Reduced Cortical Excitability is Associated with Cognitive Symptoms in Concussed Adolescent Football Players.

Background: American tackle football is associated with high rates of concussion, leading to neurophysiological disturbances and debilitating clinical symptoms. Previous investigations of the neurophysiological effects of concussion have largely ignored aperiodic neurophysiological activity, which is a marker of cortical excitability.

Purpose: We examined whether concussion during a season of high school football is related to changes in aperiodic and periodic neurophysiological activity and whether any such changes are associated with clinical outcomes.

Insights into the use of biomarkers in clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease.

Biomarkers have been instrumental in population selection and disease monitoring in clinical trials of recently FDA-approved drugs targeting amyloid-β to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As new therapeutic strategies and biomarker techniques emerge, the importance of biomarkers in drug development is growing exponentially. In this emerging landscape, biomarkers are expected to serve a wide range of contexts of use in clinical trials focusing on AD and related dementias.

FMRI speech tracking in primary and non-primary auditory cortex while listening to noisy scenes.

Invasive and non-invasive electrophysiological measurements during "cocktail-party"-like listening indicate that neural activity in the human auditory cortex (AC) "tracks" the envelope of relevant speech. However, due to limited coverage and/or spatial resolution, the distinct contribution of primary and non-primary areas remains unclear. Here, using 7-Tesla fMRI, we measured brain responses of participants attending to one speaker, in the presence and absence of another speaker.

Brain Networks for Cortical Atrophy and Responsive Neurostimulation in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Importance: Drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been associated with hippocampal pathology. Most surgical treatment strategies, including resection and responsive neurostimulation (RNS), focus on this disease epicenter; however, imaging alterations distant from the hippocampus, as well as emerging data from responsive neurostimulation trials, suggest conceptualizing TLE as a network disorder.

Objective: To assess whether brain networks connected to areas of atrophy in the hippocampus align with the topography of distant neuroimaging alterations and RNS response.

Quantifying brain development in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study: The magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy protocol.

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. The acquisition of multimodal magnetic resonance-based brain development data is central to the study's core protocol. However, application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods in this population is complicated by technical challenges and difficulties of imaging in early life.

Prognostic factors for worsening and improvement in multiple sclerosis using a multistate model.

Background: The long-term disease trajectory of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can be improved by initiating efficacious treatment early. More quantitative evidence is needed on factors that affect a patient's risk of disability worsening or possibility of improvement to inform timely treatment decisions.

Methods: We developed a multistate model to quantify the influence of demographic, clinical, and imaging factors on disability worsening and disability improvement simultaneously across the disability spectrum as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

Posthospitalization COVID-19 cognitive deficits at 1 year are global and associated with elevated brain injury markers and gray matter volume reduction.

The spectrum, pathophysiology and recovery trajectory of persistent post-COVID-19 cognitive deficits are unknown, limiting our ability to develop prevention and treatment strategies. We report the 1-year cognitive, serum biomarker and neuroimaging findings from a prospective, national study of cognition in 351 COVID-19 patients who required hospitalization, compared with 2,927 normative matched controls. Cognitive deficits were global, associated with elevated brain injury markers and reduced anterior cingulate cortex volume 1 year after COVID-19.

Alpha transcranial alternating current stimulation as add-on to neglect training: a randomized trial.

Visuospatial neglect is a common and debilitating condition following unilateral stroke, significantly impacting cognitive functioning and daily life. There is an urgent need for effective treatments that can provide clinically relevant and sustained benefits. In addition to traditional stroke treatment, non-invasive brain stimulation, such as transcranial alternating current stimulation, shows promise as a complementary approach to enhance stroke recovery.

Synergistic association of Aβ and tau pathology with cortical neurophysiology and cognitive decline in asymptomatic older adults.

Animal and computational models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) indicate that early amyloid-β (Aβ) deposits drive neurons into a hyperactive regime, and that subsequent tau depositions manifest an opposite, suppressive effect as behavioral deficits emerge. Here we report analogous changes in macroscopic oscillatory neurophysiology in the human brain. We used positron emission tomography and task-free magnetoencephalography to test the effects of Aβ and tau deposition on cortical neurophysiology in 104 cognitively unimpaired older adults with a family history of sporadic AD.

Regional patterns of human cortex development correlate with underlying neurobiology.

Human brain morphology undergoes complex changes over the lifespan. Despite recent progress in tracking brain development via normative models, current knowledge of underlying biological mechanisms is highly limited. We demonstrate that human cortical thickness development and aging trajectories unfold along patterns of molecular and cellular brain organization, traceable from population-level to individual developmental trajectories.

Frequency and Longitudinal Course of Behavioral and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Participants With Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia.

