Left Lingual Gyrus Research Articles

Brain connectivity changes in patients with working memory impairments with chronic ischemic cerebrovascular disease

One of the methods of assessment of cognitive functions in patients with chronic ischemic cerebrovascular disease — CICD (dyscirculatory encephalopathy) implies studying connectivity of neural networks through the analysis of rest functional magnetic resonance imaging (rest fMRI) data. The main objective of this study was to assess the relationship between working memory (WM) characteristics and connectivity of various parts of the brain in patients diagnosed with CICD. The study involved 22 female CICD patients; they were divided into two groups, one with satisfactory level of WM and the other with compromised WM. We assessed intra-brain connectivity with the help of rest fMRI, using the SPM-12 and CONN18b software applications in Matlab platform. The other aspects evaluated were the gray to white matter ratio and the association of this indicator with WM. Significant differences in the intra-brain connectivity were registered in both the satisfactory WM group and the compromised WM group. The brain parts where those differences were found are left parahippocampal area and right supramarginal gyrus; right cerebellar hemisphere and left parietal, as well as left frontal areas; right cingular and left lingual gyri. In addition, we detected significant differences in the ratio in the gray and white matter volumes in both groups (p = 0.007). The results obtained indicate that memory deterioration in CICD patients is concomitant with deteriorating connectivity between the cortical areas, as well as between cerebellum and cortex, which may be associated with a more significant loss of the white matter.

PTSD and its dissociative subtype through the lens of the insula: Anterior and posterior insula resting-state functional connectivity and its predictive validity using machine learning.

Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically experience states of reliving and hypervigilance; however, the dissociative subtype of PTSD (PTSD+DS) presents with additional symptoms of depersonalization and derealization. Although the insula is critical to emotion processing, its association with these contrasting symptom profiles is yet to be fully delineated. Accordingly, we investigated insula subregion resting-state functional connectivity patterns among individuals with PTSD, PTSD+DS, and healthy controls. Using SPM12 and PRONTO software, we implemented a seed-based resting-state functional connectivity approach, along with multiclass Gaussian process classification machine learning, respectively, in order to evaluate unique patterns and the predictive validity of insula subregion connectivity among individuals with PTSD (n=84), PTSD+DS (n=49), and age-matched healthy controls (n=51). Ascompared to PTSD and PTSD+DS, healthy controls showed increased right anterior and posterior insula connectivity with frontal lobe structures. By contrast, PTSD showed increased bilateral posterior insula connectivity with subcortical structures, including the periaqueductal gray. Strikingly, ascompared to PTSD and controls, PTSD+DS showed increased bilateral anterior and posterior insula connectivity with posterior cortices, including the left lingual gyrus and the left precuneus. Moreover, machine learning analyses were able to classify PTSD, PTSD+DS, and controls using insula subregion connectivity patterns with 80.4% balanced accuracy (p < .01). These findings suggest a neurobiological distinction between PTSD and its dissociative subtype with regard to insula subregion functional connectivity patterns. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms were able to utilize insula resting-state connectivity patterns to discriminate between participant groups with high predictive accuracy.

Intrinsic functional connectivity in social anxiety disorder with and without comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Neuroimaging research about social anxiety disorder (SAD) points to hyperactivity in the fear circuit and altered connectivity between the fear circuit and the intrinsic connectivity networks that modulate it. We investigated intrinsic functional connectivity changes in SAD patients by taking into consideration the commonly overlooked comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We compared intrinsic functional connectivity alterations in 16 patients with pure SAD, 18 patients with SAD and comorbid ADHD and 21 healthy controls using seed-to-voxel functional connectivity analyses. Hypoconnectivity of the right fusiform gyrus with the left lingual gyrus was the unique difference between whole SAD group and healthy controls, while in the pure SAD group the fusiform gyrus displayed hypoconnectivity with the posterior default mode network (DMN) regions. In contrast, ADHD comorbidity was associated with hyperconnectivities of the salience network (SN) with the fusiform cortex and the posterior DMN regions, and hyperconnectivities of the posterior DMN with visual, somatosensory and motor cortices. The dichotomic dissociation of the SAD related functional connectivity changes into hypoconnectivities in the pure SAD group vs hyperconnectivities in the SAD-ADHD group leads also to the question, whether ADHD treatment can be considered an alternative for selected SAD cases.

