Bilateral Supramarginal Gyrus Research Articles

Link Prediction of Cortical Atrophy in Alzheimer’s Disease using Morphometric Correlation Networks

AbstractBackgroundPredictive biomarkers characterizing disease progression are called for in the context of emerging treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. We implemented a link prediction model on morphometric correlation networks(MCN) generated from structural MRI.MethodHigh‐resolution T1MPRAGE images were retrospectively collected at two timepoints (interval 2.6 ± 1.2 years) for each of the 32 AD patients (AD)(mean age 74.6 ± 6.8, 14F/18M) and age‐matched cognitively normal controls (CN)(n = 32, mean age 75.0 ± 6.3, 16F/16M) from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Images were processed using Freesurfer(version7.2) cortical reconstruction pipeline followed by cortical volume quantification. Whole‐brain surface‐based analyses (set at p < 0.05 and FDR < 0.05) were performed to identify regions showing significant differences between CN and AD, and significant atrophy between two timepoints across AD followed by computation of interregional correlations of cortical volume changes. Topological robustness of the MCNs for both timepoints were quantified to assess the network robustness of AD in response to the removal of predominant nodes. The MCN was used to build a link prediction model. Graph embedding was implemented to learn and extract features of each node in the MCN, and the light gradient boosting machine algorithm was applied to classify the cortical changes as atrophy. The AUC(area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) was used to evaluate the model’s performance.ResultAD showed widespread cortical volume reduction. When examining the longitudinal cortical atrophy, the left superior temporal gyrus (STGl,p = 0.0108), precuneus (p = 0.0262), inferior(IPLl, p = 0.0019) and superior parietal lobule (SPLl,p = 0.0007), lingual gyrus(LGl,p = 0.0004); the right lateral occipital cortex (LOCr,p = 0.0168) and hippocampus(HCP r,p<0.0001); and bilateral supramarginal gyri(SMGl,p = 0.0227; r,p = 0.0181) showed significant volume loss (Fig. 1) and were identified as predominant nodes in the MCN that led the co‐atrophy as AD progressed (Fig. 2). With AD progression, robustness was weaker and removal of predominant nodes significantly reduced network resilience. The link prediction model predicted the cortical atrophy pattern in AD with AUC of 0.97 (Fig. 3).ConclusionWe successfully implemented a model to predict progression of cortical atrophy and identified atrophy‐leading brain regions in AD. Future clinical translation of our approach can serve as an imaging biomarker.

Functional connectivity density aberrance in type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without mild cognitive impairment.

The objective of this study was to investigate alterations in functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping and their impact on functional connectivity (FC) among individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) across different cognitive states. Moreover, the study sought to explore the potential association between aberrant FCD/FC patterns and clinical or cognitive variables. A total of 211 participants were recruited for this study, consisting of 75 healthy controls (HCs), 89 T2DM patients with normal cognitive function (DMCN), and 47 T2DM patients with mild cognitive impairment (DMCI). The study employed FCD analysis to pinpoint brain regions exhibiting significant FCD alterations. Subsequently, these regions showing abnormal FCD served as seeds for FC analysis. Exploratory partial correlations were conducted to explore the relationship between clinical biochemical indicators, neuropsychological test scores, and altered FCD or FC. The FCD analysis revealed an increased trend in global FCD (gFCD), local FCD (lFCD), and long-range FCD (lrFCD) within the bilateral supramarginal gyrus (SMG) among individuals with DMCN. Additionally, significant lFCD alterations were observed in the right inferior frontal gyrus and left precuneus when comparing DMCN to HCs and DMCI. When comparing individuals with T2DM and healthy controls (HCs), it was revealed that DMCN exhibited significant improvements in FCD. This suggests that the brain may employ specific compensatory mechanisms to maintain normal cognitive function at this stage. Our findings provide a novel perspective on the neural mechanisms involved in cognitive decline associated with T2DM.

Neuroimaging evidence of visual-vestibular interaction accounting for perceptual mislocalization induced by head rotation.

