Retinotopic fMRI Reveals Visual Dysfunction and Functional Reorganization in the Visual Cortex of Mild to Moderate Glaucoma Patients.

Purpose: To investigate retinotopic functional representation in the visual cortex of mild to moderate primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) participants and age-matched normal volunteers using high-resolution retinotopic blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods: fMRI was performed on 9 POAG participants (61±11 y old) and 9 age-matched controls (58±5 y old) were studied. A wide-view visual presentation (±55 degrees) was used to evaluate central and peripheral vision.

The heterogeneity of the left dorsal premotor cortex evidenced by multimodal connectivity-based parcellation and functional characterization.

Despite the common conception of the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) as a single brain region, its diverse connectivity profiles and behavioral heterogeneity argue for a differentiated organization of the PMd. A previous study revealed that the right PMd is characterized by a rostro-caudal and a ventro-dorsal distinction dividing it into five subregions: rostral, central, caudal, ventral and dorsal. The present study assessed whether a similar organization is present in the left hemisphere, by capitalizing on a multimodal data-driven approach combining connectivity-based parcellation (CBP) based on meta-analytic modeling, resting-state functional connectivity, and probabilistic diffusion tractography.

White Matter Tract Pathology in Pediatric Anoxic Brain Injury from Drowning.

Background And Purpose: Although drowning is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in young children, the neuropathologic consequences have not been fully determined. The purpose of this article was to quantitatively characterize white matter microstructural abnormalities in pediatric anoxic brain injury from nonfatal drowning and investigate the correlation with motor function.

Materials And Methods: Whole-brain T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted MR imaging datasets were acquired in 11 children with chronic anoxic brain injury and 11 age- and sex-matched neurotypical controls (4-12 years of age).

Preadolescent sensation seeking and early adolescent stress relate to at-risk adolescents' substance use by age 15.

Background And Aims: Substance use during adolescence can lead to the development of substance use disorders and other psychosocial problems. These negative outcomes are especially likely for individuals who use substances at earlier ages and those who engage in heavier use during adolescence, behaviors which are both more common among youth at higher risk for developing a substance use disorder, such as those with a family history of substance use disorders (FH+). Factors such as increased sensation seeking and greater exposure to stressors among FH+ youth may influence these associations.

Correspondent Functional Topography of the Human Left Inferior Parietal Lobule at Rest and Under Task Revealed Using Resting-State fMRI and Coactivation Based Parcellation.

The human left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) plays a pivotal role in many cognitive functions and is an important node in the default mode network (DMN). Although many previous studies have proposed different parcellation schemes for the LIPL, the detailed functional organization of the LIPL and the exact correspondence between the DMN and LIPL subregions remain unclear. Mounting evidence indicates that spontaneous fluctuations in the brain are strongly associated with cognitive performance at the behavioral level.

Cardiac remodelling in a baboon model of intrauterine growth restriction mimics accelerated ageing.

Key Points: Rodent models of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) successfully identify mechanisms that can lead to short-term and long-term detrimental cardiomyopathies but differences between rodent and human cardiac physiology and placental-fetal development indicate a need for models in precocial species for translation to human development. We developed a baboon model for IUGR studies using a moderate 30% global calorie restriction of pregnant mothers and used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate offspring heart function in early adulthood. Impaired diastolic and systolic cardiac function was observed in IUGR offspring with differences between male and female subjects, compared to their respective controls.

Differential Regulation of Macrophage Glucose Metabolism by Macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor: Implications for F FDG PET Imaging of Vessel Wall Inflammation.

Purpose To determine the divergence of immunometabolic phenotypes of macrophages stimulated with macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and granulocyte-M-CSF (GM-CSF) and its implications for fluorine 18 (F) fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) imaging of atherosclerosis. Materials and Methods This study was approved by the animal care committee. Uptake of 2-deoxyglucose and various indexes of oxidative and glycolytic metabolism were evaluated in nonactivated murine peritoneal macrophages (MΦ) and macrophages stimulated with M-CSF (MΦ) or GM-CSF (MΦ).