Neural Basis of Professional Pride in the Reaction to Uniform Wear.

Professional pride is a positive emotion that includes self-reflection or evaluation and attitude toward one’s own occupational group. Uniforms can encourage the wearer to have professional pride. The current study aimed to elucidate the neural basis of professional pride using an experimental task related to the self in uniform and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The person-adjective matching task, in which a participant or other in uniform or casual wear was presented with positive and negative words, was used for scanning fMRI. Imaging data from 21 adults who had an occupation requiring a uniform were analyzed to identify the main and interaction effects of individual (self vs. other), clothes (uniform vs. casual wear), and valence (positive vs. negative). Identified brain activities were correlated with psychological scales including the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and Group Environment Questionnaire. Whole brain analyses found that the interaction between individual and clothes was present in multiple regions such as the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left middle and inferior temporal gyri, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, right temporoparietal junction, left lingual gyrus, left calcarine cortex, right insula, left caudate, and right putamen. In particular, activities in the right VLPFC, left calcarine cortex, and right putamen in the self/uniform condition were positively correlated with several psychological scales. These results suggest that professional pride may be represented through multiple brain networks related to empathy, reward, and emotion regulation as well as the theory-of-mind network. The neural basis of professional pride is closely related to positive self-evaluation and group cohesion.

Graph theory analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in essential tremor.

Essential tremor (ET) is a neurological disease with both motor and nonmotor manifestations; however, little is known about its underlying brain basis. Furthermore, the overall organization of the brain network in ET remains largely unexplored. We investigated the topological properties of brain functional network, derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, in 23 ET patients versus 23 healthy controls. Graph theory analysis was used to assess the functional network organization. At the global level, the functional network of ET patients was characterized by lower small-worldness values than healthy controls-less clustered functionality of the brain. At the regional level, compared with the healthy controls, ET patients showed significantly higher values of global efficiency, cost and degree, and a shorter average path length in the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis), right inferior temporal gyrus (posterior division and temporo-occipital part), right inferior lateral occipital cortex, left paracingulate, bilateral precuneus bilaterally, left lingual gyrus, right hippocampus, left amygdala, nucleus accumbens bilaterally, and left middle temporal gyrus (posterior part). In addition, ET patients showed significant higher local efficiency and clustering coefficient values in frontal medial cortex bilaterally, subcallosal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyri bilaterally (posterior division), right lingual gyrus, right cerebellar flocculus, right postcentral gyrus, right inferior semilunar lobule of cerebellum and culmen of vermis. Finally, the right intracalcarine cortex and the left orbitofrontal cortex showed a shorter average path length in ET patients, while the left frontal operculum and the right planum polare showed a higher betweenness centrality in ET patients. In conclusion, the efficiency of the overall brain functional network in ET is disrupted. Further, our results support the concept that ET is a disorder that disrupts widespread brain regions, including those outside of the brain regions responsible for tremor.

Abstract 4733: Human functional brain imaging data support preclinical and clinical evidence that marizomib crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to inhibit proteasome activity in the brain