A fleeting flash aligned vertically with an object remaining stationary in the head-centered space would be perceived as lagging behind the object during the observer's horizontal head rotation. This perceptual mislocalization is an illusion named head-rotation-induced flash-lag effect (hFLE). While many studies have investigated the neural mechanism of the classical visual FLE, the hFLE has been hardly investigated. We measured the cortical activity corresponding to the hFLE on participants experiencing passive head rotations using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants were asked to judge the relative position of a flash to a fixed reference while being horizontally rotated or staying static in a swivel chair. Meanwhile, functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals were recorded in temporal-parietal areas. The flash duration was manipulated to provide control conditions. Brain activity specific to the hFLE was found around the right middle/inferior temporal gyri, and bilateral supramarginal gyri and superior temporal gyri areas. The activation was positively correlated with the rotation velocity of the participant around the supramarginal gyrus and negatively related to the hFLE intensity around the middle temporal gyrus. These results suggest that the mechanism underlying the hFLE involves multiple aspects of visual-vestibular interactions including the processing of multisensory conflicts mediated by the temporoparietal junction and the modulation of vestibular signals on object position perception in the human middle temporal complex.

Production of emotions conveyed by voice in Parkinson's disease: Association between variability of fundamental frequency and gray matter volumes of regions involved in emotional prosody.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with impairment in producing emotions conveyed by voice which could depend on motor limitations of the vocal apparatus and/or alterations in emotional processing. This study explores the relationship between the standard deviation of fundamental frequency (F0SD) of emotional speech and the volume of specific gray matter regions. Fifteen PD patients and 15 healthy controls (HC) were asked to produce different emotions vocally elicited by reading short stories. For each vocal track, the F0SD was calculated as index of variability. All subjects underwent a structural magnetic resonance imaging and a voxel-based morphometry analysis. An ad hoc mask of brain regions implicated in emotional prosody was constructed to test the relationship between F0SD and the level of brain atrophy. PD patients showed lower F0SD values than HC in the expression of anger. Neuroimaging results showed brain atrophy in PD patients in a widespread bilateral network, including frontal areas, left cingulate cortex, parietal areas as well as occipital cortices. In the PD group, a positive correlation was observed between F0SD values of anger and volumes of the bilateral supramarginal gyrus, left thalamus, right inferior frontal gyrus, and amygdala. The lower F0SD values observed in PD patients in anger production are consistent with their lower ability to express anger effectively through voice compared to HC. Our data demonstrated the involvement of right-lateralized areas, such as the inferior frontal gyrus and amygdala, which are typically involved in emotional prosody. Disturbances in emotion processing might contribute to speech production deficits in PD, probably in addition to the motor impairment of the articulatory system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reading Braille by Touch Recruits Posterior Parietal Cortex.

Blind readers use a tactile reading system consisting of raised dot arrays: braille/⠃⠗⠇. How do human brains implement reading by touch? The current study looked for signatures of reading-specific orthographic processes in braille, separate from low-level somatosensory responses and semantic processes. Of specific interest were responses in posterior parietal cortices (PPCs), because of their role in high-level tactile perception. Congenitally blind, proficient braille readers read real words and pseudowords by touch while undergoing fMRI. We leveraged the system of contractions in English braille, where one braille cell can represent multiple English print letters (e.g., "ing" ⠬, "one" ⠐⠕), making it possible to separate physical and orthographic word length. All words in the study consisted of four braille cells, but their corresponding Roman letter spellings varied from four to seven letters (e.g., "con-c-er-t" ⠒⠉⠻⠞. contracted: four cells; uncontracted: seven letters). We found that the bilateral supramarginal gyrus in the PPC increased its activity as the uncontracted word length increased. By contrast, in the hand region of primary somatosensory cortex (S1), activity increased as a function of a low-level somatosensory feature: dot-number per word. The PPC also showed greater response to pseudowords than real words and distinguished between real and pseudowords in multivariate-pattern analysis. Parieto-occipital, early visual and ventral occipito-temporal, as well as prefrontal cortices also showed sensitivity to the real-versus-pseudoword distinction. We conclude that PPC is involved in orthographic processing for braille, that is, braille character and word recognition, possibly because of braille's tactile modality.

