Cortical Thickness, Surface Area and Subcortical Volume Differentially Contribute to Cognitive Heterogeneity in Parkinson's Disease.

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Gerrits, Niels J H M; van Loenhoud, Anita C; van den Berg, Stan F; Berendse, Henk W; Foncke, Elisabeth M J; Klein, Martin; Stoffers, Diederick; van der Werf, Ysbrand D; van den Heuvel, Odile A

2016-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is often associated with cognitive deficits, although their severity varies considerably between patients. Recently, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to show that individual differences in gray matter (GM) volume relate to cognitive heterogeneity in PD. VBM does, however, not differentiate between cortical thickness (CTh) and surface area (SA), which might be independently affected in PD. We therefore re-analyzed our cohort using the surface-based method FreeSurfer, and investigated (i) CTh, SA, and (sub)cortical GM volume differences between 93 PD patients and 45 matched controls, and (ii) the relation between these structural measures and cognitive performance on six neuropsychological tasks within the PD group. We found cortical thinning in PD patients in the left pericalcarine gyrus, extending to cuneus, precuneus and lingual areas and left inferior parietal cortex, bilateral rostral middle frontal cortex, and right cuneus, and increased cortical surface area in the left pars triangularis. Within the PD group, we found negative correlations between (i) CTh of occipital areas and performance on a verbal memory task, (ii) SA and volume of the frontal cortex and visuospatial memory performance, and, (iii) volume of the right thalamus and scores on two verbal fluency tasks. Our primary findings illustrate that i) CTh and SA are differentially affected in PD, and ii) VBM and FreeSurfer yield non-overlapping results in an identical dataset. We argue that this discrepancy is due to technical differences and the subtlety of the PD-related structural changes.

Cortical thickness abnormalities in late adolescence with online gaming addiction.

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Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Ping; Dong, Tao; Bi, Yanzhi; Xing, Lihong; Yu, Dahua; Zhao, Limei; Dong, Minghao; von Deneen, Karen M; Liu, Yijun; Qin, Wei; Tian, Jie

2013-01-01

Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18) and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18) were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction.

Cortical thickness abnormalities in late adolescence with online gaming addiction.

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Kai Yuan

Full Text Available Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18 and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18 were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC, insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction.

Overweight is not associated with cortical thickness alterations in children

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Rachel Jane Sharkey

2015-02-01

Full Text Available IntroductionSeveral studies report an association between body mass index (BMI and cortical thickness in adults. Some studies demonstrate diffuse cortical thinning in obesity, while others report effects in areas that are associated with self-regulation, such as lateral prefrontal cortex. MethodsThis study used multilevel modelling of data from the NIH Pediatric MRI Data Repository, a mixed longitudinal and cross-sectional database, to examine the relationship between cortical thickness and body weight in children. Cortical thickness was computed at 81,942 vertices of 716 MRI scans from 378 children aged between 4 and 18 years. Body mass index Z score for age was computed for each participant. We preformed vertex-wise statistical analysis of the relationship between cortical thickness and BMI, accounting for age and gender. In addition, cortical thickness was extracted from regions of interest in prefrontal cortex and insula.ResultsNo significant association between cortical thickness and BMI was found, either by statistical parametric mapping or by region of interest analysis. Results remained negative when the analysis was restricted to children aged 12-18.ConclusionsThe correlation between BMI and cortical thickness was not found in this large pediatric sample. The association between BMI and cortical thinning develops after adolescence. This has implications for the nature of the relationship between brain anatomy and weight gain.

Cortical Thickness and Episodic Memory Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

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Bizzo, Bernardo Canedo; Sanchez, Tiago Arruda; Tukamoto, Gustavo; Zimmermann, Nicolle; Netto, Tania Maria; Gasparetto, Emerson Leandro

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in brain cortical thickness of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with and without episodic memory impairment and healthy controls. We studied 51 patients divided in 2 groups (SLE with episodic memory deficit, n = 17; SLE without episodic memory deficit, n = 34) by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and 34 healthy controls. Groups were paired based on sex, age, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and accumulation of disease burden. Cortical thickness from magnetic resonance imaging scans was determined using the FreeSurfer software package. SLE patients with episodic memory deficits presented reduced cortical thickness in the left supramarginal cortex and superior temporal gyrus when compared to the control group and in the right superior frontal, caudal, and rostral middle frontal and precentral gyri when compared to the SLE group without episodic memory impairment considering time since diagnosis of SLE as covaried. There were no significant differences in the cortical thickness between the SLE without episodic memory and control groups. Different memory-related cortical regions thinning were found in the episodic memory deficit group when individually compared to the groups of patients without memory impairment and healthy controls. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Censoring distances based on labeled cortical distance maps in cortical morphometry.

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Ceyhan, Elvan; Nishino, Tomoyuki; Alexopolous, Dimitrios; Todd, Richard D; Botteron, Kelly N; Miller, Michael I; Ratnanather, J Tilak

2013-01-01

It has been demonstrated that shape differences in cortical structures may be manifested in neuropsychiatric disorders. Such morphometric differences can be measured by labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM) which characterizes the morphometry of the laminar cortical mantle of cortical structures. LCDM data consist of signed/labeled distances of gray matter (GM) voxels with respect to GM/white matter (WM) surface. Volumes and other summary measures for each subject and the pooled distances can help determine the morphometric differences between diagnostic groups, however they do not reveal all the morphometric information contained in LCDM distances. To extract more information from LCDM data, censoring of the pooled distances is introduced for each diagnostic group where the range of LCDM distances is partitioned at a fixed increment size; and at each censoring step, the distances not exceeding the censoring distance are kept. Censored LCDM distances inherit the advantages of the pooled distances but also provide information about the location of morphometric differences which cannot be obtained from the pooled distances. However, at each step, the censored distances aggregate, which might confound the results. The influence of data aggregation is investigated with an extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis and it is demonstrated that this influence is negligible. As an illustrative example, GM of ventral medial prefrontal cortices (VMPFCs) of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD), subjects at high risk (HR) of MDD, and healthy control (Ctrl) subjects are used. A significant reduction in laminar thickness of the VMPFC in MDD and HR subjects is observed compared to Ctrl subjects. Moreover, the GM LCDM distances (i.e., locations with respect to the GM/WM surface) for which these differences start to occur are determined. The methodology is also applicable to LCDM-based morphometric measures of other cortical structures affected by disease.

Censoring Distances Based on Labeled Cortical Distance Maps in Cortical Morphometry

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Elvan eCeyhan

2013-10-01

Full Text Available It has been demonstrated that shape differences are manifested in cortical structures due to neuropsychiatric disorders. Such morphometric differences can be measured by labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM which characterizes the morphometry of the laminar cortical mantle of cortical structures. LCDM data consist of signed/labeled distances of gray matter (GM voxels with respect to GM/white matter (WM surface. Volumes and other summary measures for each subject and the pooled distances can help determine the morphometric differences between diagnostic groups, however they do not reveal all the morphometric information con-tained in LCDM distances. To extract more information from LCDM data, censoring of the pooled distances is introduced for each diagnostic group where the range of LCDM distances is partitioned at a fixed increment size; and at each censoring step, the distances not exceeding the censoring distance are kept. Censored LCDM distances inherit the advantages of the pooled distances but also provide information about the location of morphometric differences which cannot be obtained from the pooled distances. However, at each step, the censored distances aggregate, which might confound the results. The influence of data aggregation is investigated with an extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis and it is demonstrated that this influence is negligible. As an illustrative example, GM of ventral medial prefrontal cortices (VMPFCs of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD, subjects at high risk (HR of MDD, and healthy control (Ctrl subjects are used. A significant reduction in laminar thickness of the VMPFC in MDD and HR subjects is observed compared to Ctrl subjects. Moreover, the GM LCDM distances (i.e., locations with respect to the GM/WM surface for which these differences start to occur are determined. The methodology is also applicable to LCDM-based morphometric measures of other cortical structures affected by disease.

Cortical thickness differences between bipolar depression and major depressive disorder.

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Lan, Martin J; Chhetry, Binod Thapa; Oquendo, Maria A; Sublette, M Elizabeth; Sullivan, Gregory; Mann, J John; Parsey, Ramin V

2014-06-01

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a psychiatric disorder with high morbidity and mortality that cannot be distinguished from major depressive disorder (MDD) until the first manic episode. A biomarker able to differentiate BD and MDD could help clinicians avoid risks of treating BD with antidepressants without mood stabilizers. Cortical thickness differences were assessed using magnetic resonance imaging in BD depressed patients (n = 18), MDD depressed patients (n = 56), and healthy volunteers (HVs) (n = 54). A general linear model identified clusters of cortical thickness difference between diagnostic groups. Compared to the HV group, the BD group had decreased cortical thickness in six regions, after controlling for age and sex, located within the frontal and parietal lobes, and the posterior cingulate cortex. Mean cortical thickness changes in clusters ranged from 7.6 to 9.6% (cluster-wise p-values from 1.0 e-4 to 0.037). When compared to MDD, three clusters of lower cortical thickness in BD were identified that overlapped with clusters that differentiated the BD and HV groups. Mean cortical thickness changes in the clusters ranged from 7.5 to 8.2% (cluster-wise p-values from 1.0 e-4 to 0.023). The difference in cortical thickness was more pronounced when the subgroup of subjects with bipolar I disorder (BD-I) was compared to the MDD group. Cortical thickness patterns were distinct between BD and MDD. These results are a step toward developing an imaging test to differentiate the two disorders. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dose-Dependent Cortical Thinning After Partial Brain Irradiation in High-Grade Glioma

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Karunamuni, Roshan [Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Bartsch, Hauke; White, Nathan S. [Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Moiseenko, Vitali; Carmona, Ruben; Marshall, Deborah C.; Seibert, Tyler M. [Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); McDonald, Carrie R. [Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Farid, Nikdokht; Krishnan, Anithapriya; Kuperman, Joshua [Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Mell, Loren [Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Brewer, James B.; Dale, Anders M. [Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States); Hattangadi-Gluth, Jona A., E-mail: jhattangadi@ucsd.edu [Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (United States)

2016-02-01

Purpose: Radiation-induced cognitive deficits may be mediated by tissue damage to cortical regions. Volumetric changes in cortex can be reliably measured using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used these methods to study the association between radiation therapy (RT) dose and change in cortical thickness in high-grade glioma (HGG) patients. Methods and Materials: We performed a voxel-wise analysis of MRI from 15 HGG patients who underwent fractionated partial brain RT. Three-dimensional MRI was acquired pre- and 1 year post RT. Cortex was parceled with well-validated segmentation software. Surgical cavities were censored. Each cortical voxel was assigned a change in cortical thickness between time points, RT dose value, and neuroanatomic label by lobe. Effects of dose, neuroanatomic location, age, and chemotherapy on cortical thickness were tested using linear mixed effects (LME) modeling. Results: Cortical atrophy was seen after 1 year post RT with greater effects at higher doses. Estimates from LME modeling showed that cortical thickness decreased by −0.0033 mm (P<.001) for every 1-Gy increase in RT dose. Temporal and limbic cortex exhibited the largest changes in cortical thickness per Gy compared to that in other regions (P<.001). Age and chemotherapy were not significantly associated with change in cortical thickness. Conclusions: We found dose-dependent thinning of the cerebral cortex, with varying neuroanatomical regional sensitivity, 1 year after fractionated partial brain RT. The magnitude of thinning parallels 1-year atrophy rates seen in neurodegenerative diseases and may contribute to cognitive decline following high-dose RT.

On the homogeneity and heterogeneity of cortical thickness profiles in Homo sapiens sapiens.

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Koten, Jan Willem; Schüppen, André; Morozova, Maria; Lehofer, Agnes; Koschutnig, Karl; Wood, Guilherme

2017-12-20

Cortical thickness has been investigated since the beginning of the 20th century, but we do not know how similar the cortical thickness profiles among humans are. In this study, the local similarity of cortical thickness profiles was investigated using sliding window methods. Here, we show that approximately 5% of the cortical thickness profiles are similarly expressed among humans while 45% of the cortical thickness profiles show a high level of heterogeneity. Therefore, heterogeneity is the rule, not the exception. Cortical thickness profiles of somatosensory homunculi and the anterior insula are consistent among humans, while the cortical thickness profiles of the motor homunculus are more variable. Cortical thickness profiles of homunculi that code for muscle position and skin stimulation are highly similar among humans despite large differences in sex, education, and age. This finding suggests that the structure of these cortices remains well preserved over a lifetime. Our observations possibly relativize opinions on cortical plasticity.

Perceived stress is associated with increased rostral middle frontal gyrus cortical thickness: a family-based and discordant-sibling investigation.

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Michalski, L J; Demers, C H; Baranger, D A A; Barch, D M; Harms, M P; Burgess, G C; Bogdan, R

2017-11-01

Elevated stress perception and depression commonly co-occur, suggesting that they share a common neurobiology. Cortical thickness of the rostral middle frontal gyrus (RMFG), a region critical for executive function, has been associated with depression- and stress-related phenotypes. Here, we examined whether RMFG cortical thickness is associated with these phenotypes in a large family-based community sample. RMFG cortical thickness was estimated using FreeSurfer among participants (n = 879) who completed the ongoing Human Connectome Project. Depression-related phenotypes (i.e. sadness, positive affect) and perceived stress were assessed via self-report. After accounting for sex, age, ethnicity, average whole-brain cortical thickness, twin status and familial structure, RMFG thickness was positively associated with perceived stress and sadness and negatively associated with positive affect at small effect sizes (accounting for 0.2-2.4% of variance; p-fdr: 0.0051-0.1900). Perceived stress was uniquely associated with RMFG thickness after accounting for depression-related phenotypes. Further, among siblings discordant for perceived stress, those reporting higher perceived stress had increased RMFG thickness (P = 4 × 10 -7 ). Lastly, RMFG thickness, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and positive affect were all significantly heritable, with evidence of shared genetic and environmental contributions between self-report measures. Stress perception and depression share common genetic, environmental, and neural correlates. Variability in RMFG cortical thickness may play a role in stress-related depression, although effects may be small in magnitude. Prospective studies are required to examine whether variability in RMFG thickness may function as a risk factor for stress exposure and/or perception, and/or arises as a consequence of these phenotypes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Diffusion tensor imaging and voxel based morphometry study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: relationships with motor disability

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Thivard, Lionel; Pradat, Pierre‐François; Lehéricy, Stéphane; Lacomblez, Lucette; Dormont, Didier; Chiras, Jacques; Benali, Habib; Meininger, Vincent

2007-01-01

International audience; The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of cortical and subcortical lesions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using, in combination, voxel based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and voxel based morphometry (VBM). We included 15 patients with definite or probable ALS and 25 healthy volunteers. Patients were assessed using the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R). In patients, reduced fractional anisotropy was found in bilateral corticospinal tra...

