Aberrant modular segregation of brain networks in female patients with bulimia nervosa.

Objective: Bulimia nervosa (BN) is an eating disorder associated with the dysfunction of intrinsic brain networks. However, whether the network disruptions in BN patients manifest as dysconnectivity or imbalances of network modular segregation remains unclear.

Method: We collected data from 41 women with BN and 41 matched healthy control (HC) women.

Eight-week antidepressant treatment changes intrinsic functional brain topology in first-episode drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: A recent study revealed disrupted topological organization of whole-brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD); however, these results were mostly driven by recurrent MDD patients, rather than first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) patients. Furthermore, few longitudinal studies have explored the effects of antidepressant therapy on the topological organization of whole-brain networks.

Methods: We collected clinical and neuroimaging data from 159 FEDN MDD patients and 152 normal controls (NCs).

Neural correlates of the effect of implementation intention on prospective memory.

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to do something in the future. Implementation intention refers to a self-regulatory strategy in the form of "If …, then …" planning that can improve PM performance. However, the neural basis of the effect of implementation intention on PM remains unclear, as do the phases of PM that are affected by implementation intention.

Improving motivation through real-time fMRI-based self-regulation of the nucleus accumbens.

Objective: Impaired nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation is associated with amotivation and anhedonia, which are resistant to treatment with antipsychotics and antidepressants in schizophrenia. In this study, healthy participants were trained to self-regulate the activation of their NAcc, a brain region that plays an important role in motivation, using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback.

Method: The experimental group ( = 19) received feedback from the NAcc, whereas the control group ( = 5) received "sham" feedback from the posterior parahippocampal gyrus, a control brain region not normally related to motivation.

Neural correlates of audiovisual sensory integration.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the neural basis of information matching during sensory integration using a spatial-temporal matching task in healthy individuals.

Method: A total of 37 healthy participants were recruited to match spatial dots with an auditory tone sequence in a 3T GE Discovery MR750 scanner. In addition, they were examined with the sensory integration subscale of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory.

Neural mechanism and heritability of complex motor sequence and audiovisual integration: A healthy twin study.

Complex motor sequencing and sensory integration are two key items in scales assessing neurological soft signs. However, the underlying neural mechanism and heritability of these two functions is not known. Using a healthy twin design, we adopted two functional brain imaging tasks focusing on fist-edge-palm (FEP) complex motor sequence and audiovisual integration (AVI).

Altered intrinsic functional brain architecture in female patients with bulimia nervosa.

Background: Bulimia nervosa is a severe psychiatric syndrome with uncertain pathogenesis. Neural systems involved in sensorimotor and visual processing, reward and impulsive control may contribute to the binge eating and purging behaviours characterizing bulimia nervosa. However, little is known about the alterations of functional organization of whole brain networks in individuals with this disorder.

The neural transfer effect of working memory training to enhance hedonic processing in individuals with social anhedonia.

Anhedonia, the diminished ability to experience pleasure, is a challenging negative symptom in patients with schizophrenia and can be observed in at-risk individuals with schizotypy. Deficits in hedonic processing have been postulated to be related to decreased motivation to engage in potentially rewarding events. It remains unclear whether non-pharmacological interventions, such as cognitive training, could improve anhedonia.

Distinguishing bipolar and major depressive disorders by brain structural morphometry: a pilot study.

Background: The clinical presentation of common symptoms during depressive episodes in bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) poses challenges for accurate diagnosis. Disorder-specific neuroanatomical features may aid the development of reliable discrimination between these two clinical conditions.

Methods: For our sample of 16 BD patients, 19 MDD patients and 29 healthy volunteers, we adopted vertex-wise cortical based brain imaging techniques to examine cortical thickness and surface area, two components of cortical volume with distinct genetic determinants.

Interhemispheric Connectivity in Drug-Naive Benign Childhood Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes: Combining Function and Diffusion MRI.

Decreased intelligence quotients (IQ) have been consistently reported in drug-naive benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS). We aimed to identify the neurophysiological basis of IQ deficits by studying interhemispheric and anatomical functional connectivity in BECTS patients. Resting-state functional and structural magnetic resonance images were acquired in 32 children with BECTS and 25 healthy controls.

Anticipatory pleasure predicts effective connectivity in the mesolimbic system.

Convergent evidence suggests the important role of the mesolimbic pathway in anticipating monetary rewards. However, the underlying mechanism of how the sub-regions interact with each other is still not clearly understood. Using dynamic causal modeling, we constructed a reward-related network for anticipating monetary reward using the Monetary Incentive Delay Task.

Distinct processing of social and monetary rewards in late adolescents with trait anhedonia.

Objective: Anticipatory and consummatory dissociation of hedonic experience may manifest as trait anhedonia in healthy and clinical populations. It is still unclear whether the underlying neural mechanisms of the monetary-based and affect-based incentive delay paradigms are distinct from each other. The present study aimed to examine the similarities and differences between the Affect Incentive Delay (AID) and the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) imaging paradigms in relation to brain activations.

Local Activity and Causal Connectivity in Children with Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes.

