Hemodynamic Activity Research Articles

A Review of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Studies of Motor and Cognitive Function in Preterm Infants.

Preterm infants are vulnerable to brain injuries, and have a greater chance of experiencing neurodevelopmental disorders throughout development. Early screening for motor and cognitive functions is critical to assessing the developmental trajectory in preterm infants, especially those who may have motor or cognitive deficits. The brain imaging technology functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a portable and low-cost method of assessing cerebral hemodynamics, making it suitable for large-scale use even in remote and underdeveloped areas. In this article, we review peer-reviewed, scientific fNIRS studies of motor performance, speech perception, and facial recognition in preterm infants. fNIRS provides a link between hemodynamic activity and the development of brain functions in preterm infants. Research using fNIRS has shown different patterns of hemoglobin change during some behavioral tasks in early infancy. fNIRS helps to promote our understanding of the developmental mechanisms of brain function in preterm infants when performing motor or cognitive tasks in a less-restricted environment.

Toward a Hybrid Passive BCI for the Modulation of Sustained Attention Using EEG and fNIRS.

We report results of a study that utilizes a BCI to drive an interactive interface countermeasure that allows users to self-regulate sustained attention while performing an ecologically valid, long-duration business logistics task. An engagement index derived from EEG signals was used to drive the BCI while fNIRS measured hemodynamic activity for the duration of the task. Participants (n = 30) were split into three groups (1) no countermeasures (NOCM), (2) continuous countermeasures (CCM), and (3) event synchronized, level-dependent countermeasures (ECM). We hypothesized that the ability to self-regulate sustained attention through a neurofeedback mechanism would result in greater task engagement, decreased error rate and improved task performance. Data were analyzed by wavelet coherence analysis, statistical analysis, performance metrics and self-assessed cognitive workload via RAW-TLX. We found that when the BCI was used to deliver continuous interface countermeasures (CCM), task performance was moderately enhanced in terms of total 14,785 (σ = 423) and estimated missed sales 7.46% (σ = 1.76) when compared to the NOCM 14,529 (σ = 510), 9.79% (σ = 2.75), and the ECM 14,180 (σ = 875), 9.62% (σ = 4.91) groups. An “actions per minute” (APM) metric was used to determine interface interaction activity which showed that overall the CCM and ECM groups had a higher APM of 3.460 (SE = 0.140) and 3.317 (SE = 0.139) respectively when compared with the NOCM group 2.65 (SE = 0.097). Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between ECM - NOCM and CCM - NOCM (p < 0.001) groups, but no significant difference between the ECM – CCM groups. Analysis of the RAW-TLX scores showed that the CCM group had lowest total score 7.27 (σ = 3.1) when compared with the ECM 9.7 (σ = 3.3) and NOCM 9.2 (σ = 3.4) groups. No statistical difference was found between the RAW-TLX or the subscales, except for self-perceived performance (p < 0.028) comparing the CCM and ECM groups. The results suggest that providing a means to self-regulate sustained attention has the potential to keep operators engaged over long periods, and moderately increase on-task performance while decreasing on-task error.

Inaudible components of the human infant cry influence haemodynamic responses in the breast region of mothers.

Distress vocalizations are fundamental for survival, and both sonic and ultrasonic components of such vocalizations are preserved phylogenetically among many mammals. On this basis, we hypothesized that ultrasonic inaudible components of the acoustic signal might play a heretofore hidden role in humans as well. By investigating the human distress vocalization (infant cry), here we show that, similar to other species, the human infant cry contains ultrasonic components that modulate haemodynamic responses in mothers, without the mother being consciously aware of those modulations. In two studies, we measured the haemodynamic activity in the breasts of mothers while they were exposed to the ultrasonic components of infant cries. Although mothers were not aware of ultrasounds, the presence of the ultrasounds in combination with the audible components increased oxygenated haemoglobin concentration in the mothers' breast region. This modulation was observed only when the body surface was exposed to the ultrasonic components. These findings provide the first evidence indicating that the ultrasonic components of the acoustic signal play a role in human mother-infant interaction.

Co-localization of theta-band activity and hemodynamic responses during face perception: simultaneous electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings.

