Inferior Temporal Research Articles

Temporal multiplexing of perception and memory codes in IT cortex

A central assumption of neuroscience is that long-term memories are represented by the same brain areas that encode sensory stimuli1. Neurons in inferotemporal (IT) cortex represent the sensory percept of visual objects using a distributed axis code2–4. Whether and how the same IT neural population represents the long-term memory of visual objects remains unclear. Here we examined how familiar faces are encoded in the IT anterior medial face patch (AM), perirhinal face patch (PR) and temporal pole face patch (TP). In AM and PR we observed that the encoding axis for familiar faces is rotated relative to that for unfamiliar faces at long latency; in TP this memory-related rotation was much weaker. Contrary to previous claims, the relative response magnitude to familiar versus unfamiliar faces was not a stable indicator of familiarity in any patch5–11. The mechanism underlying the memory-related axis change is likely intrinsic to IT cortex, because inactivation of PR did not affect axis change dynamics in AM. Overall, our results suggest that memories of familiar faces are represented in AM and perirhinal cortex by a distinct long-latency code, explaining how the same cell population can encode both the percept and memory of faces.

Seeing beyond the symptoms: biomarkers and brain regions linked to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.

Early Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis remains challenging, necessitating specific biomarkers for timely detection. This study aimed to identify such biomarkers and explore their associations with cognitive decline. A cohort of 1759 individuals across cognitive aging stages, including healthy controls (HC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD, was examined. Utilizing nine biomarkers from structural MRI (sMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and positron emission tomography (PET), predictions were made for Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (CDRSB), and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS). Biomarkers included four sMRI (e.g., average thickness [ATH]), four DTI (e.g., mean diffusivity [MD]), and one PET Amyloid-β (Aβ) measure. Ensemble regression tree (ERT) technique with bagging and random forest approaches were applied in four groups (HC/MCI, HC/AD, MCI/AD, and HC/MCI/AD). Aβ emerged as a robust predictor of cognitive scores, particularly in late-stage AD. Volumetric measures, notably ATH, consistently correlated with cognitive scores across early and late disease stages. Additionally, ADAS demonstrated links to various neuroimaging biomarkers in all subject groups, highlighting its efficacy in monitoring brain changes throughout disease progression. ERT identified key brain regions associated with cognitive scores, such as the right transverse temporal region for Aβ, left and right entorhinal cortex, left inferior temporal gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus for ATH, and the left uncinate fasciculus for MD. This study underscores the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in understanding AD mechanisms, offering potential contributions to early biomarker development.

Functional alterations of the brain default mode network and somatosensory system in trigeminal neuralgia

Mapping the localization of the functional brain regions in trigeminal neuralgia (TN) patients is still lacking. The study aimed to explore the functional brain alterations and influencing factors in TN patients using functional brain imaging techniques. All participants underwent functional brain imaging to collect resting-state brain activity. The significant differences in regional homogeneity (ReHo) and amplitude of low frequency (ALFF) between the TN and control groups were calculated. After familywise error (FWE) correction, the differential brain regions in ReHo values between the two groups were mainly located in bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral inferior cerebellum, right superior orbital frontal gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and left gyrus rectus. The differential brain regions in ALFF values between the two groups were mainly located in the left triangular inferior frontal gyrus, left supplementary motor area, right supramarginal gyrus, and right middle frontal gyrus. With the functional impairment of the central pain area, the active areas controlling memory and emotion also change during the progression of TN. There may be different central mechanisms in TN patients of different sexes, affected sides, and degrees of nerve damage. The exact central mechanisms remain to be elucidated.

