Amygdala real-time fMRI neurofeedback upregulation in treatment resistant depression: Proof of concept and dose determination.

Previous work has shown that adults suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) can increase their amygdala reactivity while recalling positive memories via real-time neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-nf) training, which is associated with reduction in depressive symptoms. This study investigated if this intervention could also be considered for patients suffering from MDD who do not respond to standard psychological and pharmacological interventions, i.e.

Recall of Autobiographical Memories Following Odor vs Verbal Cues Among Adults With Major Depressive Disorder.

Importance: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with deficits in autobiographical memory (AM) recall, which is thought to stem from disruptions in effortful recall. Understanding whether these deficits are mitigated when recall is stimulated more directly, such as by odor cues, could inform therapeutic interventions for MDD.

Objective: To evaluate whether deficits in specific AM recall in MDD are mitigated when odor cues vs word cues are used to prompt memory.

Enhanced efficacy of CBT following augmentation with amygdala rtfMRI neurofeedback in depression.

Background: Despite cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) being a standard treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD), nearly half of patients do not respond. As one of the predictors of CBT's efficacy is amygdala reactivity to positive information, which is often decreased in MDD, we explored whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training to increase amygdala responses during positive memory recall prior CBT would enhance its efficacy.

Methods: In a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial, 35 adults with MDD received two sessions of rtfMRI-nf training to increase their amygdala (experimental group, n = 16) or parietal (control group, n = 19) responses during positive memory neurofeedback prior to receiving 10 CBT sessions.

Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback training of amygdala upregulation increases affective flexibility in depression.

Background: Decreased affective flexibility is associated with depression symptoms, and it has been suggested that common interventions may target this mechanism. To explore this hypothesis, we evaluated whether real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training to increase the amygdala responses during positive memory recall resulted in both symptom improvements, as has been observed previously, and flexibility to decrease amygdala reactivity in response to a cognitive task among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, adults with MDD received 2 sessions of rtfMRI-nf training to increase their amygdala (experimental group) or parietal (control group) responses during positive autobiographical memory recall.

Effect of Age at Primary Intraocular Lens Implantation on Refractive Growth in Young Children.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of age at primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation on rate of refractive growth (RRG3) during childhood.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for children undergoing primary IOL implantation during cataract surgery. RRG3 was calculated for one eye from each patient using the first postoperative refraction, last refraction that remained stable (< 1.

Dopamine metabolite levels in the vitreous of diabetic and non-diabetic humans.

Animal studies suggest that the retinal dysfunction in diabetic subjects that precedes overt clinical vasculopathy may be due to a retinal dopamine deficit. We analyzed levels of dopamine (DA) and its primary metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), in the vitreous of diabetic and non-diabetic human subjects. Adult patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy for non-hemorrhagic indications were prospectively recruited from the Emory Eye Center in Atlanta, GA.

EFFECT OF LUBRICANTS ON CORNEAL THICKNESS AFTER VITRECTOMY.

Purpose: This study examines the impact of corneal surface lubricants used during pars plana vitrectomy on corneal edema.

Methods: This prospective, observational, clinical study occurred at an academic institution. Participants were individuals aged 18 years and older who had already consented to undergo pars plana vitrectomy, without pre-existing corneal pathology.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Endogenous Endophthalmitis: Eight-Year Experience at a Tertiary Care Center.

Purpose: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of endogenous endophthalmitis.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Participants: Patients with endogenous endophthalmitis.

Using a Deep Learning Algorithm and Integrated Gradients Explanation to Assist Grading for Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To understand the impact of deep learning diabetic retinopathy (DR) algorithms on physician readers in computer-assisted settings.

Design: Evaluation of diagnostic technology.

Participants: One thousand seven hundred ninety-six retinal fundus images from 1612 diabetic patients.

Linguistic analysis of the autobiographical memories of individuals with major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by biases in memory, attention, and cognition. The present study utilized the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to examine the content of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) recalled by individuals with MDD during an autobiographical memory task.

Methods: We examined various features of the text (including use of affective, cognitive, and self-referential terms), as well as their associations with clinical and cognitive features of MDD (depression severity, autobiographical memory specificity, amygdala activity), in 45 unmedicated adults with MDD compared to 61 healthy controls.

Differential sensory fMRI signatures in autism and schizophrenia: Analysis of amplitude and trial-to-trial variability.

Autism and schizophrenia share multiple phenotypic and genotypic markers, and there is ongoing debate regarding the relationship of these two disorders. To examine whether cortical dynamics are similar across these disorders, we directly compared fMRI responses to visual, somatosensory and auditory stimuli in adults with autism (N=15), with schizophrenia (N=15), and matched controls (N=15). All participants completed a one-back letter detection task presented at fixation (to control attention) while task-irrelevant sensory stimulation was delivered to the different modalities.

Fronto-Limbic Brain Dysfunction during the Regulation of Emotion in Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is characterized by significant and widespread impairments in the regulation of emotion. Evidence is only recently emerging regarding the neural basis of these emotion regulation impairments, and few studies have focused on the regulation of emotion during effortful cognitive processing. To examine the neural correlates of deficits in effortful emotion regulation, schizophrenia outpatients (N = 20) and age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers (N = 20) completed an emotional faces n-back task to assess the voluntary attentional control subprocess of emotion regulation during functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Functional neuroimaging to characterize visual system development in children with retinoblastoma.

Purpose: To use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate visual system development in children being treated for retinoblastoma.

Methods: Informed consent was obtained for all participants (N = 42) in this institutional review board-approved study. Participants were imaged with a 1.

Religious beliefs and quality of life in an American inner-city haemodialysis population.

Background: The ability to adapt to the long-term aspects of chronic haemodialysis is multifactorial and poorly understood. Given the many comorbidities of a patient on haemodialysis, religious beliefs may be an important factor in the patient's ability to cope.

Methods: End-stage renal disease patients in an inner-city American in-center haemodialysis unit were given two surveys to quantify their quality of life (KDQOL) and beliefs (Royal Free Score).