.Face-specific neural processes in the human brain have been localized to multiple anatomical structures and associated with diverse and dynamic social functions. The question of how various face-related systems and functions may be bound together remains an active area of investigation. We hypothesize that face processing may be associated with specific frequency band oscillations that serve to integrate distributed face processing systems. Using a multimodal imaging approach, including electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), simultaneous signals were acquired during face and object picture viewing. As expected for face processing, hemodynamic activity in the right occipital face area (OFA) increased during face viewing compared to object viewing, and in a subset of participants, the expected N170 EEG response was observed for faces. Based on recently reported associations between the theta band and visual processing, we hypothesized that increased hemodynamic activity in a face processing area would also be associated with greater theta-band activity originating in the same area. Consistent with our hypothesis, theta-band oscillations were also localized to the right OFA for faces, whereas alpha- and beta-band oscillations were not. Together, these findings suggest that theta-band oscillations originating in the OFA may be part of the distributed face-specific processing mechanism.

Self-regulation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation using real-time fMRI neurofeedback-Influence of default mode network.

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in regulation of negative emotion and decision‐making, emotional and behavioral control, and active resilient coping. This pilot study examined the feasibility of training healthy subjects (n = 27) to self‐regulate the vmPFC activity using a real‐time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (rtfMRI‐nf). Participants in the experimental group (EG, n = 18) were provided with an ongoing vmPFC hemodynamic activity (rtfMRI‐nf signal represented as variable‐height bar). Individuals were instructed to raise the bar by self‐relevant value‐based thinking. Participants in the control group (CG, n = 9) performed the same task; however, they were provided with computer‐generated sham neurofeedback signal. Results demonstrate that (a) both the CG and the EG show a higher vmPFC fMRI signal at the baseline than during neurofeedback training; (b) no significant positive training effect was seen in the vmPFC across neurofeedback runs; however, the medial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyri, inferior frontal gyri, and precuneus showed significant decreasing trends across the training runs only for the EG; (c) the vmPFC rtfMRI‐nf signal associated with the fMRI signal across the default mode network (DMN). These findings suggest that it may be difficult to modulate a single DMN region without affecting other DMN regions. Observed decreased vmPFC activity during the neurofeedback task could be due to interference from the fMRI signal within other DMN network regions, as well as interaction with task‐positive networks. Even though participants in the EG did not show significant positive increase in the vmPFC activity among neurofeedback runs, they were able to learn to accommodate the demand of self‐regulation task to maintain the vmPFC activity with the help of a neurofeedback signal.

Smell and 3D Haptic Representation: A Common Pathway to Understand Brain Dynamics in a Cross-Modal Task. A Pilot OERP and fNIRS Study.

Cross-modal perception allows olfactory information to integrate with other sensory modalities. Olfactory representations are processed by multisensory cortical pathways, where the aspects related to the haptic sensations are integrated. This complex reality allows the development of an integrated perception, where olfactory aspects compete with haptic and/or trigeminal activations. It is assumed that this integration involves both perceptive electrophysiological and metabolic/hemodynamic aspects, but there are no studies evaluating these activations in parallel. The aim of this study was to investigate brain dynamics during a cross-modal olfactory and haptic attention task, preceded by an exploratory session. The assessment of cross-modal dynamics was conducted through simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recording, evaluating both electrophysiological and hemodynamic activities. The study consisted of two experimental sessions and was conducted with a sample of ten healthy subjects (mean age 25 ± 5.2 years). In Session 1, the subjects were trained to manipulate 3D haptic models (HC) and to smell different scents (SC). In Session 2, the subjects were tested during an attentive olfactory task, in order to investigate the olfactory event-related potentials (OERP) N1 and late positive component (LPC), and EEG rhythms associated with fNIRS components (oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb). The main results of this study highlighted, in Task 1, a higher fNIRS oxy-Hb response during SC and a positive correlation with the delta rhythm in the central and parietal EEG region of interest. In Session 2, the N1 OERP highlighted a greater amplitude in SC. A negative correlation was found in HC for the deoxy-Hb parietal with frontal and central N1, and for the oxy-Hb frontal with N1 in the frontal, central and parietal regions of interests (ROIs). A negative correlation was found in parietal LPC amplitude with central deoxy-Hb. The data suggest that cross-modal valence modifies the attentional olfactory response and that the dorsal cortical/metabolic pathways are involved in these responses. This can be considered as an important starting point for understanding integrated cognition, as the subject could perceive in an ecological context.

Consumer Behaviour through the Eyes of Neurophysiological Measures: State-of-the-Art and Future Trends.