Exploration of neuroanatomical characteristics to differentiate prodromal Alzheimer’s disease from cognitively unimpaired amyloid-positive individuals

Differentiating clinical stages based solely on positive findings from amyloid PET is challenging. We aimed to investigate the neuroanatomical characteristics at the whole-brain level that differentiate prodromal Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from cognitively unimpaired amyloid-positive individuals (CU A+) in relation to amyloid deposition and regional atrophy. We included 45 CU A+ participants and 135 participants with amyloid-positive prodromal AD matched 1:3 by age, sex, and education. All participants underwent 18F-florbetaben positron emission tomography and 3D structural T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. We compared the standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) and volumes in 80 regions of interest (ROIs) between CU A+ and prodromal AD groups using independent t-tests, and employed the least absolute selection and shrinkage operator (LASSO) logistic regression model to identify ROIs associated with prodromal AD in relation to amyloid deposition, regional atrophy, and their interaction. After applying False Discovery Rate correction at < 0.1, there were no differences in global and regional SUVR between CU A+ and prodromal AD groups. Regional volume differences between the two groups were observed in the amygdala, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, insula, parahippocampal gyrus, and inferior temporal and parietal cortices. LASSO logistic regression model showed significant associations between prodromal AD and atrophy in the entorhinal cortex, inferior parietal cortex, both amygdalae, and left hippocampus. The mean SUVR in the right superior parietal cortex (beta coefficient = 0.0172) and its interaction with the regional volume (0.0672) were also selected in the LASSO model. The mean SUVR in the right superior parietal cortex was associated with an increased likelihood of prodromal AD (Odds ratio [OR] 1.602, p = 0.014), particularly in participants with lower regional volume (OR 3.389, p < 0.001). Only regional volume differences, not amyloid deposition, were observed between CU A+ and prodromal AD. The reduced volume in the superior parietal cortex may play a significant role in the progression to prodromal AD through its interaction with amyloid deposition in that region.

Multimodal transformer graph convolution attention isomorphism network (MTCGAIN): a novel deep network for detection of insomnia disorder.

In clinic, the subjectivity of diagnosing insomnia disorder (ID) often leads to misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis, as ID may have the same symptoms as those of other health problems. A novel deep network, the multimodal transformer graph convolution attention isomorphism network (MTGCAIN) is proposed in this study. In this network, graph convolution attention (GCA) is first employed to extract the graph features of brain connectivity and achieve good spatial interpretability. Second, the MTGCAIN comprehensively utilizes multiple brain network atlases and a multimodal transformer (MT) to facilitate coded information exchange between the atlases. In this way, MTGCAIN can be used to more effectively identify biomarkers and arrive at accurate diagnoses. The experimental results demonstrated that more accurate and objective diagnosis of ID can be achieved using the MTGCAIN. According to fivefold cross-validation, the accuracy reached 81.29% and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) reached 0.8760. A total of nine brain regions were detected as abnormal, namely right supplementary motor area (SMA.R), right temporal pole: superior temporal gyrus (TPOsup.R), left temporal pole: superior temporal gyrus (TPOsup.L), right superior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral (SFGdor.R), right middle temporal gyrus (MTG.R), left middle temporal gyrus (MTG.L), right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.R), right median cingulate and paracingulate gyri (DCG.R), left median cingulate and paracingulate gyri (DCG.L). The brain regions in the default mode network (DMN) of patients with ID show significant impairment (occupies four-ninths). In addition, the functional connectivity (FC) between the right middle occipital gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) has an obvious correlation with comorbid anxiety (P=0.008) and depression (P=0.005) among patients with ID.

Identifying ADHD-Related Abnormal Functional Connectivity with a Graph Convolutional Neural Network.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The neural mechanisms underlying ADHD remain inadequately understood, and current approaches do not well link neural networks and attention networks within brain networks. Our objective is to investigate the neural mechanisms related to attention and explore neuroimaging biological tags that can be generalized within the attention networks. In this paper, we utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to examine the differential functional connectivity network between ADHD and typically developing individuals. We employed a graph convolutional neural network model to identify individuals with ADHD. After classification, we visualized brain regions with significant contributions to the classification results. Our results suggest that the frontal, temporal, parietal, and cerebellar regions are likely the primary areas of dysfunction in individuals with ADHD. We also explored the relationship between regions of interest and attention networks, as well as the connection between crucial nodes and the distribution of positively and negatively correlated connections. This analysis allowed us to pinpoint the most discriminative brain regions, including the right orbitofrontal gyrus, the left rectus gyrus and bilateral insula, the right inferior temporal gyrus and bilateral transverse temporal gyrus in the temporal region, and the lingual gyrus of the occipital lobe, multiple regions of the basal ganglia and the upper cerebellum. These regions are primarily involved in the attention executive control network and the attention orientation network. Dysfunction in the functional connectivity of these regions may contribute to the underlying causes of ADHD.