Cortical morphological changes in multiple sclerosis patients: a study of cortical thickness, sulcal depth, and local gyrification index.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that progresses not only with demyelination but also with neurodegeneration. One of the goals of drug treatment in MS is to prevent neurodegeneration. Cortical thickness (CT), sulcal depth (SD), and local gyrification index (LGI) are indicators related to neurodegeneration. The aim of this study is to investigate changes in CT, SD, and LGI in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). T1 images of 74 RRMS patients and 65 healthy controls were used. T1 hypointense areas in RRMS patients were corrected using fully automated methods. CT, SD, and LGI were calculated for each patient. RRMS patients showed widespread cortical thinning, especially in bilateral temporoparietal areas, decreased SD in bilateral supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and transverse temporal gyrus, and decreased LGI, especially in the left posterior cingulate gyrus and insula. The decrease in cortical thickness was associated with the number of attacks and lesion volume. EDSS was related to CT in the right lingual, inferior temporal, and fusiform gyrus. The LGI was correlated with T2 lesion volume in bilateral insula, with EDSS in the right insula and transverse and superior temporal gyri, and with the number of attacks in the right paracentral gyrus and pre-cuneus. However, SD did not show any correlation with EDSS, T2 lesion volume, or the number of attacks. Our results demonstrate widespread cortical thinning, decreased sulcal depth in local areas, and decreased gyrification in folds in RRMS patients, which are related to clinical parameters.

320 Deep-Learning Cortical Thickness Analysis as Predictor for Shunt Surgery Effectiveness in Possible iNPH Patients

INTRODUCTION: While optimal treatment for iNPH is quite known, diagnosis remains a topic of debate, with different procedures suggested as potential predictors for shunt surgery effectiveness. Various tests, biomarkers, and neuroimaging techniques can be used; however, the diagnostic accuracy is below optimal when performed with neuroimaging techniques alone and not always cost-effective when achieved with CSF biomarkers. Quantitative computational methods for cortical thickness analysis have become available in the last decade, and they only require regularly available T1-weighted brain MR images. METHODS: We analyzed 294 total patients referred to our clinic from January 2015 until December 2021. After exclusion criteria, the final sample consisted of 98 possible iNPH patients: 64 were diagnosed as probable iNPH and underwent VPS surgery, while 34 did not receive a surgical indication after diagnostic procedures. We investigated differences in cortical thickness for all possible iNPH patients using a public deep-learning based neuroimaging pipeline composed by an advanced semantic segmentation neural network architecture and automated surface-based cortical thickness analysis. RESULTS: In 38 total patients with a negative CSFTT or not responsive to shunt surgery, a significant localized cortical thinning was seen in the lateral surface of the frontal and parietal lobes (bilateral superior and middle frontal gyrus, bilateral pars opercularis, bilateral superior parietal gyrus, bilateral supramarginal gyrus, left inferior parietal gyrus, bilateral precuneus). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative cortical thickness is a feasible analysis that might be useful in defining the optimal therapeutic plan for possible iNPH patients. A large multicentric study is encouraged to elucidate specific patterns and ratios of cortical thickness that might be used as potential predictors for shunt surgery effectiveness.

Aberrant brain functional network strength related to cognitive impairment in age-related hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a major public issue that affects elderly adults. However, the neural substrates for the cognitive deficits in patients with ARHL need to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the brain regions that show aberrant brain functional network strength related to cognitive impairment in patients with ARHL. A total of 27 patients with ARHL and 23 well-matched healthy controls were recruited for the present study. Each subject underwent pure-tone audiometry (PTA), MRI scanning, and cognition evaluation. We analyzed the functional network strength by using degree centrality (DC) characteristics and tried to recognize key nodes that contribute significantly. Subsequent functional connectivity (FC) was analyzed using significant DC nodes as seeds. Compared with controls, patients with ARHL showed a deceased DC in the bilateral supramarginal gyrus (SMG). In addition, patients with ARHL showed enhanced DC in the left fusiform gyrus (FG) and right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Then, the bilateral SMGs were used as seeds for FC analysis. With the seed set at the left SMG, patients with ARHL showed decreased connectivity with the right superior temporal gyrus (STG). Moreover, the right SMG showed reduced connectivity with the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and increased connection with the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in patients with ARHL. The reduced DC in the left and right SMGs showed significant negative correlations with poorer TMT-B scores (r = -0.596, p = 0.002; r = -0.503, p = 0.012, respectively). These findings enriched our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment associated with ARHL and may serve as a potential brain network biomarker for investigating and predicting cognitive difficulties.

A meta-analysis of brain morphometric aberrations in adolescents who experienced childhood trauma.