The new technological advances achieved during the last decade allowed the scientific community to investigate and employ neurophysiological measures not only for research purposes but also for the study of human behaviour in real and daily life situations. The aim of this review is to understand how and whether neuroscientific technologies can be effectively employed to better understand the human behaviour in real decision-making contexts. To do so, firstly, we will describe the historical development of neuromarketing and its main applications in assessing the sensory perceptions of some marketing and advertising stimuli. Then, we will describe the main neuroscientific tools available for such kind of investigations (e.g., measuring the cerebral electrical or hemodynamic activity, the eye movements, and the psychometric responses). Also, this review will present different brain measurement techniques, along with their pros and cons, and the main cerebral indexes linked to the specific mental states of interest (used in most of the neuromarketing research). Such indexes have been supported by adequate validations from the scientific community and are largely employed in neuromarketing research. This review will also discuss a series of papers that present different neuromarketing applications, such us in-store choices and retail, services, pricing, brand perception, web usability, neuropolitics, evaluation of the food and wine taste, and aesthetic perception of artworks. Furthermore, this work will face the ethical issues arisen on the use of these tools for the evaluation of the human behaviour during decision-making tasks. In conclusion, the main challenges that neuromarketing is going to face, as well as future directions and possible scenarios that could be derived by the use of neuroscience in the marketing field, will be identified and discussed.

Working Memory-Related Prefrontal Hemodynamic Responses in University Students: A Correlation Study of Subjective Well-Being and Lifestyle Habits.

Identification of social risk factors and the promotion of stress coping mechanisms and mental resilience are topics of interest in the field of mental health. The relationships between risk- or tolerability-associated factors and task-related hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in adolescents may have important implications for mental health challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between task-related PFC hemodynamic activities and subjective well-being or lifestyle habits using wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In this study, after sample refinement to reduce heterogeneity, 20 university students were included in verbal working memory (VWM) task analyses and 21 were included in spatial working memory (SWM) task analyses. The task-related hemodynamic responses were detected using wearable NIRS. To assess the risk- or tolerability-associated factors, the levels of positive and negative affect were assessed using the Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SUBI) and lifestyle habits (such as gaming) were evaluated using a nine-item questionnaire. There was a positive correlation between SUBI positive affect and VWM task-related oxy-hemoglobin signal changes in the right dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), underlining the significance of subjective well-being as an important independent emotional domain and suggesting the possibility of the differential objective evaluations of subjective well-being in the right PFC. Negative correlations between PFC activities during both VWM and SWM tasks at the left DLPFC and the number of game playing days in 1 week were also statistically significant, suggesting the presence of modality-non-specific hemodynamic regulation by habitual game playing. Each correlation was still robust after the elimination of major confounding impacts. Although further replication studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary results, this investigation of the relationship between task-related PFC hemodynamic activities and emotional domains or lifestyle habits might have clinical significance with regard to primary prevention of mental health issues in university students. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of these relationships with the use of wearable NIRS, which enables measurement under near natural conditions and is easy to use in schools or workplaces.

The avalanche-like behaviour of large-scale haemodynamic activity from wakefulness to deep sleep.

Increasing evidence suggests that responsiveness is associated with critical or near-critical cortical dynamics, which exhibit scale-free cascades of spatio-temporal activity. These cascades, or 'avalanches', have been detected at multiple scales, from in vitro and in vivo microcircuits to voltage imaging and brain-wide functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recordings. Criticality endows the cortex with certain information-processing capacities postulated as necessary for conscious wakefulness, yet it remains unknown how unresponsiveness impacts on the avalanche-like behaviour of large-scale human haemodynamic activity. We observed a scale-free hierarchy of co-activated connected clusters by applying a point-process transformation to fMRI data recorded during wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Maximum-likelihood estimates revealed a significant effect of sleep stage on the scaling parameters of the cluster size power-law distributions. Post hoc statistical tests showed that differences were maximal between wakefulness and N2 sleep. These results were robust against spatial coarse graining, fitting alternative statistical models and different point-process thresholds, and disappeared upon phase shuffling the fMRI time series. Evoked neural bistabilities preventing arousals during N2 sleep do not suffice to explain these differences, which point towards changes in the intrinsic dynamics of the brain that could be necessary to consolidate a state of deep unresponsiveness.

