NeuroImage. Clinical
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Anterior insular network disconnection and cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.
The insula is a central brain hub involved in cognition and affected in Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to assess functional connectivity (FC) and betweenness centrality (BC) of insular sub-regions and their relationship with cognitive impairment in PD. ⋯ These results highlight the relevance of the insula in cognitive dysfunction in PD. Disconnection of the dAI with ACC was related to altered centrality in the DMN and FPN only in patients. Disturbance in this network triad appears to be particularly relevant for cognitive impairment in PD.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
ReviewWhy we should systematically assess, control and report somatosensory impairments in BCI-based motor rehabilitation after stroke studies.
The neuronal loss resulting from stroke forces 80% of the patients to undergo motor rehabilitation, for which Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and NeuroFeedback (NF) can be used. During the rehabilitation, when patients attempt or imagine performing a movement, BCIs/NF provide them with a synchronized sensory (e.g., tactile) feedback based on their sensorimotor-related brain activity that aims at fostering brain plasticity and motor recovery. The co-activation of ascending (i.e., somatosensory) and descending (i.e., motor) networks indeed enables significant functional motor improvement, together with significant sensorimotor-related neurophysiological changes. ⋯ This stresses the importance of also considering them and reporting them in the literature in BCI-based rehabilitation after stroke, especially since half of post-stroke patients suffer from somatosensory impairments. We argue that somatosensory abilities should systematically be assessed, controlled and reported if we want to precisely assess the influence they have on BCI efficiency. Not doing so could result in the misinterpretation of reported results, while doing so could improve (1) our understanding of the mechanisms underlying motor recovery (2) our ability to adapt the therapy to the patients' impairments and (3) our comprehension of the between-subject and between-study variability of therapeutic outcomes mentioned in the literature.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Comparative StudyArterial spin labeling versus 18F-FDG-PET to identify mild cognitive impairment.
Neurodegenerative biomarkers support diagnosis and measurement of disease progression in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (18F-FDG-PET), which measures glucose metabolism, is one of the most commonly used biomarkers of neurodegeneration, but is expensive and requires exposure to ionizing radiation. Arterial Spin Labeled (ASL) perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides non invasive quantification of cerebral blood flow (CBF), which is believed to be tightly coupled to glucose metabolism. Here we aimed to compare the performances of ASL derived CBF and 18F-FDG-PET derived standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) in discriminating patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from older Controls. 2D pseudo continuous ASL and 18F-FDG-PET data with adequate scan quality from 50 MCI study participants (age=73.0 ± 7.0 years, 16 female) and 35 older controls (age=70.2 ± 6.9 years, 20 female), acquired in close temporal proximity, usually on the same day, were considered for this study. ⋯ Pearson's correlation coefficients between the T-scores corresponding to the group-differences obtained with 18F-FDG-PET SUVR and absolute and relative ASL CBF were 0.46 and 0.43 (p<0.001), respectively. ROI analyses were also consistent, with the strongest differences observed in PCC (p<0.01). 18F-FDG-PET SUVR, absolute and relative CBF in the PCC ROI demonstrated moderate and similar discriminatory power in predicting MCI status with AUC of 0.71 ± 0.12, 0.77 ± 0.12 and 0.74 ± 0.13, respectively. In conclusion, ASL CBF may be a reasonable, less expensive and safer substitute for 18F-FDG-PET in clinical research.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Mild traumatic brain injury impacts associations between limbic system microstructure and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that afflicts many individuals, yet the neuropathological mechanisms that contribute to this disorder remain to be fully determined. Moreover, it is unclear how exposure to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), a condition that is often comorbid with PTSD, particularly among military personnel, affects the clinical and neurological presentation of PTSD. To address these issues, the present study explores relationships between PTSD symptom severity and the microstructure of limbic and paralimbic gray matter brain regions, as well as the impact of mTBI comorbidity on these relationships. ⋯ These findings suggest that the microstructure of limbic and paralimbic brain regions may influence PTSD symptomatology. Further, given the additional associations observed between microstructure and symptom severity in veterans with head trauma, we speculate that mTBI may exacerbate the impact of brain microstructure on PTSD symptoms, especially within regions of the brain known to be vulnerable to chronic stress. A heightened sensitivity to the microstructural environment of the brain could partially explain why individuals with PTSD and mTBI comorbidity experience more severe symptoms and poorer illness prognoses than those without a history of brain injury. The relevance of these microstructural findings to the conceptualization of PTSD as being a disorder of stress-induced neuronal connectivity loss is discussed.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Does the superior fronto-occipital fascicle exist in the human brain? Fiber dissection and brain functional mapping in 90 patients with gliomas.
The presence of the superior fronto-occipital fascicle (SFOF) has been reported in the Rhesus monkey; however, it is a subject of controversy in humans. The aim of this study is to identify the SFOF using both in vitro and in vivo anatomo-functional analyses. This study consisted of two approaches. ⋯ Furthermore, in the in vivo functional mappings of awake surgery and voxel-based morphometry analysis, eight positive points on the SFOF were selected from the total 453 positive points, but their functions were not related with visual processing and spatial awareness, as has been reported in previous studies. In conclusion, in the present study we attempted to investigate the existence of the SFOF using an anatomical and functional approach. According to our results, the SFOF may not exist in the human brain.