Abstract Background: Here we summarize key data suggesting, unlike bortezomib, marizomib (MRZ), an irreversible inhibitor of all proteasome subunits, crosses the BBB, supporting its evaluation in brain malignancies. Methods: Male Swiss Webster mice with microdialysis probes implanted in the cerebellum (CER) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) were administered MRZ (0.3 mg/kg IV, n = 15), amphetamine (1 mg/kg IP, positive control, n = 4), or vehicle (n = 6). Neurotransmitter levels were measured up to 180 minutes post-dose. Brain samples were collected from MRZ-treated mice at 30, 60, 120 (n = 3 each) and 180 (n = 6) minutes post-dose to determine proteasome activity (chymotrypsin-like [CT-L], trypsin-like [T-L], and caspase-like [C-L] subunits). Proteasome activity was assessed in normal human brain (CER and frontal lobe; n = 6) and glioblastoma tumor samples (GBM; n = 30), and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with recurrent GBM (rGBM) prior to and after MRZ administration (MRZ-108 study, NCT02330562). Longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of whole-brain volumes was acquired before and after MRZ administration to patients with rGBM (n = 6). Results: In mice, MRZ significantly increased 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and dopamine levels in the CER and decreased levels of serotonin (CER and PFC), 5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid (CER and PFC), Homovanillic acid (PFC), and DOPAC (PFC). Proteasome activity of all 3 proteasome subunits (CT-L, C-L, T-L) was significantly reduced in mouse CER and PFC after MRZ administration; CT-L activity was most potently inhibited. In humans, similar CT-L and C-L activity levels were observed in GBM tumor tissue compared with normal brain CER, while activity levels were 3- to 4-fold higher in normal brain frontal lobe. In patients with rGBM, CT-L activity in PBMCs was inhibited 80-100% 1 hour post-MRZ, however, activity levels had returned to baseline prior to the next MRZ infusion 7 days later. Resting-state fMRI data showed, after MRZ exposure, hallucination severity was associated with decreased functional connectivity between left lingual gyrus and both left CER (T[4] = −12.78; P &amp;lt; 0.03 FDR) and left temporal cortex (T[4] = −9.56; P &amp;lt; 0.04 FDR). Conclusions: MRZ demonstrated rapid, yet transient proteasome inhibition in PBMCs. This activity pattern may be related to proteasome turnover and occur in other nucleated cells, such as glioma cells. Lower proteasome activity levels were observed in CER and GBM tumor tissue compared with frontal lobe tissue. Proteasome inhibition and neurotransmitter level alterations in the mouse brain and functional connectivity changes in the human brain suggest that MRZ crosses the BBB and specifically affects the CER. Taken together, these data suggest GBM tumor tissue, like the CER, may be sensitive to MRZ treatment. Citation Format: Daniela A. Bota, Kaijun Di, David B. Keator, Robert G. Bota, Matthew Hoffmann, C. Dan Dumitru, Nancy Levin. Human functional brain imaging data support preclinical and clinical evidence that marizomib crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to inhibit proteasome activity in the brain [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4733.

Abnormal intrinsic functional hubs and connectivity in stable patients with COPD: a resting-state MRI study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects a large population and is closely associated with cognitive impairment. However, the mechanisms of cognitive impairment in COPD patients have not been unraveled. This study investigated the change in patterns of intrinsic functional hubs using a degree centrality (DC) analysis. The connectivity between these abnormal hubs with the remaining brain was also investigated using functional connectivity (FC). Nineteen stable patients with COPD and 20 normal controls(NC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations and clinical and neuropsychologic assessments. We measured the voxel-wise DC across the whole brain gray matter and the seed-based FC between these abnormal hubs in the remaining brain matter; the group difference was calculated. A partial correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the abnormal DC and clinical variables in COPD patients. Compared to NC, the patients with COPD exhibited significantly decreased DC in the right lingual gyrus (LG), bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA), and right paracentral lobule (PCL). A further seed-based FC analysis found that COPD patients demonstrated significantly decreased FC between these abnormal hubs in several brain areas, including the left cerebellum anterior lobe, left lingual gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, right insula, right inferior frontal gyrus, limbic lobe, cingulate gyrus, left putamen, lentiform nucleus, right precuneus, and right paracentral lobule. A partial correlation analysis showed that the decreased DC in the right PCL was positively correlated with the FEV1 and FEV1/FVC, and the decreased DC in the SMA was positively correlated with naming and pH in COPD patients. This study demonstrates that there are intrinsic functional hubs and connectivity alterations that may reflect the aberrant information communication in the brain of COPD patients. These findings may help provide new insight for understanding the mechanisms of COPD-related cognitive impairment from whole brain functional connections.

Intrinsic Resting-State Activity in Older Adults With Video Game Experience.

Playing video games is a prevalent leisure activity in current daily life, and studies have found that video game experience has positive effects in several cognitive domains. However, few studies have examined the effect of video game experience on the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) among older adults. In the current study, we compared behavioral performance in the flanker task and ALFF activities of older adults, of whom 15 were video game players (VGPs) and 18 non-video game players (NVGPs). The results showed that VGPs outperformed NVGPs in the flanker task and that VGPs showed significantly increased ALFF relative to NVGPs in the left inferior occipital gyrus, left cerebellum and left lingual gyrus. Furthermore, the ALFF in the left inferior occipital gyrus and left lingual gyrus was positively correlated with cognitive performance as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. These results revealed that playing video games might improve behavioral performance and change intrinsic brain activity in older adults. Future video game training studies in older adults are warranted to provide more evidence of the positive effects of video game experience on behavioral and brain function.