Cortical surface area and cortical thickness in the precuneus of adult humans.

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Bruner, E; Román, F J; de la Cuétara, J M; Martin-Loeches, M; Colom, R

2015-02-12

The precuneus has received considerable attention in the last decade, because of its cognitive functions, its role as a central node of the brain networks, and its involvement in neurodegenerative processes. Paleoneurological studies suggested that form changes in the deep parietal areas represent a major character associated with the origin of the modern human brain morphology. A recent neuroanatomical survey based on shape analysis suggests that the proportions of the precuneus are also a determinant source of overall brain geometrical differences among adult individuals, influencing the brain spatial organization. Here, we evaluate the variation of cortical thickness and cortical surface area of the precuneus in a sample of adult humans, and their relation with geometry and cognition. Precuneal thickness and surface area are not correlated. There is a marked individual variation. The right precuneus is thinner and larger than the left one, but there are relevant fluctuating asymmetries, with only a modest correlation between the hemispheres. Males have a thicker cortex but differences in cortical area are not significant between sexes. The surface area of the precuneus shows a positive allometry with the brain surface area, although the correlation is modest. The dilation/contraction of the precuneus, described as a major factor of variability within adult humans, is associated with absolute increase/decrease of its surface, but not with variation in thickness. Precuneal thickness, precuneal surface area and precuneal morphology are not correlated with psychological factors such as intelligence, working memory, attention control, and processing speed, stressing further possible roles of this area in supporting default mode functions. Beyond gross morphology, the processes underlying the large phenotypic variation of the precuneus must be further investigated through specific cellular analyses, aimed at considering differences in cellular size, density

Age Effects on Cortical Thickness in Cognitively Normal Elderly Individuals

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Sona Hurtz

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Atrophy in both grey and white matter is found in normal aging. The prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobe white matter are thought to be the most affected regions. Our aim was to examine the effects of normal aging on cortical grey matter using a 3D quantitative cortical mapping method. Methods: We analyzed 1.5-tesla brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 44 cognitively normal elderly subjects using cortical pattern matching and cortical thickness analyses. Linear regression analysis was used to study the effect of age on cortical thickness. 3D map-wide correction for multiple comparisons was conducted with permutation analyses using a threshold of p Results: We found a significant negative association between age and cortical thickness in the right hemisphere (pcorrected = 0.009 and a trend level association in the left hemisphere (pcorrected = 0.081. Age-related changes were greatest in the sensorimotor, bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate and supplementary motor cortices, and the right posterior middle and inferior frontal gyri. Age effects greater in the medial than lateral visual association cortices were also seen bilaterally. Conclusion: Our novel method further validates that normal aging results in diffuse cortical thinning that is most pronounced in the frontal and visual association cortices.

Voxel-based analysis of whole-brain effects of age and gender on dopamine transporter SPECT imaging in healthy subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eusebio, Alexandre; Azulay, Jean-Philippe; Ceccaldi, Mathieu; Girard, Nadine; Mundler, Olivier; Guedj, Eric

2012-01-01

Several studies have shown age- and gender-related differences in striatal dopamine transporter (DaT) binding. These studies were based on a striatal region on interest approach that may have underestimated these effects and could not evaluate extrastriatal regions. Our aim was to determine the effects at the voxel level of age and gender on whole-brain DaT distribution using [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT in healthy subjects. We performed a whole-brain [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT voxel-based analysis using SPM8 and a standardized normalization template (p < 0.05, corrected using the false discovery rate method) in 51 healthy subjects aged from 21 to 79 years. We found an age-related DaT binding decrease in the striatum, anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortices and insulo-opercular cortices. Also DaT binding ratios were higher in women than men in the striatum and opercular cortices. This study showed both striatal and extrastriatal age-related and gender-related differences in DaT binding in healthy subjects using a whole-brain voxel-based non-a priori approach. These differences highlight the need for careful age and gender matching in DaT analyses of neuropsychiatric disorders. (orig.)

Voxel-based analysis of whole-brain effects of age and gender on dopamine transporter SPECT imaging in healthy subjects

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Eusebio, Alexandre; Azulay, Jean-Philippe [APHM, Hopital de la Timone, Service de Neurologie et Pathologie du Mouvement, Marseille (France); CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Marseille (France); Ceccaldi, Mathieu [APHM, Hopital de la Timone, Service de Neurologie et de Neuropsychologie, Marseille (France); Aix-Marseille Univ, UMR Inserm 1106, Institut de Neurosciences des Systemes, Marseille (France); Girard, Nadine [APHM, Hopital de la Timone, Service de Neuroradiologie diagnostique et interventionnelle, Marseille (France); Mundler, Olivier [APHM, Hopital de la Timone, Service Central de Biophysique et Medecine Nucleaire, Marseille (France); Aix-Marseille Univ, CERIMED, Marseille (France); Guedj, Eric [CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Marseille (France); APHM, Hopital de la Timone, Service Central de Biophysique et Medecine Nucleaire, Marseille (France); Aix-Marseille Univ, CERIMED, Marseille (France)

2012-11-15

Several studies have shown age- and gender-related differences in striatal dopamine transporter (DaT) binding. These studies were based on a striatal region on interest approach that may have underestimated these effects and could not evaluate extrastriatal regions. Our aim was to determine the effects at the voxel level of age and gender on whole-brain DaT distribution using [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT SPECT in healthy subjects. We performed a whole-brain [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT SPECT voxel-based analysis using SPM8 and a standardized normalization template (p < 0.05, corrected using the false discovery rate method) in 51 healthy subjects aged from 21 to 79 years. We found an age-related DaT binding decrease in the striatum, anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortices and insulo-opercular cortices. Also DaT binding ratios were higher in women than men in the striatum and opercular cortices. This study showed both striatal and extrastriatal age-related and gender-related differences in DaT binding in healthy subjects using a whole-brain voxel-based non-a priori approach. These differences highlight the need for careful age and gender matching in DaT analyses of neuropsychiatric disorders. (orig.)

Mediterranean diet, micronutrients and macronutrients, and MRI measures of cortical thickness.

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Staubo, Sara C; Aakre, Jeremiah A; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Syrjanen, Jeremy A; Mielke, Michelle M; Geda, Yonas E; Kremers, Walter K; Machulda, Mary M; Knopman, David S; Petersen, Ronald C; Jack, Clifford R; Roberts, Rosebud O

2017-02-01

The Mediterranean diet (MeDi) is associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment, but it is unclear whether it is associated with better brain imaging biomarkers. Among 672 cognitively normal participants (mean age, 79.8 years, 52.5% men), we investigated associations of MeDi score and MeDi components with magnetic resonance imaging measures of cortical thickness for the four lobes separately and averaged (average lobar). Higher MeDi score was associated with larger frontal, parietal, occipital, and average lobar cortical thickness. Higher legume and fish intakes were associated with larger cortical thickness: legumes with larger superior parietal, inferior parietal, precuneus, parietal, occipital, lingual, and fish with larger precuneus, superior parietal, posterior cingulate, parietal, and inferior parietal. Higher carbohydrate and sugar intakes were associated with lower entorhinal cortical thickness. In this sample of elderly persons, higher adherence to MeDi was associated with larger cortical thickness. These cross-sectional findings require validation in prospective studies. Copyright © 2016 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Is the Alzheimer's disease cortical thickness signature a biological marker for memory?

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Busovaca, Edgar; Zimmerman, Molly E; Meier, Irene B; Griffith, Erica Y; Grieve, Stuart M; Korgaonkar, Mayuresh S; Williams, Leanne M; Brickman, Adam M

2016-06-01

Recent work suggests that analysis of the cortical thickness in key brain regions can be used to identify individuals at greatest risk for development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is unclear to what extent this "signature" is a biological marker of normal memory function - the primary cognitive domain affected by AD. We examined the relationship between the AD signature biomarker and memory functioning in a group of neurologically healthy young and older adults. Cortical thickness measurements and neuropsychological evaluations were obtained in 110 adults (age range 21-78, mean = 46) drawn from the Brain Resource International Database. The cohort was divided into young adult (n = 64, age 21-50) and older adult (n = 46, age 51-78) groups. Cortical thickness analysis was performed with FreeSurfer, and the average cortical thickness extracted from the eight regions that comprise the AD signature. Mean AD-signature cortical thickness was positively associated with performance on the delayed free recall trial of a list learning task and this relationship did not differ between younger and older adults. Mean AD-signature cortical thickness was not associated with performance on a test of psychomotor speed, as a control task, in either group. The results suggest that the AD signature cortical thickness is a marker for memory functioning across the adult lifespan.

Alterations of whole-brain cortical area and thickness in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

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Li, Chuanming; Wang, Jian; Gui, Li; Zheng, Jian; Liu, Chen; Du, Hanjian

2011-01-01

Gray matter volume and density of several brain regions, determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are decreased in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Animal studies have indicated that changes in cortical area size is relevant to thinking and behavior, but alterations of cortical area and thickness in the brains of individuals with AD or its likely precursor, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have not been reported. In this study, 25 MCI subjects, 30 AD subjects, and 30 age-matched normal controls were recruited for brain MRI scans and Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) assessments. Based on the model using FreeSurfer software, two brain lobes were divided into various regions according to the Desikan-Killiany atlas and the cortical area and thickness of every region was compared and analyzed. We found a significant increase in cortical area of several regions in the frontal and temporal cortices, which correlated negatively with MMSE scores, and a significant decrease in cortical area of several regions in the parietal cortex and the cingulate gyrus in AD subjects. Increased cortical area was also seen in some regions of the frontal and temporal cortices in MCI subjects, whereas the cortical thickness of the same regions was decreased. Our observations suggest characteristic differences of the cortical area and thickness in MCI, AD, and normal control subjects, and these changes may help diagnose both MCI and AD.

Altered Regional Brain Cortical Thickness in Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea

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Paul M. Macey

2018-01-01

Full Text Available RationaleObstructive sleep apnea (OSA affects 2–5% of all children and is associated with cognitive and behavioral deficits, resulting in poor school performance. These psychological deficits may arise from brain injury, as seen in preliminary findings of lower gray matter volume among pediatric OSA patients. However, the psychological deficits in OSA are closely related to functions in the cortex, and such brain areas have not been specifically assessed. The objective was to determine whether cortical thickness, a marker of possible brain injury, is altered in children with OSA.MethodsWe examined regional brain cortical thicknesses using high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images in 16 pediatric OSA patients (8 males; mean age ± SD = 8.4 ± 1.2 years; mean apnea/hypopnea index ± SD = 11 ± 6 events/h and 138 controls (8.3 ± 1.1 years; 62 male; 138 subjects from the NIH Pediatric MRI database to identify cortical thickness differences in pediatric OSA subjects.ResultsCortical thinning occurred in multiple regions including the superior frontal, ventral medial prefrontal, and superior parietal cortices. The left side showed greater thinning in the superior frontal cortex. Cortical thickening was observed in bilateral precentral gyrus, mid-to-posterior insular cortices, and left central gyrus, as well as right anterior insula cortex.ConclusionChanges in cortical thickness are present in children with OSA and likely indicate disruption to neural developmental processes, including maturational patterns of cortical volume increases and synaptic pruning. Regions with thicker cortices may reflect inflammation or astrocyte activation. Both the thinning and thickening associated with OSA in children may contribute to the cognitive and behavioral dysfunction frequently found in the condition.

Basic visual function and cortical thickness patterns in posterior cortical atrophy.

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Lehmann, Manja; Barnes, Josephine; Ridgway, Gerard R; Wattam-Bell, John; Warrington, Elizabeth K; Fox, Nick C; Crutch, Sebastian J

2011-09-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is characterized by a progressive decline in higher-visual object and space processing, but the extent to which these deficits are underpinned by basic visual impairments is unknown. This study aimed to assess basic and higher-order visual deficits in 21 PCA patients. Basic visual skills including form detection and discrimination, color discrimination, motion coherence, and point localization were measured, and associations and dissociations between specific basic visual functions and measures of higher-order object and space perception were identified. All participants showed impairment in at least one aspect of basic visual processing. However, a number of dissociations between basic visual skills indicated a heterogeneous pattern of visual impairment among the PCA patients. Furthermore, basic visual impairments were associated with particular higher-order object and space perception deficits, but not with nonvisual parietal tasks, suggesting the specific involvement of visual networks in PCA. Cortical thickness analysis revealed trends toward lower cortical thickness in occipitotemporal (ventral) and occipitoparietal (dorsal) regions in patients with visuoperceptual and visuospatial deficits, respectively. However, there was also a lot of overlap in their patterns of cortical thinning. These findings suggest that different presentations of PCA represent points in a continuum of phenotypical variation.

Utility of real-time prospective motion correction (PROMO) for segmentation of cerebral cortex on 3D T1-weighted imaging: Voxel-based morphometry analysis for uncooperative patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Igata, Natsuki; Kakeda, Shingo; Watanabe, Keita; Narimatsu, Hidekuni; Ide, Satoru; Korogi, Yukunori; Nozaki, Atsushi; Rettmann, Dan; Abe, Osamu

2017-01-01

To assess the utility of the motion correction method with prospective motion correction (PROMO) in a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for 'uncooperative' patient populations. High-resolution 3D T1-weighted imaging both with and without PROMO were performed in 33 uncooperative patients with Parkinson's disease (n = 11) or dementia (n = 22). We compared the grey matter (GM) volumes and cortical thickness between the scans with and without PROMO. For the mean total GM volume with the VBM analysis, the scan without PROMO showed a significantly smaller volume than that with PROMO (p < 0.05), which was caused by segmentation problems due to motion during acquisition. The whole-brain VBM analysis showed significant GM volume reductions in some regions in the scans without PROMO (familywise error corrected p < 0.05). In the cortical thickness analysis, the scans without PROMO also showed decreased cortical thickness compared to the scan with PROMO (p < 0.05). Our results with the uncooperative patients indicate that the use of PROMO can reduce misclassification during segmentation of the VBM analyses, although it may not prevent GM volume reduction. (orig.)

