Linking L2 proficiency and patterns of functional connectivity during L1 word retrieval.

Second language (L2) learners differ greatly in language proficiency, which is partially explained by variability in native language (L1) skills. The present fMRI study explored the neural underpinnings of the L1-L2 link. Twenty L2 learners completed a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) task that required retrieving words in L1.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement: MRI Signal Intensities of Different Body Tissues and Their Relations to Blood Metal Ion Levels.

Background: Metal-on-metal total hip prostheses (MoM-THR) have been shown to produce hypersensitivity reactions and fluid collection (pseudotumor) by the hip as well as high blood metal ions levels (BMILs).

Objectives: To evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in selected body tissues around the hip of patients who underwent MoM hip replacement and to correlate to BMILs.

Methods: Sixty-one MRI hip examinations in 54 post-MoM-THR patients (18 males, 36 females, mean age 65 years) were retrospectively evaluated independently by two readers.

Haptoglobin 1-1 Genotype Modulates the Association of Glycemic Control With Hippocampal Volume in Elderly Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.

Recent evidence suggests that glycemic control is associated with cognitive function in older patients with type 2 diabetes who are carriers of the haptoglobin (Hp) 1-1 genotype compared with noncarriers. We assessed whether poor glycemic control in Hp 1-1 carriers is more strongly associated with smaller hippocampal volume than in noncarriers. Hippocampal volume was generated from high-resolution structural T1 MRI obtained for 224 participants (28 Hp 1-1 carriers [12.

Cognitive Deficits Post-Traumatic Brain Injury and Their Association with Injury Severity and Gray Matter Volumes.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is known to have a substantial though highly variable impact on cognitive abilities. Due to the wide range of cognitive abilities among healthy individuals, an objective assessment of TBI-related cognitive loss requires an accurate measurement of pre-morbid cognitive performance. To address this problem, we recruited 50 adults who sustained a TBI and had performed a cognitive baseline assessment in adolescence as part of the aptitude tests mandated by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Long-term Variability in Glycemic Control Is Associated With White Matter Hyperintensities in APOE4 Genotype Carriers With Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: We assessed whether the apolipoprotein ε4 (APOE4) genotype affects the relationship of variability in long-term glycemic control (measured by HbA1c SD of multiple measurements) with white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: WMH volume was generated from structural T1 and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI in each subject. The analysis included 124 subjects; 27 (21.

Macrophages dictate the progression and manifestation of hypertensive heart disease.

Background: Inflammation has been implicated in the initiation, progression and manifestation of hypertensive heart disease. We sought to determine the role of monocytes/macrophages in hypertension and pressure overload induced left ventricular (LV) remodeling.

Methods And Results: We used two models of LV hypertrophy (LVH).

Bilateral total hip replacement: periprosthetic pseudotumor collections are more prevalent in metal-on-metal implants compared to non-metal-on-metal ones.

Background: Metal-on-metal (MoM) hip prostheses were shown to have high failure rates including the formation of periprosthetic cystic masses called periprosthetic pseudotumor collections (PPCs).

Purpose: To compare MRI prevalence and size of PPCs in patients after bilateral total-hip-replacement (THR) in which at least one hip was replaced by a MoM prosthesis.

Material And Methods: All sequential MRI examinations of patients with bilateral THR in which at least one is MoM (2010-2013) were retrospectively evaluated.

Injectable collagen implant improves survival, cardiac remodeling, and function in the early period after myocarditis in rats.

Aim: Despite clear evidence of immune system involvement in the pathogenesis of myocarditis, the treatment of myocarditis remains nonspecific and supportive. We sought to test the hypothesis that injection of a collagen-based implant into the inflamed myocardium would stabilize the left ventricular (LV) wall and prevent adverse remodeling and dysfunction.

Methods And Results: Autoimmune myocarditis was induced in 42 male Lewis rats.

Non-invasive assessment of experimental autoimmune myocarditis in rats using a 3 T clinical MRI scanner.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the use of a 3 T clinical cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) scanner to detect injury to the heart in experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM).

Methods And Results: The use of 3 T CMR for the detection of cardiac injury was assessed in EAM (n = 55) and control (n = 10) male Lewis rats. Animals were evaluated with serial CMR imaging studies, using a 3 T scanner, and with 2D echocardiography before, and at 2 and 5 weeks after EAM induction.