Language reorganization after resection of low-grade gliomas: an fMRI task based connectivity study.

Few studies addressed the evolution of brain activity before and after brain tumor resection. Using a fMRI naming task, we evaluated possible underlying plasticity phenomena. Thirty-two patients with left low-grade gliomas (16 women; age = 38.6 ± 8.31years) and 19 healthy controls (7 women; age = 42.4 ± 12.1) were included in the study. An overt picture-naming task (DO80) was performed pre and post (3months) surgery, as well as within the MRI in a covert manner. Exams included an injected 3DT1, a T2FLAIR, a DTI and a GE-EPI (task) sequence. Activations maps were compared with picture naming score, FA and MD maps were estimated, a VLSM analysis was performed on tumor masks, and disconnectome maps were reconstructed. Pre-surgery, the left parahippocampal gyrus (LPH) was inversely associated with task performance. Increased pre-post surgery left lingual gyrus (LLG) activity was found related to decreased picture naming performance. The evolution of left lingual gyrus (LLG) activity was negatively associated with the evolution of picture naming performance. In controls, the LPH was functionally connected to the right precentral gyrus (RPCG) and slightly to the LLG. This was not clearly retrieved in the patient group. Preoperatively, the LLG was connected to the left planum temporale and to the right lingual gyrus. The same result was found for controls. Postoperatively, the LLG was only connected to the RPCG. No association was found between evolution of FA/MD and evolution of picture naming performance. There is not one unique pattern of pre- and postoperative plasticity concerning picture-naming performance in DLGG patients.

Effects of Amisulpride Adjunctive Therapy on Working Memory and Brain Metabolism in the Frontal Cortex of Patients with Schizophrenia: A Preliminary Positron Emission Tomography/Computerized Tomography Investigation.

ObjectiveDopamine plays a significant role in working memory by acting as a key neuromodulator between brain networks. Additionally, treatment of patients with schizophrenia using amisulpride, a pure dopamine class 2/3 receptor antagonist, improves their clinical symptoms with fewer side effects. We hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia treated with amisulpride and aripiprazole show increased working memory and glucose metabolism compared with those treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and aripiprazole instead.MethodsSixteen patients with schizophrenia (eight in the amisulpride group [aripiprazole+amisulpride] and eight in the CBT group [aripiprazole+CBT]) and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects were recruited for a 12-week-long prospective trial. An [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computerized tomography scanner was used to acquire the images.ResultsAfter 12 weeks of treatment, the amisulpride group showed greater improvement in the Letter-Number Span scores than the CBT group. Additionally, although brain metabolism in the left middle frontal gyrus, left occipital lingual gyrus, and right inferior parietal lobe was increased in all patients with schizophrenia, the amisulpride group exhibited a greater increase in metabolism in both the right superior frontal gyrus and right frontal precentral gyrus than the CBT group.ConclusionThis study suggests that a small dose of amisulpride improves the general psychopathology, working memory performance, and brain glucose metabolism of patients with schizophrenia treated with aripiprazole.

Verbal Creativity Is Correlated With the Dynamic Reconfiguration of Brain Networks in the Resting State.

Creativity is the foundation of human culture. All inventions and innovations in history rely upon us to break with the traditional thinking and create something novel. A number of neuroimaging studies have explored the neural mechanism of creativity. However, a majority of researches have focused only on the stationary functional connectivity in resting-state fMRI and task-related fMRI, neglecting the dynamic variation of brain networks. Here, we used dynamic network analysis to investigate the relation between the dynamic reorganization of brain networks and verbal creativity in 370 healthy subjects. We found that the integration of the left lingual gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) in default mode network (DMN) and the integration of the DMN and cerebellum, frontoparietal task control network (FPTC) and auditory network (Aud) showed positive correlation with verbal creativity performance. In addition, the recruitment of the bilateral postcentral gyrus from the sensory/somatomotor network (SMN) and the recruitment of the SMN in general displayed a significant correlation with verbal creativity scores. Taken together, these results suggested that the dynamic reorganization among the brain networks involved multiple cognitive processes, such as memory retrieval, imaginative process, cognitive control – these are all important for verbal creativity. These findings provided direct evidence that verbal creativity was related to the dynamic variation of brain mechanism during resting-state, extending past research on the neural mechanism of creativity. Meanwhile, these results bought about new perspectives for verbal creative training and rehabilitation training of depression.