Utility of real-time prospective motion correction (PROMO) for segmentation of cerebral cortex on 3D T1-weighted imaging: Voxel-based morphometry analysis for uncooperative patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Igata, Natsuki; Kakeda, Shingo; Watanabe, Keita; Narimatsu, Hidekuni; Ide, Satoru; Korogi, Yukunori [University of Occupational and Environmental Health School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Kitakyushu (Japan); Nozaki, Atsushi [MR Applications and Workflow Asia Pacific GE Healthcare Japan, Tokyo (Japan); Rettmann, Dan [MR Applications and Workflow GE Healthcare, Rochester, MN (United States); Abe, Osamu [University of Tokyo, Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan)

2017-08-15

To assess the utility of the motion correction method with prospective motion correction (PROMO) in a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for 'uncooperative' patient populations. High-resolution 3D T1-weighted imaging both with and without PROMO were performed in 33 uncooperative patients with Parkinson's disease (n = 11) or dementia (n = 22). We compared the grey matter (GM) volumes and cortical thickness between the scans with and without PROMO. For the mean total GM volume with the VBM analysis, the scan without PROMO showed a significantly smaller volume than that with PROMO (p < 0.05), which was caused by segmentation problems due to motion during acquisition. The whole-brain VBM analysis showed significant GM volume reductions in some regions in the scans without PROMO (familywise error corrected p < 0.05). In the cortical thickness analysis, the scans without PROMO also showed decreased cortical thickness compared to the scan with PROMO (p < 0.05). Our results with the uncooperative patients indicate that the use of PROMO can reduce misclassification during segmentation of the VBM analyses, although it may not prevent GM volume reduction. (orig.)

Development of cortical thickness and surface area in autism spectrum disorder

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Vincent T. Mensen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder often associated with changes in cortical volume. The constituents of cortical volume – cortical thickness and surface area – have separable developmental trajectories and are related to different neurobiological processes. However, little is known about the developmental trajectories of cortical thickness and surface area in ASD. In this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI study, we used an accelerated longitudinal design to investigate the cortical development in 90 individuals with ASD and 90 typically developing controls, aged 9 to 20 years. We quantified cortical measures using the FreeSurfer software package, and then used linear mixed model analyses to estimate the developmental trajectories for each cortical measure. Our primary finding was that the development of surface area follows a linear trajectory in ASD that differs from typically developing controls. In typical development, we found a decline in cortical surface area between the ages of 9 and 20 that was absent in ASD. We found this pattern in all regions where developmental trajectories for surface area differed between groups. When we applied a more stringent correction that takes the interdependency of measures into account, this effect on cortical surface area retained significance for left banks of superior temporal sulcus, postcentral area, and right supramarginal area. These areas have previously been implicated in ASD and are involved in the interpretation and processing of audiovisual social stimuli and distinction between self and others. Although some differences in cortical volume and thickness were found, none survived the more stringent correction for multiple testing. This study underscores the importance of distinguishing between cortical surface area and thickness in investigating cortical development, and suggests the development of cortical surface area is of importance to ASD.

Associations between cortical thickness and general intelligence in children, adolescents and young adults

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Menary, Kyle; Collins, Paul F.; Porter, James N.; Muetzel, Ryan; Olson, Elizabeth A.; Kumar, Vipin; Steinbach, Michael; Lim, Kelvin O.; Luciana, Monica

2013-01-01

Neuroimaging research indicates that human intellectual ability is related to brain structure including the thickness of the cerebral cortex. Most studies indicate that general intelligence is positively associated with cortical thickness in areas of association cortex distributed throughout both brain hemispheres. In this study, we performed a cortical thickness mapping analysis on data from 182 healthy typically developing males and females ages 9 to 24 years to identify correlates of general intelligence (g) scores. To determine if these correlates also mediate associations of specific cognitive abilities with cortical thickness, we regressed specific cognitive test scores on g scores and analyzed the residuals with respect to cortical thickness. The effect of age on the association between cortical thickness and intelligence was examined. We found a widely distributed pattern of positive associations between cortical thickness and g scores, as derived from the first unrotated principal factor of a factor analysis of Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) subtest scores. After WASI specific cognitive subtest scores were regressed on g factor scores, the residual score variances did not correlate significantly with cortical thickness in the full sample with age covaried. When participants were grouped at the age median, significant positive associations of cortical thickness were obtained in the older group for g-residualized scores on Block Design (a measure of visual-motor integrative processing) while significant negative associations of cortical thickness were observed in the younger group for g-residualized Vocabulary scores. These results regarding correlates of general intelligence are concordant with the existing literature, while the findings from younger versus older subgroups have implications for future research on brain structural correlates of specific cognitive abilities, as well as the cognitive domain specificity of behavioral

Longitudinal changes in cortical thickness in autism and typical development.

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Zielinski, Brandon A; Prigge, Molly B D; Nielsen, Jared A; Froehlich, Alyson L; Abildskov, Tracy J; Anderson, Jeffrey S; Fletcher, P Thomas; Zygmunt, Kristen M; Travers, Brittany G; Lange, Nicholas; Alexander, Andrew L; Bigler, Erin D; Lainhart, Janet E

2014-06-01

The natural history of brain growth in autism spectrum disorders remains unclear. Cross-sectional studies have identified regional abnormalities in brain volume and cortical thickness in autism, although substantial discrepancies have been reported. Preliminary longitudinal studies using two time points and small samples have identified specific regional differences in cortical thickness in the disorder. To clarify age-related trajectories of cortical development, we examined longitudinal changes in cortical thickness within a large mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal sample of autistic subjects and age- and gender-matched typically developing controls. Three hundred and forty-five magnetic resonance imaging scans were examined from 97 males with autism (mean age = 16.8 years; range 3-36 years) and 60 males with typical development (mean age = 18 years; range 4-39 years), with an average interscan interval of 2.6 years. FreeSurfer image analysis software was used to parcellate the cortex into 34 regions of interest per hemisphere and to calculate mean cortical thickness for each region. Longitudinal linear mixed effects models were used to further characterize these findings and identify regions with between-group differences in longitudinal age-related trajectories. Using mean age at time of first scan as a reference (15 years), differences were observed in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, pars opercularis and pars triangularis, right caudal middle frontal and left rostral middle frontal regions, and left frontal pole. However, group differences in cortical thickness varied by developmental stage, and were influenced by IQ. Differences in age-related trajectories emerged in bilateral parietal and occipital regions (postcentral gyrus, cuneus, lingual gyrus, pericalcarine cortex), left frontal regions (pars opercularis, rostral middle frontal and frontal pole), left supramarginal gyrus, and right transverse temporal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and

Reduced cortical thickness in gambling disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grant, Jon E; Odlaug, Brian Lawrence; Chamberlain, Samuel R

2015-01-01

with significant reductions (average 15.8-19.9 %) in cortical thickness, versus controls, predominantly in right frontal cortical regions. Pronounced right frontal morphometric brain abnormalities occur in gambling disorder, supporting neurobiological overlap with substance disorders and its recent......Gambling disorder has recently been recognized as a prototype 'behavioral addiction' by virtue of its inclusion in the DSM-5 category of 'Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders.' Despite its newly acquired status and prevalence rate of 1-3 % globally, relatively little is known regarding...... the neurobiology of this disorder. The aim of this study was to explore cortical morphometry in untreated gambling disorder, for the first time. Subjects with gambling disorder (N = 16) free from current psychotropic medication or psychiatric comorbidities, and healthy controls (N = 17), were entered...

Structural covariance in the hallucinating brain: a voxel-based morphometry study

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Modinos, Gemma; Vercammen, Ans; Mechelli, Andrea; Knegtering, Henderikus; McGuire, Philip K.; Aleman, André

2009-01-01

Background Neuroimaging studies have indicated that a number of cortical regions express altered patterns of structural covariance in schizophrenia. The relation between these alterations and specific psychotic symptoms is yet to be investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry to examine regional grey matter volumes and structural covariance associated with severity of auditory verbal hallucinations. Methods We applied optimized voxel-based morphometry to volumetric magnetic resonance imaging data from 26 patients with medication-resistant auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs); statistical inferences were made at p < 0.05 after correction for multiple comparisons. Results Grey matter volume in the left inferior frontal gyrus was positively correlated with severity of AVHs. Hallucination severity influenced the pattern of structural covariance between this region and the left superior/middle temporal gyri, the right inferior frontal gyrus and hippocampus, and the insula bilaterally. Limitations The results are based on self-reported severity of auditory hallucinations. Complementing with a clinician-based instrument could have made the findings more compelling. Future studies would benefit from including a measure to control for other symptoms that may covary with AVHs and for the effects of antipsychotic medication. Conclusion The results revealed that overall severity of AVHs modulated cortical intercorrelations between frontotemporal regions involved in language production and verbal monitoring, supporting the critical role of this network in the pathophysiology of hallucinations. PMID:19949723

A voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging analysis of asymptomatic Parkinson's disease-related G2019S LRRK2 mutation carriers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thaler, A.; Artzi, M.; Mirelman, A.; Jacob, Y.; Helmich, R.C.G.; Nuenen, B.F.L. van; Gurevich, T.; Orr-Urtreger, A.; Marder, K.; Bressman, S.; Bloem, B.R.; Hendler, T.; Giladi, N.; Bashat, D. Ben; et al.,

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson's disease have reduced gray matter volume and fractional anisotropy in both cortical and sub-cortical structures, yet changes in the pre-motor phase of the disease are unknown. METHODS: A comprehensive imaging study using voxel-based morphometry and diffusion

Age effects on cortical thickness in young Down's syndrome subjects: a cross-sectional gender study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Andrea; Moraschi, Marta; Cornia, Riccardo; Stella, Giacomo; Bozzao, Alessandro; Gagliardo, Olga; Chiacchiararelli, Laura; Iani, Cristina; Albertini, Giorgio; Pierallini, Alberto

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine differences in the characteristic pattern of age-related cortical thinning in men and women with Down's syndrome (DS) by means of MRI and automatic cortical thickness measurements and a cross-sectional design, in a large cohort of young subjects. Eighty-four subjects with DS, 30 females (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 22.8 ± 5.9) and 54 males (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 21.5 ± 6.5), were examined using a 1.5-T scanner. MRI-based quantification of cortical thickness was performed using FreeSurfer software package. For all subjects participating in the study, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between age and mean cortical thickness values has been evaluated. A significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in female DS subjects, predominantly in frontal and parietal lobes, bilaterally. In male DS subjects, a significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in the right fronto-temporal lobes and cingulate regions. Whole brain mean cortical thickness values were significantly negative correlated with age only in female DS subjects. Females with Down's syndrome showed a strong correlation between cortical thickness and age, already in early age. We suggest that the cognitive impairment due to hormonal deficit in the postmenopausal period could be emphasized by the early structural decline of gray matter in female DS subjects. (orig.)

Age effects on cortical thickness in young Down's syndrome subjects: a cross-sectional gender study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romano, Andrea; Moraschi, Marta [San Raffaele Foundation Rome, Rehabilitation Facility Ceglie Messapica, Rome (Italy); Cornia, Riccardo; Stella, Giacomo [University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Education and Human Sciences, Emilia-Romagna (Italy); Bozzao, Alessandro; Gagliardo, Olga [University Sapienza, NESMOS, Department of Neuroradiology, S. Andrea Hospital, Rome (Italy); Chiacchiararelli, Laura [University Sapienza, Department of Medical Physics, S. Andrea Hospital, Rome (Italy); Iani, Cristina [University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Communication and Economy, Emilia-Romagna (Italy); Albertini, Giorgio [IRCSS San Raffaele Pisana, Department of Paediatrics, Rome (Italy); Pierallini, Alberto [IRCSS San Raffaele Pisana, Department of Radiology, Rome (Italy)

2015-04-01

The aim of this study was to determine differences in the characteristic pattern of age-related cortical thinning in men and women with Down's syndrome (DS) by means of MRI and automatic cortical thickness measurements and a cross-sectional design, in a large cohort of young subjects. Eighty-four subjects with DS, 30 females (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 22.8 ± 5.9) and 54 males (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 21.5 ± 6.5), were examined using a 1.5-T scanner. MRI-based quantification of cortical thickness was performed using FreeSurfer software package. For all subjects participating in the study, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between age and mean cortical thickness values has been evaluated. A significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in female DS subjects, predominantly in frontal and parietal lobes, bilaterally. In male DS subjects, a significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in the right fronto-temporal lobes and cingulate regions. Whole brain mean cortical thickness values were significantly negative correlated with age only in female DS subjects. Females with Down's syndrome showed a strong correlation between cortical thickness and age, already in early age. We suggest that the cognitive impairment due to hormonal deficit in the postmenopausal period could be emphasized by the early structural decline of gray matter in female DS subjects. (orig.)

4D segmentation of brain MR images with constrained cortical thickness variation.

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Li Wang

Full Text Available Segmentation of brain MR images plays an important role in longitudinal investigation of developmental, aging, disease progression changes in the cerebral cortex. However, most existing brain segmentation methods consider multiple time-point images individually and thus cannot achieve longitudinal consistency. For example, cortical thickness measured from the segmented image will contain unnecessary temporal variations, which will affect the time related change pattern and eventually reduce the statistical power of analysis. In this paper, we propose a 4D segmentation framework for the adult brain MR images with the constraint of cortical thickness variations. Specifically, we utilize local intensity information to address the intensity inhomogeneity, spatial cortical thickness constraint to maintain the cortical thickness being within a reasonable range, and temporal cortical thickness variation constraint in neighboring time-points to suppress the artificial variations. The proposed method has been tested on BLSA dataset and ADNI dataset with promising results. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method, in comparison to other state-of-the-art 4D segmentation methods.

Advantages of cortical surface reconstruction using submillimeter 7 T MEMPRAGE.

