Neurological Evidence of Diverse Self-Help Breathing Training With Virtual Reality and Biofeedback Assistance: Extensive Exploration Study of Electroencephalography Markers.

Background: Recent advancements in virtual reality (VR) and biofeedback (BF) technologies have opened new avenues for breathing training. Breathing training has been suggested as an effective means for mental disorders, but it is difficult to master the technique at the beginning. VR-BF technologies address the problem of breathing, and visualizing breathing may facilitate the learning of breathing training.

Yearly change in air pollution and brain aging among older adults: A community-based study in Taiwan.

Background: Air pollution is recognized as a modifiable risk factor for dementia, and recent evidence suggests that improving air quality could attenuate cognitive decline and reduce dementia risk. However, studies have yet to explore the effects of improved air quality on brain structures. This study aims to investigate the impact of air pollution reduction on cognitive functions and structural brain differences among cognitively normal older adults.

The Influence of Dynamic Taping on Landing Biomechanics after Fatigue in Young Football Athletes: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Crossover Trial.

Fatigue is believed to increase the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury by directly promoting high-risk biomechanics in the lower limbs. Studies have shown that dynamic taping can help normalize inadequate biomechanics during landings. This study aims to examine the effects of dynamic taping on landing biomechanics in fatigued football athletes.

Lack of effects of eight-week left dorsolateral prefrontal theta burst stimulation on white matter macro/microstructure and connection in autism.

Whether brain stimulation could modulate brain structure in autism remains unknown. This study explored the impact of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on white matter macro/microstructure in intellectually able children and emerging adults with autism. Sixty autistic participants were randomized (30 active) and received active or sham cTBS for eight weeks twice per week, 16 total sessions using a double-blind (participant-, rater-, analyst-blinded) design.

Cingulate white matter mediates the effects of fecal Ruminococcus on neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with amyloid-positive amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Background: Microbiota-gut-brain axis interacts with one another to regulate brain functions. However, whether the impacts of gut dysbiosis on limbic white matter (WM) tracts contribute to the neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in patients with amyloid-positive amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI+), have not been explored yet. This study aimed to investigate the mediation effects of limbic WM integrity on the association between gut microbiota and NPS in patients with aMCI+.

Brain computed tomography reading of stroke patients by resident doctors from different medical specialities: An eye-tracking study.

Background: Using the eye-tracking technique, our work aimed to examine whether difference in clinical background may affect the training outcome of resident doctors' interpretation skills and reading behaviour related to brain computed tomography (CT).

Methods: Twelve resident doctors in the neurology, radiology, and emergency departments were recruited. Each participant had to read CT images of the brain for two cases.

Subjective cognitive decline exhibits alterations of resting-state phase-amplitude coupling in precuneus.

Objective: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is associated with increased risks for progressing to Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) in individuals with SCD and healthy controls (HCs) in the baseline year and determined the predictability of cognitive changes in the clinical follow-up.

Methods: Resting-state magnetoencephalographic signals in 29 HCs and 23 SCD subjects were recorded in the baseline year.

Altered gut microbiota in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a case-control study.

Introduction: The microbiota-gut-brain axis is implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Gut microbiota alterations in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are inconsistent and remain to be understood. This study aims to investigate the gut microbial composition associated with MCI, cognitive functions, and structural brain differences.

A lack of efficacy of continuous theta burst stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in autism: A double blind randomized sham-controlled trial.

Although previous open-label trials suggest the therapeutic potential of inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), methodological caveats exist. We conducted an 8-week randomized, double-blind sham-controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS, a variant of rTMS) over the left DLPFC in individuals with ASD. Sixty children, adolescents and young adults (aged 8-30 years) with ASD without co-occurring intellectual disabilities were randomized to a 16-session 8-week cTBS versus sham stimulation course, with a follow-up 4 weeks after the trial.

The impact of patient factors and tumor characteristics on language neuroplasticity in left hemispheric diffuse gliomas prior to surgical resection.

Purpose: Language networks are reorganized during glioma growth, leading to varying language performance in patients with gliomas located in or around language-eloquent areas. Therefore, pre-treated language performance reflects the neuroplasticity potential. Different domains of language processing, such as speech expression, repetition, and comprehension, involving different neural networks.

Interoceptive awareness: MBSR training alters information processing of salience network.

Mindfulness refers to a mental state of awareness of internal experience without judgment. Studies have suggested that each mindfulness practice may involve a unique mental state, but the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. Here we examined how distinct mindfulness practices after mindfulness-based intervention alter brain functionality.

Improving the brain image resolution of generalized q-sampling MRI revealed by a three-dimensional CNN-based method.

