NeuroImage. Clinical
-
NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2018
Quantitative MRI of rostral spinal cord and brain regions is predictive of functional recovery in acute spinal cord injury.
To reveal the immediate extent of trauma-induced neurodegenerative changes rostral to the level of lesion and determine the predictive clinical value of quantitative MRI (qMRI) following acute spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ Neurodegenerative changes rostral to the level of lesion occur early in SCI, with varying temporal and spatial dynamics. Early qMRI markers of spinal cord and cerebellum are predictive of functional recovery. These neuroimaging biomarkers may supplement clinical assessments and provide insights into the potential of therapeutic interventions to enhance neural plasticity.
-
NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2018
The relationship between brain atrophy and cognitive-behavioural symptoms in retired Canadian football players with multiple concussions.
Multiple concussions, particularly in contact sports, have been associated with cognitive deficits, psychiatric impairment and neurodegenerative diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy. We used volumetric and deformation-based morphometric analyses to test the hypothesis that repeated concussions may be associated with smaller regional brain volumes, poorer cognitive performance and behavioural symptoms among former professional football players compared to healthy controls. ⋯ Deformation-based morphometry confirmed smaller bilateral hippocampal volume that was associated with poorer verbal memory performance in athletes. Repeated concussions may lead to greater regional atrophy than expected for age.
-
NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2018
Mean diffusivity in cortical gray matter in Alzheimer's disease: The importance of partial volume correction.
Mean diffusivity (MD) measured by diffusion tensor imaging can reflect microstructural alterations of the brain's gray matter (GM). Therefore, GM MD may be a sensitive marker of neurodegeneration related to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, due to partial volume effects (PVE), differences in MD may be overestimated because of a higher degree of brain atrophy in AD patients and in cases with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). ⋯ For the discrimination of AD patients and healthy controls, the effect of GM MD on diagnosis was significantly mediated by volume of hippocampus and posterior cingulate ROIs. Our results suggest that GM MD measurements are strongly confounded by PVE in the presence of brain atrophy, underlining the necessity of PVC when using these measurements as specific metrics of microstructural tissue degeneration. Independently of PVC, regional MD was not superior to regional volume in separating prodromal and clinical stages of AD from healthy controls.
-
NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2018
Exploring the multiple-hit hypothesis of preterm white matter damage using diffusion MRI.
Preterm infants are at high risk of diffuse white matter injury and adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. The multiple hit hypothesis suggests that the risk of white matter injury increases with cumulative exposure to multiple perinatal risk factors. Our aim was to test this hypothesis in a large cohort of preterm infants using diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). ⋯ This study suggests multiple perinatal risk factors have an independent association with diffuse white matter injury at term equivalent age and exposure to multiple perinatal risk factors exacerbates dMRI defined, clinically significant white matter injury. Our findings support the multiple hit hypothesis for preterm white matter injury.
-
NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2018
Network-specific resting-state connectivity changes in the premotor-parietal axis in writer's cramp.
Writer's cramp is a task-specific dystonia impairing writing and sometimes other fine motor tasks. Neuroimaging studies using manifold designs have shown varying results regarding the nature of changes in the disease. ⋯ Abnormal resting-state FC in multiple networks with putative sensorimotor function may act as basis of preexisting observations made during task-related neuroimaging. Further, altered connectivity between the cerebellar and basal ganglia network underlines the important role of these structures in the disease.