Location matters: altered interhemispheric homotopic connectivity in post-stroke dyskinesia.

Motor impairment is the most prevalent consequence following a stroke. Interhemispheric homotopic connectivity, which varies regionally and hierarchically along the axis of the somatomotor-association cortex, plays a critical role in sustaining normal motor functions. However, the impact of strokes occurring in various locations on homotopic connectivity is not fully understood. This study aimed to explore how motor deficits resulting from acute strokes in different locations influence homotopic connectivity. Eighty-four acute ischemic stroke patients with dyskinesia were recruited and divided into four demographically-matched subgroups based on stroke locations: Group 1 (G1; frontoparietal, n = 15), Group 2 (G2; radiation coronal, n = 16), Group 3 (G3; basal ganglia, n = 30), and Group 4 (G4; brain stem, n = 23). An additional 37 demographically-matched healthy controls were also recruited in the study. Multimodal MRI data, motor function assessments, and cognitive tests were gathered for analysis. Interhemispheric homotopic functional and structural connectivity were measured using resting-state functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging, respectively. These measurements were then correlated with motor function scores to investigate the relationships. Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) analysis showed that strokes in the frontoparietal and basal ganglia regions led to diminished homotopic connectivity in the somatosensory/motor cortex. In contrast, strokes in the radiation coronal and brainstem regions affected subcortical motor circuits. Structural homotopic connectivity analysis using diffusion tensor imaging showed that frontoparietal and basal ganglia strokes predominantly affected association fibers, while radiation coronal and brainstem strokes caused widespread disruption in the integrity of both cortical-cortical and cortical-subcortical white matter fibers. Correlation analyses demonstrated significant associations between the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores with the VMHC in the inferior temporal gyrus for G1 (G1; r = 0.838, p < 0.001; r = 0.793, p < 0.001; and r = -0.834, p < 0.001, respectively). No statistically significant associations were observed in Groups 2, 3, and 4. Our results suggest that motor deficits following strokes in various regions involve distinct pathways from cortical to subcortical areas. Alterations in lesion topography and regional functional homotopy provide new insights into the understanding of neural underpinnings of post-stroke dyskinesia.

Feature-selective responses in macaque visual cortex follow eye movements during natural vision

In natural vision, primates actively move their eyes several times per second via saccades. It remains unclear whether, during this active looking, visual neurons exhibit classical retinotopic properties, anticipate gaze shifts or mirror the stable quality of perception, especially in complex natural scenes. Here, we let 13 monkeys freely view thousands of natural images across 4.6 million fixations, recorded 883 h of neuronal responses in six areas spanning primary visual to anterior inferior temporal cortex and analyzed spatial, temporal and featural selectivity in these responses. Face neurons tracked their receptive field contents, indicated by category-selective responses. Self-consistency analysis showed that general feature-selective responses also followed eye movements and remained gaze-dependent over seconds of viewing the same image. Computational models of feature-selective responses located retinotopic receptive fields during free viewing. We found limited evidence for feature-selective predictive remapping and no viewing-history integration. Thus, ventral visual neurons represent the world in a predominantly eye-centered reference frame during natural vision.

Multivariate mapping of low-resilient neurocognitive systems within and around low-grade gliomas.