Altered Brain Activity in Unipolar Depression Revisited: Meta-analyses of Neuroimaging Studies.

Importance: During the past 20 years, numerous neuroimaging experiments have investigated aberrant brain activation during cognitive and emotional processing in patients with unipolar depression (UD). The results of those investigations, however, vary considerably; moreover, previous meta-analyses also yielded inconsistent findings.

Objective: To readdress aberrant brain activation in UD as evidenced by neuroimaging experiments on cognitive and/or emotional processing.

Multimodal Randomized Functional MR Imaging of the Effects of Methylene Blue in the Human Brain.

Purpose To investigate the sustained-attention and memory-enhancing neural correlates of the oral administration of methylene blue in the healthy human brain. Materials and Methods The institutional review board approved this prospective, HIPAA-compliant, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial, and all patients provided informed consent. Twenty-six subjects (age range, 22-62 years) were enrolled.

Shared Genetic Factors Influence Head Motion During MRI and Body Mass Index.

Head movements are typically viewed as a nuisance to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis, and are particularly problematic for resting state fMRI. However, there is growing evidence that head motion is a behavioral trait with neural and genetic underpinnings. Using data from a large randomly ascertained extended pedigree sample of Mexican Americans (n = 689), we modeled the genetic structure of head motion during resting state fMRI and its relation to 48 other demographic and behavioral phenotypes.

Magnetic resonance imaging of blood-brain barrier permeability in ischemic stroke using diffusion-weighted arterial spin labeling in rats.

Diffusion-weighted arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging has recently been proposed to quantify the rate of water exchange (K) across the blood-brain barrier in humans. This study aimed to evaluate the blood-brain barrier disruption in transient (60 min) ischemic stroke using K magnetic resonance imaging with cross-validation by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and Evans blue histology in the same rats. The major findings were: (i) at 90 min after stroke (30 min after reperfusion), group K magnetic resonance imaging data showed no significant blood-brain barrier permeability changes, although a few animals showed slightly abnormal K.

An illustrated comparison of processing methods for phase MRI and QSM: removal of background field contributions from sources outside the region of interest.

The elimination of so-called background fields is an essential step in phase MRI and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Background fields, which are caused by sources outside the region of interest (ROI), are often one to two orders of magnitude stronger than tissue-related field variations from within the ROI, hampering quantitative interpretation of field maps. This paper reviews the current literature on background elimination algorithms for QSM and provides insights into similarities and differences between the many algorithms proposed.

Early Adolescent Trajectories of Impulsiveness and Sensation Seeking in Children of Fathers with Histories of Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders.

Background: Problem substance use often begins in adolescence. This vulnerability likely stems, at least partially, from relatively rapid increases in sensation seeking occurring in early to mid-adolescence and more gradual improvements in impulse control occurring through later adolescence. Better understanding how these processes develop in high-risk youth may lead to enhanced substance use disorder treatment and prevention strategies.

MRI Study of the Posterior Visual Pathways in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma.

Purpose Of The Study: The purpose of the study was to evaluate neurodegeneration along brain visual pathways in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) using improved analysis methods of volumetric and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.

Methods: Eleven POAG patients (60.0±9.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the USA. Common causes of TBI include falls, violence, injuries from wars, and vehicular and sporting accidents. The initial direct mechanical damage in TBI is followed by progressive secondary injuries such as brain swelling, perturbed cerebral blood flow (CBF), abnormal cerebrovascular reactivity (CR), metabolic dysfunction, blood-brain-barrier disruption, inflammation, oxidative stress, and excitotoxicity, among others.

Functional Decoding and Meta-analytic Connectivity Modeling in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Background: Task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have revealed various ADHD-related dysfunctional brain regions, with heterogeneous findings across studies. Here, we used novel meta-analytic data-driven approaches to characterize the function and connectivity profile of ADHD-related dysfunctional regions consistently detected across studies.

Methods: We first conducted an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of 24 task-based fMRI studies in adults with ADHD.

The genetic basis of the comorbidity between cannabis use and major depression.

