Occipital Areas Research Articles

Meditative State Scale (MSS): Psychometric Validation and Exploration of Gamma-Band Correlates

ObjectivesThe present research was intended to validate a new psychometric instrument—the Meditative State Scale (MSS)—designed from a novel approach that integrates knowledge from the foundational pillars in which meditation practices were grounded with recent neuroscientific and psychological findings.MethodsThe research was divided into two studies. Study 1 (n = 241) comprised the development and validation of the MSS. Its factor structure was evaluated through the conduction of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Measurement invariance of the MSS across groups of naïve and experienced meditators was also tested. A selection of additional instruments were used to further assess its convergent and discriminant validity. In study 2, additional validity of the MSS was investigated with an experimental design (n = 12) in which the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal was recorded while the participants were meditating. Next, the correlations between EEG activity and reported MSS scores were explored.ResultsStudy 1 established psychometric reliability and validity of the MSS, supporting a three-factor structure encompassing a first factor of “transcendence,” a second factor of “difficulties,” and a third factor of “mental quietening.” The MSS also shows configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across beginners and experienced meditators. In study 2, we found associations between reported MSS scores and changes in EEG gamma activity in parietal and occipital areas while engaging in meditation practice.ConclusionsWe expect that the MSS can contribute to synergistically explore meditative states, combining reliable psychometric measures of the meditative state with neurophysiological data. Thus, it may be possible to reach a better understanding of the complex mechanisms that are involved in meditation practice and a more grounded and rigorous application of meditation-based programs in research, educational, and clinical contexts.

The Growth Factors of Subcutaneous Benign Lipoma: Consideration from Anatomical Position of Occurrence.

Background:Subcutaneous lipomas are the most common benign soft-tissue tumors. Theoretically, adipocyte sites could be the primary foci; however, lipomas are likely located in the occipital, neck, shoulder, torso, and thigh areas. To date, no study has reported the anatomical relationship between these subcutaneous structures and lipomas. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the anatomical locations of lipomas and considered their growth factors. In addition, we discussed the mechanism of fat amplification to improve the success of fat grafting.Methods:In the present study, lipomas measuring more than 5 cm in diameter from patients hospitalized between 2017 and 2021 were retrospectively examined using preoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging as well as clinical records with intraoperative pictures.Results:In total, 22 lipomas of 22 patients were examined. All lesions (100%) were accompanied by neurovascular perforators. Nineteen lesions (86%) were located deep in the superficial fascia, where it was clearly defined. Moreover, all lesions were located at the mobile adipofascial layer adjacent to an anchored fixed or less mobile structure.Conclusions:Lipoma growth might require neurovascular perforators that supply both blood flow and continuous stretching stimuli. The mobile adipofascial layer with bones adjacent to a fixed or less mobile area might also be necessary to grow lipomas. If these findings can be used as clues to elucidate the mechanism of fat amplification in the future, it may lead to an improvement in the survival rate of fat grafts.

Brain Symmetry in Alpha Band When Watching Cuts in Movies

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is asymmetry in the brain activity between both hemispheres while watching cuts in movies. We presented videos with cuts to 36 participants, registered electrical brain activity through electroencephalography (EEG) and analyzed asymmetry in frontal, somatomotor, temporal, parietal and occipital areas. EEG power and alpha (8–13 Hz) asymmetry were analyzed based on 4032 epochs (112 epochs from videos × 36 participants) in each hemisphere. On average, we found negative asymmetry, indicating a greater alpha power in the left hemisphere and a greater activity in the right hemisphere in frontal, temporal and occipital areas. The opposite was found in somatomotor and temporal areas. However, with a high inter-subjects variability, these asymmetries did not seem to be significant. Our results suggest that cuts in audiovisuals do not provoke any specific asymmetrical brain activity in the alpha band in viewers. We conclude that brain asymmetry when decoding audiovisual content may be more related with narrative content than with formal style.

Duration of oral contraceptive use relates to cognitive performance and brain activation in current and past users.