Altered brain activity in patients with strabismus and amblyopia detected by analysis of regional homogeneity: Aresting‑state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Previous studies have demonstrated that strabismus or amblyopia can result in marked brain function and anatomical alterations. However, differences in spontaneous brain activity in strabismus and amblyopia (SA) patients as compared with control individuals remain unclear. The present study aimed to analyze the potential brain activity changes in SA patients and their association with behavioral performance. In total, 16 patients with SA (10 women and 6 men) and 16 healthy controls (HCs; 6 men and 10 women) with matched age and sex were recruited. All subjects were examined with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and changes in the spontaneous brain activity of SA patients were evaluated by the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method. The diagnostic ability of the ReHo method was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. In addition, the association between the mean ReHo value in different brain regions and the behavioral performance was explored by correlation analysis. It was observed that the ReHo value was significantly increased in SA patients compared with HCs in the following brain regions: left lingual gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus/precuneus, bilateral anterior cingulate, left middle occipital gyrus and bilateral precentral gyrus. By contrast, the ReHo value of the left inferior frontal gyrus was significantly lower than that in HCs. ROC curve analysis indicated that the ReHo method has certain credibility for the diagnosis of SA patients. In addition, no similar changes were detected in other brain regions. These results revealed abnormal spontaneous brain activity in certain parts of the brain in adult patients with SA, which suggests the involvement of the neuropathological or compensatory mechanism in these patients, and may be beneficial for clinical treatment.

Meta-analytic Evidence for the Plurality of Mechanisms in Transdiagnostic Structural MRI Studies of Hallucination Status

BackgroundHallucinations are transmodal and transdiagnostic phenomena, occurring across sensory modalities and presenting in psychiatric, neurodegenerative, neurological, and non-clinical populations. Despite their cross-category occurrence, little empirical work has directly compared between-group neural correlates of hallucinations. MethodsWe performed whole-brain voxelwise meta-analyses of hallucination status across diagnoses using anisotropic effect-size seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM), and conducted a comprehensive systematic review in PubMed and Web of Science until May 2018 on other structural correlates of hallucinations, including cortical thickness and gyrification. Findings3214 abstracts were identified. Patients with psychiatric disorders and hallucinations (eight studies) exhibited reduced gray matter (GM) in the left insula, right inferior frontal gyrus, left anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and increased in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, while patients with neurodegenerative disorders with hallucinations (eight studies) showed GM decreases in the left lingual gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus/parietal operculum, left parahippocampal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, right thalamus, and right lateral occipital gyrus. Group differences between psychiatric and neurodegenerative hallucination meta-analyses were formally confirmed using Monte Carlo randomizations to determine statistical significance, and a jackknife sensitivity analysis established the reproducibility of results across nearly all study combinations. For other structural measures (28 studies), the most consistent findings associated with hallucination status were reduced cortical thickness in temporal gyri in schizophrenia and altered hippocampal volume in Parkinson's disease and dementia. Additionally, increased severity of hallucinations in schizophrenia correlated with GM reductions within the left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, bilateral supramarginal and angular gyri. InterpretationDistinct patterns of neuroanatomical alteration characterize hallucination status in patients with psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting a plurality of anatomical signatures. This approach has implications for treatment, theoretical frameworks, and generates refutable predictions for hallucinations in other diseases and their occurrence within the general population. FundingNone.

Brain structure links trait hostile attribution bias and attitudes toward violence

The majority of research regarding hostile attribution bias focuses on its effect on aggression. However, little is known about the brain structure associated with trait hostile attribution bias and the mediating mechanism underlying this link. The current study uses voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify the brain regions related to individual differences in trait hostile attribution bias, measured by a Word Sentence Association Paradigm — Hostility in a sample of 176 undergraduate students. Subsequently, two mediation models with regard to brain structure, trait hostile attribution bias, and attitudes toward violence (measured by the Attitudes toward Violence Scale) were analyzed. The results reveal that trait hostile attribution bias is positively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and negatively associated with the left lingual gyrus (LG). Furthermore, attitudes toward violence acted as a mediator underlying the association between the left OFC volume and trait hostile attribution bias. Such bias also mediated the relationship between the left OFC and attitudes toward violence. We argue that attitudes toward violence and trait hostile attribution bias seem to predict each other, and the GMV in the left OFC may involve the underlying cognitive mechanism of the bidirectional relationship between the two variables. These results and ideas may shed light on the current understanding of the relationships of the brain's anatomical features, attitudes toward violence, and trait hostile attribution bias.

