Prefrontal Cortex Of Human Brain Research Articles

Experimental Basis Sets of Quantification of Brain 1H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at 3.0 T.

In vivo short echo time (TE) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a useful method for the quantification of human brain metabolites. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of an in-house, experimentally measured basis set and compare it with the performance of a vendor-provided basis set. A 3T clinical scanner with 32-channel receive-only phased array head coil was used to generate 16 brain metabolites for the metabolite basis set. For voxel localization, point-resolved spin-echo sequence (PRESS) was used with volume of interest (VOI) positioned at the center of the phantoms. Two different basis sets were subjected to linear combination of model spectra of metabolite solutions in vitro (LCModel) analysis to evaluate the in-house acquired in vivo 1H-MR spectra from the left prefrontal cortex of 22 healthy subjects. To evaluate the performance of the two basis sets, the Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of each basis set were compared. The LCModel quantified the following metabolites and macromolecules: alanine (Ala), aspartate (Asp), γ-amino butyric acid (GABA), glucose (Glc), glutamine (Gln), glutamate (Glu), glutathione (GHS), Ins (myo-Inositol), lactate (Lac), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), taurine (Tau), phosphoryl-choline + glycerol-phosphoryl-choline (tCho), N-acetylaspartate + N-acetylaspartylglutamate (tNA), creatine + phosphocreatine (tCr), Glu + Gln (Glx) and Lip13a, Lip13b, Lip09, MM09, Lip20, MM20, MM12, MM14, MM17, Lip13a + Lip13b, MM14 + Lip13a + Lip13b + MM12, MM09 + Lip09, MM20 + Lip20. Statistical analysis showed significantly different CRLBs: Asp, GABA, Gln, GSH, Ins, Lac, NAA, NAAG, Tau, tCho, tNA, Glx, MM20, MM20 + Lip20 (p < 0.001), tCr, MM12, MM17 (p < 0.01), and Lip20 (p < 0.05). The estimated ratio of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the region of interest was calculated to be about 5%. Fitting performances are better, for the most part, with the in-house basis set, which is more precise than the vendor-provided basis set. In particular, Asp is expected to have reliable CRLB (<30%) at high field (e.g., 3T) in the left prefrontal cortex of human brain. The quantification of Asp was difficult, due to the inaccuracy of Asp fitting with the vendor-provided basis set.

Investigate the effect of HD-tDCS on the prefrontal cortex using fNIRS for neurorehabilitation

Investigate the effect of HD-tDCS on the prefrontal cortex using fNIRS for neurorehabilitation

Identification and classification of voxels of human brain for rewardless-related decision making using ANN technique

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis is developing rapidly in a fast emerging society, because of temporal and spatial resolution and the inoffensive feature of their acquisition in human brains. Spatial resolution governs how “sharp” the image is in appearance, whereas temporal resolution denotes the precision of a measurement with respect to time. The goal of fMRI technique is to identify the activation pattern and functional connectivity in the brain regions. In our study, artificial neural network technique was used for the identification and classification of decision-making voxels of fMRI data based on Brodmann areas 10 and 47 from the prefrontal cortex of human brain. The total number of voxels of Brodmann areas was 159, and we determined that some particular voxels played dominant role for decision-making process while performing a visual task. We also analyzed true positive and false positive classification rates between two decisions in the context of a well-known receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

Design and Development of Two Channel Portable Near Infrared Spectroscopy System for Studies of Cerebral Oxygenation in Prefrontal Cortex of Human Brain

Functional near infrared spectroscopy is a noninvasive, non harmful, low cost and safe optical technique that can be used to study the functional activities in the human brain. This paper describes the development of two channel Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS) system and the results of the cerebral oxygenation changes during the different cognitive tasks. The objective of the study is to design, develop a portable non-invasive continuous wave NIRS system with dual wave length for determining the hemoglobin content of the blood chromophores during different activities of the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The two channel NIRS system designed and it was tested with 20 healthy, ie.,15 males and 5 females with an average age group of 21±2.25, they were given a 2 different mental tasks such as sequential subtraction (mathematical task) and spot the difference (Visuo-spatial task) and their Oxy &amp; de-Oxy hemoglobin concentration was measured which showed more changes during the task period when compared to relaxation in both left and right part of pre-frontal cortex.

Thalamocortical Connections between the Mediodorsal Nucleus of the Thalamus and Prefrontal Cortex in the Human Brain: A Diffusion Tensor Tractographic Study

PurposeThe elucidation of thalamocortical connections between the mediodorsal nucleus (MD) of thalamus and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is important in the clinical fields of neurorehabilitation and psychiatry. However, little is known about these connections in human brain. We attempted to identify and investigate the anatomical characteristics of the thalamocortical connection between MD and PFC in human brain using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT).Materials and MethodsThirty-two healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. Diffusion tensor images were scanned using a 1.5-T. A seed region of interest was placed at the MD of the thalamus on coronal images, and target regions of interest were placed on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), respectively. The three thalamocortical connections found were reconstructed using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) software.ResultsThe three thalamocortical connections were arranged in subcortical white matter in the following order from upper to lower levels: the DLPFC, the VLPFC, and the OFC. In terms of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values, no significant differences were observed between the DLPFC, VLPFC and OFC (p>0.05). In contrast, the OFC tract volume was higher than those of the DLPFC and the VLPFC (p<0.05).ConclusionThree thalamocortical connections were reconstructed between MD and PFCs in human brain using DTT. We believe that the results of this study would be helpful to clinicians in treating frontal network syndrome and psychiatric diseases.