Previous studies indicate effects of oral contraceptive (OC) use on spatial and verbal cognition. However, a better understanding of the OC effects is still needed, including the differential effects of androgenic or anti-androgenic OC use and whether the possible impact persists beyond the OC use. We aim to investigate the associations of OC use duration with spatial and verbal cognition, differentiating between androgenic and anti-androgenic OC. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we scanned a group of 94 past and current OC-users in a single session. We grouped current OC users (N=53) and past OC users with a natural cycle (N=41) into androgenic and anti-androgenic user. Effects of OC use duration were observed for current use and after discontinuation. Duration of OC use was reflected only in verbal fluency performance but not navigation: The longer the current OC use, the less words were produced in the verbal fluency task. During navigation, deactivation in the caudate and postcentral gyrus was duration-dependent in current androgenic OC users. Only during the verbal fluency task, duration of previous OC use affects several brain parameters, including activation of the left putamen and connectivity between right-hemispheric language areas (i.e., right inferior frontal gyrus and right angular gyrus). The results regarding performance and brain activation point towards stronger organizational effects of OCs on verbal rather than spatial processing. Irrespective of the task, a duration-dependent connectivity between the hippocampus and various occipital areas was observed. This could suggest a shift in strategy or processing style with long-term contraceptive use during navigation/verbal fluency. The current findings suggest a key role of the progestogenic component of OCs in both tasks. The influence of OC use on verbal fluency remains even after discontinuation which further points out the importance of future studies on OC effects and their reversibility.

A child with Down Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus

Down Syndrome (DS) is one of the common chromosomal disorders that raise mental retardation. It is known that DS patients have an autoimmune disorder affecting the endocrine and non-endocrine organs. It is a rare occurrence of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (type 2 DM) disease in children with DS. Type 2 DM occurs due to impaired insulin secretion and excessive hepatic glucose production, unlike type 1 DM, caused by the destruction of íŸ-cells in autoimmune Langerhans. A 10-year-old girl patient was referred from Tabanan Hospital to Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar. Patients were admitted to the hospital with decreased consciousness, treated for four days, and observed in ICU for 2 days. Vomiting twice, no seizures, urinating normally. No significant past medical history was found. Physical examinations showed a typical Mongolian face, short neck, expanded occipital area, small eyes, and a mouth with a prominent tongue. Laboratory data revealed fasting blood glucose of 473 mg/dL and an HbA1C level of 12.6%. Urinalysis showed ketone 3+. The C-peptide test showed a reasonably good íŸ pancreas cell function. Down syndrome is associated with autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. The exact number of down syndrome cases with type 2 DM remains unknown; however, it was known that the case is infrequent.

Representational structure of fMRI/EEG responses to dynamic facial expressions

Face perception provides an excellent example of how the brain processes nuanced visual differences and transforms them into behaviourally useful representations of identities and emotional expressions. While a body of literature has looked into the spatial and temporal neural processing of facial expressions, few studies have used a dimensionally varying set of stimuli containing subtle perceptual changes. In the current study, we used 48 short videos varying dimensionally in their intensity and category (happy, angry, surprised) of expression. We measured both fMRI and EEG responses to these video clips and compared the neural response patterns to the predictions of models based on image features and models derived from behavioural ratings of the stimuli. In fMRI, the inferior frontal gyrus face area (IFG-FA) carried information related only to the intensity of the expression, independent of image-based models. The superior temporal sulcus (STS), inferior temporal (IT) and lateral occipital (LO) areas contained information about both expression category and intensity. In the EEG, the coding of expression category and low-level image features were most pronounced at around 400 ms. The expression intensity model did not, however, correlate significantly at any EEG timepoint. Our results show a specific role for IFG-FA in the coding of expressions and suggest that it contains image and category invariant representations of expression intensity.

