Concurrent single-pulse (sp) TMS/fMRI to reveal the causal connectome in healthy and patient populations.

Neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience studies have identified neural circuits linked to anxiety, mood, and trauma-related symptoms and focused on their interaction with the medial prefrontal default mode circuitry. Despite these advances, developing new neuromodulatory treatments based on neurocircuitry remains challenging. It remains unclear which nodes within and controlling these circuits are affected and how their impairment is connected to psychiatric symptoms.

Increased anti-correlation between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the default mode network following Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT): analysis of a double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled trial.

SNT is a high-dose accelerated intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) protocol coupled with functional-connectivity-guided targeting that is an efficacious and rapid-acting therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). We used resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) data from a double-blinded sham-controlled randomized controlled trial to reveal the neural correlates of SNT-based symptom improvement. Neurobehavioral data were acquired at baseline, post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up.

Surface-based morphometry of the corpus callosum in young children of ages 1-5.

The corpus callosum (CC) is a large white matter fiber bundle in the brain and is involved in various cognitive, sensory, and motor processes. While implicated in various developmental and psychiatric disorders, much is yet to be uncovered about the normal development of this structure, especially in young children. Additionally, while sexual dimorphism has been reported in prior literature, observations have not necessarily been consistent.

White matter tract changes in pediatric posterior fossa brain tumor survivors after surgery and chemotherapy.

Background: Survivors of pediatric posterior fossa brain tumors are susceptible to the adverse effects of treatment as they grow into adulthood. While the exact neurobiological mechanisms of these outcomes are not yet understood, the effects of treatment on white matter (WM) tracts in the brain can be visualized using diffusion tensor (DT) imaging. We investigated these WM microstructural differences using the statistical method tract-specific analysis (TSA).

NEC-NET : Segmentation and Feature Extraction Network for the Neurocranium in Early Childhood.

In early life, the neurocranium undergoes rapid changes to accommodate the expanding brain. Neurocranial maturation can be disrupted by developmental abnormalities and environmental factors such as sleep position. To establish a baseline for the early detection of anomalies, it is important to understand how this structure typically grows in healthy children.

Developmental changes of the central sulcus morphology in young children.

The human brain grows rapidly in early childhood, reaching 95% of its final volume by age 6. Understanding brain growth in childhood is important both to answer neuroscience questions about anatomical changes in development, and as a comparison metric for neurological disorders. Metrics for neuroanatomical development including cortical measures pertaining to the sulci can be instrumental in early diagnosis, monitoring, and intervention for neurological diseases.

Neurocranium thickness mapping in early childhood.

The neurocranium changes rapidly in early childhood to accommodate the growing brain. Developmental disorders and environmental factors such as sleep position may lead to abnormal neurocranial maturation. Therefore, it is important to understand how this structure develops, in order to provide a baseline for early detection of anomalies.

Structural neuroimaging.

Characterizing the neuroanatomical correlates of brain development is essential in understanding brain-behavior relationships and neurodevelopmental disorders. Advances in brain MRI acquisition protocols and image processing techniques have made it possible to detect and track with great precision anatomical brain development and pediatric neurologic disorders. In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of the modern neuroimaging techniques for pediatric brain development and review key normal brain development studies.

Image Postprocessing Adoption Trends in Clinical Medical Imaging.

There is an increased consensus in the medical and research community about the huge benefits quantitative imaging can bring to radiology. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, approximately 80 million CT and 34 million MRI scans are performed yearly in the United States alone, and the vast majority are currently evaluated through visual inspection. However, quantitative imaging can greatly reduce the burden on radiologists, by diminishing read time and improving diagnostic accuracy.

Central sulcus depth and sulcal profile differences between congenitally blind and sighted individuals.

We used BrainVisa software in an exploratory analysis measuring the depth and sulcal profile of the central sulci of congenitally blind and sighted individuals. We found the greatest differences between the groups at locations on the central sulcus corresponding with the pli de passage fronto-parietal moyen (PPFM), suggesting a cortical reorganization of the primary sensorimotor area of the hand within the central sulcus. This may be in response to the congenitally blind individuals' mastery of Braille or general increase of hand use in everyday life.

Central sulcus development in early childhood.

Mapping out the development of the brain in early childhood is a critical part of understanding neurological disorders. The brain grows rapidly in early life, reaching 95% of the final volume by age 6. A normative atlas containing structural parameters that indicate development would be a powerful tool in understanding the progression of neurological diseases.

Cranial thickness changes in early childhood.

The neurocranium changes rapidly in early childhood to accommodate the developing brain. However, developmental disorders may cause abnormal growth of the neurocranium, the most common one being craniosynostosis, affecting about 1 in 2000 children. It is important to understand how the brain and neurocranium develop together to understand the role of the neurocranium in neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Feature selective temporal prediction of Alzheimer's disease progression using hippocampus surface morphometry.