Childhood trauma is known to have dramatic effects on the risks for developing psychiatric disorders and increased suicidality. We conducted a meta-analysis of whole brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) correlates of childhood trauma in adolescents exposed to childhood maltreatment (N = 379) and unexposed controls (N = 348). Anisotropic effect size-signed differential mapping (AES-SDM) was utilized to synthesize the studies. We observed increased volume amongst adolescents with a history of childhood trauma in regions that are involved in motor functions and language production: left precentral gyrus, including part of the left inferior frontal gyrus, left fibers of the body of corpus callosum, and left postcentral gyrus. We observed decreased volume amongst adolescents with a history of childhood trauma in regions that are involved in language processing and/or sensory processing: bilateral cerebellum, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, left rostrum of corpus callosum, and bilateral supramarginal gyrus. We suggest that these morphometric differences may be reflective of impaired motor development and increased sensory sensitivity and hypervigilance in adolescents with experiences of childhood trauma. Our results differ from meta-analytical findings in adults with history of childhood trauma and may contribute to a better understanding of neural mechanisms of childhood trauma, prediction of neurodevelopmental outcomes, and development of more effective and personalized therapies.

Self‐reported sleep quality interacts with Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers on brain structure and metabolism in cognitively unimpaired adults

AbstractBackgroundPoor sleep quality has been associated with a greater burden of AD pathology and altered brain structure in cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals. However, there is a lack of studies analysing associations between sleep quality and brain structure and function, while taking into account AD pathology. We aimed to test associations of self‐reported sleep quality with grey matter volume (GMv) and brain glucose metabolism in middle‐aged CU and sought interactions with biomarkers of AD pathology.MethodThis study included 340 CU adults from the ALFA+ cohort (Table 1). Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire. We used Statistical Parametric Mapping software to process T1‐weighted MRI and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans, and analyse voxel‐wise associations with sleep quality. We created separate general linear models with GMv and FDG metabolism as dependent variables, and PSQI total score, age, sex, APOE‐ε4 status, education level and sleep medication as predictors. GMv analyses were additionally corrected for total intracranial volume. In additional models, CSF Aβ42/40 and phosphorylated tau (p‐tau181) ‐ were entered as covariates. We also tested the interaction between PSQI and AD biomarker status, (A+: Aβ42/40<0.071, T+: p‐tau181>24 pg/mL). Statistical significance was set at p<0.005 uncorrected for multiple comparisons, with a cluster‐level threshold of 50 voxels.ResultHigher PSQI scores, indicating poorer sleep quality, were significantly associated with lower GMv in the left occipital fusiform gyrus and right middle orbitofrontal gyrus, and with lower brain glucose metabolism in the right temporal pole and parahippocampal gyrus (Figure 1.). Interaction analyses showed poorer sleep quality is associated with higher GMv in bilateral supramarginal gyrus in A+T‐ vs A‐T‐, and with higher glucose metabolism in bilateral thalamus in A+T+ vs A‐T‐ individuals (Figure 2).ConclusionPoorer sleep quality is associated with lower GMv and glucose metabolism in CU individuals, involving AD‐vulnerable regions. Sleep quality interacted with altered AD biomarkers to determine GMv and glucose metabolism in brain areas in which they are commonly found to be increased in preclinical AD stages. Altogether, our findings support sleep quality as a relevant factor early in the AD continuum.

Serum neurofilament light chain is associated with disturbed limbic-based functional connectivity in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis shows a predilection for affecting the limbic system, but structural MRI in most patients is usually unremarkable. However, the functional connectivity reorganization of limbic nodes remains unknown. Serum neurofilament light chains (sNfL) are clinically linked with the disease severity and neurological disability of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. However, the relationship between sNfL and limbic-based functional architecture has not been explored. We consecutively recruited 20 convalescent patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and 24 healthy controls from March 2018 to March 2021. Resting-state functional MRI metrics, including fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and atlas-based seed functional connectivity, were analyzed to investigate regional activities and functional connectivity alterations. Correlation analysis among functional connectivity, sNfL, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Montreal cognitive assessment outcomes were explored in patients. Compared with those of healthy controls, the fALFF and ReHo were consistently increased in regions of the posterior default mode network (DMN) hub, mainly the bilateral supramarginal gyrus and precuneus, in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis (FWE-corrected p< 0.05). Patients demonstrated disturbed functional organization characterized by reduced connectivity of the posterior DMN hub with the sensorimotor cortex and hypoconnectivity of the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) with the right fusiform gyrus but extensively enhanced thalamocortical connectivity (FWE-corrected p< 0.05). Furthermore, convalescent sNfL showed a positive correlation with enhanced thalamocortical connectivity (r= 0.4659, p= 0.0384). Onset sNfL with an independent linear correlation to convalescent MMSE performance (B coefficient, -0.013, 95% CI, -0.025 ~ -0.002, p= 0.0260) was positively correlated with intra-DMN connectivity (r= 0.8969, p< 0.0001) and limbic-sensory connectivity (r= 0.4866, p= 0.0346 for hippocampus seed and r= 0.5218, p= 0.0220 for PHG seed). Patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis demonstrated disturbed functional organization with substantial thalamocortical hyperconnectivity, that was positively correlated with convalescent sNfL. Onset sNfL showed a positive correlation with intra-DMN connectivity and limbic-sensory connectivity.