Effects of Performance and Task Duration on Mental Workload during Working Memory Task

N-back is a working memory (WM) task to study mental workload on the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We assume that the subject’s performance and changes in mental workload over time depends on the length of the experiment. The performance of the participant can change positively due to the participant’s learning process or negatively because of objective mental fatigue and/or sleepiness. In this pilot study, we examined the PFC activation of 23 healthy subjects while they performed an N-back task with two different levels of task difficulty (2-, and 3-back). The hemodynamic responses were analyzed along with the behavioral data (correct answers). A comparison was done between the hemodynamic activation and behavioral data between the two different task levels and between the beginning and end of the 3-back task. Our results show that there is a significant difference between the two task levels, which is due to the difference in task complication. In addition, a significant difference was seen between the beginning and end of the 3-back task in both behavioral data and hemodynamics due to the subject’s learning process throughout the experiment.

Emotions amplify speaker-listener neural alignment.

Individuals often align their emotional states during conversation. Here, we reveal how such emotional alignment is reflected in synchronization of brain activity across speakers and listeners. Two "speaker" subjects told emotional and neutral autobiographical stories while their hemodynamic brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The stories were recorded and played back to 16 "listener" subjects during fMRI. After scanning, both speakers and listeners rated the moment-to-moment valence and arousal of the stories. Time-varying similarity of the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) time series was quantified by intersubject phase synchronization (ISPS) between speaker-listener pairs. Telling and listening to the stories elicited similar emotions across speaker-listener pairs. Arousal was associated with increased speaker-listener neural synchronization in brain regions supporting attentional, auditory, somatosensory, and motor processing. Valence was associated with increased speaker-listener neural synchronization in brain regions involved in emotional processing, including amygdala, hippocampus, and temporal pole. Speaker-listener synchronization of subjective feelings of arousal was associated with increased neural synchronization in somatosensory and subcortical brain regions; synchronization of valence was associated with neural synchronization in parietal cortices and midline structures. We propose that emotion-dependent speaker-listener neural synchronization is associated with emotional contagion, thereby implying that listeners reproduce some aspects of the speaker's emotional state at the neural level.

Exploring the Brain Responses to Driving Fatigue Through Simultaneous EEG and fNIRS Measurements.

Fatigue is one problem with driving as it can lead to difficulties with sustaining attention, behavioral lapses, and a tendency to ignore vital information or operations. In this research, we explore multimodal physiological phenomena in response to driving fatigue through simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings with the aim of investigating the relationships between hemodynamic and electrical features and driving performance. Sixteen subjects participated in an event-related lane-deviation driving task while measuring their brain dynamics through fNIRS and EEGs. Three performance groups, classified as Optimal, Suboptimal, and Poor, were defined for comparison. From our analysis, we find that tonic variations occur before a deviation, and phasic variations occur afterward. The tonic results show an increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and power changes in the EEG theta, alpha, and beta bands. Both dynamics are significantly correlated with deteriorated driving performance. The phasic EEG results demonstrate event-related desynchronization associated with the onset of steering vehicle in all power bands. The concentration of phasic HbO2 decreased as performance worsened. Further, the negative correlations between tonic EEG delta and alpha power and HbO2 oscillations suggest that activations in HbO2 are related to mental fatigue. In summary, combined hemodynamic and electrodynamic activities can provide complete knowledge of the brain's responses as evidence of state changes during fatigue driving.

Shear Stress-Dependent Expression Of Glypican-4 And Heparan Sulfate In Different Primary Human Endothelial Cells

Background and Aims: Hemodynamic activation of endothelial cells (ECs) at arterial bifurcations is the initial step in atherogenesis. The glycocalyx, an extracellular layer consisting of proteoglycans and glycoaminoglycans is considered to be atheroprotective. We investigated the role of glypican-4 and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan in endothelial activation.

Reward motivation and neurostimulation interact to improve working memory performance in healthy older adults: A simultaneous tDCS-fNIRS study

Several studies have evaluated the effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) for the enhancement of working memory (WM) performance in healthy older adults. However, the mixed results obtained so far suggest the need for concurrent brain imaging, in order to more directly examine tDCS effects. The present study adopted a continuous multimodal approach utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine the interactive effects of tDCS combined with manipulations of reward motivation. Twenty-one older adults (mean age = 69.7 years; SD = 5.05) performed an experimental visuo-spatial WM task before, during and after the delivery of 1.5 mA anodal tDCS/sham over the left prefrontal cortex (PFC). During stimulation, participants received performance-contingent reward for every fast and correct response during the WM task. In both sessions, hemodynamic activity of the bilateral frontal, motor and parietal areas was recorded across the entire duration of the WM task. Cognitive functions and reward sensitivity were also assessed with standard measures. Results demonstrated a significant impact of tDCS on both WM performance and hemodynamic activity. Specifically, faster responses in the WM task were observed both during and after anodal tDCS, while no differences were found under sham control conditions. However, these effects emerged only when taking into account individual visuo-spatial WM capacity. Additionally, during and after the anodal tDCS, increased hemodynamic activity relative to sham was observed in the bilateral PFC, while no effects of tDCS were detected in the motor and parietal areas. These results provide the first evidence of tDCS-dependent functional changes in PFC activity in healthy older adults during the execution of a WM task. Moreover, they highlight the utility of combining reward motivation with prefrontal anodal tDCS, as a potential strategy to improve WM efficiency in low performing healthy older adults.

