Brain Volumetric Analysis Research Articles

Deep Learning-Based Pediatric Brain Region Segmentation and Volumetric Analysis for General Growth Pattern in Healthy Children.

To establish a quantitative reference for brain structural changes in children with neurological disorders, we employed deep learning technique to brain region segmentation and volumetric analysis within a cohort of healthy children. In this study, we recruited 312 participants aged 1.5 to 14.5years (210 boys and 102 girls), dividing them into five age groups. High-resolution structural T1-weighted images were obtained, and an established toolkit utilizing deep learning algorithms was employed for brain region segmentation. For each age group, the volumes of gray matter and white matter, along with the thickness and surface area of the cortex, were calculated and compared between boys and girls. The results indicated that the volumes of gray matter and white matter in both bilateral cerebral hemispheres, as well as the total brain volume, increased with age. Furthermore, the volumes of the left and right hippocampus, amygdala, and thalamus also demonstrated an increase as age progressed. Conversely, cortical thickness and surface area decreased with age. Our findings provide a quantitative reference for understanding brain structural changes in children with neurological disorders.

Brain Volumetric Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence Software in Premanifest Huntington's Disease Individuals from a Colombian Caribbean Population.

Background and objectives: The premanifest phase of Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by the absence of motor symptoms and exhibits structural changes in imaging that precede clinical manifestation. This study aimed to analyze volumetric changes identified through brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) processed using artificial intelligence (AI) software in premanifest HD individuals, focusing on the relationship between CAG triplet expansion and structural biomarkers. Methods: The study included 36 individuals descending from families affected by HD in the Department of Atlántico. Sociodemographic data were collected, followed by peripheral blood sampling to extract genomic DNA for quantifying CAG trinucleotide repeats in the Huntingtin gene. Brain volumes were evaluated using AI software (Entelai/IMEXHS, v4.3.4) based on MRI volumetric images. Correlations between brain volumes and variables such as age, sex, and disease status were determined. All analyses were conducted using SPSS (v. IBM SPSS Statistics 26), with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The analysis of brain volumes according to CAG repeat expansion shows that individuals with ≥40 repeats evidence significant increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume and subcortical structures such as the amygdalae and left caudate nucleus, along with marked reductions in cerebral white matter, the cerebellum, brainstem, and left pallidum. In contrast, those with <40 repeats show minimal or moderate volumetric changes, primarily in white matter and CSF. Conclusions: These findings suggest that CAG expansion selectively impacts key brain regions, potentially influencing the progression of Huntington's disease, and that AI in neuroimaging could identify structural biomarkers long before clinical symptoms appear.

Long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with and without chemosensory disorders at disease onset: a psychophysical and magnetic resonance imaging exploratory study

A preserved sense of smell and taste allows us to understand many environmental “messages” and results in meaningfully improvements to quality of life. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear how important these senses are for social and nutritional status and catapulted this niche chemosensory research area towards widespread interest. In the current exploratory work, we assessed two groups of post-COVID-19 patients who reported having had (Group 1) or not (Group 2) a smell/taste impairment at the disease onset. The aim was to compare them using validated smell and taste tests as well as with brain magnetic resonance imaging volumetric analysis. Normative data were used for smell scores comparison and a pool of healthy subjects, recruited before the pandemic, served as controls for taste scores. The majority of patients in both groups showed an olfactory impairment, which was more severe in Group 1 (median UPSIT scores: 24.5 Group 1 vs 31.0 Group 2, p = 0.008), particularly among women (p = 0.014). No significant differences emerged comparing taste scores between Group 1 and Group 2, but dysgeusia was only present in Group 1 patients. However, for taste scores, a significant difference was found between Group 1 and controls (p = 0.005). No MRI anatomical abnormalities emerged in any patients while brain volumetric analysis suggested a significant difference among groups for the right caudate nucleus (p = 0.028), although this was not retained following Benjamini–Hochberg correction. This exploratory study could add new information in COVID-19 chemosensory long-lasting impairment and address future investigations on the post-COVID-19 patients’ research.