Accumulating evidence suggests that the brain exhibits a remarkable capacity for functional compensation in response to neurological damage, a resilience potential that is deeply rooted in the malleable features of its underlying anatomofunctional architecture. This propensity is particularly exemplified by diffuse low-grade glioma, a subtype of primary brain tumour. However, functional plasticity is not boundless, and surgical resections directed at structures with limited neuroplasticity can lead to incapacitating impairments. Yet, maximizing diffuse low-grade glioma resections offers substantial oncological benefits, especially when the resection extends beyond the tumour margins (i.e. supra-tumour or supratotal resection). In this context, the primary objective of this study was to identify which cerebral structures were associated with less favourable cognitive outcomes after surgery, while accounting for intra-tumour and supra-tumour features of the surgical resections. To achieve this objective, we leveraged a unique cohort of 400 patients with diffuse low-grade glioma who underwent surgery with awake cognitive mapping. Patients benefitted from a neuropsychological assessment consisting of 18 subtests administered before and 3 months after surgery. We analysed changes in performance and applied topography-focused and disconnection-focused multivariate lesion-symptom mapping using support vector regressions, in an attempt to capture resected cortico-subcortical structures less amenable to full cognitive compensation. The observed changes in performance were of a limited magnitude, suggesting an overall recovery (13 of 18 tasks recovered fully despite a mean resection extent of 92.4%). Nevertheless, lesion-symptom mapping analyses revealed that a lack of recovery in picture naming was linked to damage in the left inferior temporal gyrus and inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Likewise, for semantic fluency abilities, an association was established with damage to the left precuneus/posterior cingulate. For phonological fluency abilities, the left dorsomedial frontal cortex and the frontal aslant tract were implicated. Moreover, difficulties in spatial exploration were associated with injury to the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and its underlying connectivity. An exploratory analysis suggested that supra-tumour resections were associated with a less pronounced recovery following specific resection patterns, such as supra-tumour resections of the left uncinate fasciculus (picture naming), the left corticostriatal tract and the anterior corpus callosum (phonological fluency), the hippocampus and parahippocampus (episodic memory) and the right frontal-mesial areas (visuospatial exploration). Collectively, these patterns of results shed new light on both low-resilient neural systems and the prediction of cognitive recovery following glioma surgery. Furthermore, they indicate that supra-tumour resections were only occasionally less well tolerated from a cognitive viewpoint. In doing so, they have deep implications for surgical planning and rehabilitation strategies.

Aberrant functional connectivity associated with drug response in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

To analyze the local functional activity and connectivity features of the brain associated with drug response inpatients newly diagnosed with epilepsy (NDE) who are naïve to anti-seizure medication (ASM). Recruited patients, underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, and were assigned to the well-controlled (WC, n = 28) or uncontrolled (UC, n = 11) groups based on their response to ASM. Healthy participants were included in the control group (HC, n = 29). The amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) were used to measure local functional activity, and voxel-wise degree centrality (DC) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) were used to evaluate the connecting intensity of the brain areas. Compared to the HC and WC groups, the UC group had higher ALFF values in the left posterior central gyrus (PoCG.L) and left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.L) and higher DC in the bilateral PoCG (Gaussian random field correction, voxel-level P < 0.001, and cluster-level P < 0.05). Both PoCG and ITG.L in the UC group showed stronger FC with multiple brain regions, mainly located in the occipital and temporal lobes, compared to the HC or WC group, while the WC group showed decreased or similar FC compared to the HC group. Excessive enhancement of brain functional activity or connecting intensity in ASM-naïve patients with NDE may be associated with a higher risk of poor drug response.

Distinct global brain connectivity alterations in depressed adolescents with subthreshold mania and the relationship with processing speed: Evidence from sBEAD Cohort

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) is a progressive condition. Investigating the neuroimaging mechanisms in depressed adolescents with subthreshold mania (SubMD) facilitates the early identification of BD. However, the global brain connectivity (GBC) patterns in SubMD patients, as well as the relationship with processing speed before the onset of full-blown BD, remain unclear. MethodsThe study involved 72 SubMD, 77 depressed adolescents without subthreshold mania (nSubMD), and 69 gender- and age-matched healthy adolescents (HCs). All patients underwent a clinical follow-up ranging from six to twelve months. We calculated the voxel-based graph theory analysis of the GBC map and conducted the TMT-A test to measure the processing speed. ResultsCompared to HCs and nSubMD, SubMD patients displayed distinctive GBC index patterns: GBC index decreased in the right Medial Superior Frontal Gyrus (SFGmed.R)/Superior Frontal Gyrus (SFG) while increased in the right Precuneus and left Postcentral Gyrus. Both patient groups showed increased GBC index in the right Inferior Temporal Gyrus. An increased GBC value in the right Supplementary Motor Area was exclusively observed in the nSubMD-group. There were opposite changes in the GBC index in SFGmed.R/SFG between two patient groups, with an AUC of 0.727. Additionally, GBC values in SFGmed.R/SFG exhibited a positive correlation with TMT-A scores in SubMD-group. LimitationsRelatively shorter follow-up duration, medications confounding, and modest sample size. ConclusionThese findings suggest that adolescents with subthreshold BD have specific impairments patterns at the whole brain connectivity level associated with processing speed impairments, providing insights into early identification and intervention strategies for BD.