Discourse management during speech perception: A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

Discourse structures enable us to generate expectations based upon linguistic material that has already been introduced. We investigated how the required cognitive operations such as reference processing, identification of critical items, and eventual handling of violations correlate with neuronal activity within the language network of the brain. To this end, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which we manipulated spoken discourse coherence by using presuppositions (PSPs) that either correspond or fail to correspond to items in preceding context sentences. Definite and indefinite determiners were used as PSP triggers, referring to (non-) uniqueness or (non-) existence of an item. Discourse adequacy was tested by means of a behavioral rating during fMRI. Discourse violations yielded bilateral hemodynamic activation within the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the inferior parietal lobe including the angular gyrus (IPL/AG), the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and the basal ganglia (BG). These findings illuminate cognitive aspects of PSP processing: (1) a reference process requiring working memory (IFG), (2) retrieval and integration of semantic/pragmatic information (IPL/AG), (3) cognitive control of inconsistency management (pre-SMA/BG) in terms of “successful” comprehension despite PSP violations at the surface. These results provide the first fMRI evidence needed to develop a functional neuroanatomical model for context-dependent sentence comprehension based on the example of PSP processing.

Inheritance of Neural Substrates for Motivation and Pleasure

Despite advances in the understanding of the reward system and the role of dopamine in recent decades, the heritability of the underlying neural mechanisms is not known. In the present study, we examined the hemodynamic activation of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a key hub of the reward system, in 86 healthy monozygotic twins and 88 healthy dizygotic twins during a monetary-incentive-delay task. The participants also completed self-report measures of pleasure. Using voxelwise heritability mapping, we found that activation of the bilateral NAcc during the anticipation of monetary gains had significant heritability (h2 = .20–.49). Moreover, significant shared genetic covariance was observed between pleasure and NAcc activation during the anticipation of monetary gain. These findings suggest that both NAcc activation and self-reported pleasure may be heritable and that their phenotypic correlation may be partially explained by shared genetic variation.

Use of fNIRS to Characterize the Neural Mechanism of Inter-Individual Rhythmic Movement Coordination

Background: Inter-individual rhythmic movement coordination plays an important role in daily life, particularly in competitive sports. Behaviorally, it is more challenging to coordinate alternating movements than symmetrical movements. The neural activity underlying these different movement coordination modes remains to be clarified, particularly considering complex inter-individual coordination differences.Methods: To further test the neural basis of inter-individual rhythmic movement coordination, a revised experimental paradigm of inter-individual coordination was adopted. Participants were asked to perform symmetric, alternate, or single movements (swinging the lower part of the leg) in the same rhythm. A multi-channel, continuous wave, functional near-infrared spectral (fNIRS) imaging instrument was used to monitor hemodynamic activity while 40 volunteers (9 male pairs and 11 female pairs) performed the task. Multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to compare mean oxy-hemoglobin concentration ([HbO]) across experimental conditions.Results: A significant three-way interaction (leg-swing condition × ROI × laterality) on mean [HbO] was observed. Post hoc analysis revealed a significant main effect of leg-swing condition only in brain regions of interest [right inferior parietal lobule (IPL)] contralateral to movement execution. Activation in brain regions of interest [right inferior parietal lobule (IPL)] was much stronger in alternate mode compared with symmetric or single modes, and the differences between symmetric and single mode were not statistically significant. This result suggests that the alternate mode of movement coordination was more likely to be supported by the IPL region than the other modes.Conclusion: The present findings provide neural evidence relevant to the theory of self-organization of movement coordination, in which an alternating movement mode appeared to be a more demanding condition than symmetrical movement.

Detection of Music Preferences using Cerebral Blood Flow Signals.