Reliability of automated brain volumetric analysis: A test by comparing NeuroQuant and volBrain software.

Brain volume analysis from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is gaining an important role in neurological diagnosis. This study compares the volumes of brain segments measured by two automated brain analysis software, NeuroQuant (NQ), and volBrain (VB) in order to test their reliability in brain volumetry. Using NQ and VB software, the same brain segment volumes were calculated and compared, taken from 56 patients scanned under the same MRI sequence. These segments were intracranial cavity, putamen, thalamus, amygdala, whole brain, cerebellum, white matter, and hippocampus. The paired t-test method has been used to determine if there was a significant difference in these measurements. The interclass correlation (ICC) is used to test inter-method reliability between the two software. Finally, regression analysis was used to examine the possibility of linear correlation. In all brain segments tested but hippocampus, significant differences were found. ICC presents satisfactory to excellent reliability in all brain segments except thalamus and amygdala for which reliability has been proven to be poor. In most cases, linear correlation was found. The significant differences found in the majority of the tested brain segments are raising questions about the reliability of automated brain analysis as a quantitative tool. Strong linear correlation of the volumetric measurements and good reliability indicates that, each software provides good qualitative information of brain structures size.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes and Brain Volumetric Analysis of Low-Grade Intraventricular Hemorrhage

Purpose: Extremely preterm infants are prone to brain injury and underdevelopment. Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is the most common cause of brain injury and a significant risk factor for neurodevelopmental delay in preterm infants. Severe IVH is known to have a poor outcome; however, the outcomes of low-grade IVH remain controversial. This study aimed to evaluate neurodevelopmental outcomes and brain segmental volumes of preterm infants with low-grade IVH.Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 109 extremely preterm infants who underwent term equivalent age-magnetic resonance imaging and neurodevelopmental evaluation at a corrected age of 18 to 24 months. We compared infants with and without low-grade IVH.Results: Among the 109 extremely preterm infants, 25 had low-grade IVH and 84 had no IVH. There were no significant differences in the neurodevelopmental outcomes between the low-grade and no IVH groups. In multivariate analysis, low-grade IVH was associated with a smaller medullary volume (adjusted odds ratio, 0.575; 95% confidence interval, 0.346 to 0.957; &lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt;=0.034).Conclusion: We found no significant differences in the neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely preterm infants at a corrected age of 18 to 24 months between those with low-grade IVH and those without IVH. Low-grade IVH was associated with a smaller medullary volume.

Effect of geometric distortion correction on thickness and volume measurements of cortical parcellations in 3D T1w gradient echo sequences.

Automated brain volumetric analysis based on high-resolution T1-weighted MRI datasets is a frequently used tool in neuroimaging for early detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of various neurological diseases. However, image distortions can corrupt and bias the analysis. The aim of this study was to explore the variability of brain volumetric analysis due to gradient distortions and to investigate the effect of distortion correction methods implemented on commercial scanners. 36 healthy volunteers underwent brain imaging using a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, including a high-resolution 3D T1-weighted sequence. For all participants, each T1-weighted image was reconstructed directly on the vendor workstation with (DC) and without (nDC) distortion correction. For each participant's set of DC and nDC images, FreeSurfer was used for the determination of regional cortical thickness and volume. Overall, significant differences were found in 12 cortical ROIs comparing the volumes of the DC and nDC data and in 19 cortical ROIs comparing the thickness of the DC and nDC data. The most pronounced differences for cortical thickness were found in the precentral gyrus, the lateral occipital and postcentral ROI (2.69, -2.91% and -2.79%, respectively) while cortical volumes differed most prominently in the paracentral, the pericalcarine and lateral occipital ROI (5.52%, -5.40% and -5.11%, respectively). Correcting for gradient non-linearities can have significant influence on volumetric analysis of cortical thickness and volume. Since the distortion correction is an automatic feature of the MR scanner, it should be stated by each study that applies volumetric analysis which images were used.