Imaging correlates of hand motor performance in multiple sclerosis: A multiparametric structural and functional MRI study

Background: Hand motor impairment has considerable effects on daily-life activities of patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Understanding its anatomo-functional substrates is relevant to provide more specific therapeutic interventions. Objectives: To investigate the association between hand motor performance and anatomo-functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities in pwMS. Methods: A total of 134 healthy controls (HC) and 366 pwMS underwent the Nine-Hole-Peg-Test (9HPT), structural and resting state (RS) functional MRI. Multivariate analyses identified the independent predictors of hand motor performance. Results: PwMS versus HC showed widespread gray matter atrophy, microstructural white matter abnormalities, and decreased RS functional connectivity in motor and cognitive networks. Predictors of worse right-9HPT (R2 = 0.52) were decreased right superior cerebellar peduncle and right lemniscus fractional anisotropy (FA) (p ⩽ 0.02), left angular gyrus atrophy (p < 0.003), decreased RS connectivity in left superior frontal gyrus, and left posterior cerebellum (p < 0.001). Worse left 9HPT (R2 = 0.56) was predicted by decreased right corticospinal FA (p = 0.003), atrophy of left anterior cingulum and left cerebellum (p ⩽ 0.02), decreased RS connectivity of left lingual gyrus and right posterior cerebellum in cerebellar and executive networks (p ⩽ 0.02). Conclusion: Structural and functional abnormalities of regions involved in motor functions contribute to explain motor disability in pwMS. The integration of clinical and advanced MRI measures contributes to improve our understanding of multiple sclerosis clinical manifestations.

Shared and Distinct Neural Bases of Large- and Small-Scale Spatial Ability: A Coordinate-Based Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis.

Background: Spatial ability is vital for human survival and development. However, the relationship between large-scale and small-scale spatial ability remains poorly understood. To address this issue from a novel perspective, we performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies to determine the shared and distinct neural bases of these two forms of spatial ability.Methods: We searched Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar for studies regarding “spatial ability” published within the last 20 years (January 1988 through June 2018). A final total of 103 studies (Table 1) involving 2,085 participants (male = 1,116) and 2,586 foci were incorporated into the meta-analysis.Results: Large-scale spatial ability was associated with activation in the limbic lobe, posterior lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, right anterior lobe, frontal lobe, and right sub-lobar area. Small-scale spatial ability was associated with activation in the parietal lobe, occipital lobe, frontal lobe, right posterior lobe, and left sub-lobar area. Furthermore, conjunction analysis revealed overlapping regions in the sub-gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobule, right middle occipital gyrus, right superior occipital gyrus, left inferior occipital gyrus, and precuneus. The contrast analysis demonstrated that the parahippocampal gyrus, left lingual gyrus, culmen, right middle temporal gyrus, left declive, left superior occipital gyrus, and right lentiform nucleus were more strongly activated during large-scale spatial tasks. In contrast, the precuneus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left supramarginal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, right inferior occipital gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus were more strongly activated during small-scale spatial tasks. Our results further indicated that there is no absolute difference in the cognitive strategies associated with the two forms of spatial ability (egocentric/allocentric).Conclusion: The results of the present study verify and expand upon the theoretical model of spatial ability proposed by Hegarty et al. Our analysis revealed a shared neural basis between large- and small-scale spatial abilities, as well as specific yet independent neural bases underlying each. Based on these findings, we proposed a more comprehensive version of the behavioral model.

Effect of green tea consumption on human brain function in resting-state functional MRI.

Green tea is reported to have wide benefits on psychological states and cognitive functions. Studies that focus on the underlying neural mechanisms of green tea are limited to its single composition while people usually benefit from green tea water that contains various composition. In this study, we examined the human brain activity changes after drinking natural green tea by using regional homogeneity and functional connectivity based on the resting-state functional MRI technique. Fifteen healthy volunteers participated in two imaging sessions: a control (water) session and a green tea session, each session comprised a predrinking, drinking, and postdrinking section, during the drinking section, the subject consumed 200 mL of green tea infusion or water in 3 to 5 minutes. Then the post-tea and post-water imaging data were selected for regional homogeneity and functional connectivity analysis. Our results revealed that, compared with the control group, the green tea group exhibited an increased regional homogeneity in the frontal, parietal, and occipital areas of the brain, decreased regional homogeneity values in the left cuneus and left lingual gyrus, mainly a decreased functional connectivity in the default mode network, somatosensory, visual cortex, and parieto-frontal areas and enhanced functional connectivity in brain regions associated with memory. This result indicates that green tea consumption impacts the brain activity during resting state.