Brain morphometric abnormalities and their associations with affective symptoms in males with methamphetamine use disorder during abstinence.

BackgroundMethamphetamine (METH) use induces neurotoxic effects in brain structures and affective symptoms that persist during abstinence. However, the brain morphometry of individuals with METH use disorder (MUD) remains unclear, as well as their associations with affective symptoms during abstinence.MethodsForty-eight abstinent males with MUD and 66 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Cortical thickness, surface area, volume, local gyrification index (LGI), and subcortical volume were obtained with FreeSurfer software. Brain morphometry differences between groups and their associations with affective symptoms and drug abuse history within the males with MUD were examined, with intracranial volume, age, and years of education as covariates.ResultsCompared with the HCs, the individuals with MUD showed a significantly higher LGI in the right cuneus gyrus, left lingual gyrus, bilateral supramarginal gyrus, right inferior parietal gyrus (IPG), and right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (clusterwise p < 0.05, Monte Carlo-corrected), as well as a smaller volume of the left nucleus accumbens (NAcc) (p < 0.05, FDR-corrected). However, there were no significant group differences in cortical thickness, area or volume. In addition, the LGI in the right IPG was positively associatedwith the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms in MUDs (p < 0.05, FDR-corrected).ConclusionBrain morphometric abnormalities in abstinent males with MUD were characterized by hypergyrification across multiple mid-posterior brain regions anda smaller volume of the left NAcc.Gyrification of the right IPG may be a potential neural substrate underlying the affective symptoms experienced by MUDs during abstinence.

Superior pitch identification ability revealed by cortical complexity measures in nonmusicians

Previous research has investigated the brain structure of musicians with absolute pitch (AP); however, pitch identification (PI) ability also exists in nonmusicians. The current study examined the relationship between PI ability and cortical complexity in nonmusicians using fractal dimensionality, a relatively novel way to analyze morphological patterns of cortical organization. Results showed that compared to nonmusicians with average PI ability, those with superior PI exhibited more fractal dimensionality of the left middle and transverse temporal gyrus, right paracentral lobule, superior frontal and precentral gyri, bilateral lateral orbitofrontal, medial orbitofrontal, superior temporal and postcentral gyri as well as less fractal dimensionality of the left precuneus, right superior parietal lobule and insula gyrus, and bilateral supramarginal gyrus. Moreover, the PI score for the superior PI group was positively correlated with fractal dimensionality of the left medial orbitofrontal, superior temporal, and supramarginal gyri; for the average PI group, their PI score was negatively correlated with fractal dimensionality of the left middle temporal, right superior frontal, and right insula gyri. Although the research about fractal dimensionality in young adults has been scant so far, the present study extends our understanding of the neuroanatomical correlates of AP musicians to encompass those with superior PI ability in nonmusicians.

Impaired Interhemispheric Synchrony in Parkinson's Disease with Fatigue.

The characteristics of interhemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (FC) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with fatigue remain unclear; therefore, we aimed to explore the changes in interhemispheric FC in PD patients with fatigue. Sixteen PD patients with fatigue (PDF), 16 PD patients without fatigue (PDNF) and 15 matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in the retrospective cross-sectional study. We used voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) to analyze the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of these subjects. Compared to PDNF, PDF patients had decreased VMHC values in the supramarginal gyri (SMG). Furthermore, the mean VMHC values of the SMG were negatively correlated with the mean fatigue severity scale (FSS/9) scores (r = −0.754, p = 0.001). Compared to HCs, PDF patients had decreased VMHC in the SMG and in the opercular parts of the inferior frontal gyri (IFG operc). The VMHC values in the IFG operc and middle frontal gyri (MFG) were notably decreased in PDNF patients compared with HCs. Our findings suggest that the reduced VMHC values within the bilateral SMG may be the unique imaging features of fatigue in PD, and may illuminate the neural mechanisms of fatigue in PD.