Comparison of Normative Percentiles of Brain Volume Obtained from NeuroQuant® vs. DeepBrain® in the Korean Population: Correlation with Cranial Shape.

This study aimed to compare the volume and normative percentiles of brain volumetry in the Korean population using quantitative brain volumetric MRI analysis tools NeuroQuant® (NQ) and DeepBrain® (DB), and to evaluate whether the differences in the normative percentiles of brain volumetry between the two tools is related to cranial shape. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the brain volume reports obtained from NQ and DB in 163 participants without gross structural brain abnormalities. We measured three-dimensional diameters to evaluate the cranial shape on T1-weighted images. Statistical analyses were performed using intra-class correlation coefficients and linear correlations. The mean normative percentiles of the thalamus (90.8 vs. 63.3 percentile), putamen (90.0 vs. 60.0 percentile), and parietal lobe (80.1 vs. 74.1 percentile) were larger in the NQ group than in the DB group, whereas that of the occipital lobe (18.4 vs. 68.5 percentile) was smaller in the NQ group than in the DB group. We found a significant correlation between the mean normative percentiles obtained from the NQ and cranial shape: the mean normative percentile of the occipital lobe increased with the anteroposterior diameter and decreased with the craniocaudal diameter. The mean normative percentiles obtained from NQ and DB differed significantly for many brain regions, and these differences may be related to cranial shape.

Can basic magnetic resonance imaging along with neuropsychological assessment be used as a cost-effective means for the detection of early dementia in the Indian sub-continent?

ABSTRACT Introduction: The mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage occurs sporadically between healthy aging and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). MCI shows significant defacement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain along with neuropsychological and behavioral parameters. Aim: Assessment of neuropsychological, behavioral, and structural MRI changes in MCI and their relation with each other. Methodology: Seventy-eight participants in the MCI group and healthy controls (HC) were assessed using Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE), Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR); and behavioral assessment by using Behavioral Pathology In AD (BEHAVE-AD). MRI brain volumetric analysis was performed using the software MYRIAN. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test, unpaired t-test (P = &lt;0.05), and Spearman’s rank correlation. Results: MCI group showed significant impairments in ACE, MMSE, and CDR and significantly higher behavioral symptoms on BEHAVE-AD. Episodic memory had a significant positive correlation with normalized right hippocampal volume and total intracranial volume (TICV). Remote memory had a significant negative correlation with normalized left hippocampal volumes. Global CDR score had a moderately negative correlation with normalized right and left hippocampal volumes. Affective disturbances were negatively correlated with TICV. Conclusions: Comparable analysis of correctly scaled neuropsychological assessments may provide unbiased proxies for MRI-based measures of dementia risk.

The Effect of Hearing Loss on Cognitive Function in Subjective Cognitive Decline

Introduction: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a self-reported cognitive decline without objective cognitive impairment. The relationship between audiometric hearing loss (HL) and cognitive function has not been reported in SCD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether HL affects cognition-related indexes in SCD individuals. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that used the baseline data of a multicenter cohort study that monitors clinical progression from SCD to dementia. Individuals aged ≥60 years who reported cognitive decline but had no objective cognitive impairment on comprehensive neuropsychological tests were recruited. Participants were grouped into the normal-hearing (NH) and bilateral HL groups. The demographics, clinical characteristics, dementia biomarkers, global cognition, questionnaire scores, neuropsychological test scores, and segmental brain volumes from MRI were compared between the groups. Results: Of a total of 120 participants, one hundred and two had NH (n = 57) or bilateral HL (n = 45). There were no group differences in the demographic and clinical data except the age. The biomarkers, global cognition, and questionnaire scores were not different between the groups. The HL group performed worse (the z-score of −0.06) in the Stroop Color Word Test than the NH group (0.27) (p = 0.025). Brain volumetric analysis revealed that the HL group had reduced gray matter volumes in four brain subregions: left temporal pole, left caudal middle frontal gyrus, left hippocampus, and right isthmus of the cingulate gyrus. Conclusion: In SCD, HL exerted an adverse effect on cognitive function, primarily frontal executive function tested in the Stroop task. HL was also related to gray matter volume reductions in brain subregions, although causality needs further investigation. This study may provide evidence for a potential link between hearing and cognition in SCD, an emerging clinical entity.