Background And Objectives: Behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms are frequent in patients with genetic frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We aimed to describe behavioral and neuropsychiatric phenotypes in genetic FTD, quantify their temporal association, and investigate their regional association with brain atrophy.

Methods: We analyzed data of pathogenic variant carriers in the chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (), progranulin (), or microtubule-associated protein tau () gene from the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative cohort study that enrolls both symptomatic pathogenic variant carriers and first-degree relatives of known carriers.

Operatic voices engage the default mode network in professional opera singers.

Extensive research with musicians has shown that instrumental musical training can have a profound impact on how acoustic features are processed in the brain. However, less is known about the influence of singing training on neural activity during voice perception, particularly in response to salient acoustic features, such as the vocal vibrato in operatic singing. To address this gap, the present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses in trained opera singers and musically untrained controls listening to recordings of opera singers performing in two distinct styles: a full operatic voice with vibrato, and a straight voice without vibrato.

Ultra-high-resolution mapping of myelin and g-ratio in a panel of Mbp enhancer-edited mouse strains using microstructural MRI.

Non-invasive myelin water fraction (MWF) and g-ratio mapping using microstructural MRI have the potential to offer critical insights into brain microstructure and our understanding of neuroplasticity and neuroinflammation. By leveraging a unique panel of variably hypomyelinating mouse strains, we validated a high-resolution, model-free image reconstruction method for whole-brain MWF mapping. Further, by employing a bipolar gradient echo MRI sequence, we achieved high spatial resolution and robust mapping of MWF and g-ratio across the whole mouse brain.

Longitudinal Multiparametric Quantitative MRI Evaluation of Acute and Chronic Multiple Sclerosis Paramagnetic Rim Lesions.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) are markers of chronic active biology and exhibit complex iron and myelin changes that may complicate quantification when using conventional MRI approaches.

Purpose: To conduct a multiparametric MRI analysis of PRLs.

Study Type: Retrospective/longitudinal.

Oxytocin pathway gene variation and corticostriatal resting-state functional connectivity.

Genetic variations in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within oxytocin pathway genes have been linked to social behavior and neurodevelopmental conditions. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these associations remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the relationship between variations of 10 SNPs in oxytocin pathway genes and resting-state functional connectivity among 55 independent components using a large sample from the UK Biobank (N ≈ 30,000).

Differential increase of hippocampal subfield volume after socio-affective mental training relates to reductions in diurnal cortisol.

The hippocampus is a central modulator of the HPA-axis, impacting the regulation of stress on brain structure, function, and behavior. The current study assessed whether three different types of 3 months mental Training Modules geared towards nurturing (a) attention-based mindfulness, (b) socio-affective, or (c) socio-cognitive skills may impact hippocampal organization by reducing stress. We evaluated mental training-induced changes in hippocampal subfield volume and intrinsic functional connectivity, by combining longitudinal structural and resting-state fMRI connectivity analysis in 332 healthy adults.

Measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of fMRI preprocessing in fMRIPrep.

Computationally expensive data processing in neuroimaging research places demands on energy consumption-and the resulting carbon emissions contribute to the climate crisis. We measured the carbon footprint of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) preprocessing tool fMRIPrep, testing the effect of varying parameters on estimated carbon emissions and preprocessing performance. Performance was quantified using (a) statistical individual-level task activation in regions of interest and (b) mean smoothness of preprocessed data.

MULTIMODAL NEURAL CORRELATES OF CHILDHOOD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY.

Complex structural and functional changes occurring in typical and atypical development necessitate multidimensional approaches to better understand the risk of developing psychopathology. Here, we simultaneously examined structural and functional brain network patterns in relation to dimensions of psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset. Several components were identified, recapitulating the psychopathology hierarchy, with the general psychopathology () factor explaining most covariance with multimodal imaging features, while the internalizing, externalizing, and neurodevelopmental dimensions were each associated with distinct morphological and functional connectivity signatures.

Effects of four-week intranasal oxytocin administration on large-scale brain networks in older adults.

Oxytocin (OT) is a crucial modulator of social cognition and behavior. Previous work primarily examined effects of acute intranasal oxytocin administration (IN-OT) in younger males on isolated brain regions. Not well understood are (i) chronic IN-OT effects, (ii) in older adults, (iii) on large-scale brain networks, representative of OT's wider-ranging brain mechanisms.

Region-specific MRI predictors of surgical outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: In drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), it is not well-established in how far surgery should target morphological anomalies to achieve seizure freedom. Here, we assessed interactions between structural brain compromise and surgery to identify region-specific predictors of seizure outcome.

Methods: We obtained pre- and post-operative 3D T1-weighted MRI in 55 TLE patients who underwent selective amygdalo-hippocampectomy (SAH) or anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and 40 age and sex-matched healthy subjects.