NeuroImage. Clinical
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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.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Amygdala response to emotional faces in adolescents with persistent post-concussion symptoms.
Approximately 30% of adolescents with concussion develop persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS) that include emotional symptoms. Elevated amygdalae reactivity to emotional faces has been reported in a variety of psychopathologies characterized by emotional symptoms overlapping with those in PPCS. We tested the hypothesis that amygdalae reactivity to emotional faces in adolescents with PPCS+ is elevated compared to concussed adolescents without PPCS and healthy controls. ⋯ Contrary to our hypothesis, PPCS+ had lower amygdalae activity to the emotional faces versus shapes condition relative to HC and a trend for lower activity relative to PPCS-. There was a non-significant inverse association between anhedonia amygdalae activity in adolescents with PPCS. Results suggest that adolescents with PPCS have altered amygdalae activity during the processing of emotional face stimuli.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Structural white and gray matter differences in a large sample of patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and a healthy and trauma-exposed control group: Diffusion tensor imaging and region-based morphometry.
Differences in structural white and gray matter in survivors of traumatic experiences have been related to the development and maintenance of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, there are very few studies on diffusion tensor imaging and region based morphometry comparing patients with PTSD to two control groups, namely healthy individuals with or without trauma experience. It is also unknown if differences in white and gray matter are associated. ⋯ Third, the mean FA value in the forceps minor correlated negatively with symptom severity of PTSD and depression as well as trait anxiety, whereas the gray matter volume in the left anterior insula correlated negatively with symptom severity in PTSD. Our findings underline the importance of brain structures critically involved in emotion regulation and salience mapping. While previous studies associated these processes primarily to functional and task-based differences in brain activity, we argue that morphometrical white and gray matter differences could serve as targets in neuroscientifically-informed prevention and treatment interventions for PTSD.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Reorganization of rich-clubs in functional brain networks during propofol-induced unconsciousness and natural sleep.
General anesthesia (GA) provides an invaluable experimental tool to understand the essential neural mechanisms underlying consciousness. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown the functional integration and segregation of brain functional networks during anesthetic-induced alteration of consciousness. However, the organization pattern of hubs in functional brain networks remains unclear. Moreover, comparisons with the well-characterized physiological unconsciousness can help us understand the neural mechanisms of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. ⋯ Our study demonstrated that the rich-club reorganization in functional brain networks is characterized by switching of rich-club nodes between the high-order cognitive and sensory and motor networks during propofol-induced alteration of consciousness and natural sleep. These findings will help understand the common neurological mechanism of pharmacological and physiological unconsciousness.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2020
Imaging the Nigrosome 1 in the substantia nigra using susceptibility weighted imaging and quantitative susceptibility mapping: An application to Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a clinically heterogeneous chronic progressive neuro-degenerative disease with loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrosome 1 (N1) territory of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). To date, there has been a major effort to identify changes in the N1 territory by monitoring increases of iron in the SNpc. However, there is no standard protocol being used to visualize or characterize the N1 territory. ⋯ Also, all 9 (100%, 9/9) ET patients showed the N1 sign bilaterally. The mean total structure and mean high susceptibility region for the SN for both IPD and APs patients with bilateral loss of N1 were higher than those of the HCs (p < 0.002). In conclusion, the N1 sign can be consistently visualized using tSWI with a resolution of at least 0.67 mm × 0.67 mm × 1.34 mm and can be seen in 95% of HCs.