A Study of Brain Damage and Compensation in Anomic Aphasia Patients in the Acute Stage Post Stroke, Based on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Picture Naming Task

A Study of Brain Damage and Compensation in Anomic Aphasia Patients in the Acute Stage Post Stroke, Based on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Picture Naming Task

CSF glial biomarkers YKL40 and sTREM2 are associated with longitudinal volume and diffusivity changes in cognitively unimpaired individuals.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) YKL40 and sTREM2 are astroglial and microglial activity biomarkers, respectively. We assessed whether CSF YKL40 and sTREM2 baseline levels are associated with longitudinal brain volume and diffusivity changes in cognitively unimpaired adults. Two brain MRI scans of 36 participants (57 to 78-years old, 12 male) were acquired in a 2-year interval. Aβ42, p-tau, YKL40 and sTREM2 concentrations in CSF were determined at baseline. We calculated gray and white matter volume changes per year maps (ΔGM and ΔWM, respectively) by means of longitudinal pairwise registration, and mean diffusivity variation per year (ΔMD) by subtraction. We checked voxel-wise for associations between ΔGM, ΔWM and ΔMD and baseline CSF level of YKL40 and sTREM2 and verified to what extent these associations were modulated by age (YKL40xAGE and sTREM2xAGE interactions). We found a positive association between ΔGM and YKL40 in the left inferior parietal region and no association between sTREM2 and ΔGM. Negative associations were also observed between ΔGM and YKL40xAGE (bilateral frontal areas, left precuneus and left postcentral and supramarginal gyri) and sTREM2xAGE (bilateral temporal and frontal cortex, putamen and left middle cingulate gyrus). We found negative associations between ΔWM and YKL40xAGE (bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus) and sTREM2xAGE (bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, left superior corona radiata, retrolenticular external capsule and forceps minor, among other regions) but none between ΔWM and neither YKL40 nor sTREM2. ΔMD was positively correlated with YKL40 in right orbital region and negatively with sTREM2 in left lingual gyrus and precuneus. In addition, significant associations were found between ΔMD and YKL40xAGE (tail of left hippocampus and surrounding areas and right anterior cingulate gyrus) and sTREM2xAGE (right superior temporal gyrus). Areas showing statistically significant differences were disjoint in analyses involving YKL40 and sTREM2. These results suggest that glial biomarkers exert a relevant and distinct influence in longitudinal brain macro- and microstructural changes in cognitively unimpaired adults, which appears to be modulated by age. In younger subjects increased glial markers (both YKL40 and sTREM2) predict a better outcome, as indicated by a decrease in ΔGM and ΔWM and an increase in ΔMD, whereas in older subjects this association is inverted and higher levels of glial markers are associated with a poorer neuroimaging outcome.

A study on changes of the resting-state brain function network in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

This study aimed to explore the structural and functional characteristics of the neural network of resting-state brain activities in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. Resting state fMRI scanning was performed on 10 clinically diagnosed aMCI patients and 10 healthy volunteers, and the difference in the resting-state brain activities between aMCI patients and healthy volunteers was compared using the brain function network regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis method. Results of the ReHo analysis of aMCI patients and healthy volunteers revealed that the ReHo value significantly increased in the posterior cingulate gyrus region, medial frontal lobe, medial cortex of the prefrontal lobe, and part of the parietal lobe. Compared with the normal elderlies, ReHo decreased in aMCI patients in the left temporal lobe (middle temporal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus), left parahippocampal gyrus, occipital lobe, lingual gyrus, precuneus, and other regions while ReHo increased in regions of the right frontal lobe (inferior frontal gyrus), left superior temporal gyrus, precentral gyrus (frontal lobe), right thalamus, left fusiform gyrus, and other regions. In the resting state, there may be regional abnormalities in brain functional areas in aMCI patients, which may be associated with cognitive impairment.