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Zaretskaya, Natalia; Fischl, Bruce; Reuter, Martin; Renvall, Ville; Polimeni, Jonathan R

2018-01-15

Recent advances in MR technology have enabled increased spatial resolution for routine functional and anatomical imaging, which has created demand for software tools that are able to process these data. The availability of high-resolution data also raises the question of whether higher resolution leads to substantial gains in accuracy of quantitative morphometric neuroimaging procedures, in particular the cortical surface reconstruction and cortical thickness estimation. In this study we adapted the FreeSurfer cortical surface reconstruction pipeline to process structural data at native submillimeter resolution. We then quantified the differences in surface placement between meshes generated from (0.75 mm) 3 isotropic resolution data acquired in 39 volunteers and the same data downsampled to the conventional 1 mm 3 voxel size. We find that when processed at native resolution, cortex is estimated to be thinner in most areas, but thicker around the Cingulate and the Calcarine sulci as well as in the posterior bank of the Central sulcus. Thickness differences are driven by two kinds of effects. First, the gray-white surface is found closer to the white matter, especially in cortical areas with high myelin content, and thus low contrast, such as the Calcarine and the Central sulci, causing local increases in thickness estimates. Second, the gray-CSF surface is placed more interiorly, especially in the deep sulci, contributing to local decreases in thickness estimates. We suggest that both effects are due to reduced partial volume effects at higher spatial resolution. Submillimeter voxel sizes can therefore provide improved accuracy for measuring cortical thickness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cortical thickness and subcortical brain volumes in professional rugby league players

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Magdalena Wojtowicz

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in professional rugby players with an extensive history of concussions compared to control subjects. Method: Participants included 24 active and former professional rugby league players [Age M(SD = 33.3(6.3; Range = 21–44] with an extensive history of concussion and 18 age- and education-matched controls with no history of neurotrauma or participation in contact sports. Participants underwent T1-weighted imaging and completed a neuropsychological battery, including two tests of memory. Whole brain cortical thickness analysis and structural volume analysis was performed using FreeSurfer version 6.0. Results: Professional rugby league players reported greater alcohol consumption (p < .001 and had significantly worse delayed recall of a visually complex design (p = .04. They did not differ from controls on other clinical outcome measures. There were no differences in cortical thickness between the groups. Professional players had smaller whole brain (p = .003, bilateral hippocampi (ps = .03, and left amygdala volumes (p = .01 compared to healthy controls. Within the players group, there were significant associations between greater alcohol use and smaller bilateral hippocampi and left amygdala volumes. There were no associations between structural volumes and history of concussions or memory performance. Conclusions: The literature examining cortical thickness in athletes with a history of multiple concussions is mixed. We did not observe differences in cortical thickness in professional rugby league players compared to controls. However, smaller subcortical volumes were found in players that were, in part, associated with greater alcohol consumption. Keywords: Volumetric MRI, Cortical thickness, Concussion, Brain morphometry, Athletes, Rugby

LOGISMOS-B for primates: primate cortical surface reconstruction and thickness measurement

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Oguz, Ipek; Styner, Martin; Sanchez, Mar; Shi, Yundi; Sonka, Milan

2015-03-01

Cortical thickness and surface area are important morphological measures with implications for many psychiatric and neurological conditions. Automated segmentation and reconstruction of the cortical surface from 3D MRI scans is challenging due to the variable anatomy of the cortex and its highly complex geometry. While many methods exist for this task in the context of the human brain, these methods are typically not readily applicable to the primate brain. We propose an innovative approach based on our recently proposed human cortical reconstruction algorithm, LOGISMOS-B, and the Laplace-based thickness measurement method. Quantitative evaluation of our approach was performed based on a dataset of T1- and T2-weighted MRI scans from 12-month-old macaques where labeling by our anatomical experts was used as independent standard. In this dataset, LOGISMOS-B has an average signed surface error of 0.01 +/- 0.03mm and an unsigned surface error of 0.42 +/- 0.03mm over the whole brain. Excluding the rather problematic temporal pole region further improves unsigned surface distance to 0.34 +/- 0.03mm. This high level of accuracy reached by our algorithm even in this challenging developmental dataset illustrates its robustness and its potential for primate brain studies.

Normal kidney size and renal cortical thickness of the Korean adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Hee Kyung; Hahm, Chang Kok

1974-01-01

1. The kidney size and cortical thickness were measured from intravenous pyelograms of healthy Korean adults of 250 males and 250 females. 2. The measured size and cortical thickness of kidney were following figure (mm). 3. The size of kidney of male is a little larger than female both in vertical length and horizontal width. 4. The renal cortical thickness were not significant in differences between male and female, right and left, in each poles. 5. In the study of distribution of length differences between pairs of kidneys in our series, the length of right kidney is larger in 18.6%, and width in 27.2%. 6. Comparative study is carried out measuring the length of first lumbar vertebral bodies including 4 intervertebral spaces. 7. The site of kidney is larger in the group of greater length of vertebral height. 8. The renal cortical thickness have no significant differences in according to the differences of length of vertebral height, in each poles. 9. Comparing with the western authors, the kidney size of the Korean adult is not smaller than western

Genetic associations between intelligence and cortical thickness emerge at the start of puberty.

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Brouwer, Rachel M; van Soelen, Inge L C; Swagerman, Suzanne C; Schnack, Hugo G; Ehli, Erik A; Kahn, René S; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E; Boomsma, Dorret I

2014-08-01

Cognitive abilities are related to (changes in) brain structure during adolescence and adulthood. Previous studies suggest that associations between cortical thickness and intelligence may be different at different ages. As both intelligence and cortical thickness are heritable traits, the question arises whether the association between cortical thickness development and intelligence is due to genes influencing both traits. We study this association in a longitudinal sample of young twins. Intelligence was assessed by standard IQ tests at age 9 in 224 twins, 190 of whom also underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Three years later at age 12, 177/125 twins returned for a follow-up measurement of intelligence/MRI scanning, respectively. We investigated whether cortical thickness was associated with intelligence and if so, whether this association was driven by genes. At age 9, there were no associations between cortical thickness and intelligence. At age 12, a negative relationship emerged. This association was mainly driven by verbal intelligence, and manifested itself most prominently in the left hemisphere. Cortical thickness and intelligence were explained by the same genes. As a post hoc analysis, we tested whether a specific allele (rs6265; Val66Met in the BDNF gene) contributed to this association. Met carriers showed lower intelligence and a thicker cortex, but only the association between the BDNF genotype and cortical thickness in the left superior parietal gyrus reached significance. In conclusion, it seems that brain areas contributing to (verbal) intellectual performance are specializing under the influence of genes around the onset of puberty. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Longitudinal data on cortical thickness before and after working memory training

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Claudia Metzler-Baddeley

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The data and supplementary information provided in this article relate to our research article “Task complexity and location specific changes of cortical thickness in executive and salience networks after working memory training” (Metzler-Baddeley et al., 2016 [1]. We provide cortical thickness and subcortical volume data derived from parieto-frontal cortical regions and the basal ganglia with the FreeSurfer longitudinal analyses stream (http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu [2] before and after Cogmed working memory training (Cogmed and Cogmed Working Memory Training, 2012 [3]. This article also provides supplementary information to the research article, i.e., within-group comparisons between baseline and outcome cortical thickness and subcortical volume measures, between-group tests of performance changes in cognitive benchmark tests (www.cambridgebrainsciences.com [4], correlation analyses between performance changes in benchmark tests and training-related structural changes, correlation analyses between the time spent training and structural changes, a scatterplot of the relationship between cortical thickness measures derived from the occipital lobe as control region and the chronological order of the MRI sessions to assess potential scanner drift effects and a post-hoc vertex-wise whole brain analysis with FreeSurfer Qdec (https://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/fswiki/Qdec [5].

Longitudinal data on cortical thickness before and after working memory training.

Science.gov (United States)

Metzler-Baddeley, Claudia; Caeyenberghs, Karen; Foley, Sonya; Jones, Derek K

2016-06-01

The data and supplementary information provided in this article relate to our research article "Task complexity and location specific changes of cortical thickness in executive and salience networks after working memory training" (Metzler-Baddeley et al., 2016) [1]. We provide cortical thickness and subcortical volume data derived from parieto-frontal cortical regions and the basal ganglia with the FreeSurfer longitudinal analyses stream (http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu [2]) before and after Cogmed working memory training (Cogmed and Cogmed Working Memory Training, 2012) [3]. This article also provides supplementary information to the research article, i.e., within-group comparisons between baseline and outcome cortical thickness and subcortical volume measures, between-group tests of performance changes in cognitive benchmark tests (www.cambridgebrainsciences.com [4]), correlation analyses between performance changes in benchmark tests and training-related structural changes, correlation analyses between the time spent training and structural changes, a scatterplot of the relationship between cortical thickness measures derived from the occipital lobe as control region and the chronological order of the MRI sessions to assess potential scanner drift effects and a post-hoc vertex-wise whole brain analysis with FreeSurfer Qdec (https://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/fswiki/Qdec [5]).

The relationship of impulsivity and cortical thickness in depressed and non-depressed adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Fradkin, Yuli; Khadka, Sabin; Bessette, Katie L; Stevens, Michael C

2017-10-01

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is recognized to be heterogeneous in terms of brain structure abnormality findings across studies, which might reflect previously unstudied traits that confer variability to neuroimaging measurements. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between different types of trait impulsivity and MDD diagnosis on adolescent brain structure. We predicted that adolescents with depression who were high on trait impulsivity would have more abnormal cortical structure than depressed patients or non-MDD who were low on impulsivity. We recruited 58 subjects, including 29 adolescents (ages 12-19) with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of MDD and a history of suicide attempt and 29 demographically-matched healthy control participants. Our GLM-based analyses sought to describe differences in the linear relationships between cortical thickness and impulsivity trait levels. As hypothesized, we found significant moderation effects in rostral middle frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule cortical thickness for different subscales of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. However, although these brain-behavior relationships differed between diagnostic study groups, they were not simple additive effects as we had predicted. For the middle frontal gyrus, non-MDD participants showed a strong positive association between cortical thickness and BIS-11 Motor scores, while MDD-diagnosed participants showed a negative association. For Non-Planning Impulsiveness, paracentral lobule cortical thickness was observed with greater impulsivity in MDD, but no association was found for controls. In conclusion, the findings confirm that dimensions of impulsivity have discrete neural correlates, and show that relationships between impulsivity and brain structure are expressed differently in adolescents with MDD compared to non-MDD.

Longitudinal course of cortical thickness decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Schuster, Christina; Kasper, Elisabeth; Machts, Judith; Bittner, Daniel; Kaufmann, Jörn; Benecke, Reiner; Teipel, Stefan; Vielhaber, Stefan; Prudlo, Johannes

2014-10-01

To determine longitudinal rates of cortical atrophy in classical Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and ALS variants. Rates of cortical thinning were determined between 2 scans, 3-15 months apart, in 77 ALS patients: 51 classical, 12 upper motor neuron (UMN), and 14 lower motor neuron (LMN) ALS variants. Cortical thickness at the first assessment was compared with 60 healthy controls matched by age and gender. Atrophy rates were compared between patient sub-groups and correlated with disease duration, progression, and severity. Using a cross-sectional analysis, we found a significant difference in cortical thickness between ALS patients and controls in the motor and extra-motor areas (left medial orbito frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal gyrus, bilateral insular cortex, right fusiform gyrus, bilateral precuneus). Using a longitudinal analysis, we found a significant decline of cortical thickness in frontal, temporal, and parietal regions over the course of the study in ALS patients. Effects were independent of the clinical subtype, with exception of the precentral gyrus (p gyrus, the UMN-dominant subjects exhibited intermediate rates of atrophy, and the classical ALS patients exhibited no such change. Atrophy of the precentral gyrus in classical ALS indicates a floor effect at the first assessment, resulting in a lack of further atrophy over time. Structural loss of the precentral gyrus appears to be an early sign of classical ALS. Over time, patterns of cortical thinning in extra-motor areas can be identified in ALS, regardless of the phenotype.

Discrepancy between perceived pain and cortical processing: A voxel-based morphometry and contact heat evoked potential study.

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Kramer, J L K; Jutzeler, C R; Haefeli, J; Curt, A; Freund, P

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if local gray and white matter volume variations between subjects could account for variability in responses to CHEP stimulation. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was used to perform voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of gray and white matter in 30 neurologically healthy subjects. Contact heat stimulation was performed on the dorsum of the right hand at the base of the thumb. Evoked potentials were acquired from a vertex-recording electrode referenced to linked ears. Controlling for age, total intracranial volume, and skull/scalp thickness, CHEP amplitude and pain rating were not significantly correlated between subjects. A VBM region of interest approach demonstrated a significant interaction between pain rating and N2 amplitude in the right insular cortex (ppain rating. This finding suggests that the discrepancy between pain ratings and the amplitude of evoked potentials is not solely related to measurement artifact, but rather attributable, in part, to anatomical differences between subjects. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Obstructive sleep apnea and cortical thickness in females and males.

Science.gov (United States)

Macey, Paul M; Haris, Natasha; Kumar, Rajesh; Thomas, M Albert; Woo, Mary A; Harper, Ronald M

2018-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects approximately 10% of adults, and alters brain gray and white matter. Psychological and physiological symptoms of the disorder are sex-specific, perhaps related to greater injury occurs in female than male patients in white matter. Our objective was to identify influences of OSA separated by sex on cortical gray matter. We assessed cortical thickness in 48 mild-severe OSA patients (mean age±std[range] = 46.5±9.0[30.8-62.7] years; apnea-hypopnea index = 32.6±21.1[6-102] events/hour; 12 female, 36 male; OSA severity: 5 mild, 18 moderate, 25 severe) and 62 controls (mean age = 47.7±8.9[30.9-65.8] years; 22 female, 40 male). All OSA patients were recently-diagnosed via polysomnography, and control subjects screened and a subset assessed with sleep studies. We used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to identify OSA-related cortical thinning, based on a model with condition and sex as independent variables. OSA and OSA-by-sex interaction effects were assessed (Pfrontal lobe in female OSA vs. all other groups. Significant thinning within the pre- and post-central gyri and the superior temporal gyrus, extending into the insula, appeared between the general OSA populations vs. control subjects. No areas showed increased thickness in OSA vs. controls or positive female OSA interaction effects. Reduced cortical thickness likely represents tissue atrophy from long term injury, including death of neurons and supporting glia from repeated intermittent hypoxic exposure in OSA, although disease comordities may also contribute to thinning. Lack of polysomnography in all control subjects means results may be confounded by undiagnosed OSA. The greater cortical injury in cognitive areas of female OSA patients may underlie enhanced symptoms in that group. The thinning associated with OSA in male and females OSA patients may contribute to autonomic dysregulation and impaired upper airway sensori-motor function.