Brain volumetric and fractal analysis of synthetic MRI: A comparative study with conventional 3D T1-weighted images

PurposeThe estimation of brain volumetric measurements based on Synthetic MRI (SyMRI) is easy and fast, however, the consistency of brain volumetric and morphologic measurements based on SyMRI and 3D T1WI should be further addressed. The current study evaluated the impact of spatial resolution on brain volumetric and morphologic measurements using SyMRI, and test whether the brain measurements derived from SyMRI were consistent with those resulted from 3D T1WI. MethodBrain volumetric and fractal analysis were applied to thirty healthy subjects, each underwent four SyMRI acquisitions with different spatial resolutions (1 × 1 × 2 mm, 1 × 1x3mm, 1 × 1 × 4 mm, 2 × 2 × 2 mm) and a 3D T1WI (1 × 1 × 1 mm isotropic). The consistency of the SyMRI measurements was tested using one-way non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner test. The association between SyMRI and 3D T1WI derived measurements was evaluated using linear regression models. ResultsOur results demonstrated that both in- and through-plane resolutions show an impact on brain volumetric measurements, while brain parenchymal volume showed high consistency across the SyMRI acquisitions, and high association with the measurements from 3D T1WI. In addition, SyMRI with 1 × 1 × 4 mm resolution showed the strongest association with 3D T1WI compared to other SyMRI acquisitions in both volumetric and fractal analyses. Moreover, substantial differences were found in fractal dimension of both gray and white matter between the SyMRI and 3D T1WI tissue segmentations. ConclusionsOur results suggested that the measurements from SyMRI with relatively higher in-plane and lower through-plane resolution (1 × 1 × 4 mm) are much closer to 3D T1WI.

Correlation of Neural Oscillations during Stroop Testing with Hippocampal and Amygdala Volume differ between Cognitively Healthy Normal Aging and Pre‐symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease

Background and ObjectivesStroop interference differences have been reported in the early stage of pre‐symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The two most reported brain regions in AD (hippocampus and amygdala) haven’t been studied for interference processsing in the early AD stage. We aim to explore the relationship between brain interference processing and volumetric analysis on hippocampus and amygdala to understand the underlying neural events in pre‐symptomatic AD.MethodsWe employed a quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) test to investigate brain activity during the Stroop interference test in a pre‐symptomatic AD study. Participants were instructed to name the color of the ink when the word and color match (congruent trials (CT)) or do not match (incongruent trials (IT)). Elderly study participants with normal cognition were recruited from the local community, consisting of two subgroups according to their cerebrospinal fluid proteins: cognitively healthy with normal amyloid/tau ratio (CH‐NAT, n=20) or pathological amyloid/tau ratio (CH‐PAT, n=21) between 60–95 years of age. A subgroup of the participants went through MRI scanning (9 CH‐NATs and 9 CH‐PATs) to obtain anatomical structures. They are age, gender, BMI, education balanced. We explored correlations between qEEG spectral power (2–30Hz) at six brain regions (frontal (F), central (C), parietal (P), left temporal (LT), right temporal (RT), and occipital (O)), and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetric measures of two brain regions that most relate to Alzheimer’s disease: hippocampus and amygdala.Results &amp; DiscussionIn CH‐NATs but not CH‐PATs, hippocampal volume is negatively correlated with early beta power during incongruent trials (IT) (p=0.002~0.021, r=−0.87~ −0.75), and early alpha power (p=0.0004~0.020, r=−0.92~ −0.75) over F,C,P,LT,RT regions. However, in CH‐PATs but not CH‐NATs, hippocampal volume is positively correlated with both early and late delta power during incongruent trials (IT) (p=0.001~0.042, r=0.68~0.90) over C,LT,RT,O regions.In CH‐NATs but not CH‐PATs, amygdala volume is negatively correlated with early alpha power (p=0.0003~0.0496, r=−0.93~ −0.67) on both CT (over F,C,LT,RT,O) and IT (over F,C,P,LT). However, CH‐PATs but not CH‐NATs, amygdala volume is positively correlated with late delta power during incongruent trials (IT) (p=0.007~0.023, r=0.74~0.82) over C,P,RT,O regions.The different correlations of qEEG with MRI between CH subgroups indicate maladaptive neuroplasticity already occurs in pre‐symptomatic AD stage. Previous studies have shown that amygdala atrophy is a prominent indicator of AD severity in patients including a potential relationship with aberrant motor behavior, anxiety, and irritability. We propose that early intervention strategies for pre‐symptomatic AD individuals that correct maladaptive neuroplasticity may attenuate neurodegeneration.Support or Funding InformationAcknowledgmentFinancial support provided by the L.K. Whittier Foundation, NIH R56 Funding 1R56AG063857‐01. Betty Chung and David Buennagel assisted with patient recruitment. Roger Rochart assisted with final draft.