Music has been used for entertainment as well as for medical treatments that remedies physical conditions or psychiatric disorders. It is reported that better outcome can be expected when the music was selected along with personal preferences for these therapies. However it is difficult to find out personalized favorite music if the patient has difficulty in verbal communication due to ageing or developmental disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an objective classification method of music preference based on cortical hemodynamic activities upon listening to the music clips. Fifteen healthy young adults listened their favorite and non-favorite music with their cortical activity measured with 38-channel functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Eleven features were extracted from the time-courses of fNIRS signals from the left primary auditory area, the superior temporal gyrus, and the subcentral area. One- to four- dimensional features were individually selected using a leave-one-out cross-validation with two classification algorithms of Fisher linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and support vector machine. The best mean accuracy rate of 92.2 ± 1.7% was obtained when an LDA classifier with four features derived from oxy-hemoglobin signals were adopted showing that our proposed method is valid to classify individual music preference.

Circulating Relaxin-1 Level Is a Surrogate Marker of Myocardial Fibrosis in HFrEF.

Introduction: Relaxin-1 (RLN1) has emerged as a possible therapeutic target in myocardial fibrosis due to its anti-fibrotic effects. Previous randomized clinical trials investigated therapeutic role of exogenous relaxin in patients with acute-on-chronic heart failure (HF) and failed to meet clinical endpoints. Here, we aimed to assess endogenous, circulating RLN1 levels in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) of ischemic origin. Furthermore, we analyzed relation of RLN1 and left ventricular diastolic function, left and right ventricular fibrosis, and invasive hemodynamic measurements. Unique feature of our study is the availability of ex vivo human myocardial tissue.Methods: Human myocardial samples were available from the Transplantation Biobank of the Heart and Vascular Center at Semmelweis University after local ethical approval and informed consent of all participants (n = 47). Tissue was collected immediately after heart explantations; peripheral blood was collected before induction of anesthesia. Myocardial sections were stained for Masson’s trichrome and Picrosirius red staining to quantify fibrosis. Medical records were analyzed (ECG, anthropometry, blood tests, medication, echocardiography, and invasive hemodynamic measurements).Results: Average RLN1 levels in HFrEF population were significantly higher than measured in age and gender matched healthy control human subjects (702 ± 283 pg/ml in HFrEF vs. 44 ± 27 pg/ml in control n = 47). We found a moderate inverse correlation between RLN1 levels and degree of myocardial fibrosis in both ventricles (r = −0.357, p = 0.014 in the right ventricle vs. r = −0.321, p = 0.028 in the left ventricle with Masson’s trichrome staining). Parallel, a moderate positive correlation was found in left ventricular diastolic function (echocardiography, E/A wave values) and RLN1 levels (r = 0.456, p = 0.003); a negative correlation with RLN1 levels and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (r = −0.373, p = 0.023), and diastolic pulmonary artery pressure (r = −0.894, p < 0.001). RLN1 levels showed moderate correlation with RLN2 levels (r = 0.453, p = 0.0003).Conclusion: Increased RLN1 levels were accompanied by lower myocardial fibrosis rate, which is a novel finding in our patient population with coronary artery disease and HFrEF. RLN1 can have a biomarker role in ventricular fibrosis; furthermore, it may influence hemodynamic and vasomotor activity via neurohormonal mechanisms of action. Given these valuable findings, RLN1 may be targeted in anti-fibrotic therapeutics and in perioperative care of heart transplantation.

Adolescent Psychopathic Traits Negatively Relate to Hemodynamic Activity within the Basal Ganglia during Error-Related Processing.

Youth with elevated psychopathic traits exhibit a number of comparable neurocognitive deficits as adult psychopathic offenders, including error-related processing deficits. Subregions of the basal ganglia play an important, though indirect, role in error-related processing through connections with cortical areas including the anterior cingulate cortex. A number of recent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (s/fMRI) studies have associated basal ganglia dysfunction in youth with elevated psychopathic traits, but these studies have not examined whether dysfunction occurring within subregions of the basal ganglia help contribute to error-related processing deficits previously observed in such at-risk youth. Here, we investigated error-related processing using a response inhibition Go/NoGo fMRI experimental paradigm in a large sample of incarcerated male adolescent offenders (n = 182). In the current report, psychopathy scores (measured via the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)) were negatively related to hemodynamic activity within input nuclei of the basal ganglia (i.e., the caudate and nucleus accumbens), as well as intrinsic/output nuclei (i.e., the globus pallidus and substantia nigra) and related nuclei (i.e., the subthalamic nucleus) during error-related processing. This is the first evidence to suggest that error-related dysfunction previously observed in youth with elevated psychopathic traits may be related to underlying abnormalities occurring within subregions of the basal ganglia.