The aim of the current study was to localize the epileptic focus and characterize its causal relation with other brain regions, to understand the cognitive deficits in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in 37 children with BECTS and 25 children matched for age, sex and educational achievement. We identified the potential epileptogenic zone (EZ) by comparing the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of spontaneous blood oxygenation level dependent fMRI signals between the groups.

Neural correlates of prospective memory in individuals with schizotypal personality features.

Objective: Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to perform actions in the future. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders show impairments in PM but neural correlates of these impairments remain unclear. The present study aimed to examine brain activation during PM to identify impairments in individuals with schizotypal personality features.

Interhemispheric functional connectivity and its relationships with clinical characteristics in major depressive disorder: a resting state fMRI study.

Background: Abnormalities in large-scale, structural and functional brain connectivity have been increasingly reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, MDD-related alterations in functional interaction between the cerebral hemispheres are still not well understood. Resting state fMRI, which reveals spontaneous neural fluctuations in blood oxygen level dependent signals, provides a means to detect interhemispheric functional coherence.

Cerebral activation during unilateral clenching in patients with temporomandibular joint synovitis and biting pain: an functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Functional magnetic resonance is a non-invasive method that can examine brain activity and has been widely used in various fields including jaw movement and pain processing. Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is one of the most frequent facial pain problems. The objective of this study was to investigate the brain activities using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during unilateral maximal voluntary clenching tasks in the TMD synovitis patients with biting pain.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging activation of the brain in children: real acupoint versus sham acupoint.

The purpose was to examine the brain activation patterns with acupuncture using real acupoint (Liv3) versus sham acupoint in healthy, sedated children using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain for 10 healthy, sedated children were taken during stimulation of real acupoint (Liv3 [Taichong]) and a nearby sham acupoint in a randomized order, employing twisting and nontwisting methods using a blocked paradigm using a 2.0-T scanner.

[Investigation on disc position of the temporomandibular joint in asymptomatic volunteers by magnetic resonance imaging].

Objective: To investigate the types of disc position of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and their relationship with age and gender in asymptomatic volunteers by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: A total of 100 asymptomatic volunteers were divided into 5 groups (11-, 21-, 31-, 41-, 51 - 60 years old), 10 male and 10 female were included in each group. A total of 200 TMJs were scanned with Siemens Trio Tim 3.

Effect of acupuncture on the brain in children with spastic cerebral palsy using functional neuroimaging (FMRI).

We study the effect of acupuncture on brain activation patterns in children with cerebral palsy using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI of the whole brain was performed in 11 children with cerebral palsy and 10 healthy children during stimulation of a common acupoint in Traditional Medicine [Liv3 (Taichong)] on the left foot. We use both twisting and nontwisting methods with a blocked paradigm on a 2.

[Effect of chewing-side preference on activation of parahippocampal gyrus during clenching task].

Objective: To explore effects of chewing-side preference (CSP) on cerebral cortical response during clenching task with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods: Seven patients with left CSP and 7 patients with right CSP were selected to perform the maximum voluntary clenching in intercuspal position, and block designed blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI scan covering the whole brain was carried out.

Results: There was activation in the parahippocampal gyrus in the four patients among seven with left CSP.

Differences between attention-deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity: a 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to investigate possible neurometabolic differences between the predominantly inattentive subtype (ADHD-I), the combined subtype (ADHD-C) and normal controls. Proton spectra were acquired bilaterally on the lenticular nucleus in 20 schoolboys having ADHD and 10 matched controls. The boys with ADHD were divided into ADHD-C subtype (n=10) and ADHD-I subtype (n=10) according to DSM-IV criteria.

[The biochemical changes of hippocampus in patients before and after denture restoration: a preliminary 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy study].

Objective: To study the effects of reconstruction of lost occlusal support on the biochemical changes of nervous system.

Methods: The changes of central nervous system metabolic compounds within hippocampus body were measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)HMRS) before and after denture restoration (six weeks) in seven patients with prolonged loss of occlusal support.

Results: (1)HMRS indicated that Cho/Cr decreased by 11.

Functional MRI in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: evidence for hypofrontality.

Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the Stroop effect on both behavioral and brain activation of ADHD children off or on methylphenidate (MPH). Nine ADHD boys (aged 9.8-14.

Evidence from brain imaging with fMRI supporting functional specificity of acupoints in humans.

We tested whether the stimulation of acupoints in the same spinal segments could induce different central responses with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Stimulation of acupoints ST36/SP6 (Zusanli/Sanyinjiao) or GB34/BL57 (Yanglingquan/Chengshan) both activated primary and secondary somatosensory area, insula, ventral thalamus, parietal Brodmann Area 40, temporal lobe, putamen, and cerebellum, while de-activated amygdala. Nevertheless, ST36/SP6 stimulation specifically activated orbital frontal cortex and de-activated hippocampus.

Modulation of cold pain in human brain by electric acupoint stimulation: evidence from fMRI.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the modulation of pain responses in the human brain by electric acupoint stimulation (EAS). Eight healthy subjects were enrolled; each received real or mock EAS treatment in separate sessions. Cool (18 degrees C) and cold (2 degrees C) stimuli were delivered, during which functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed, before and after treatment.