The Utility of Limited-Montage Electroencephalography for Seizure Detection in Children

BackgroundThe primary objective of this study was to investigate the utility of limited-montage electroencephalography (EEG) for seizure detection in children. We also aimed to determine whether the detection rate differed among different montage patterns. MethodsThis study was carried out between November 2019 and October 2020 at a tertiary children's hospital in Japan. The subjects were inpatients in the pediatric intensive care unit who had an epileptic seizure during EEG monitoring. Each patient's EEG record, consisting of a 15-minute recording during an epileptic seizure and a 15-minute recording in the absence of an epileptic seizure, was extracted from the medical charts. The EEG data were then analyzed using six, limited-montage coverage patterns: (1) Fp1-C3, Fp2-C4, (2) Fp1-O1, Fp2-O2, (3) Fp1-T3, Fp2-T4, (4) C3-O1, C4-O2, (5) C3-T3, C4-T4, and (6) O1-T3, O2-T4. The sensitivity and specificity of each montage for seizure detection was analyzed. ResultsOne hundred thirty-two EEG data points from 11 patients were examined. Sensitivity and specificity were the highest for Fp1-O1 and Fp2-O2 at 73% and 91%, respectively. Overall, the montage covering the frontopolar area had the highest detection rate, followed by the montage covering the occipital, central, and temporal areas. ConclusionLimited-montage EEG identified seizures in children hospitalized in the intensive care unit, but the detection rate differed by montage coverage. The detection rate was highest in the montage covering the frontopolar area.

Abstract P122: Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Following Moderna M-RNA Booster Vaccination Secondary To Hypertension Vs Vaccine Adverse Effect?

Clinical Case: A 76-year-old female presented to our ED with acute onset confusion, unsteady gait and blurry vision within 24 hours after receiving the m-RNA Moderna booster vaccine. Medical history: notable for uncomplicated hypertension on metoprolol. She was awake, oriented intermittently x 3, with periods of confusion, blurry vision and intermittent unsteady gait and normal speech without any focal motor or sensory deficits. BP=192/80 mmHg bilaterally. Labs: showed hypercalcemia with elevated vitamin D 25-OH. Hypertension was managed with home dose of metoprolol succinate 150 mg/day and hypercalcemia improved with IV fluids. On Day 3 the patient was found lying in bed unresponsive to sternal rub with motor twitching of left arm, seizure like activity. Transfer to ICU for BP =185/104mmHg, T = 100.8 F, airway protection and treatment with diazepam. Empirical antibiotics were started for presumed encephalitis. EEG demonstrated seizure foci in bilateral posterior quadrants. MRI imaging on day # 3 showed T2/FLAIR hyperintensities in the parieto-occipital lobes and pulvinar of the thalami suggestive of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). Discussion: PRES syndrome is both a clinical and radiological diagnosis with neurological changes coupled with MRI FLAIR hyperintensities in the parietal, occipital and frontal bilateral areas. This condition has been associated with uncontrolled hypertension, endothelial injury and side effect from certain drugs. Her hypertension was aggressively managed with amlodipine, enalapril, and IV metoprolol to decrease cerebral perfusion pressure. Repeat MRI imaging on day #14 demonstrated resolution of the hyperintensities without episodic blurry vision, confusion and our patient's mentation improved. At her 7 weeks follow our patient continued to have residual deconditioning and could only follow 2 step commands. We emphasize the importance of timely diagnosis with MRI imaging and preventing delay in management with adequate anti-hypertensives to prevent irreversible neurological damage from PRES syndrome. We also encourage reporting similar findings to VAERS as we are unable to exclude a reaction to her m-RNA vaccine booster.

A low- dose of caffeine suppresses EEG alpha power and improves working memory in healthy University males

The effects of a low dose of caffeine, administered in the morning, on brain wave activity and cognitive function were investigated in 25 healthy university Southeast Asian men (mean age ±standard deviation: 21 ± 2 years). Participants received a placebo (PLA) or a 50 mg caffeinated drink (CAF) under randomized, double-blind crossover conditions, with 1 week between conditions. Brain wave activity was assessed using electroencephalography (EEG) from a 5 min eyes-closed resting state. Cognitive function, i.e., visuomotor processing speed, working memory, and attention were assessed using the trail-making test A (Trails A) and B (Trails B), and digit span Forwards (DF), respectively. All tests were examined before drinking (BD), 30 min after drinking (AD), and 35 min after 5-min isokinetic exercise (AE). [Results] The CAF showed a significant decrease in the percentage changes from baseline (%∆) of alpha wave activity over the midline electrodes, i.e., frontal, central, and occipital areas after AD (p<0.05). Data from cognitive function tests were significantly improved after AD (p<0.05). A significant inverse correlation between the diminished alpha wave activity over the midline central and occipital cortical regions and the Trails B positive scores were observed (p<0.05). [Conclusion] The diminishment in resting alpha wave activity and improvement of cognitive function on working memory assessed by the Trails B following caffeine consumption would support the stimulant effects of low-dose caffeine as a morning wake-up drink in young adults.