Cortical thickness difference across the central sulcus visualized in the presence of vasogenic edema

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Togao, Osamu [Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan)], E-mail: togao@dr.hosp.kyushu-u.ac.jp; Yoshiura, Takashi; Mihara, Futoshi; Noguchi, Tomoyuki; Hiwatashi, Akio; Yamashita, Koji; Yoshitake, Tadamasa; Honda, Hiroshi [Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan)

2008-05-15

Purpose: To confirm the cortical thickness difference across the central sulcus (CS) visualized in the presence of vasogenic edema on MRI. Materials and methods: T2-weighted images of 70 cerebral hemispheres showing vasogenic edema infiltrating into subcortical white matter around the CS were studied retrospectively. Two neuroradiologists measured the cortical thickness of the anterior and posterior banks of the CS, precentral sulci (PrCS), and postcentral sulci (PoCS). Additionally, we compared the cortical thickness of the anterior and posterior banks of each sulcus visually using a grading scale. Results: On T2-weighted images, the cerebral cortex was highlighted by a high signal-intensity vasogenic edema in the adjacent white matter, and its thickness was readily measurable. The unique cortical thickness difference between the anterior and posterior banks of the CS were confirmed with measurements of 2.67 and 1.48 mm (p < 0.0001). The cortical measurements across other cerebral sulci were 2.04 and 1.95 mm (NS) for the PrCS, and 1.67 and 1.77 mm (NS) for the PoCS. The cortical thickness ratios were 1.86 for the CS, 1.05 for the PrCS, and 0.96 for the PoCS. On visual evaluation, the anterior bank of the CS was thicker than the posterior bank in 93% (65/70). For the PrCS and PoCS, the thickness of the anterior and posterior banks appeared to be equal in over 70% of the patients. Conclusion: A prominent cortical thickness difference across the CS in the presence of vasogenic edema was confirmed. This finding is considered to facilitate the identification of the CS in patients with brain tumors.

Altered cortical thickness and attentional deficits in adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Berner, Laura A; Stefan, Mihaela; Lee, Seonjoo; Wang, Zhishun; Terranova, Kate; Attia, Evelyn; Marsh, Rachel

2018-05-01

Frontostriatal and frontoparietal abnormalities likely contribute to deficits in control and attentional processes in individuals with bulimia nervosa and to the persistence of dysregulated eating across development. This study assessed these processes and cortical thickness in a large sample of adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa compared with healthy controls. We collected anatomical MRI data from adolescent girls and women (ages 12-38 yr) with full or subthreshold bulimia nervosa and age-matched healthy controls who also completed the Conners Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II). Groups were compared on task performance and cortical thickness. Mediation analyses explored associations among cortical thickness, CPT-II variables, bulimia nervosa symptoms and age. We included 60 girls and women with bulimia nervosa and 54 controls in the analyses. Compared with healthy participants, those with bulimia nervosa showed increased impulsivity and inattention on the CPT-II, along with reduced thickness of the right pars triangularis, right superior parietal and left dorsal posterior cingulate cortices. In the bulimia nervosa group, exploratory analyses revealed that binge eating frequency correlated inversely with cortical thickness of frontoparietal and insular regions and that reduced frontoparietal thickness mediated the association between age and increased symptom severity and inattention. Binge eating frequency also mediated the association between age and lower prefrontal cortical thickness. These findings are applicable to only girls and women with bulimia nervosa, and our cross-sectional design precludes understanding of whether cortical thickness alterations precede or result from bulimia nervosa symptoms. Structural abnormalities in the frontoparietal and posterior cingulate regions comprising circuits that support control and attentional processes should be investigated as potential contributors to the maintenance of bulimia nervosa and useful

Cortical thickness difference across the central sulcus visualized in the presence of vasogenic edema

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Togao, Osamu; Yoshiura, Takashi; Mihara, Futoshi; Noguchi, Tomoyuki; Hiwatashi, Akio; Yamashita, Koji; Yoshitake, Tadamasa; Honda, Hiroshi

2008-01-01

Purpose: To confirm the cortical thickness difference across the central sulcus (CS) visualized in the presence of vasogenic edema on MRI. Materials and methods: T2-weighted images of 70 cerebral hemispheres showing vasogenic edema infiltrating into subcortical white matter around the CS were studied retrospectively. Two neuroradiologists measured the cortical thickness of the anterior and posterior banks of the CS, precentral sulci (PrCS), and postcentral sulci (PoCS). Additionally, we compared the cortical thickness of the anterior and posterior banks of each sulcus visually using a grading scale. Results: On T2-weighted images, the cerebral cortex was highlighted by a high signal-intensity vasogenic edema in the adjacent white matter, and its thickness was readily measurable. The unique cortical thickness difference between the anterior and posterior banks of the CS were confirmed with measurements of 2.67 and 1.48 mm (p < 0.0001). The cortical measurements across other cerebral sulci were 2.04 and 1.95 mm (NS) for the PrCS, and 1.67 and 1.77 mm (NS) for the PoCS. The cortical thickness ratios were 1.86 for the CS, 1.05 for the PrCS, and 0.96 for the PoCS. On visual evaluation, the anterior bank of the CS was thicker than the posterior bank in 93% (65/70). For the PrCS and PoCS, the thickness of the anterior and posterior banks appeared to be equal in over 70% of the patients. Conclusion: A prominent cortical thickness difference across the CS in the presence of vasogenic edema was confirmed. This finding is considered to facilitate the identification of the CS in patients with brain tumors

Altered cortical thickness and attentional deficits in adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Berner, Laura A; Stefan, Mihaela; Lee, Seonjoo; Wang, Zhishun; Terranova, Kate; Attia, Evelyn; Marsh, Rachel

2018-01-12

Frontostriatal and frontoparietal abnormalities likely contribute to deficits in control and attentional processes in individuals with bulimia nervosa and to the persistence of dysregulated eating across development. This study assessed these processes and cortical thickness in a large sample of adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa compared with healthy controls. We collected anatomical MRI data from adolescent girls and women (ages 12-38 yr) with full or subthreshold bulimia nervosa and age-matched healthy controls who also completed the Conners Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II). Groups were compared on task performance and cortical thickness. Mediation analyses explored associations among cortical thickness, CPT-II variables, bulimia nervosa symptoms and age. We included 60 girls and women with bulimia nervosa and 54 controls in the analyses. Compared with healthy participants, those with bulimia nervosa showed increased impulsivity and inattention on the CPT-II, along with reduced thickness of the right pars triangularis, right superior parietal and left dorsal posterior cingulate cortices. In the bulimia nervosa group, exploratory analyses revealed that binge eating frequency correlated inversely with cortical thickness of frontoparietal and insular regions and that reduced frontoparietal thickness mediated the association between age and increased symptom severity and inattention. Binge eating frequency also mediated the association between age and lower prefrontal cortical thickness. These findings are applicable to only girls and women with bulimia nervosa, and our cross-sectional design precludes understanding of whether cortical thickness alterations precede or result from bulimia nervosa symptoms. Structural abnormalities in the frontoparietal and posterior cingulate regions comprising circuits that support control and attentional processes should be investigated as potential contributors to the maintenance of bulimia nervosa and useful

Repairing the brain with physical exercise: Cortical thickness and brain volume increases in long-term pediatric brain tumor survivors in response to a structured exercise intervention

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Kamila U. Szulc-Lerch

Full Text Available There is growing evidence that exercise induced experience dependent plasticity may foster structural and functional recovery following brain injury. We examined the efficacy of exercise training for neural and cognitive recovery in long-term pediatric brain tumor survivors treated with radiation.We conducted a controlled clinical trial with crossover of exercise training (vs. no training in a volunteer sample of 28 children treated with cranial radiation for brain tumors (mean age = 11.5 yrs.; mean time since diagnosis = 5.7 yrs. The endpoints were anatomical T1 MRI data and multiple behavioral outcomes presenting a broader analysis of structural MRI data across the entire brain. This included an analysis of changes in cortical thickness and brain volume using automated, user unbiased approaches. A series of general linear mixed effects models evaluating the effects of exercise training on cortical thickness were performed in a voxel and vertex-wise manner, as well as for specific regions of interest. In exploratory analyses, we evaluated the relationship between changes in cortical thickness after exercise with multiple behavioral outcomes, as well as the relation of these measures at baseline.Exercise was associated with increases in cortical thickness within the right pre and postcentral gyri. Other notable areas of increased thickness related to training were present in the left pre and postcentral gyri, left temporal pole, left superior temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal gyrus. Further, we observed that compared to a separate cohort of healthy children, participants displayed multiple areas with a significantly thinner cortex prior to training and fewer differences following training, indicating amelioration of anatomical deficits. Partial least squares analysis (PLS revealed specific patterns of relations between cortical thickness and various behavioral outcomes both after training and at baseline.Overall, our results

Cortical Thickness Changes Associated with Photoparoxysmal Response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanganu, Alexandru; Groppa, Stanislav A; Deuschl, Günther

2014-01-01

Photoparoxysmal response (PPR) is an EEG trait of spike and spike-wave discharges in response to photic stimulation that is closely linked to idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). In our previous studies we showed that PPR is associated with functional alterations in the occipital and frontal co...... in the occipital lobe, frontoparietal regions and temporal lobe, which also show functional changes associated with PPR. Patients with epilepsy present changes in the temporal lobe and supplementary motor area.......-positive-subjects presented a significant decrease of cortical thickness in the temporal cortex in the same group contrast. IGE patients exhibited lower cortical thickness in the temporal lobe bilaterally and in the right paracentral region in comparison to PPR-positive-subjects. Our study demonstrates structural changes......Photoparoxysmal response (PPR) is an EEG trait of spike and spike-wave discharges in response to photic stimulation that is closely linked to idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). In our previous studies we showed that PPR is associated with functional alterations in the occipital and frontal...

Heritability of cortical thickness changes over time in twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hedman, Anna M.; van Haren, Neeltje E M; van Baal, G. Caroline M; Brouwer, Rachel M.; Brans, Rachel G H; Schnack, Hugo G.; Kahn, René S.; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E.

2016-01-01

Background: Cortical thickness and surface area changes have repeatedly been found in schizophrenia. Whether progressive loss in cortical thickness and surface area are mediated by genetic or disease related factors is unknown. Here we investigate to what extent genetic and/or environmental factors

Reduced cortical thickness associated with visceral fat and BMI

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Ralf Veit

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Structural brain imaging studies have shown that obesity is associated with widespread reductions in gray matter (GM volume. Although the body mass index (BMI is an easily accessible anthropometric measure, substantial health problems are more related to specific body fat compartments, like visceral adipose tissue (VAT. We investigated cortical thickness measures in a group of 72 healthy subjects (BMI range 20–35 kg/m2, age range 19–50 years. Multiple regression analyses were performed using VAT and BMI as predictors and age, gender, total surface area and education as confounds. BMI and VAT were independently associated with reductions in cortical thickness in clusters comprising the left lateral occipital area, the left inferior temporal cortex, and the left precentral and inferior parietal area, while the right insula, the left fusiform gyrus and the right inferior temporal area showed a negative correlation with VAT only. In addition, we could show significant reductions in cortical thickness with increasing VAT adjusted for BMI in the left temporal cortex. We were able to detect widespread cortical thinning in a young to middle-aged population related to BMI and VAT; these findings show close resemblance to studies focusing on GM volume differences in diabetic patients. This may point to the influence of VAT related adverse effects, like low-grade inflammation, as a potentially harmful factor on brain integrity already in individuals at risk of developing diabetes, metabolic syndromes and arteriosclerosis.

Attention enhances multi-voxel representation of novel objects in frontal, parietal and visual cortices.

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Woolgar, Alexandra; Williams, Mark A; Rich, Anina N

2015-04-01

Selective attention is fundamental for human activity, but the details of its neural implementation remain elusive. One influential theory, the adaptive coding hypothesis (Duncan, 2001, An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2:820-829), proposes that single neurons in certain frontal and parietal regions dynamically adjust their responses to selectively encode relevant information. This selective representation may in turn support selective processing in more specialized brain regions such as the visual cortices. Here, we use multi-voxel decoding of functional magnetic resonance images to demonstrate selective representation of attended--and not distractor--objects in frontal, parietal, and visual cortices. In addition, we highlight a critical role for task demands in determining which brain regions exhibit selective coding. Strikingly, representation of attended objects in frontoparietal cortex was highest under conditions of high perceptual demand, when stimuli were hard to perceive and coding in early visual cortex was weak. Coding in early visual cortex varied as a function of attention and perceptual demand, while coding in higher visual areas was sensitive to the allocation of attention but robust to changes in perceptual difficulty. Consistent with high-profile reports, peripherally presented objects could also be decoded from activity at the occipital pole, a region which corresponds to the fovea. Our results emphasize the flexibility of frontoparietal and visual systems. They support the hypothesis that attention enhances the multi-voxel representation of information in the brain, and suggest that the engagement of this attentional mechanism depends critically on current task demands. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Altered cortical thickness and attentional deficits in adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa

Science.gov (United States)

Stefan, Mihaela; Lee, Seonjoo; Wang, Zhishun; Terranova, Kate; Attia, Evelyn; Marsh, Rachel

2018-01-01

Background Frontostriatal and frontoparietal abnormalities likely contribute to deficits in control and attentional processes in individuals with bulimia nervosa and to the persistence of dysregulated eating across development. This study assessed these processes and cortical thickness in a large sample of adolescent girls and women with bulimia nervosa compared with healthy controls. Methods We collected anatomical MRI data from adolescent girls and women (ages 12–38 yr) with full or subthreshold bulimia nervosa and age-matched healthy controls who also completed the Conners Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II). Groups were compared on task performance and cortical thickness. Mediation analyses explored associations among cortical thickness, CPT-II variables, bulimia nervosa symptoms and age. Results We included 60 girls and women with bulimia nervosa and 54 controls in the analyses. Compared with healthy participants, those with bulimia nervosa showed increased impulsivity and inattention on the CPT-II, along with reduced thickness of the right pars triangularis, right superior parietal and left dorsal posterior cingulate cortices. In the bulimia nervosa group, exploratory analyses revealed that binge eating frequency correlated inversely with cortical thickness of frontoparietal and insular regions and that reduced frontoparietal thickness mediated the association between age and increased symptom severity and inattention. Binge eating frequency also mediated the association between age and lower prefrontal cortical thickness. Limitations These findings are applicable to only girls and women with bulimia nervosa, and our cross-sectional design precludes understanding of whether cortical thickness alterations precede or result from bulimia nervosa symptoms. Conclusion Structural abnormalities in the frontoparietal and posterior cingulate regions comprising circuits that support control and attentional processes should be investigated as potential

DTI analysis methods : Voxel-based analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Hecke, Wim; Leemans, Alexander; Emsell, Louise

2016-01-01

Voxel-based analysis (VBA) of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data permits the investigation of voxel-wise differences or changes in DTI metrics in every voxel of a brain dataset. It is applied primarily in the exploratory analysis of hypothesized group-level alterations in DTI parameters, as it does

Interactive effects of dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone on cortical thickness during early brain development.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tuong-Vi; McCracken, James T; Ducharme, Simon; Cropp, Brett F; Botteron, Kelly N; Evans, Alan C; Karama, Sherif

2013-06-26

Humans and the great apes are the only species demonstrated to exhibit adrenarche, a key endocrine event associated with prepubertal increases in the adrenal production of androgens, most significantly dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and to a certain degree testosterone. Adrenarche also coincides with the emergence of the prosocial and neurobehavioral skills of middle childhood and may therefore represent a human-specific stage of development. Both DHEA and testosterone have been reported in animal and in vitro studies to enhance neuronal survival and programmed cell death depending on the timing, dose, and hormonal context involved, and to potentially compete for the same signaling pathways. Yet no extant brain-hormone studies have examined the interaction between DHEA- and testosterone-related cortical maturation in humans. Here, we used linear mixed models to examine changes in cortical thickness associated with salivary DHEA and testosterone levels in a longitudinal sample of developmentally healthy children and adolescents 4-22 years old. DHEA levels were associated with increases in cortical thickness of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right temporoparietal junction, right premotor and right entorhinal cortex between the ages of 4-13 years, a period marked by the androgenic changes of adrenarche. There was also an interaction between DHEA and testosterone on cortical thickness of the right cingulate cortex and occipital pole that was most significant in prepubertal subjects. DHEA and testosterone appear to interact and modulate the complex process of cortical maturation during middle childhood, consistent with evidence at the molecular level of fast/nongenomic and slow/genomic or conversion-based mechanisms underlying androgen-related brain development.