Background: Understanding neural connections facilitates the neuroscience and cognitive behavioral research. There are many nerve fiber intersections in the brain that need to be observed, and the size is between 30 and 50 nanometers. Improving image resolution has become an important issue for mapping the neural connections non-invasively.

Enhanced electroencephalography effective connectivity in frontal low-gamma band correlates of emotional regulation after mindfulness training.

Practicing mindfulness, focusing attention on the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment with open and nonjudgement stance, can lead to the development of emotional regulation skills. Yet, the effective connectivity of brain regions during mindfulness has been largely unexplored. Studies have shown that mindfulness practice promotes functional connectivity in practitioners, potentially due to improved emotional regulation abilities and increased connectivity in the lateral prefrontal areas.

Lack of effects of four-week theta burst stimulation on white matter macro/microstructure in children and adolescents with autism.

Following the published behavioral and cognitive results of this single-blind parallel sham-controlled randomized clinical trial, the current study aimed to explore the impact of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a variant of excitatory transcranial magnetic stimulation, over the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulci (pSTS) on white matter macro/microstructure in intellectually able children and adolescents with autism. Participants were randomized and blindly received active or sham iTBS for 4 weeks (the single-blind sham-controlled phase). Then, all participants continued to receive active iTBS for another 4 weeks (the open-label phase).

Differences in gray matter volumes of subcortical nuclei between major depressive disorder with and without persistent depressive disorder.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the differences in gray matter volumes (GMVs) of subcortical nuclei between major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with and without persistent depressive disorder (PDD) at long-term follow-up.

Methods: 114 and 94 subjects with MDD, including 48 and 41 with comorbid PDD, were enrolled to undergo high-resolution T1-weighted imaging at first (FIP) and second (three years later, SIP) investigation points, respectively. FreeSurfer was used to extract the GMVs of seven subcortical nuclei, and Generalized Estimating Equation models were employed to estimate the differences in GMVs of subcortical nuclei between the two subgroups.

Mild simulator sickness can alter heart rate variability, mental workload, and learning outcomes in a 360° virtual reality application for medical education: a post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Virtual reality (VR) applications could be beneficial for education, training, and treatment. However, VR may induce symptoms of simulator sickness (SS) such as difficulty focusing, difficulty concentrating, or dizziness that could impair autonomic nervous system function, affect mental workload, and worsen interventional outcomes. In the original randomized controlled trial, which explored the effectiveness of using a 360° VR video versus a two-dimensional VR video to learn history taking and physical examination skills, only the former group participants had SS.

The Neurobiological Basis of Love: A Meta-Analysis of Human Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Maternal and Passionate Love.

Maternal and passionate love are both crucial for reproduction and involve attachment behaviors with high rewards. Neurobiological studies of attachment in animal and human neuroimaging studies have suggested that the coordination of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic pathways, coupled with the dopaminergic reward system, contribute to the formation and maintenance of maternal and passionate love. In the present study, we carried out a quantitative meta-analysis of human neuroimaging to identify common and dissociable neural substrates associated with maternal and passionate love, using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach.

Automated Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment by Machine Learning With Hippocampus-Related White Matter Network.

Background: Detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is essential to screen high risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, subtle changes during MCI make it challenging to classify in machine learning. The previous pathological analysis pointed out that the hippocampus is the critical hub for the white matter (WM) network of MCI.

Age-Related Differences in the Neural Processing of Idioms: A Positive Perspective.

We examined whether older adults benefit from a larger mental-lexicon size and world knowledge to process idioms, one of few abilities that do not stop developing until later adulthood. Participants viewed four-character sequences presented one at a time that combined to form (1) frequent idioms, (2) infrequent idioms, (3) random sequences, or (4) perceptual controls, and judged whether the four-character sequence was an idiom. Compared to their younger counterparts, older adults had higher accuracy for frequent idioms and equivalent accuracy for infrequent idioms.

Reduced Sleep Quality Is Related to Poor Quality of Life in Patients with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy, a Case-Control Study.

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a primary generalized epilepsy which is closely related to the sleep-wake cycle. This study aimed to investigate whether sleep disturbance is more common among patients with JME and the impact this may have on their quality of life (QOL). Thirty-four patients with JME and age- and gender-matched controls were recruited into this case control study, and assessed using validated sleep questionnaires including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS).

Reduced Inter-Voxel White Matter Integrity in Subjective Cognitive Decline: Diffusion Tensor Imaging With Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Analysis.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), a self-reported worsening in cognition concurrent with normal performance on standardized neuropsychological tests, has gained much attention due to its high risks in the development of mild cognitive impairments or Alzheimer's disease. The existing cross-sectional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies in SCD have shown extremely controversial findings. Furthermore, all of these studies investigated diffusion properties within the voxel, such as fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, or axial diffusivity (DA).