A Multimodal Neuroimaging and Neuropsychological Study of Visual Hallucinations in Alzheimer's Disease.

Hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been linked to more severe cognitive and functional decline. However, research on visual hallucinations (VH), the most common type of hallucinations in AD, is limited. To investigate the cognitive and cerebral macrostructural and metabolic features associated with VH in AD. Twenty-four AD patients with VH, 24 with no VH (NVH), and 24 cognitively normal (CN) matched controls were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Differences in regional gray matter (GM) volumes and cognitive performance were investigated with whole brain voxel-based morphometry analyses of MRI structural brain scans, and analyses of neuropsychological tests. Glucose metabolic changes were explored in a sub-sample of patients who had FDG-PET scans available. More severe visuoconstructive and attentional deficits were found in AD VH compared with NVH. GM atrophy and hypometabolism were detected in occipital and temporal areas in VH patients in comparison with CN. On the other hand, NVH patients had atrophy and hypometabolism mainly in temporal areas. No differences in GM volume and glucose metabolism were found in the direct comparison between AD VH and NVH. In addition to the pattern of brain abnormalities typical of AD, occipital alterations were observed in patients with VH compared with CN. More severe visuoconstructive and attentional deficits were found in AD VH when directly compared with NVH, and might contribute to the emergence of VH in AD.

What does epileptic nystagmus show us in cases presenting acute neurological symptoms?

PurposeThis study aims to determine the clinical significance of epileptic nystagmus in patients with acute neurological symptoms. MethodThe clinical findings of patients with documented epileptic nystagmus, their original video and EEG data, and cranial imaging and laboratory tests were analyzed retrospectively. Results20 patients were included in the study and 21 epileptic nystagmus attacks were determined from patients' clinical and video-EEG recordings. All recorded seizures with epileptic nystagmus were focal onset in nature. The ictal discharge pattern was rhythmic fast activity with a mean frequency of 15 Hz. The ictal discharges originated from the parieto-occipital (n = 8), temporo-occipital (n = 7), parieto-occipito-temporal (n = 3), temporal (n = 2), occipital (n = 1), and centroparietal (n = 1) areas. In the fast phase, the nystagmus was beating away from the side of ictal discharges. The origin of the ictal discharges on EEG images was compatible with the lesion localization at cranial MRI in all patients. Etiologies were epilepsy in seven patients, non-ketotic hyperglycemia in four, ketotic hyperglycemia in one, PRES in three, acute stroke in three, HSV encephalitis in one, and MELAS in one. ConclusionsEpileptic nystagmus represents a guide to the lateralization and localization of the lesion in cases presenting with acute neurological symptoms. In these patients, the lesion is frequently in the posterior regions of the hemispheres. Although various diseases affect these regions in terms of etiology, such cases should be evaluated in terms of the presence of hyperglycemia.

Altered functional and directed connectivity in propofol-induced loss of consciousness: A source-space resting-state EEG study

ObjectiveGeneral anesthesia might disrupt neuronal network communications measured by functional connectivity (FC; undirected connectivity) and directional information flow (directed connectivity). We sought to characterize the state-dependent effects of propofol on cortico-cortical undirected and directed FC. MethodsWe collected 256-channel high-density EEGs from 14 patients undergoing surgery while awake (AWA) or in propofol-induced moderate sedation (SED) or loss of consciousness (LOC) states. Using source-space EEG, we estimated neuronal oscillatory activity for 68 cortical regions of interest. FC was analyzed using the weighted phase lag index. Directed connectivity was computed using directed phase transfer entropy (dPTE) as a measure of information flow in the bilateral prefrontal, frontal, parietal, and occipital areas. ResultsFC strength evidently reduced during LOC compared with those during the AWA and SED states. The dPTE analysis showed significant propofol-induced changes in directed connectivity. In the alpha band, the prefrontal-to-frontal information flow was significantly stronger in the AWA than in the SED (p = 0.033) and LOC states (p = 0.033). The parietal-to-frontal dPTE was significantly weaker during LOC than during the AWA (p = 0.033) and SED states (p = 0.007). Finally, a loss of occipital-to-frontal connectivity occurred during LOC but not the AWA state (p = 0.001). In the beta band, the dominant occipital-to-frontal direction of information flow in the AWA state was gradually converted to a frontal-to-occipital direction during LOC. ConclusionsPropofol-induced unconsciousness is marked by a decrease in FC and posterior-to-anterior (feedforward) directed connectivity, which may be useful as a measure to discriminate different conscious states caused by propofol administration. SignificanceThe study demonstrates that propofol produces state-dependent effects on cortico-cortical undirected and directed FC, supporting the idea that propofol induces loss of consciousness may through disrupting network interactions and cortical coordination.