SKA2 Methylation is associated with Decreased Prefrontal Cortical Thickness and Greater PTSD Severity among Trauma-Exposed Veterans

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeh, Naomi; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Logue, Mark W.; Wolf, Erika J.; Smith, Alicia K.; Lusk, Joanna; Hayes, Jasmeet P.; Sperbeck, Emily; Milberg, William P.; McGlinchey, Regina E.; Salat, David H.; Carter, Weleetka C.; Stone, Annjanette; Schichman, Steven A.; Humphries, Donald E.; Miller, Mark W.

2015-01-01

Methylation of the SKA2 gene has recently been identified as a promising biomarker of suicide risk. Based on this finding, we examined associations between SKA2 methylation, cortical thickness, and psychiatric phenotypes linked to suicide in trauma-exposed veterans. 200 trauma-exposed white non-Hispanic veterans of the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (91% male) underwent clinical assessment and had blood drawn for genotyping and methylation analysis. 145 participants also had neuroimaging data available. Based on previous research, we examined DNA methylation at the CpG locus cg13989295 as well as DNA methylation adjusted for genotype at the methylation-associated SNP (rs7208505) in relationship to whole-brain cortical thickness, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), and depression symptoms. Whole-brain vertex-wise analyses identified three clusters in prefrontal cortex that were associated with genotype-adjusted SKA2 DNA methylation (methylationadj). Specifically, DNA methylationadj was associated with bilateral reductions of cortical thickness in frontal pole and superior frontal gyrus, and similar effects were found in the right orbitofrontal cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus. PTSD symptom severity was positively correlated with SKA2 DNA methylationadj and negatively correlated with cortical thickness in these regions. Mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of PTSD on cortical thickness via SKA2 methylation status. Results suggest that DNA methylationadj of SKA2 in blood indexes stress-related psychiatric phenotypes and neurobiology, pointing to its potential value as a biomarker of stress exposure and susceptibility. PMID:26324104

Skeletal dosimetry for external exposures to photons based on {mu}CT images of spongiosa: Consideration of voxel resolution, cluster size, and medullary bone surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kramer, R.; Khoury, H. J.; Vieira, J. W.; Brown, K. A. Robson [Departamento de Energia Nuclear, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Professor Luiz Freire 1000, Cidade Universitaria, CEP 50740-540, Recife, Pernambuco (Brazil); Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica de Pernambuco, Avenida Professor Luiz Freire 500, CEP 50740-540, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil and Escola Politecnica, UPE, Rua Benfica 455, CEP 50751-460, Recife, Pernambuco (Brazil); Imaging Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU (United Kingdom)

2009-11-15

Skeletal dosimetry based on {mu}CT images of trabecular bone has recently been introduced to calculate the red bone marrow (RBM) and the bone surface cell (BSC) equivalent doses in human phantoms for external exposure to photons. In order to use the {mu}CT images for skeletal dosimetry, spongiosa voxels in the skeletons were replaced at run time by so-called micromatrices, which have exactly the size of a spongiosa voxel and contain segmented trabecular bone and marrow microvoxels. A cluster (=parallelepiped) of 2x2x2=8 micromatrices was used systematically and periodically throughout the spongiosa volume during the radiation transport calculation. Systematic means that when a particle leaves a spongiosa voxel to enter into a neighboring spongiosa voxel, then the next micromatrix in the cluster will be used. Periodical means that if the particle travels through more than two spongiosa voxels in a row, then the cluster will be repeated. Based on the bone samples available at the time, clusters of up to 3x3x3=27 micromatrices were studied. While for a given trabecular bone volume fraction the whole-body RBM equivalent dose showed converging results for cluster sizes between 8 and 27 micromatrices, this was not the case for the BSC equivalent dose. The BSC equivalent dose seemed to be very sensitive to the number, form, and thickness of the trabeculae. In addition, the cluster size and/or the microvoxel resolution were considered to be possible causes for the differences observed. In order to resolve this problem, this study used a bone sample large enough to extract clusters containing up to 8x8x8=512 micromatrices and which was scanned with two different voxel resolutions. Taking into account a recent proposal, this investigation also calculated the BSC equivalent dose on medullary surfaces of cortical bone in the arm and leg bones. The results showed (1) that different voxel resolutions have no effect on the RBM equivalent dose but do influence the BSC equivalent

Radiation-induced abnormal cortical thickness in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy

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Jiabao Lin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional MRI studies showed that radiation-induced brain necrosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC in years after radiotherapy (RT could involve brain gray matter (GM and impair brain function. However, it is still unclear the radiation-induced brain morphological changes in NPC patients with normal-appearing GM in the early period after RT. In this study, we acquired high-resolution brain structural MRI data from three groups of patients, 22 before radiotherapy (pre-RT NPC patients with newly diagnosed but not yet medically treated, 22 NPC patients in the early-delayed stage after radiotherapy (post-RT-ED, and 20 NPC patients in the late-delayed stage after radiotherapy (post-RT-LD, and then analyzed the radiation-induced cortical thickness alteration in NPC patients after RT. Using a vertex-wise surface-based morphometry (SBM approach, we detected significantly decreased cortical thickness in the precentral gyrus (PreCG in the post-RT-ED group compared to the pre-RT group. And the post-RT-LD group showed significantly increased cortical thickness in widespread brain regions, including the bilateral inferior parietal, left isthmus of the cingulate, left bank of the superior temporal sulcus and left lateral occipital regions, compared to the pre-RT group, and in the bilateral PreCG compared to the post-RT-ED group. Similar analysis with ROI-wise SBM method also found the consistent results. These results indicated that radiation-induced brain injury mainly occurred in the post-RT-LD group and the cortical thickness alterations after RT were dynamic in different periods. Our findings may reflect the pathogenesis of radiation-induced brain injury in NPC patients with normal-appearing GM and an early intervention is necessary for protecting GM during RT.

Adolescent cortical thickness pre- and post marijuana and alcohol initiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobus, Joanna; Castro, Norma; Squeglia, Lindsay M; Meloy, M J; Brumback, Ty; Huestis, Marilyn A; Tapert, Susan F

Cortical thickness abnormalities have been identified in youth using both alcohol and marijuana. However, limited studies have followed individuals pre- and post initiation of alcohol and marijuana use to help identify to what extent discrepancies in structural brain integrity are pre-existing or substance-related. Adolescents (N=69) were followed from ages 13 (pre-initiation of substance use, baseline) to ages 19 (post-initiation, follow-up). Three subgroups were identified, participants that initiated alcohol use (ALC, n=23, >20 alcohol use episodes), those that initiated both alcohol and marijuana use (ALC+MJ, n=23, >50 marijuana use episodes) and individuals that did not initiate either substance regularly by follow-up (CON, n=23, marijuana use episodes). All adolescents underwent neurocognitive testing, neuroimaging, and substance use and mental health interviews. Significant group by time interactions and main effects on cortical thickness estimates were identified for 18 cortical regions spanning the left and right hemisphere (pseffect, in cortical thickness by follow-up for individuals who have not initiated regular substance use or alcohol use only by age 19; modest between-group differences were identified at baseline in several cortical regions (ALC and CON>ALC+MJ). Minimal neurocognitive differences were observed in this sample. Findings suggest pre-existing neural differences prior to marijuana use may contribute to initiation of use and observed neural outcomes. Marijuana use may also interfere with thinning trajectories that contribute to morphological differences in young adulthood that are often observed in cross-sectional studies of heavy marijuana users. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patterns of Neuropsychological Profile and Cortical Thinning in Parkinson's Disease with Punding.

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Han Soo Yoo

Full Text Available Punding, one of dopamine replacement treatment related complications, refers to aimless and stereotyped behaviors. To identify possible neural correlates of punding behavior in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD, we investigated the patterns of cognitive profiles and cortical thinning.Of the 186 subjects with PD screened during the study period, we prospectively enrolled 10 PD patients with punding and 43 without punding on the basis of a structured interview. We performed comprehensive neuropsychological tests and voxel-based and regions-of-interest (ROIs-based cortical thickness analysis between PD patients with and without punding.The prevalence of punding in patients with PD was 5.4%. Punding behaviors were closely related to previous occupations or hobbies and showed a temporal relationship to changes of levodopa-equivalent dose (LED. Significant predisposing factors were a long duration of PD and intake of medications of PD, high total daily LED, dyskinesia, and impulse control disorder. Punding severity was correlated with LED (p = 0.029. The neurocognitive assessment revealed that PD patients with punding showed more severe cognitive deficits in the color Stroop task than did those without punding (p = 0.022. Voxel-based analysis showed that PD-punders had significant cortical thinning in the dorsolateral prefrontal area relative to controls. Additionally, ROI-based analysis revealed that cortical thinning in PD-punders relative to PD-nonpunders was localized in the prefrontal cortices, extending into orbitofrontal area.We demonstrated that PD patients with punding performed poorly on cognitive tasks in frontal executive functions and showed severe cortical thinning in the dorsolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal areas. These findings suggest that prefrontal modulation may be an essential component in the development of punding behavior in patients with PD.

Altered brain structural networks in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children revealed by cortical thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tian; Chen, Yanni; Li, Chenxi; Li, Youjun; Wang, Jue

2017-07-04

This study investigated the cortical thickness and topological features of human brain anatomical networks related to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Data were collected from 40 attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children and 40 normal control children. Interregional correlation matrices were established by calculating the correlations of cortical thickness between all pairs of cortical regions (68 regions) of the whole brain. Further thresholds were applied to create binary matrices to construct a series of undirected and unweighted graphs, and global, local, and nodal efficiencies were computed as a function of the network cost. These experimental results revealed abnormal cortical thickness and correlations in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and showed that the brain structural networks of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder subjects had inefficient small-world topological features. Furthermore, their topological properties were altered abnormally. In particular, decreased global efficiency combined with increased local efficiency in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children led to a disorder-related shift of the network topological structure toward regular networks. In addition, nodal efficiency, cortical thickness, and correlation analyses revealed that several brain regions were altered in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients. These findings are in accordance with a hypothesis of dysfunctional integration and segregation of the brain in patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and provide further evidence of brain dysfunction in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients by observing cortical thickness on magnetic resonance imaging.

Primary somatosensory/motor cortical thickness distinguishes paresthesia-dominant from pain-dominant carpal tunnel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Maeda, Yumi; Kettner, Norman; Kim, Jieun; Kim, Hyungjun; Cina, Stephen; Malatesta, Cristina; Gerber, Jessica; McManus, Claire; Libby, Alexandra; Mezzacappa, Pia; Mawla, Ishtiaq; Morse, Leslie R; Audette, Joseph; Napadow, Vitaly

2016-05-01

Paresthesia-dominant and pain-dominant subgroups have been noted in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a peripheral neuropathic disorder characterized by altered primary somatosensory/motor (S1/M1) physiology. We aimed to investigate whether brain morphometry dissociates these subgroups. Subjects with CTS were evaluated with nerve conduction studies, whereas symptom severity ratings were used to allocate subjects into paresthesia-dominant (CTS-paresthesia), pain-dominant (CTS-pain), and pain/paresthesia nondominant (not included in further analysis) subgroups. Structural brain magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired at 3T using a multiecho MPRAGE T1-weighted pulse sequence, and gray matter cortical thickness was calculated across the entire brain using validated, automated methods. CTS-paresthesia subjects demonstrated reduced median sensory nerve conduction velocity (P = 0.05) compared with CTS-pain subjects. In addition, cortical thickness in precentral and postcentral gyri (S1/M1 hand area) contralateral to the more affected hand was significantly reduced in CTS-paresthesia subgroup compared with CTS-pain subgroup. Moreover, in CTS-paresthesia subjects, precentral cortical thickness was negatively correlated with paresthesia severity (r(34) = -0.40, P = 0.016) and positively correlated with median nerve sensory velocity (r(36) = 0.51, P = 0.001), but not with pain severity. Conversely, in CTS-pain subjects, contralesional S1 (r(9) = 0.62, P = 0.042) and M1 (r(9) = 0.61, P = 0.046) cortical thickness were correlated with pain severity, but not median nerve velocity or paresthesia severity. This double dissociation in somatotopically specific S1/M1 areas suggests a neuroanatomical substrate for symptom-based CTS subgroups. Such fine-grained subgrouping of CTS may lead to improved personalized therapeutic approaches, based on superior characterization of the linkage between peripheral and central neuroplasticity.

The relationship between age and the mandibular cortical bone thickness by using panoramic radiograph

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Kim, Yun Suk; Kim, Kyoung A; Koh, Kwang Joon

2010-01-01

This study was to determine the relationship between age and the mandibular cortical bone thickness on panoramic radiograph. Panoramic radiographs of 360 patients (180 men and 180 women) over 20 years old, who visited the Chonbuk National University Hospital from January to December in 2007, were assessed. The subjects were divided into 5 age groups. Five indices such as cortical bone thickness at the gonion (GI), antegonion (AI), and below the mental foramen (MI), the panoramic mandibular index (PMI), the mandibular cortical index (MCI) were measured on panoramic radiographs. All five indices including GI, AI, MI, PMI, and MCI showed significant differences between third decade and over 8 decade groups (p,0.05). PMI, MI and GI showed significant differences with gender statistically (p<0.05). The mandibular cortical bone thickness showed negative correlation with age, and the value of the thickness (PMI, MI, and GI) was greater in men than in women.