Characterising the unity and diversity of executive functions in a within-subject fMRI study

Behavioural studies investigating the relationship between Executive Functions (EFs) demonstrated evidence that different EFs are correlated with each other, but also that they are partially independent from each other. Neuroimaging studies investigating such an interrelationship with respect to the functional neuroanatomical correlates are sparse and have revealed inconsistent findings. To address this question, we created four tasks derived from the same basic paradigm, one each for updating, inhibition, switching, and dual-tasking. We assessed brain activity through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in twenty-nine participants while they performed the four EF tasks plus control tasks. For the analysis, we first determined the neural correlates of each EF by subtracting the respective control tasks from the EF tasks. We tested for unity in EF tasks by calculating the conjunction across these four “EF-minus-control” contrasts. This identified common areas including left lateral frontal cortices [middle and superior frontal gyrus (BA 6)], medial frontal cortices (BA 8) as well as parietal cortices [inferior and superior parietal lobules (BA 39/7)]. We also observed areas activated by two or three EF tasks only, such as frontoparietal areas [e.g., SFG (BA8) right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), left precuneus (BA 7)], and subcortical regions [bilateral thalamus (BA 50)]. Finally, we found areas uniquely activated for updating [bilateral MFG (BA 8) and left supramarginal gyrus (BA 39)], inhibition (left IFG BA 46), and dual-tasking [left postcentral gyrus (BA 40)]. These results demonstrate that the functional neuroanatomical correlates of the four investigated EFs show unity as well as diversity.

Abnormal brain functional and structural connectivity between the left supplementary motor area and inferior frontal gyrus in moyamoya disease

BackgroundDisruption of brain functional connectivity has been detected after stroke, but whether it also occurs in moyamoya disease (MMD) is unknown. Impaired functional connectivity is always correlated with abnormal white matter fibers. Herein, we used multimodal imaging techniques to explore the changes in brain functional and structural connectivity in MMD patients.MethodsWe collected structural images, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging for each subject. Cognitive functions of MMD patients were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Trail Making Test parts A and B (TMT-A/-B). We calculated the functional connectivity for every paired region using 90 regions of interest from the Anatomical Automatic Labeling Atlas and then determined the differences between MMD patients and HCs. We extracted the functional connectivity of paired brain regions with significant differences between the two groups. Correlation analyses were then performed between the functional connectivity and variable cognitive functions. To explore whether the impaired functional connectivity and cognitive performances were attributed to the destruction of white matter fibers, we further analyzed fiber integrity using tractography between paired regions that were correlated with cognition.ResultsThere was lower functional connectivity in MMD patients as compared to HCs between the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, between the bilateral supramarginal gyrus, between the left supplementary motor area (SMA) and the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFGorb), and between the left SMA and the left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.01, FDR corrected). The decreased functional connectivity between the left SMA and the left IFGorb was significantly correlated with the MMSE (r = 0.52, P = 0.024), MoCA (r = 0.60, P = 0.006), and TMT-B (r = -0.54, P = 0.048) in MMD patients. White matter fibers were also injured between the SMA and IFGorb in the left hemisphere and were positively correlated with reduced functional connectivity.ConclusionsBrain functional and structural connectivity between the supplementary motor area and inferior frontal gyrus in the left hemisphere are damaged in MMD. These findings could be useful in the evaluation of disease progression and prognosis of MMD.

Identifying and Predicting Autism Spectrum Disorder Based on Multi-Site Structural MRI With Machine Learning.

Although emerging evidence has implicated structural/functional abnormalities of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD), definitive neuroimaging markers remain obscured due to inconsistent or incompatible findings, especially for structural imaging. Furthermore, brain differences defined by statistical analysis are difficult to implement individual prediction. The present study has employed the machine learning techniques under the unified framework in neuroimaging to identify the neuroimaging markers of patients with ASD and distinguish them from typically developing controls(TDC). To enhance the interpretability of the machine learning model, the study has processed three levels of assessments including model-level assessment, feature-level assessment, and biology-level assessment. According to these three levels assessment, the study has identified neuroimaging markers of ASD including the opercular part of bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, the orbital part of right inferior frontal gyrus, right rolandic operculum, right olfactory cortex, right gyrus rectus, right insula, left inferior parietal gyrus, bilateral supramarginal gyrus, bilateral angular gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, and left inferior temporal gyrus. In addition, negative correlations between the communication skill score in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS_G) and regional gray matter (GM) volume in the gyrus rectus, left middle temporal gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus have been detected. A significant negative correlation has been found between the communication skill score in ADOS_G and the orbital part of the left inferior frontal gyrus. A negative correlation between verbal skill score and right angular gyrus and a significant negative correlation between non-verbal communication skill and right angular gyrus have been found. These findings in the study have suggested the GM alteration of ASD and correlated with the clinical severity of ASD disease symptoms. The interpretable machine learning framework gives sight to the pathophysiological mechanism of ASD but can also be extended to other diseases.