Improving EEG-Based Driver Distraction Classification Using Brain Connectivity Estimators

This paper discusses a novel approach to an EEG (electroencephalogram)-based driver distraction classification by using brain connectivity estimators as features. Ten healthy volunteers with more than one year of driving experience and an average age of 24.3 participated in a virtual reality environment with two conditions, a simple math problem-solving task and a lane-keeping task to mimic the distracted driving task and a non-distracted driving task, respectively. Independent component analysis (ICA) was conducted on the selected epochs of six selected components relevant to the frontal, central, parietal, occipital, left motor, and right motor areas. Granger–Geweke causality (GGC), directed transfer function (DTF), partial directed coherence (PDC), and generalized partial directed coherence (GPDC) brain connectivity estimators were used to calculate the connectivity matrixes. These connectivity matrixes were used as features to train the support vector machine (SVM) with the radial basis function (RBF) and classify the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. GGC, DTF, PDC, and GPDC connectivity estimators yielded the classification accuracies of 82.27%, 70.02%, 86.19%, and 80.95%, respectively. Further analysis of the PDC connectivity estimator was conducted to determine the best window to differentiate between the distracted and non-distracted driving tasks. This study suggests that the PDC connectivity estimator can yield better classification accuracy for driver distractions.

Objective speech intelligibility prediction using a deep learning model with continuous speech-evoked cortical auditory responses.

Auditory prostheses provide an opportunity for rehabilitation of hearing-impaired patients. Speech intelligibility can be used to estimate the extent to which the auditory prosthesis improves the user’s speech comprehension. Although behavior-based speech intelligibility is the gold standard, precise evaluation is limited due to its subjectiveness. Here, we used a convolutional neural network to predict speech intelligibility from electroencephalography (EEG). Sixty-four–channel EEGs were recorded from 87 adult participants with normal hearing. Sentences spectrally degraded by a 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 8-channel vocoder were used to set relatively low speech intelligibility conditions. A Korean sentence recognition test was used. The speech intelligibility scores were divided into 41 discrete levels ranging from 0 to 100%, with a step of 2.5%. Three scores, namely 30.0, 37.5, and 40.0%, were not collected. The speech features, i.e., the speech temporal envelope (ENV) and phoneme (PH) onset, were used to extract continuous-speech EEGs for speech intelligibility prediction. The deep learning model was trained by a dataset of event-related potentials (ERP), correlation coefficients between the ERPs and ENVs, between the ERPs and PH onset, or between ERPs and the product of the multiplication of PH and ENV (PHENV). The speech intelligibility prediction accuracies were 97.33% (ERP), 99.42% (ENV), 99.55% (PH), and 99.91% (PHENV). The models were interpreted using the occlusion sensitivity approach. While the ENV models’ informative electrodes were located in the occipital area, the informative electrodes of the phoneme models, i.e., PH and PHENV, were based on the occlusion sensitivity map located in the language processing area. Of the models tested, the PHENV model obtained the best speech intelligibility prediction accuracy. This model may promote clinical prediction of speech intelligibility with a comfort speech intelligibility test.