Alteration of prefrontal cortex and its associations with emotional and cognitive dysfunctions in adolescent borderline personality disorder.

The neurobiological mechanism of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents remains unclear. The study aimed to assess the alterations in neural activity within prefrontal cortex in adolescents with BPD and investigate the relationship of prefrontal activity with emotional regulation and cognitive function. This study enrolled 50 adolescents aged 12-17 years with BPD and 21 gender and age-matched healthy control (HC) participants. Study assessment for each participant included a brain resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), clinical assessment questionnaires such as Borderline Personality Features Scale (BPFS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and cognitive testing with Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT). Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) were obtained from rs-fMRI analysis. Correlation analysis was also performed to evaluate the associations of the neuroimaging metrics such as fALFF and FC with clinical assessment questionnaire and cognitive testing scores. Adolescents with BPD showed increased fALFF values in the right inferior frontal gyrus and decreased activity in the left middle frontal gyrus as compared to the HC group (p < 0.05, cluster size ≥ 100, FWE correction). In adolescents with BPD, increased fALFF in the right inferior frontal gyrus was related to the BPFS (emotional dysregulation), DERS-F (lacking of emotional regulation strategies) and Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory-4C scores (internal emotional regulation function of self-injurious behavior). The reduced fALFF in the left middle frontal gyrus was associated with the SCWT-A (reading characters) and the SCWT-B (reading color) scores. Additionally, the fALFF values in the left middle frontal gyrus and the right inferior frontal gyrus were related to the CTQ-D (emotional neglect) (p < 0.05). The left middle frontal gyrus exhibited increased FC with the right hippocampus, left inferior temporal gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus (voxel p < 0.001, cluster p < 0.05, FWE correction). The increased FC between the left middle frontal gyrus and the right hippocampus was related to the SCWT-C (cognitive flexibility) score. We observed diverging changes in intrinsic brain activity in prefrontal cortex, and neural compensatory changes to maintain function in adolescents with BPD. In addition, decreased neural function was closely associated with emotional dysregulation, while increased neural function as indicated by brain activity and FC was associated with cognitive dysfunction. These results indicated that alterations of intrinsic brain activity may be one of the underlying neurobiological markers for clinical symptoms in adolescents with BPD.

Perceptography unveils the causal contribution of inferior temporal cortex to visual perception

Neurons in the inferotemporal (IT) cortex respond selectively to complex visual features, implying their role in object perception. However, perception is subjective and cannot be read out from neural responses; thus, bridging the causal gap between neural activity and perception demands independent characterization of perception. Historically, though, the complexity of the perceptual alterations induced by artificial stimulation of IT cortex has rendered them impossible to quantify. To address this old problem, we tasked male macaque monkeys to detect and report optical impulses delivered to their IT cortex. Combining machine learning with high-throughput behavioral optogenetics, we generated complex and highly specific images that were hard for the animal to distinguish from the state of being cortically stimulated. These images, named “perceptograms” for the first time, reveal and depict the contents of the complex hallucinatory percepts induced by local neural perturbation in IT cortex. Furthermore, we found that the nature and magnitude of these hallucinations highly depend on concurrent visual input, stimulation location, and intensity. Objective characterization of stimulation-induced perceptual events opens the door to developing a mechanistic theory of visual perception. Further, it enables us to make better visual prosthetic devices and gain a greater understanding of visual hallucinations in mental disorders.