Anatomical and diffusion MRI brain atlases of the fetal rhesus macaque brain at 85, 110 and 135 days gestation

Recent advances in image reconstruction techniques have enabled high resolution MRI studies of fetal brain development in human subjects. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are valuable animal models for use in studies of fetal brain development due to the similarities between this species and humans in brain development and anatomy. There is a need to develop fetal brain templates for the rhesus macaque to facilitate the characterization of the normal brain growth trajectory and departures from this trajectory in rhesus models of neurodevelopmental disorders. Here we have developed unbiased population-based anatomical T2-weighted, fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) templates for fetal brain from MR images scanned at 3 time points over the second and third trimesters of the 168 day gestational term. Specifically, atlas images are constructed for brains at gestational ages of 85 days (G85, N = 18, 9 females), 110 days (G110, N = 10, 7 females) and 135 days (G135, N = 16, 7 females). We utilized this atlas to perform segmentation of fetal brain MR images and fetal brain volumetric and microstructure analysis. The T2-weighted template images facilitated characterization of the growth within six fetal brain regions. The template images of diffusion tensor indices provided information related to the maturation of white matter tracts. These growth trajectories are referenced to human studies of fetal brain development. Similarities in the temporal and regional patterns of brain growth over the corresponding periods of central nervous system development are identified between the two species. Atlas images are available online as a reference for registration, reconstruction, segmentation, and for longitudinal analysis of early fetal brain growth over this unique time window.

Brain imaging in classic nonketotic hyperglycinemia: Quantitative analysis and relation to phenotype.

Patients with severe nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) have absent psychomotor development and intractable epilepsy, whereas attenuated patients have variable psychomotor development and absent or treatable epilepsy; differences in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between phenotypes have not been reported. In a retrospective cross-sectional study, we reviewed 38 MRI studies from 24 molecularly proven NKH patients, and 2 transient NKH patients. Quantitative analyses included corpus callosum size, apparent diffusion coefficient, automated brain volumetric analysis, and glycine/creatine ratio by spectroscopy. All patients age <3 months had restricted diffusion in the posterior limb of the internal capsule, anterior brainstem, posterior tegmental tracts, and cerebellum, not present in transient NKH. In older infants, the pattern evolved and included generalized diffusion restriction in the supratentorial white matter, which quantitatively peaked between 3 and 12 months. No patient had absent corpus callosum or gyral malformation. The corpus callosum was relatively short in severe compared to attenuated phenotypes, and thin in severe cases only. The corpus callosum growth rate differed by severity; age-matched Z-scores of thickness worsened in severe cases only. Cerebral volume was decreased in the hippocampus, globus pallidus, cerebral cortex, thalamus, and cerebellum. Severe patients had greatest glycine/creatine ratios. In this study, no brain malformations were identified. The growth failure of the corpus callosum is worse in severe NKH, whereas the diffusion restriction pattern, reflecting microspongiosis, does not discriminate by phenotypic severity. NKH is therefore a disorder of brain growth best recognized in the corpus callosum, whereas spongiosis is not prognostic.

