Latest Articles
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The objective of this study is to examine the efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and peripheral blood biomarkers in assessing cognitive function in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). A total of 58 CSVD patients were recruited. Six features of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) were derived from MRI scans. ⋯ An integrated model incorporating WMHs features, neurodegenerative biomarkers, and neuroinflammatory markers was developed, demonstrating high predictive accuracy for cognitive impairment with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.95 (accuracy 0.88, sensitivity 0.87, specificity 0.89). Another integrated model that includes features of WMHs and inflammatory cytokines for predicting cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) achieved an AUC of 0.95 (accuracy 0.88, sensitivity 0.82, specificity 0.92). Our findings suggest that these markers have the potential to be used for the early detection of cognitive decline and CMBs in patients with CSVD.
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Patients with Bipolar Disorder type I (BD-I) exhibit maladaptive risky decision-making, which is related to impulsivity, suicide attempts, and aggressive behavior. Currently, there is a lack of effective predictive methods for early intervention in risky behaviors for patients with BD-I. This study aimed to predict risky behavior in patients with BD-I using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). ⋯ The dEC-based linear regression-CPM model exhibited significant predictive ability for the adjusted pump scores in BD-I, while no significant predictive power was observed in HC. Furthermore, this model successfully predicted non-planning impulsiveness, motor impulsiveness, and BIS total score, but failed for attentional impulsiveness in BD-I. These findings provide a foundation for future work in predicting risky behaviors of psychiatric patients by using voxel-wise dEC underlying resting state.
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Empathy is central to individual and societal well-being. Numerous studies have examined how trait of empathy affects prosocial behavior. However, little studies explored the psychological and neural mechanisms by which different dimensions of trait empathy influence prosocial behavior. ⋯ Further regression analysis results indicate that EC, rather than other dimensions of trait empathy, can positively predict LPP amplitude and negatively predict beta-band activity. These results indicated that participants with higher EC scores may experience heightened emotional arousal and the vicarious experience of others' emotions while processing donation information. Our work adds weight to understanding the relationship between trait empathy and prosocial behavior and provides electrophysiological evidence.
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Reaching movements are essential for daily tasks and they have been widely investigated through kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic (EMG) analyses. Recent studies have suggested that the central nervous system simplifies control of reaching movements by using muscle synergies. An alternative approach is to investigate how EMG activity reflects at theneural level with the representation of spinal maps that visualize the spatiotemporal activity of motoneuronal pools. ⋯ The multidimensional Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess thesimilarity of spinal maps among repetitions of movements within subjects (intra-subject variability) and among participants (inter-subject variability). Spinal maps of tonic and total EMG showed high intra- and inter-subject similarity in all planes, while phasic spinal maps were less repeatable and more subject-specific. These results may be useful as areference for rehabilitation, clinical, and neurological evaluations, especially for longitudinal assessments.
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Transparency of Caenorhabditis elegans enables microscopic in vivo imaging of cellular processes, but immobilization is required due to high locomotor activity. Here, anesthetic-like effects of dissociate anesthetic ketamine in adult C. elegans are presented using video recordings and infrared-based automated activity tracking. Ketamine caused a reversible blockade of locomotion at a similar concentration (20-50 mM) at which conventionally used immobilizing agent sodium azide (NaN3) produces paralysis. ⋯ However, a marked chemosensation deficiency was noted immediately after 20 mM ketamine exposure. Short-term ketamine treatment did not show signs of SKN-1 (skinhead-1) activation, a marker of the stress response associated with NaN3. In sum, our results show ketamine's potential as a non-toxic nematode immobilizing agent and rationalize C. elegans as a model organism to understand its pharmacology.