Shared and Specific Changes of Cortico-Striatal Functional Connectivity in Stable Mild Cognitive Impairment and Progressive Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease, has two distinct subtypes: stable MCI (sMCI) and progressive MCI (pMCI). Early identification of the two subtypes has important clinical significance. We aimed to compare the cortico-striatal functional connectivity (FC) differences between the two subtypes of MCI and enhance the accuracy of differential diagnosis between sMCI and pMCI. We collected resting-state fMRI data from 31 pMCI patients, 41 sMCI patients, and 81 healthy controls. We chose six pairs of seed regions, including the ventral striatum inferior, ventral striatum superior, dorsal-caudal putamen, dorsal-rostral putamen, dorsal caudate, and ventral-rostral putamen and analyzed the differences in cortico-striatal FC among the three groups, additionally, the relationship between the altered FC within the MCI subtypes and cognitive function was examined. Compared to sMCI, the pMCI patients exhibited decreased FC between the left dorsal-rostral putamen and right middle temporal gyrus, the right dorsal caudate and right inferior temporal gyrus, and the left dorsal-rostral putamen and left superior frontal gyrus. Additionally, the altered FC between the right inferior temporal gyrus and right putamen was significantly associated with episodic memory and executive function. Our study revealed common and distinct cortico-striatal FC changes in sMCIs and pMCI across different seeds; these changes were associated with cognitive function. These findings can help us understand the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of MCI and distinguish pMCI and sMCI in the early stage potentially.

Causal interactions in brain networks predict pain levels in trigeminal neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a highly debilitating facial pain condition. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the main method for generating insights into the central mechanisms of TN pain in humans. Studies have found both structural and functional abnormalities in various brain structures in TN patients as compared with healthy controls. Whereas studies have also examined aberrations in brain networks in TN, no studies have to date investigated causal interactions in these brain networks and related these causal interactions to the levels of TN pain. We recorded fMRI data from 39 TN patients who either rested comfortably in the scanner during the resting state session or tracked their pain levels during the pain tracking session. Applying Granger causality to analyze the data and requiring consistent findings across the two scanning sessions, we found 5 causal interactions, including: (1) Thalamus → dACC, (2) Caudate → Inferior temporal gyrus, (3) Precentral gyrus → Inferior temporal gyrus, (4) Supramarginal gyrus → Inferior temporal gyrus, and (5) Bankssts → Inferior temporal gyrus, that were consistently associated with the levels of pain experienced by the patients. Utilizing these 5 causal interactions as predictor variables and the pain score as the predicted variable in a linear multiple regression model, we found that in both pain tracking and resting state sessions, the model was able to explain ∼36 % of the variance in pain levels, and importantly, the model trained on the 5 causal interaction values from one session was able to predict pain levels using the 5 causal interaction values from the other session, thereby cross-validating the models. These results, obtained by applying novel analytical methods to neuroimaging data, provide important insights into the pathophysiology of TN and could inform future studies aimed at developing innovative therapies for treating TN.

Identifying tripartite relationship among cortical thickness, neuroticism, and mood and anxiety disorders

The number of young adults seeking help for emotional distress, subsyndromal-syndromal mood/anxiety symptoms, including those associated with neuroticism, is rising and can be an early manifestation of mood/anxiety disorders. Identification of gray matter (GM) thickness alterations and their relationship with neuroticism and mood/anxiety symptoms can aid in earlier diagnosis and prevention of risk for future mood and anxiety disorders. In a transdiagnostic sample of young adults (n = 252;177 females; age 21.7 ± 2), Hypothesis (H) 1:regularized regression followed by multiple regression examined relationships among GM cortical thickness and clinician-rated depression, anxiety, and mania/hypomania; H2:the neuroticism factor and its subfactors as measured by NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) were tested as mediators. Analyses revealed positive relationships between left parsopercularis thickness and depression (B = 4.87, p = 0.002), anxiety (B = 4.68, p = 0.002), mania/hypomania (B = 6.08, p ≤ 0.001); negative relationships between left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) thickness and depression (B = − 5.64, p ≤ 0.001), anxiety (B = − 6.77, p ≤ 0.001), mania/hypomania (B = − 6.47, p ≤ 0.001); and positive relationships between left isthmus cingulate thickness (B = 2.84, p = 0.011), and anxiety. NEO anger/hostility mediated the relationship between left ITG thickness and mania/hypomania; NEO vulnerability mediated the relationship between left ITG thickness and depression. Examining the interrelationships among cortical thickness, neuroticism and mood and anxiety symptoms enriches the potential for identifying markers conferring risk for mood and anxiety disorders and can provide targets for personalized intervention strategies for these disorders.

