Sex differences in brain-behavior relationships in the first two years of life.

Background: Evidence for sex differences in cognition in childhood is established, but less is known about the underlying neural mechanisms for these differences. Recent findings suggest the existence of brain-behavior relationship heterogeneities during infancy; however, it remains unclear whether sex underlies these heterogeneities during this critical period when sex-related behavioral differences arise.

Methods: A sample of 316 infants was included with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at neonate (3 weeks), 1, and 2 years of age.

Sex differences in resting state functional connectivity across the first two years of life.

Sex differences in behavior have been reported from infancy through adulthood, but little is known about sex effects on functional circuitry in early infancy. Moreover, the relationship between early sex effects on the functional architecture of the brain and later behavioral performance remains to be elucidated. In this study, we used resting-state fMRI and a novel heatmap analysis to examine sex differences in functional connectivity with cross-sectional and longitudinal mixed models in a large cohort of infants (n = 319 neonates, 1-, and 2-year-olds).

Sensitivity of functional connectivity to periaqueductal gray localization, with implications for identifying disease-related changes in chronic visceral pain: A MAPP Research Network neuroimaging study.

Previous studies examining the resting-state functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) in chronic visceral pain have localized PAG coordinates derived from BOLD responses to provoked acute pain. These coordinates appear to be several millimeters anterior of the anatomical location of the PAG. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether measures of PAG functional connectivity are sensitive to the localization technique, and if the localization approach has an impact on detecting disease-related differences in chronic visceral pain patients.

Motor cortical neuromodulation of pelvic floor muscle tone: Potential implications for the treatment of urologic conditions.

Aims: In the human brain, supplementary motor area (SMA) is involved in the control of pelvic floor muscles (PFMs). SMA dysfunction has been implicated in several disorders involving PFMs, including urinary incontinence and urologic pain. Here, we aimed to provide a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate the feasibility of modulating resting PFM activity (tone) as well as SMA activity with noninvasive stimulation of SMA.