WAIS Information Subtest as an indicator of crystallized cognitive abilities and brain reserve among highly educated older adults: A three-year longitudinal study

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) Information Subtest (IS) is known as a neuropsychological “Hold” test that is relatively resistant to decline with aging. We administered neuropsychological tests among highly educated healthy older adults once a year for three subsequent years. Results showed highly stable performances on the IS across years (Mean Z score: T0 = 1.39, SD = 0.60; T1 = 1.37, SD = 0.77; T2 = 1.50, SD = 0.66; T3 = 1.48, SD = 0.66), that were significantly higher than zero (T0: t = 12.08; T1: t = 9.29; T2: t = 11.71; T3: t = 11.68; for all, p < 0.0001). In contrast, other neuropsychological tests showed differences in performance across time; some performances significantly declined (Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure test-copy, Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment test [MoCA]), whereas others were improved, possibly due to practice effects (Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure test- delayed, Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test- delayed, and Trail Making Test- part A). Correlation with whole brain volumetric analysis revealed a positive correlation between gray matter volumes and IS scores (r = 0.46, p < 0.05) even when controlling for age and education (partial correlations: r = 0.43; r = 0.45, for both p < 0.05). No significant correlations were found between gray matter and other test scores. Therefore, the WAIS-III Information subtest appears to be an adequate neuropsychological measurement of crystallized ability in highly educated older adults and may be considered as a proxy measure of brain reserve.

A Brain Quantitative Representation of Acoustic Neuroma: MRI Case study

Acoustic neuroma (AN) is a slow growth benign tumor in the brain that is usually associated with hearing loss, tinnitus and vertigo. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered as one of the most accurate method for diagnosing AN. A case study of 42 years old women suffering from the AN is presenting in this case study. Structural and functional MR images were acquired. Also, audiological and some psychological assessment were applied in this case report. The lesion was measured, and brain volumetric and structural connectivity analysis were performed that provide quantitative representations of the damage may occur in the brain, which may be facilitated as indicators of the progress during the follow-up.

Brain morphometry of preschool age children affected by autism spectrum disorder: Correlation with clinical findings.

The aim of our study was to use a combined imaging and clinical approach to identify possible patterns of clinical and imaging findings in a cohort of preschool age autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients. In order to identify imaging patterns that could be related to specific clinical features, a selected group of ASD patients (age range 3-6 years) without dysmorphic features, epilepsy or other major neurological signs, malformations or other lesions at MRI was subjected to brain volumetric analysis using semiautomatic brain segmentation. An age-matched group of typically developing children was subjected to the same analysis. Our results were consistent with previous literature: Total gray matter volume, total cortical gray matter volume and amygdalar volumes were significantly greater in the ASD group than the control group. When we divided the study group into subgroups on the basis of clinical findings such as high- or low-functioning, or verbal and nonverbal, the only significant difference between verbal and nonverbal subjects was in cerebellar hemispheric size. In conclusions, our results confirm that newer brain MRI techniques using semiautomatic brain segmentation can provide information useful for defining the differences between ASD patients and controls, particularly if they form part of an integrated approach between MRI and cognitive-behavioral and genetic data. Clin. Anat. 32:143-150, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. HIGHLIGHTS: Combined imaging and clinical approach in autism spectrum disorders Semiautomatic brain segmentation in a selected preschool age ASD group Reduced total cerebellar white matter volume in non-verbal ASD patients.

The width of the third ventricle associates with cognition and behaviour in motor neuron disease.