Continuous theta burst stimulation over left and right supramarginal gyri demonstrates their involvement in auditory feedback control of vocal production.

The supramarginal gyrus (SMG) has been implicated in auditory-motor integration for vocal production. However, whether the SMG is bilaterally or unilaterally involved in auditory feedback control of vocal production in a causal manner remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study investigated the causal roles of the left and right SMG to auditory-vocal integration using neuronavigated continuous theta burst stimulation (c-TBS). Twenty-four young adults produced sustained vowel phonations and heard their voice unexpectedly pitch-shifted by ±200 cents after receiving active or sham c-TBS over the left or right SMG. As compared to sham stimulation, c-TBS over the left or right SMG led to significantly smaller vocal compensations for pitch perturbations that were accompanied by smaller cortical P2 responses. Moreover, no significant differences were found in the vocal and ERP responses when comparing active c-TBS over the left vs. right SMG. These findings provide neurobehavioral evidence for a causal influence of both the left and right SMG on auditory feedback control of vocal production. Decreased vocal compensations paralleled by reduced P2 responses following c-TBS over the bilateral SMG support their roles for auditory-motor transformation in a bottom-up manner: receiving auditory feedback information and mediating vocal compensations for feedback errors.

Aberrant Dynamics of Regional Coherence Measured by Resting-State fMRI in Children With Benign Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS).

Objective: To explore the dynamic features of intrinsic brain activity measured by fMRI in children with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) and examine whether these indexes were associated with behaviors.Methods: We recruited 26 children with BECTS (10.35 ± 2.91 years) and 26 sex-, and age-matched (11.35 ± 2.51 years) healthy controls (HC) and acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and behavioral data. Dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo), including mean and coefficient of variation (CV) metrics derived from the rs-fMRI data, and were compared between the BECTS and the HC groups.Results: Significantly decreased mean dReHo in bilateral supramarginal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus (MTG.L), left postcentral gyrus and superior occipital gyrus were found in children with BECTS. Meanwhile, increased CV of dReHo in MTG.L and right fusiform in children with BECTS was revealed compared with HC. Further analyses of functional connectivity revealed decreased global signal FC existed in similar regions, linked with linguistic, social cognition, and sensorimotor processes, in children with BECTS compared with HCs. Moreover, the association analyses showed that the CV of dReHo in MTG.L was positively associated with age and a negative correlation was found between mean dReHo of MTG.L and disease duration. Besides, the CV of dReHo in MTG.L was found positively associated with the intelligence quotient (IQ) language scores and full IQ scores in children with BECTS, and the CV of dReHo in the left inferior temporal gyrus and Rolandic operculum were positively correlated with IQ operation scores and full IQ scores.Conclusion: Aberrant dynamic regional coherence in sensorimotor, linguistic, and lateral temporal regions suggests dynamical interplay that underlying cognitive performance in children with BECTS, suggesting an intrinsic dynamic mechanism for BECTS.

Meta-analytic connectivity modelling of deception-related brain regions.

Brain-based deception research began only two decades ago and has since included a wide variety of contexts and response modalities for deception paradigms. Investigations of this sort serve to better our neuroscientific and legal knowledge of the ways in which individuals deceive others. To this end, we conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) and meta-analytic connectivity modelling (MACM) using BrainMap software to examine 45 task-based fMRI brain activation studies on deception. An activation likelihood estimation comparing activations during deceptive versus honest behavior revealed 7 significant peak activation clusters (bilateral insula, left superior frontal gyrus, bilateral supramarginal gyrus, and bilateral medial frontal gyrus). Meta-analytic connectivity modelling revealed an interconnected network amongst the 7 regions comprising both unidirectional and bidirectional connections. Together with subsequent behavioral and paradigm decoding, these findings implicate the supramarginal gyrus as a key component for the sociocognitive process of deception.