The influence of different current-intensity transcranial alternating current stimulation on the eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) applies a sinusoidal oscillating current to modulate intrinsic oscillatory activity. Relevant studies of tACS have indicated that tACS can increase spontaneous brain activity in the occipital area. However, few studies have compared the effects of tACS with different current intensities on spontaneous brain activity in the occipital region. In this study, 10-Hz tACS was delivered to the occipital region at different current intensities (i.e., 1 and 2 mA). We investigated the effect of the tACS on both eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 20 subjects and fifteen subjects were recruited to participate in the 1-mA tACS experiment and the 2-mA tACS experiment, respectively. Ten subjects participated in both experiments. The experimental results demonstrated that both 1-mA tACS and 2-mA tACS could increase occipital resting-state EEG activities. For the eyes-open condition, alpha activity elicited by 2-mA tACS increased significantly greater than that elicited by 1-mA tACS, while 1-mA tACS could produce greater alpha activity compared to 2 mA for the eyes-closed condition. These results suggested that the optimal current intensity might be different for the eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state conditions, laying a foundation for the subsequent study of occipital tACS on task-state EEG activities.

Normative quantitative relaxation atlases for characterization of cortical regions using magnetic resonance fingerprinting.

Quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) has been used to study cyto- and myelo-architecture of the human brain non-invasively. However, analyzing brain cortex using high-resolution quantitative MR acquisition can be challenging to perform using 3T clinical scanners. MR fingerprinting (MRF) is a highly efficient and clinically feasible quantitative MR technique that simultaneously provides T1 and T2 relaxation maps. Using 3D MRF from 40 healthy subjects (mean age = 25.6 ± 4.3years) scanned on 3T magnetic resonance imaging, we generated whole-brain gyral-based normative MR relaxation atlases and investigated cortical-region-based T1 and T2 variations. Gender and age dependency of T1 and T2 variations were additionally analyzed. The coefficient of variation of T1 and T2 for each cortical-region was 3.5% and 7.3%, respectively, supporting low variability of MRF measurements across subjects. Significant differences in T1 and T2 were identified among 34 brain regions (P < 0.001), lower in the precentral, postcentral, paracentral lobule, transverse temporal, lateral occipital, and cingulate areas, which contain sensorimotor, auditory, visual, and limbic functions. Significant correlations were identified between age and T1 and T2 values. This study established whole-brain MRF T1 and T2 atlases of healthy subjects using a clinical 3T scanner, which can provide a quantitative and region-specific baseline for future brain studies and pathology detection.

Resting-state electroencephalography changes in poststroke patients with visuospatial neglect.

BackgroundThis study aimed to explore the electrophysiological characteristics of resting-state electroencephalography (rsEEG) in patients with visuospatial neglect (VSN) after stroke.MethodsA total of 44 first-event sub-acute strokes after right hemisphere damage (26 with VSN and 18 without VSN) were included. Besides, 18 age-matched healthy participants were used as healthy controls. The resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) of 64 electrodes was recorded to obtain the power of the spectral density of different frequency bands. The global delta/alpha ratio (DAR), DAR over the affected hemispheres (DARAH), DAR over the unaffected hemispheres (DARUH), and the pairwise-derived brain symmetry index (pdBSI; global and four bands) were compared between groups and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. The Barthel index (BI), Fugl-Meyer motor function assessment (FMA), and Berg balance scale (BBS) were used to assess the functional state of patients. Visuospatial neglect was assessed using a battery of standardized tests.ResultsWe found that patients with VSN performed poorly compared with those without VSN. Analysis of rsEEG revealed increased delta and theta power and decreased alpha and beta power in stroke patients with VSN. Compared to healthy controls and poststroke non-VSN patients, patients with VSN showed a higher DAR (P < 0.001), which was significantly positively correlated with the BBS (DAR: r = –0.522, P = 0.006; DARAH: r = –0.521, P = 0.006; DARUH: r = –0.494, P = 0.01). The line bisection task was positively correlated with DAR (r = 0.458, P = 0.019) and DARAH (r = 0.483, P = 0.012), while the star cancellation task was only positively correlated with DARAH (r = 0.428, P = 0.029). DARAH had the best discriminating value between VSN and non-VSN, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.865. Patients with VSN showed decreased alpha power in the parietal and occipital areas of the right hemisphere. A higher parieto-occipital pdBSIalpha was associated with a worse line bisection task (r = 0.442, P = 0.024).ConclusionrsEEG may be a useful tool for screening for stroke patients with visuospatial neglect, and DAR and parieto-occipital pdBSIalpha may be useful biomarkers for visuospatial neglect after stroke.