Systematic review and meta-analysis: multimodal functional and anatomical neural alterations in autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundThis meta-analysis aimed to explore the most robust findings across numerous existing resting-state functional imaging and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies on the functional and structural brain alterations in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsA whole-brain voxel-wise meta-analysis was conducted to compare the differences in the intrinsic functional activity and gray matter volume (GMV) between individuals with ASD and typically developing individuals (TDs) using Seed-based d Mapping software.ResultsA total of 23 functional imaging studies (786 ASD, 710 TDs) and 52 VBM studies (1728 ASD, 1747 TDs) were included. Compared with TDs, individuals with ASD displayed resting-state functional decreases in the left insula (extending to left superior temporal gyrus [STG]), bilateral anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC), left angular gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus, as well as increases in the right supplementary motor area and precuneus. For VBM meta-analysis, individuals with ASD displayed decreased GMV in the ACC/mPFC and left cerebellum, and increased GMV in the left middle temporal gyrus (extending to the left insula and STG), bilateral olfactory cortex, and right precentral gyrus. Further, individuals with ASD displayed decreased resting-state functional activity and increased GMV in the left insula after overlapping the functional and structural differences.ConclusionsThe present multimodal meta-analysis demonstrated that ASD exhibited similar alterations in both function and structure of the insula and ACC/mPFC, and functional or structural alterations in the default mode network (DMN), primary motor and sensory regions. These findings contribute to further understanding of the pathophysiology of ASD.

Concurrent brain structural and functional alterations in the thalamus of adult survivors of childhood brain tumors: a multimodal MRI study

Adult survivors of childhood brain tumors often present with cognitive deficits that affect their quality of life. Studying brain structure and function in brain tumor survivors can help understand the underlying mechanisms of their cognitive deficits to improve long-term prognosis of these patients. This study analyzed voxel-based morphometry (VBM) derived from T1-weighted MRI and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to examine the structural and functional alterations in 35 brain tumor survivors using 35 matching healthy individuals as controls. Compared with healthy controls, brain tumor survivors had decreased gray matter volumes (GMV) in the thalamus and increased GMV in the superior frontal gyrus. Functionally, brain tumor survivors had lower ALFF values in the inferior temporal gyrus and medial prefrontal area and higher ALFF values in the thalamus. Importantly, we found concurrent but negatively correlated structural and functional alterations in the thalamus based on observed significant differences in GMV and ALFF values. These findings on concurrent brain structural and functional alterations provide new insights towards a better understanding of the cognitive deficits in brain tumor survivors.

Effect of acupuncture for anisometropic amblyopia: A randomized clinical trial and potential mechanism: 针刺治疗屈光参差性弱视:一项随机对照试验及其潜在起效机制