An enlarged width of the third ventricle (WTV) has been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, although its clinical meaning is unknown. The aims of this study were to evaluate the contribution of demographical, clinical and genetic factors to the WTV in different motor neuron disease (MND) phenotypes and to assess its brain structural correlates. The WTV was measured by transcranial ultrasound in 107 MND patients (82 diagnosed with classical ALS, 16 with progressive muscular atrophy and 9 with primary lateral sclerosis) and 25 controls. Genetic analysis, and neurological and neuropsychological examinations were performed in patients. Brain volumetric analysis of MR images was obtained in 85 patients. The association of WTV with demographical, clinical, genetic and neuropsychological variables as well as with brain volumes was assessed by multivariable models. Eighteen patients were diagnosed with genetic MND and 42.3% of patients showed executive or behavioural impairment (EBI). MND patients showed larger WTV than controls. The WTV was significantly associated with age, spinal onset and the presence of EBI, but not with the genetic background, the phenotype or disability. Greater WTV was also associated with reduced subcortical grey matter volume, but not with the cortical or the white matter volume. The enlargement of the WTV found in the different MND phenotypes is attributable to the subcortical grey matter atrophy and is associated with cognitive and behavioural impairment. Larger longitudinal studies are needed to determine its role as biomarker in MND patients with frontotemporal dementia.

Evaluation of methods for volumetric analysis of pediatric brain data: The childmetrix pipeline versus adult-based approaches.

Pediatric brain volumetric analysis based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is of particular interest in order to understand the typical brain development and to characterize neurodevelopmental disorders at an early age. However, it has been shown that the results can be biased due to head motion, inherent to pediatric data, and due to the use of methods based on adult brain data that are not able to accurately model the anatomical disparity of pediatric brains. To overcome these issues, we proposed childmetrix, a tool developed for the analysis of pediatric neuroimaging data that uses an age-specific atlas and a probabilistic model-based approach in order to segment the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM). The tool was extensively validated on 55 scans of children between 5 and 6 years old (including 13 children with developmental dyslexia) and 10 pairs of test-retest scans of children between 6 and 8 years old and compared with two state-of-the-art methods using an adult atlas, namely icobrain (applying a probabilistic model-based segmentation) and Freesurfer (applying a surface model-based segmentation). The results obtained with childmetrix showed a better reproducibility of GM and WM segmentations and a better robustness to head motion in the estimation of GM volume compared to Freesurfer. Evaluated on two subjects, childmetrix showed good accuracy with 82–84% overlap with manual segmentation for both GM and WM, thereby outperforming the adult-based methods (icobrain and Freesurfer), especially for the subject with poor quality data. We also demonstrated that the adult-based methods needed double the number of subjects to detect significant morphological differences between dyslexics and typical readers. Once further developed and validated, we believe that childmetrix would provide appropriate and reliable measures for the examination of children's brain.

Brain volumetric analysis and cortical thickness in adults with saccadic intrusions (ocular flutter or opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome)

ObjectivesOcular flutter (OF) and opsoclonus are considered a continuum with a similar pathogenesis. Due to the rarity of this disease in the adult population, little is known about the brain morphological changes in the chronic phase of the disease. Patients and methodsSix magnetic resonance imaging from adults with previous history of OF/Opsoclonus and 12 healthy patients (paired by age and sex) were analyzed in order to identify the long term cortical thickness pattern in this rare disease by using Freesurfer. ResultsPatients with OF/Opsoclonus showed reduced cerebellum cortical volume with a subsequent diminution in total cerebellar volume. White mater cerebellum volume was not modified. In addition, we have also identified a significant supratentorial gray matter volume decrease in OF/Opsoclonus patients, involving both the cortical and the subcortical gray matter. ConclusionsOF/Opsoclonus in adults may be associated with cortical and subcortical gray matter atrophy, as well as decreased cerebellar cortical volume. Further larger prospective studies are necessary to confirm these results.

Longitudinal 8-year Brain Volumetric Analysis in 35 CLN3 Patients: Successful Development of a Sensitive Marker to Measure Clinical Outcome

Longitudinal 8-year Brain Volumetric Analysis in 35 CLN3 Patients: Successful Development of a Sensitive Marker to Measure Clinical Outcome