Increased brain gyrification and subsequent relapse in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

Most schizophrenia patients experience psychotic relapses, which may compromise long-term outcome. However, it is difficult to objectively assess the actual risk of relapse for each patient as the biological changes underlying relapse remain unknown. The present study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the relationship between brain gyrification pattern and subsequent relapse in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. The subjects consisted of 19 patients with and 33 patients without relapse during a 3-year clinical follow-up after baseline MRI scanning. Using FreeSurfer software, we compared the local gyrification index (LGI) between the relapsed and non-relapsed groups. In the relapsed group, we also explored the relationship among LGI and the number of relapses and time to first relapse after MRI scanning. Relapsed patients exhibited a significantly higher LGI in the bilateral parietal and left occipital areas than non-relapsed patients. In addition, the time to first relapse was negatively correlated with LGI in the right inferior temporal cortex. These findings suggest that increased LGI in the temporo-parieto-occipital regions in first-episode schizophrenia patients may be a potential prognostic biomarker that reflects relapse susceptibility in the early course of the illness.

Functional neurodevelopment of working memory in early-onset schizophrenia: A longitudinal FMRI study

Schizophrenia, a debilitating disorder with typical manifestation of clinical symptoms in early adulthood, is characterized by cognitive impairments in executive processes such as in working memory (WM). However, there is a rare case of individuals with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) starting before their 18th birthday, while WM and its neural substrates are still undergoing maturation. Using the WM n-back task with functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed the functional neurodevelopment of WM in adolescents with EOS and age- and gender-matched typically developing controls. Participants underwent neuroimaging in the same scanner twice, once at age 17 and at 21 (mean interscan interval = 4.3 years). General linear model analysis was performed to explore WM neurodevelopmental changes within and between groups. Psychopathological scores were entered in multiple regressions to detect brain regions whose longitudinal functional change was predicted by baseline symptoms in EOS. WM neurodevelopment was characterized by widespread functional reductions in frontotemporal and cingulate brain areas in patients and controls. No between-group differences were found in the trajectory of WM change. Baseline symptom scores predicted functional neurodevelopmental changes in frontal, cingulate, parietal, occipital, and cerebellar areas. The adolescent brain undergoes developmental processes such as synaptic pruning, which may underlie the refinement WM of network. Prefrontal and parietooccipital activity reduction is affected by clinical presentation of symptoms. Using longitudinal neuroimaging methods in a rare diagnostic sample of patients with EOS may help the advancement of neurodevelopmental biomarkers intended as pharmacological targets to tackle WM impairment.

Inflammatory complications after hair transplantation: Report of 10 cases.

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a pathology involving the aesthetic prognosis. Hair transplantation is among best treatments. The principle of hair micro-grafts during AGA consists in taking hair from the non-androgen-dependent occipital area to transplant them with their root in the sparse androgen-dependent areas. Herein, we report 10 cases of the different types of post-transplant inflammatory complications. We included patients referred to our center by their dermatologists or hair transplant surgeons for inflammatory cicatricial alopecia or hair loss observed after the hair transplant. Ten patients (eight men and two women) were included. These patients represented 0.08% of all consultations in our center. The indication for hair transplantation was AGA in all of our patients. The technique used for the transplant was follicular unit extraction (FUE) in seven cases and follicular unit transplantation (FUT) strip in three cases. None of the patients had pathology of the scalp or an inflammatory dermatosis before the operation. The inflammatory complications found were lichen planopilaris (LPP) in seven cases, erosive pustulosis of the scalp (EPS) in two cases, and superficial folliculitis (SF) in 1 case. Our series highlight the rarity of inflammatory complications that occur after a hair transplant. We demonstrate through this work that a hair transplant can trigger inflammatory pathology a few months after the act. We show also, the importance of detecting the rough forms of lichen before an intervention, hence the interest of the systematic dermatoscopic examination during the preoperative consultation.