Mast cell inhibition attenuates myocardial damage, adverse remodeling, and dysfunction during fulminant myocarditis in the rat.

Background: Myocarditis is a life-threatening heart disease characterized by myocardial inflammation, necrosis, and chronic fibrosis. While mast cell inhibition has been suggested to prevent fibrosis in rat myocarditis, little is known about its effectiveness in attenuating cardiac remodeling and dysfunction in myocarditis. Thus, we sought to test the hypothesis that mast cell inhibition will attenuate the inflammatory reaction and associated left ventricular (LV) remodeling and dysfunction after fulminant autoimmune myocarditis.

Time-Resolved and Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Complex Cognitive Processes and their Role in Disorders like Developmental Dyscalculia.

The aim of this article is to report on the importance and challenges of a time-resolved and spatio-temporal analysis of fMRI data from complex cognitive processes and associated disorders using a study on developmental dyscalculia (DD). Participants underwent fMRI while judging the incorrectness of multiplication results, and the data were analyzed using a sequence of methods, each of which progressively provided more a detailed picture of the spatio-temporal aspect of this disease. Healthy subjects and subjects with DD performed alike behaviorally though they exhibited parietal disparities using traditional voxel-based group analyses.

Alternation learning in pathological gamblers: an fMRI Study.

Objectives: We have previously reported that pathological gamblers have impaired performance on the Stroop color word naming task, go-no-go task and speed accuracy tradeoff performance, tasks used to assess executive function and interference control. The aim of the present neuroimaging study was to explore the relationship between frontal cortex function and gambling severity in pathological gamblers.

Materials And Methods: Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to estimate brain activity of ten male medication-free pathological gamblers during performance of an alternation learning task.

Abnormal olfactory function demonstrated by manganese-enhanced MRI in mice with experimental neuropsychiatric lupus.

Mice with experimental neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE), induced by anti-ribosomal-P antibodies, developed depression-like behavior and a diminished sense of smell. Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) allows in vivo mapping of functional neuronal connections in the brain, including the olfactory tract. The aim of this study was to analyze and describe, via the MEMRI technique, the effect of the anti-ribosomal-P injection on the olfactory pathway.

Alteration learning in social anxiety disorder: an fMRI study.

The present study attempts to challenge the orbitofrontal cortex by using a learning paradigm which is specifically subserved by this cortical region. We implemented a version of alternation learning specifically designed for fMRI and assessed the cognitive performance and fMRI response in wide range of social anxiety disorder (SAD) severity (n=15). The main regions that were activated by the alternation learning task included portions of frontal and orbitofrontal cortex as well as the calcarine fissure.

A new method to record and control for 2D-movement kinematics during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The recording of movement kinematics during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments is complicated due to technical constraints of the imaging environment. Nevertheless, to study the functions of brain areas related to motor control, reliable and accurate records of movement trajectories and speed profiles are needed. We present a method designed to record and characterize the kinematic properties of drawing- and handwriting-like forearm movements during fMRI studies by recording pen stroke trajectories.

In vivo occipital-frontal temperature-gradient in schizophrenia patients and its possible association with psychopathology: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Background: Accumulating data suggest that schizophrenia patients' mental status might be modulated by their core/brain temperature. Hence, we intended to assess in vivo brain temperature (Tb) of schizophrenia patients vs. healthy subjects and to evaluate its potential association with patients' mental status.

Magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy in isolated sulfite oxidase deficiency.

Isolated sulfite oxidase deficiency is a rare genetic neurometabolic disease. The first symptoms of this disorder (similar to symptoms of ischemic events) may lead to misdiagnosis and to subsequent birth of affected children in these families. This study characterizes the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and (for the first time, to our knowledge) the MR spectroscopy features of isolated sulfite oxidase deficiency to provide a means for early and correct diagnosis.

Shape-selective stereo processing in human object-related visual areas.

Object related areas in the human ventral stream were previously shown to be activated, in a shape-selective manner, by luminance, motion, and texture cues. We report on the preferential activation of these areas by stereo cues defining shape. To assess the relationship of this activation to object recognition, we employed a perceptual stereo effect, which profoundly affects object recognition.