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of acupuncture on anisometropic amblyopia (AA) and explore its potential mechanism for children with AA. MethodsSeventy-six children with monocular AA were randomized into a conventional treatment group and a combined treatment group of acupuncture and conventional treatment, with 38 patients in each group. In the conventional treatment group, on the base of patching regimen, the red flashing, grating and visual stimulation were delivered. Each approach lasted for 5 min per session and was given once every two days, three times a week, for 4 consecutive weeks. In the acupuncture-combined treatment group, on the base of the regimen of conventional treatment group, acupuncture was applied to Jingming (BL1), Cuanzhu (BL2), Fengchi (GB20) and Guangming (GB37), with needles retained for 20 min per session, once every two days, three times of intervention a week and for 4 consecutive weeks. Before and after treatment, the best corrected vision acuity (BCVA) was observed to evaluate the clinical effect in the two groups. Before treatment started, 15 patients with AA on left side were randomized selected from each group and the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was operated before and after treatment. Simultaneously, eight healthy children with normal visual acuity were recruited to be the normal control group and received one-time rs-fMRI scanning. Based on the activation likelihood estimation (ALE), the visual “what” pathway network was constructed. By analyzing the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the regional homogeneity (ReHo), the differences in the regional autonomous function activities in the key brain areas of the “what” pathway were compared among the three groups. Results(1) Clinical effect: After treatment, BCVA was (0.6 [0.5, 0.6]), higher than that (0.4 [0.3, 0.5]) before treatment, presenting the statistical difference (P < 0.05) in the conventional treatment group. BCVA was (0.6 [0.6, 0.8]), higher than that (0.4 [0.4, 0.5]) before treatment, presenting the statistical difference (P < 0.05) in the acupuncture-combined treatment group. BCVA in the acupuncture-combined treatment group was higher than that of the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05) after treatment. The total effective rate was 86.1% in the acupuncture-combined treatment group, higher than that (65.8%) of the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). (2) Mechanism: ① ALFF: In comparison with the healthy control group, the ALFF in the primary visual cortex of the “what” pathway for AA children was reduced significantly (P < 0.05), and ALFF in the right fusiform gyrus and the right inferior temporal gyrus increased significantly when compared with the healthy children (P < 0.05). Compared with that before treatment, there was no significant difference in the brain areas of the “what” pathway after treatment in the conventional treatment group (P > 0.05). In the acupuncture-combined treatment group, ALFF in the right inferior occipital gyrus and the right fusiform gyrus of the “what” pathway increased after treatment when compared with that before treatment (P < 0.05). After treatment, in comparison with the conventional treatment group, there was no significant difference in the brain areas of “what” pathway in the acupuncture-combined treatment group (P > 0.05). ② ReHo: ReHo in the right inferior occipital gyrus, the right fusiform gyrus and the right inferior temporal gyrus in the “what” pathway was elevated significantly in AA children when compared with that in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). ReHo of the left inferior occipital gyrus and the left fusiform gyrus increased significantly after treatment when compared with that before treatment in the conventional treatment group (P<0.05). ReHo of the right inferior occipital gyrus, the left and the right fusiform gyrus increased significantly after treatment when compared with that before treatment in the acupuncture-combined treatment group (P < 0.05). After treatment, ReHo of the right inferior temporal gyrus in the “what” pathway in the acupuncture-combined treatment group was significantly higher than that of the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). ConclusionThe acupuncture combined with conventional treatment improves BCVA and the total effective rate of AA children. The changes in the regional function activity of the brain areas within the “what” pathway were dominated by the compensatory increase of the autonomous activity in the occipital lobe (inferior occipital gyrus) and the temporal lobe (inferior temporal gyrus) in AA children. Both conventional treatment and acupuncture can enhance the intensity of autonomous function activities in the occipital lobe (inferior occipital gyrus) and the temporal lobe (fusiform gyrus / inferior temporal gyrus) in the “what” pathway so as to relieve visual impairment. ReHo in the inferior temporal gyrus in the acupuncture-combined treatment group was higher than that of the conventional treatment group and it suggests that the inferior temporal gyrus may be the key brain area to the improvement of visual function in the “what” pathway.

Hereditary and cortical morphological biomarker of sensitivity to reward in short-term withdrawal methamphetamine abusers.

Higher sensitivity to reward (SR) and weaker sensitivity to punishment (SP) construct the fundamental craving characteristics of methamphetamine abuse. However, few studies have appraised relationships between SR/SP (SR or SP) and cortical morphological alterations in methamphetamine abusers and whether hereditary factors take effects on SR/SP is unclear. Based on surface-based morphometric analysis, cortical discrepancy was investigated between 38 methamphetamine abusers and 37 healthy controls. Within methamphetamine abusers, correlation profiling was performed to discover associations among aberrant neuroimaging substrates, SR, SP, and craving. According to nine single nucleotide polymorphism sites of dopamine-related genes, we conducted univariate general linear model to find different effects of genotypes on cortical alterations and SR/SP/craving (SR, SP, or craving). Ultimately, mediation analyses were conducted among single nucleotide polymorphism sites, SR/SP/craving, and cortical morphological alterations to discover their association pathways. Compared to healthy controls, thinner cortices in inferior temporal gyrus, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, and lateral occipital cortex in the left hemisphere were found in methamphetamine abusers (P < 0.05, family-wise error corrected). Cortical thickness in the inferior temporal gyrus was negatively correlated with SR scores. We found that rs1800497 A-containing genotypes had lower cortical thickness in the left inferior parietal lobule than the GG genotype. The rs5751876 had effects on SR scores. This study would provide convincing biomarkers for SR in methamphetamine abusers and offer potential genetic targets for personalizing relapse prevention.