small vessel disease and cognitive reserve oppositely modulate global network redundancy and cognitive function: A study in middle-to-old aged community participants.

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) can disrupt the global brain network and lead to cognitive impairment. Conversely, cognitive reserve (CR) can improve one's cognitive ability to handle damaging effects like SVD, partly by optimizing the brain network's organization. Understanding how SVD and CR collectively influence brain networks could be instrumental in preventing cognitive impairment.

The longitudinal volumetric and shape changes of subcortical nuclei in Parkinson's disease.

Brain structural changes in Parkinson's disease (PD) are progressive throughout the disease course. Changes in surface morphology with disease progression remain unclear. This study aimed to assess the volumetric and shape changes of the subcortical nuclei during disease progression and explore their association with clinical symptoms.

Association between body mass index and glymphatic function using diffusion tensor image-along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Obesity is considered a risk factor for the development of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent studies have revealed that glymphatic function is compromised in PD patients. This study aims to investigate the impact of different body mass index (BMI) statuses on glymphatic system function in PD patients using the diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) method.

Differential influences of rest tremor on brain fiber architecture in essential tremor and Parkinson's disease.

Background: Rest tremor is a movement disorder commonly found in diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). Rest tremor typically shows slower progression in PD, but more severe progression in ET. However, the underlying white matter organization of rest tremor behind PD and ET remains unclear.

Microstructural alterations of the hypothalamus in Parkinson's disease and probable REM sleep behavior disorder.

Background: Whether there is hypothalamic degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) and its association with clinical symptoms and pathophysiological changes remains controversial.

Objectives: We aimed to quantify microstructural changes in hypothalamus using a novel deep learning-based tool in patients with PD and those with probable rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder (pRBD). We further assessed whether these microstructural changes associated with clinical symptoms and free thyroxine (FT4) levels.