MRI study on the cortical thickness of occipital lobe in children with ametropic amblyopia

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Du Hanjian; Wang Jian; Li Chuan; Zhang Jiuquan; Chen Li; Liu Bo

2008-01-01

Objective: To study cortical thickness of the occipital lobe in children with ametropic amblyopia by using MRI technique and the FreeSurfer software. Methods: Nine children with ametropic amblyopia were included in the amblyopic group and 8 normal children were included in the control group. All the children underwent brain MRI on the Siemens Avanto 1.5 T scanner. For the cortical thickness analysis, 3-demensional MPRAGE images were collected and analyzed with FreeSurfer software package. Cortical thickness of related regions in the occipital lobe (including the cuneus, later occipital, lingual, and pericalcarine gyri) were recorded and compared. Results: The cortical thickness of the lingual, pericalcarine gyri on the left hemisphere and the cuneus, lateraloccipital, lingual gyri on the right hemisphere in amblyopic group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Morphological changes existed in the occipital lobe in ametropic amblyopic children. The analysis technique with the FreeSurfer package has a potential value in the clinical application. (authors)

Reduced cortical thickness in veterans exposed to early life trauma.

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Corbo, Vincent; Salat, David H; Amick, Melissa M; Leritz, Elizabeth C; Milberg, William P; McGlinchey, Regina E

2014-08-30

Studies have shown that early life trauma may influence neural development and increase the risk of developing psychological disorders in adulthood. We used magnetic resonance imaging to examine the impact of early life trauma on the relationship between current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and cortical thickness/subcortical volumes in a sample of deployed personnel from Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom. A group of 108 service members enrolled in the Translational Research Center for Traumatic Brain Injury and Stress Disorders (TRACTS) were divided into those with interpersonal early life trauma (EL-Trauma+) and Control (without interpersonal early life trauma) groups based on the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire. PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. Cortical thickness and subcortical volumes were analyzed using the FreeSurfer image analysis package. Thickness of the paracentral and posterior cingulate regions was positively associated with PTSD severity in the EL-Trauma+ group and negatively in the Control group. In the EL-Trauma+ group, both the right amygdala and the left hippocampus were positively associated with PTSD severity. This study illustrates a possible influence of early life trauma on the vulnerability of specific brain regions to stress. Changes in neural morphometry may provide information about the emergence and maintenance of symptoms in individuals with PTSD. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Repairing the brain with physical exercise: Cortical thickness and brain volume increases in long-term pediatric brain tumor survivors in response to a structured exercise intervention.

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Szulc-Lerch, Kamila U; Timmons, Brian W; Bouffet, Eric; Laughlin, Suzanne; de Medeiros, Cynthia B; Skocic, Jovanka; Lerch, Jason P; Mabbott, Donald J

2018-01-01

There is growing evidence that exercise induced experience dependent plasticity may foster structural and functional recovery following brain injury. We examined the efficacy of exercise training for neural and cognitive recovery in long-term pediatric brain tumor survivors treated with radiation. We conducted a controlled clinical trial with crossover of exercise training (vs. no training) in a volunteer sample of 28 children treated with cranial radiation for brain tumors (mean age = 11.5 yrs.; mean time since diagnosis = 5.7 yrs). The endpoints were anatomical T1 MRI data and multiple behavioral outcomes presenting a broader analysis of structural MRI data across the entire brain. This included an analysis of changes in cortical thickness and brain volume using automated, user unbiased approaches. A series of general linear mixed effects models evaluating the effects of exercise training on cortical thickness were performed in a voxel and vertex-wise manner, as well as for specific regions of interest. In exploratory analyses, we evaluated the relationship between changes in cortical thickness after exercise with multiple behavioral outcomes, as well as the relation of these measures at baseline. Exercise was associated with increases in cortical thickness within the right pre and postcentral gyri. Other notable areas of increased thickness related to training were present in the left pre and postcentral gyri, left temporal pole, left superior temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal gyrus. Further, we observed that compared to a separate cohort of healthy children, participants displayed multiple areas with a significantly thinner cortex prior to training and fewer differences following training, indicating amelioration of anatomical deficits. Partial least squares analysis (PLS) revealed specific patterns of relations between cortical thickness and various behavioral outcomes both after training and at baseline. Overall, our results indicate that

Alterations in Cortical Thickness and White Matter Integrity in Mild-to-Moderate Communicating Hydrocephalic School-Aged Children Measured by Whole-Brain Cortical Thickness Mapping and DTI

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Siyu Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Follow-up observation is required for mild-to-moderate hydrocephalic patients because of the potential damage to brain. However, effects of mild-to-moderate hydrocephalus on gray and white matter remain unclear in vivo. Using structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI, current study compared the cortical thickness and white matter integrity between children with mild-to-moderate communicating hydrocephalus and healthy controls. The relationships between cortical changes and intelligence quota were also examined in patients. We found that cortical thickness in the left middle temporal and left rostral middle frontal gyrus was significantly lower in the hydrocephalus group compared with that of controls. Fractional anisotropy in the right corpus callosum body was significantly lower in the hydrocephalus group compared with that of controls. In addition, there was no association of cortical thinning or white matter fractional anisotropy with intelligence quota in either group. Thus, our findings provide clues to that mild-to-moderate hydrocephalus could lead to structural brain deficits especially in the middle temporal and middle frontal gyrus prior to the behavior changes.

Influence of mesh density, cortical thickness and material properties on human rib fracture prediction.

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Li, Zuoping; Kindig, Matthew W; Subit, Damien; Kent, Richard W

2010-11-01

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the sensitivity of the structural responses and bone fractures of the ribs to mesh density, cortical thickness, and material properties so as to provide guidelines for the development of finite element (FE) thorax models used in impact biomechanics. Subject-specific FE models of the second, fourth, sixth and tenth ribs were developed to reproduce dynamic failure experiments. Sensitivity studies were then conducted to quantify the effects of variations in mesh density, cortical thickness, and material parameters on the model-predicted reaction force-displacement relationship, cortical strains, and bone fracture locations for all four ribs. Overall, it was demonstrated that rib FE models consisting of 2000-3000 trabecular hexahedral elements (weighted element length 2-3mm) and associated quadrilateral cortical shell elements with variable thickness more closely predicted the rib structural responses and bone fracture force-failure displacement relationships observed in the experiments (except the fracture locations), compared to models with constant cortical thickness. Further increases in mesh density increased computational cost but did not markedly improve model predictions. A ±30% change in the major material parameters of cortical bone lead to a -16.7 to 33.3% change in fracture displacement and -22.5 to +19.1% change in the fracture force. The results in this study suggest that human rib structural responses can be modeled in an accurate and computationally efficient way using (a) a coarse mesh of 2000-3000 solid elements, (b) cortical shells elements with variable thickness distribution and (c) a rate-dependent elastic-plastic material model. Copyright © 2010 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of cortical thickness abnormalities in lithium-free adults with bipolar type I disorder using cortical pattern matching

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Foland-Ross, Lara C.; Thompson, Paul M.; Sugar, Catherine A.; Madsen, Sarah K.; Shen, Jim K.; Penfold, Conor; Ahlf, Kyle; Rasser, Paul E.; Fischer, Jeffrey; Yang, Yilan; Townsend, Jennifer; Bookheimer, Susan Y.; Altshuler, Lori L.

2013-01-01

Objective Several lines of evidence implicate gray matter abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex in patients with bipolar disorder. Findings however, have been largely inconsistent across studies. Differences in patients’ medication status or mood state, or the application of traditional volumetric methods that are insensitive to subtle neuroanatomic differences may have contributed to these inconsistent findings. Given this, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in conjunction with cortical pattern matching methods to assess cortical thickness abnormalities in euthymic bipolar subjects who were not treated with lithium. Method Sixty-five subjects, including 34 lithium-free euthymic subjects with bipolar (type I) disorder and 31 healthy subjects were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Data were processed to measure cortical gray matter thickness. Cortical pattern matching methods associated homologous brain regions across subjects. Spatially normalized thickness maps were analyzed to assess illness effects and associations with clinical variables. Results Relative to healthy subjects, euthymic bipolar I subjects had significantly thinner gray matter in bilateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Areas 11, 10, 8 and 44) and left anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann Areas 24/32). Additionally, thinning in these regions was more pronounced in patients with a history of psychosis. No areas of thicker cortex were detected in bipolar subjects versus healthy subjects. Conclusions Using a technique that is highly sensitive to subtle neuroanatomic differences, significant regional cortical thinning was found in euthymic subjects with bipolar disorder. Clinical implications are discussed. PMID:21285139

Cortical thickness, surface area and volume measures in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy.

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Amanda Worker

Full Text Available Parkinson's disease (PD, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP are neurodegenerative diseases that can be difficult to distinguish clinically. The objective of the current study was to use surface-based analysis techniques to assess cortical thickness, surface area and grey matter volume to identify unique morphological patterns of cortical atrophy in PD, MSA and PSP and to relate these patterns of change to disease duration and clinical features.High resolution 3D T1-weighted MRI volumes were acquired from 14 PD patients, 18 MSA, 14 PSP and 19 healthy control participants. Cortical thickness, surface area and volume analyses were carried out using the automated surface-based analysis package FreeSurfer (version 5.1.0. Measures of disease severity and duration were assessed for correlation with cortical morphometric changes in each clinical group.Results show that in PSP, widespread cortical thinning and volume loss occurs within the frontal lobe, particularly the superior frontal gyrus. In addition, PSP patients also displayed increased surface area in the pericalcarine. In comparison, PD and MSA did not display significant changes in cortical morphology.These results demonstrate that patients with clinically established PSP exhibit distinct patterns of cortical atrophy, particularly affecting the frontal lobe. These results could be used in the future to develop a useful clinical application of MRI to distinguish PSP patients from PD and MSA patients.

Entorhinal Cortex: Antemortem Cortical Thickness and Postmortem Neurofibrillary Tangles and Amyloid Pathology.

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Thaker, A A; Weinberg, B D; Dillon, W P; Hess, C P; Cabral, H J; Fleischman, D A; Leurgans, S E; Bennett, D A; Hyman, B T; Albert, M S; Killiany, R J; Fischl, B; Dale, A M; Desikan, R S

2017-05-01

The entorhinal cortex, a critical gateway between the neocortex and hippocampus, is one of the earliest regions affected by Alzheimer disease-associated neurofibrillary tangle pathology. Although our prior work has automatically delineated an MR imaging-based measure of the entorhinal cortex, whether antemortem entorhinal cortex thickness is associated with postmortem tangle burden within the entorhinal cortex is still unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between antemortem MRI measures of entorhinal cortex thickness and postmortem neuropathological measures. We evaluated 50 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project with antemortem structural T1-weighted MR imaging and postmortem neuropathologic assessments. Here, we focused on thickness within the entorhinal cortex as anatomically defined by our previously developed MR imaging parcellation system (Desikan-Killiany Atlas in FreeSurfer). Using linear regression, we evaluated the association between entorhinal cortex thickness and tangles and amyloid-β load within the entorhinal cortex and medial temporal and neocortical regions. We found a significant relationship between antemortem entorhinal cortex thickness and entorhinal cortex ( P = .006) and medial temporal lobe tangles ( P = .002); we found no relationship between entorhinal cortex thickness and entorhinal cortex ( P = .09) and medial temporal lobe amyloid-β ( P = .09). We also found a significant association between entorhinal cortex thickness and cortical tangles ( P = .003) and amyloid-β ( P = .01). We found no relationship between parahippocampal gyrus thickness and entorhinal cortex ( P = .31) and medial temporal lobe tangles ( P = .051). Our findings indicate that entorhinal cortex-associated in vivo cortical thinning may represent a marker of postmortem medial temporal and neocortical Alzheimer disease pathology. © 2017 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Longitudinal development of cortical thickness, folding, and fiber density networks in the first 2 years of life.

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Nie, Jingxin; Li, Gang; Wang, Li; Shi, Feng; Lin, Weili; Gilmore, John H; Shen, Dinggang

2014-08-01

Quantitatively characterizing the development of cortical anatomical networks during the early stage of life plays an important role in revealing the relationship between cortical structural connection and high-level functional development. The development of correlation networks of cortical-thickness, cortical folding, and fiber-density is systematically analyzed in this article to study the relationship between different anatomical properties during the first 2 years of life. Specifically, longitudinal MR images of 73 healthy subjects from birth to 2 year old are used. For each subject at each time point, its measures of cortical thickness, cortical folding, and fiber density are projected to its cortical surface that has been partitioned into 78 cortical regions. Then, the correlation matrices for cortical thickness, cortical folding, and fiber density at each time point can be constructed, respectively, by computing the inter-regional Pearson correlation coefficient (of any pair of ROIs) across all 73 subjects. Finally, the presence/absence pattern (i.e., binary pattern) of the connection network is constructed from each inter-regional correlation matrix, and its statistical and anatomical properties are adopted to analyze the longitudinal development of anatomical networks. The results show that the development of anatomical network could be characterized differently by using different anatomical properties (i.e., using cortical thickness, cortical folding, or fiber density). Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The impact of occipital lobe cortical thickness on cognitive task performance: An investigation in Huntington's Disease.

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Johnson, Eileanoir B; Rees, Elin M; Labuschagne, Izelle; Durr, Alexandra; Leavitt, Blair R; Roos, Raymund A C; Reilmann, Ralf; Johnson, Hans; Hobbs, Nicola Z; Langbehn, Douglas R; Stout, Julie C; Tabrizi, Sarah J; Scahill, Rachael I

2015-12-01

The occipital lobe is an important visual processing region of the brain. Following consistent findings of early neural changes in the occipital lobe in Huntington's Disease (HD), we examined cortical thickness across four occipital regions in premanifest (preHD) and early HD groups compared with controls. Associations between cortical thickness in gene positive individuals and performance on six cognitive tasks, each with a visual component, were examined. In addition, the association between cortical thickness in gene positive participants and one non-visual motor task was also examined for comparison. Cortical thickness was determined using FreeSurfer on T1-weighted 3T MR datasets from controls (N=97), preHD (N=109) and HD (N=69) from the TRACK-HD study. Regression models were fitted to assess between-group differences in cortical thickness, and relationships between performance on the cognitive tasks, the motor task and occipital thickness were examined in a subset of gene-positive participants (N=141). Thickness of the occipital cortex in preHD and early HD participants was reduced compared with controls. Regionally-specific associations between reduced cortical thickness and poorer performance were found for five of the six cognitive tasks, with the strongest associations in lateral occipital and lingual regions. No associations were found with the cuneus. The non-visual motor task was not associated with thickness of any region. The heterogeneous pattern of associations found in the present study suggests that occipital thickness negatively impacts cognition, but only in regions that are linked to relatively advanced visual processing (e.g., lateral occipital, lingual regions), rather than in basic visual processing regions such as the cuneus. Our results show, for the first time, the functional implications of occipital atrophy highlighted in recent studies in HD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Voxel-by-voxel analysis of ECD-brain SPECT can separate penumbra from irreversibly damaged tissue at the acute phase of stroke

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Darcourt, J.; Migneco, O.; David, O.; Bussiere, F.; Mahagne, M.H.; Dunac, A.; Baron, J.C.