Fluid intelligence, social cognition, and perspective changing abilities as pointers of psychosocial adaptation.

Fluid intelligence, social cognition, and perspective changing abilities as pointers of psychosocial adaptation.

A novel Chinese letter fluency test applied to healthy youth

Objective Letter fluency test is one of the important neuropsychological tests which can examine the cognitive function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of human brain.However,there is no successful Chinese version.This research is trying to develop a Chinese letter fluency test similar to the English version,and to provide an effective approach to investigate the function of the PFC of the native Chinese speakers.Methods Thirty 19 ～33 years old healthy native Chinese speakers were chosen (13 men and 17 women).The near-infrared spectroscopy was used to observe the activation of the PFC while the participants carried out the Chinese letter fluency tests.Some of the participants carried out three kinds of letter fluency tests and category fluency test.Results The average score of the Chinese letter fluency test using syllable cue in 60 s was 12.8 ±4.7.The relative value of [oxy-Hb] in 12 channels of 13 ones located in the PFC during carrying out the test was higher than before and after the test significantly (P＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion The novel Chinese letter fluency test using syllable cue is similar to the English version formally.The objective evidence shows that it can activate neural activity located in the PFC of human brain, and can be applied to the native Chinese speakers as a neuropsychological test investigating the function of the PFC. Key words: Letter fluency test; Chinese; Prefrontal cortex; Near-infrared spectroscopy

Expression of Kruppel-like factor 5 gene in human brain and association of the gene with the susceptibility to schizophrenia

Genome-wide gene expression analysis using DNA microarray technology is a potential tool to search for unexpected genes that have a susceptibility to schizophrenia. We carried out a microarray analysis in the postmortem prefrontal cortex and found that the expression of the KLF5 gene, whose locus is on 13q21, was down-regulated in schizophrenia patients. This result was confirmed by a Western blot analysis. In a genetic study, we found that a polymorphism of the KLF5 gene (− 1593T>C) was associated with schizophrenia. We identified neurons in the prefrontal cortex of human brain as sites of KLF5 expression by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. KLF5 was immunohistochemically localized in granular and pyramidal cells in the hippocampus, which are the principal source of glutamatergic neurotransmission. These findings suggest that the KLF5 gene is a novel schizophrenia-susceptibility gene, and that the expression of the gene is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia via glutamatergic neurotransmission.

Alcohol‐responsive genes in the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of human alcoholics

The molecular processes underlying alcohol dependence are not fully understood. Many characteristic behaviours result from neuroadaptations in the mesocorticolimbic system. In addition, alcoholism is associated with a distinct neuropathology. To elucidate the molecular basis of these features, we compared the RNA expression profile of the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex of human brain from matched individual alcoholic and control cases using cDNA microarrays. Approximately 6% of genes with a marked alcohol response were common to the two brain regions. Alcohol-responsive genes were grouped into 11 functional categories. Predominant alcohol-responsive genes in the prefrontal cortex were those encoding DNA-binding proteins including transcription factors and repair proteins. There was also a down-regulation of genes encoding mitochondrial proteins, which could result in disrupted mitochondrial function and energy production leading to oxidative stress. Other alcohol-responsive genes in the prefrontal cortex were associated with neuroprotection/apoptosis. In contrast, in the nucleus accumbens, alcohol-responsive genes were associated with vesicle formation and regulation of cell architecture, which suggests a neuroadaptation to chronic alcohol exposure at the level of synaptic structure and function. Our data are in keeping with the previously reported alcoholism-related pathology characteristic of the prefrontal cortex, but suggest a persistent decrease in neurotransmission and changes in plasticity in the nucleus accumbens of the alcoholic.

Alcohol‐responsive genes in the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of human alcoholics

The molecular processes underlying alcohol dependence are not fully understood. Many characteristic behaviours result from neuroadaptations in the mesocorticolimbic system. In addition, alcoholism is associated with a distinct neuropathology. To elucidate the molecular basis of these features, we compared the RNA expression profile of the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex of human brain from matched individual alcoholic and control cases using cDNA microarrays. Approximately 6% of genes with a marked alcohol response were common to the two brain regions. Alcohol-responsive genes were grouped into 11 functional categories. Predominant alcohol-responsive genes in the prefrontal cortex were those encoding DNA-binding proteins including transcription factors and repair proteins. There was also a down-regulation of genes encoding mitochondrial proteins, which could result in disrupted mitochondrial function and energy production leading to oxidative stress. Other alcohol-responsive genes in the prefrontal cortex were associated with neuroprotection/apoptosis. In contrast, in the nucleus accumbens, alcohol-responsive genes were associated with vesicle formation and regulation of cell architecture, which suggests a neuroadaptation to chronic alcohol exposure at the level of synaptic structure and function. Our data are in keeping with the previously reported alcoholism-related pathology characteristic of the prefrontal cortex, but suggest a persistent decrease in neurotransmission and changes in plasticity in the nucleus accumbens of the alcoholic.