Introduction: Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression based on baseline measures allows us to understand disease progression and has implications in decisions concerning treatment strategy. To this end, we combine a predictive multi-task machine learning method (cFSGL) with a novel MR-based multivariate morphometric surface map of the hippocampus (mTBM) to predict future cognitive scores of patients.

Methods: Previous work has shown that a multi-task learning framework that performs prediction of all future time points simultaneously (cFSGL) can be used to encode both sparsity as well as temporal smoothness.

A T1 and DTI fused 3D corpus callosum analysis in MCI subjects with high and low cardiovascular risk profile.

Understanding the extent to which vascular disease and its risk factors are associated with prodromal dementia, notably Alzheimer's disease (AD), may enhance predictive accuracy as well as guide early interventions. One promising avenue to determine this relationship consists of looking for reliable and sensitive imaging methods capable of characterizing the subtle brain alterations before the clinical manifestations. However, little is known from the imaging perspective about how risk factors such as vascular disease influence AD progression.

Putamen Development in Children 12 to 21 Months Old.

We studied the developmental trajectory of the putamen in 13-21 months old children using multivariate surface tensor-based morphometry. Our results indicate surface changes between 12 and 15 months' age groups in the middle superior part the left putamen. The growth of the left putamen at earlier ages slows down after 15 months.

Characterization of the central sulcus in the brain in early childhood.

Characterization of the developing brain during early childhood is of interest for both neuroscience and medicine, and in particular, is key to understanding what goes wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders. In particular, the cortex grows rapidly in the first 3 years of life, and creating a normative atlas can provide a comparison tool to diagnose disorders at an early stage, thereby empowering early interventional therapies. Zooming in on specific sulci may provide additional targeted information, and notably, an understanding of central sulcus growth can provide important insight on the development of laterality.

A T1 and DTI fused 3D Corpus Callosum analysis in pre- vs. post-season contact sports players.

Sports related traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a worldwide public health issue, and damage to the corpus callosum (CC) has been considered as an important indicator of TBI. However, contact sports players suffer repeated hits to the head during the course of a season even in the absence of diagnosed concussion, and less is known about their effect on callosal anatomy. In addition, T1-weighted and diffusion tensor brain magnetic resonance images (DTI) have been analyzed separately, but a joint analysis of both types of data may increase statistical power and give a more complete understanding of anatomical correlates of subclinical concussions in these athletes.

Fiber estimation and tractography in diffusion MRI: development of simulated brain images and comparison of multi-fiber analysis methods at clinical b-values.

Advances in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) have led to many alternative diffusion sampling strategies and analysis methodologies. A common objective among methods is estimation of white matter fiber orientations within each voxel, as doing so permits in-vivo fiber-tracking and the ability to study brain connectivity and networks. Knowledge of how DW-MRI sampling schemes affect fiber estimation accuracy, tractography and the ability to recover complex white-matter pathways, differences between results due to choice of analysis method, and which method(s) perform optimally for specific data sets, all remain important problems, especially as tractography-based studies become common.

The Power of Hybrid/Fusion Imaging Metrics in Future PACS Systems: A Case Study into the White Matter Hyperintensity Prenumbra using FLAIR and Diffusion MR.

Most white matter related neurological disease exhibit a large number of White Matter Hyperintensities (WMHs) on FLAIR MRI images. However, these lesions are not well understood. At the same time, Diffusion MRI has been gaining popularity as a powerful method of characterizing White Matter (WM) integrity.

Mapping of ApoE4 Related White Matter Damage using Diffusion MRI.

ApoliopoproteinE 4 (ApoE-4) polymorphism is the most well known genetic risk factor for developing Alzheimers Disease. The exact mechanism through which ApoE 4 increases AD risk is not fully known, but may be related to decreased clearance and increased oligomerization of A. By making measurements of white matter integrity via diffusion MR and correlating the metrics in a voxel-based statistical analysis with ApoE-4 genotype (whilst controlling for vascular risk factor, gender, cognitive status and age) we are able to identify changes in white matter associated with carrying an ApoE 4 allele.

Evaluating the Predictive Power of Multivariate Tensor-based Morphometry in Alzheimers Disease Progression via Convex Fused Sparse Group Lasso.

Prediction of Alzheimers disease (AD) progression based on baseline measures allows us to understand disease progression and has implications in decisions concerning treatment strategy. To this end we combine a predictive multi-task machine learning method with novel MR-based multivariate morphometric surface map of the hippocampus to predict future cognitive scores of patients. Previous work by Zhou et al.

Neuroimaging changes in the brain in contact versus noncontact sport athletes using diffusion tensor imaging.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury in contact sports has significant impact on short-term neurologic and neurosurgical function as well as longer-term cognitive disability. In this study, we aim to demonstrate that contact sport participants exhibit differences in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) caused by repeated physical impacts on the brain. We also aim to determine that impact incurred by the contact sports athletes during the season may result in the differences between the pre- and postseason DTI scans.