Background And Aims: While the prevalence of major depression is elevated among cannabis users, the role of genetics in this pattern of comorbidity is not clear. This study aimed to estimate the heritability of cannabis use and major depression, quantify the genetic overlap between these two traits and localize regions of the genome that segregate in families with cannabis use and major depression.

Design: Family-based univariate and bivariate genetic analysis.

Implementation errors in the GingerALE Software: Description and recommendations.

Neuroscience imaging is a burgeoning, highly sophisticated field the growth of which has been fostered by grant-funded, freely distributed software libraries that perform voxel-wise analyses in anatomically standardized three-dimensional space on multi-subject, whole-brain, primary datasets. Despite the ongoing advances made using these non-commercial computational tools, the replicability of individual studies is an acknowledged limitation. Coordinate-based meta-analysis offers a practical solution to this limitation and, consequently, plays an important role in filtering and consolidating the enormous corpus of functional and structural neuroimaging results reported in the peer-reviewed literature.

Methylene blue and normobaric hyperoxia combination therapy in experimental ischemic stroke.

Introduction: Ischemic stroke is a global burden that contributes to the disability and mortality of millions of patients. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of combined MB (methylene blue) and NBO (normobaric hyperoxia) therapy in experimental ischemic stroke.

Methods: Rats with transient (60 min) MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion) were treated with: (1) air + vehicle (N = 8), (2) air + MB (N = 8), (3) NBO + vehicle (N = 7), and (4) NBO + MB (N = 9).

Functional topography of the right inferior parietal lobule structured by anatomical connectivity profiles.

The nature of the relationship between structure and function is a fundamental question in neuroscience, especially at the macroscopic neuroimaging level. Although mounting studies have revealed that functional connectivity reflects structural connectivity, whether similar structural and functional connectivity patterns can reveal corresponding similarities in the structural and functional topography remains an open problem. In our current study, we used the right inferior parietal lobule (RIPL), which has been demonstrated to have similar anatomical and functional connectivity patterns at the subregional level, to directly test the hypothesis that similar structural and functional connectivity patterns can inform the corresponding topography of this area.

Progressive Bidirectional Age-Related Changes in Default Mode Network Effective Connectivity across Six Decades.

The default mode network (DMN) is a set of regions that is tonically engaged during the resting state and exhibits task-related deactivation that is readily reproducible across a wide range of paradigms and modalities. The DMN has been implicated in numerous disorders of cognition and, in particular, in disorders exhibiting age-related cognitive decline. Despite these observations, investigations of the DMN in normal aging are scant.

Genome-wide significant loci for addiction and anxiety.

Background: Psychiatric comorbidity is common among individuals with addictive disorders, with patients frequently suffering from anxiety disorders. While the genetic architecture of comorbid addictive and anxiety disorders remains unclear, elucidating the genes involved could provide important insights into the underlying etiology.

Methods: Here we examine a sample of 1284 Mexican-Americans from randomly selected extended pedigrees.

Relationship Between Epilepsy and Colpocephaly in Baboons (Papio hamadryas).

Brain MRI scans revealed various occipital horn variants in a pedigreed baboon colony consisting of Papio hamadryas anubis and its hybrids. We retrospectively characterized these variants and evaluated their relationships to epilepsy phenotypes and scalp EEG findings. MRI scans (3D, T1-weighted) from 208 baboons (female, 134 female; male, 74; age [mean ± 1 SD], 16 ± 5 y) were reviewed; 139 (67%) of these animals also underwent scalp EEG previously.

Voxel-based morphometry in epileptic baboons: Parallels to human juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

The epileptic baboon represents a natural model for genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE), closely resembling juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Due to functional neuroimaging and pathological differences between epileptic (SZ+) and asymptomatic control (CTL) baboons, we expected structural differences in gray matter concentration (GMC) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Standard anatomical (MP-RAGE) MRI scans using a 3T Siemens TIM Trio (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) were available in 107 baboons (67 females; mean age 16±6years) with documented clinical histories and scalp-electroencephalography (EEG) results.