2002-01-01

Aim. At the acute phase of ischemic stroke, the target of treatment is still salvageable hypoperfused cerebral tissue; so called penumbra. We tested the possibility of separating on early ECD brain SPECT penumbral voxels (P) from irreversibly damaged damaged tissue (IDT). We used ECD which is not only a perfusion tracer but also a metabolic marker. Materials and methods. We prospectively studied 18 patients who underwent ECD-SPECT within the 12 hours following a first-ever acute middle cerebral artery stroke. Neurological evaluation was performed using the Orgogozo's scale at admission and 3 months later in order to calculate and evolution index (IE%) (Martinez-Vila et al.). SPECT data were obtained using a triple head camera equipped with fan beam collimators one hour after injection of 1000 MBq of 99mTc-ECD. On reconstructed images gray matter voxels were automatically segmented. Contralateral healthy hemisphere was used as reference leading to the identification of 3 cortical voxel types: normal (N-SPECT) above 80%; penumbra (P-SPECT) between 80% and 40% and IDT (IDT-SPECT) below 40%. 10 patients also underwent a T2 weighted 3D MRI study at 3 months. Cortical voxels with hypersignal served as reference for IDT (IDT-MRI) the others were considered normal (N-MRI). SPECT and MRI data were co-registered. Therefore each voxel belonged to one of 6 categories (3 SPECT x 2 MRI). Results. (1) The SPECT thresholds were validated on the MRI subgroup. 99% of the N-SPECT voxels were normal on late MRI. 84% of IDT-SPECT voxels corresponded to IDT-MRI. 89% of P-SPECT voxels were normal on late MRI and 11% corresponded to IDT on late MRI. Other categories of voxels (N-SPECT IDT-MRI and IDT-SPECT N-MRI) represented less than 5%. (2) Percentages of each voxel SPECT type was correlated with the EI% on the entire population (Spearman test). P-SPECT extent correlated with EI% improvement (p<0.001) and IDT-SPECT with EI% worsening (p<0.001). Conclusion. Analysis of ECD cortical

Comparative cortical bone thickness between the long bones of humans and five common non-human mammal taxa.

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Croker, Sarah L; Reed, Warren; Donlon, Denise

2016-03-01

The task of identifying fragments of long bone shafts as human or non-human is difficult but necessary, for both forensic and archaeological cases, and a fast simple method is particularly useful. Previous literature suggests there may be differences in the thickness of the cortical bone between these two groups, but this has not been tested thoroughly. The aim of this study was not only to test this suggestion, but also to provide data that could be of practical assistance for future comparisons. The major limb bones (humerus, radius, femur and tibia) of 50 Caucasoid adult skeletons of known age and sex were radiographed, along with corresponding skeletal elements from sheep, pigs, cattle, large dogs and kangaroos. Measurements were taken from the radiographs at five points along the bone shaft, of shaft diameter, cortical bone thickness, and a cortical thickness index (sum of cortices divided by shaft diameter) in both anteroposterior and mediolateral orientations. Each variable for actual cortical bone thickness as well as cortical thickness indices were compared between the human group (split by sex) and each of the non-human groups in turn, using Student's t-tests. Results showed that while significant differences did exist between the human groups and many of the non-human groups, these were not all in the same direction. That is, some variables in the human groups were significantly greater than, and others were significantly less than, the corresponding variable in the non-human groups, depending on the particular non-human group, sex of the human group, or variable under comparison. This was the case for measurements of both actual cortical bone thickness and cortical thickness index. Therefore, for bone shaft fragments for which the skeletal element is unknown, the overlap in cortical bone thickness between different areas of different bones is too great to allow identification using this method alone. However, by providing extensive cortical bone

Cortical thickness development of human primary visual cortex related to the age of blindness onset.

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Li, Qiaojun; Song, Ming; Xu, Jiayuan; Qin, Wen; Yu, Chunshui; Jiang, Tianzi

2017-08-01

Blindness primarily induces structural alteration in the primary visual cortex (V1). Some studies have found that the early blind subjects had a thicker V1 compared to sighted controls, whereas late blind subjects showed no significant differences in the V1. This implies that the age of blindness onset may exert significant effects on the development of cortical thickness of the V1. However, no previous research used a trajectory of the age of blindness onset-related changes to investigate these effects. Here we explored this issue by mapping the cortical thickness trajectory of the V1 against the age of blindness onset using data from 99 blind individuals whose age of blindness onset ranged from birth to 34 years. We found that the cortical thickness of the V1 could be fitted well with a quadratic curve in both the left (F = 11.59, P = 3 × 10 -5 ) and right hemispheres (F = 6.54, P = 2 × 10 -3 ). Specifically, the cortical thickness of the V1 thinned rapidly during childhood and adolescence and did not change significantly thereafter. This trend was not observed in the primary auditory cortex (A1), primary motor cortex (M1), or primary somatosensory cortex (S1). These results provide evidence that an onset of blindness before adulthood significantly affects the cortical thickness of the V1 and suggest a critical period for cortical development of the human V1.

Voxel-Based LIDAR Analysis and Applications

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Hagstrom, Shea T.

One of the greatest recent changes in the field of remote sensing is the addition of high-quality Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) instruments. In particular, the past few decades have been greatly beneficial to these systems because of increases in data collection speed and accuracy, as well as a reduction in the costs of components. These improvements allow modern airborne instruments to resolve sub-meter details, making them ideal for a wide variety of applications. Because LIDAR uses active illumination to capture 3D information, its output is fundamentally different from other modalities. Despite this difference, LIDAR datasets are often processed using methods appropriate for 2D images and that do not take advantage of its primary virtue of 3-dimensional data. It is this problem we explore by using volumetric voxel modeling. Voxel-based analysis has been used in many applications, especially medical imaging, but rarely in traditional remote sensing. In part this is because the memory requirements are substantial when handling large areas, but with modern computing and storage this is no longer a significant impediment. Our reason for using voxels to model scenes from LIDAR data is that there are several advantages over standard triangle-based models, including better handling of overlapping surfaces and complex shapes. We show how incorporating system position information from early in the LIDAR point cloud generation process allows radiometrically-correct transmission and other novel voxel properties to be recovered. This voxelization technique is validated on simulated data using the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) software, a first-principles based ray-tracer developed at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Voxel-based modeling of LIDAR can be useful on its own, but we believe its primary advantage is when applied to problems where simpler surface-based 3D models conflict with the requirement of realistic geometry. To

Superior temporal gyrus thickness correlates with cognitive performance in multiple sclerosis.

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Achiron, Asaf; Chapman, Joab; Tal, Sigal; Bercovich, Eran; Gil, Hararai; Achiron, Anat

2013-07-01

Decreased cortical thickness that signifies gray matter pathology and its impact on cognitive performance is a research field with growing interest in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and needs to be further elucidated. Using high-field 3.0 T MRI, three-dimensional T1-FSPGR (voxel size 1 × 1 × 1 mm) cortical thickness was measured in 82 regions in the left hemisphere (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) in 20 RRMS patients with low disease activity and in 20 age-matched healthy subjects that in parallel underwent comprehensive cognitive evaluation. The correlation between local cortical atrophy and cognitive performance was examined. We identified seven regions with cortical tissue loss that differed between RRMS and age-matched healthy controls. These regions were mainly located in the frontal and temporal lobes, specifically within the gyrus rectus, inferior frontal sulcus, orbital gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus, with preferential left asymmetry. Increased cortical thickness was identified in two visual sensory regions, the LH inferior occipital gyrus, and the RH cuneus, implicating adaptive plasticity. Correlation analysis demonstrated that only the LH superior temporal gyrus thickness was associated with cognitive performance and its thickness correlated with motor skills (r = 0.65, p = 0.003), attention (r = 0.45, p = 0.042), and information processing speed (r = 0.50, p = 0.025). Our findings show that restricted cortical thinning occurs in RRMS patients with mild disease and that LH superior temporal gyrus atrophy is associated with cognitive dysfunction.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor promoter methylation and cortical thickness in recurrent major depressive disorder.

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Na, Kyoung-Sae; Won, Eunsoo; Kang, June; Chang, Hun Soo; Yoon, Ho-Kyoung; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Yong-Ku; Lee, Min-Soo; Joe, Sook-Haeng; Kim, Hyun; Ham, Byung-Joo

2016-02-15

Recent studies have reported that methylation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene promoter is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to investigate the association between cortical thickness and methylation of BDNF promoters as well as serum BDNF levels in MDD. The participants consisted of 65 patients with recurrent MDD and 65 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Methylation of BDNF promoters and cortical thickness were compared between the groups. The right medial orbitofrontal, right lingual, right lateral occipital, left lateral orbitofrontal, left pars triangularis, and left lingual cortices were thinner in patients with MDD than in healthy controls. Among the MDD group, right pericalcarine, right medical orbitofrontal, right rostral middle frontal, right postcentral, right inferior temporal, right cuneus, right precuneus, left frontal pole, left superior frontal, left superior temporal, left rostral middle frontal and left lingual cortices had inverse correlations with methylation of BDNF promoters. Higher levels of BDNF promoter methylation may be closely associated with the reduced cortical thickness among patients with MDD. Serum BDNF levels were significantly lower in MDD, and showed an inverse relationship with BDNF methylation only in healthy controls. Particularly the prefrontal and occipital cortices seem to indicate key regions in which BDNF methylation has a significant effect on structure.

Value of renal cortical thickness as a predictor of renal function impairment in chronic renal disease patients

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Samia Rafael Yamashita

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine the presence of linear relationship between renal cortical thickness, bipolar length, and parenchymal thickness in chronic kidney disease patients presenting with different estimated glomerular filtration rates (GFRs and to assess the reproducibility of these measurements using ultrasonography. Materials and Methods: Ultrasonography was performed in 54 chronic renal failure patients. The scans were performed by two independent and blinded radiologists. The estimated GFR was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation. Interobserver agreement was calculated and a linear correlation coefficient (r was determined in order to establish the relationship between the different renal measurements and estimated GFR. Results: The correlation between GFR and measurements of renal cortical thickness, bipolar length, and parenchymal thickness was, respectively, moderate (r = 0.478; p < 0.001, poor (r = 0.380; p = 0.004, and poor (r = 0.277; p = 0.116. The interobserver agreement was considered excellent (0.754 for measurements of cortical thickness and bipolar length (0.833, and satisfactory for parenchymal thickness (0.523. Conclusion: The interobserver reproducibility for renal measurements obtained was good. A moderate correlation was observed between estimated GFR and cortical thickness, but bipolar length and parenchymal thickness were poorly correlated.

Cortical thickness, surface area, and folding alterations in male youths with conduct disorder and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits.

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Fairchild, Graeme; Toschi, Nicola; Hagan, Cindy C; Goodyer, Ian M; Calder, Andrew J; Passamonti, Luca

2015-01-01

Previous studies have reported changes in gray matter volume in youths with conduct disorder (CD), although these differences are difficult to interpret as they may have been driven by alterations in cortical thickness, surface area (SA), or folding. The objective of this study was to use surface-based morphometry (SBM) methods to compare male youths with CD and age and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) in cortical thickness, SA, and folding. We also tested for structural differences between the childhood-onset and adolescence-onset subtypes of CD and performed regression analyses to assess for relationships between CD symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and SBM-derived measures. We acquired structural neuroimaging data from 20 HCs and 36 CD participants (18 with childhood-onset CD and 18 with adolescence-onset CD) and analyzed the data using FreeSurfer. Relative to HCs, youths with CD showed reduced cortical thickness in the superior temporal gyrus, reduced SA in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and increased cortical folding in the insula. There were no significant differences between the childhood-onset and adolescence-onset CD subgroups in cortical thickness or SA, but several frontal and temporal regions showed increased cortical folding in childhood-onset relative to adolescence-onset CD participants. Both CD subgroups also showed increased cortical folding relative to HCs. CD symptoms were negatively correlated with OFC SA whereas CU traits were positively correlated with insula folding. Cortical thinning in the superior temporal gyrus may contribute to the social cognitive impairments displayed by youths with CD, whereas reduced OFC SA may lead to impairments in emotion regulation and reward processing in youths with CD. The increased cortical folding observed in the insula may reflect a maturational delay in this region and could mediate the link between CU traits and empathy deficits. Altered cortical folding was observed in childhood-onset and

Voxel-based comparison of whole brain gray matter of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease with normal aging volunteers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Sheng; Wu Hongkun; Xiao Jiangxi; Wang Yinhua; Jiang Xuexiang

2006-01-01

Objective: To detect gray matter abnormalities of whole brain in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) by voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Thirteen patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and sixteen normal aging volunteers underwent 3D SPGR scanning. For every subject, data was transferred to PC to be normalized, segmented and smoothed using SPM99. Non-dependent samples T-tests were conducted to compare gray matter' density voxel to voxel between the two groups. Results Significant reductions in gray matter density were found in the bilateral hippocampi and nucleus amygdalae, bilateral insulae, bilateral medial thalami, bilateral rectus gyri, right superior temporal gyms, right caudate nucleus, fight prefrontal lobe, right basal forebrain and portions of right occipital lobe. Conclusion: VBM reveals significant gray matter' reductions of numeral cortices in mild Alzheimer's disease. It can be a useful method to evaluate the anatomical changes in the progress of the disease. (authors)

Cortical thickness estimation of the proximal femur from multi-view dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

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Tsaousis, N.; Gee, A. H.; Treece, G. M.; Poole, K. E. S.

2013-02-01

Hip fracture is the leading cause of acute orthopaedic hospital admission amongst the elderly, with around a third of patients not surviving one year post-fracture. Although various preventative therapies are available, patient selection is difficult. The current state-of-the-art risk assessment tool (FRAX) ignores focal structural defects, such as cortical bone thinning, a critical component in characterizing hip fragility. Cortical thickness can be measured using CT, but this is expensive and involves a significant radiation dose. Instead, Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is currently the preferred imaging modality for assessing hip fracture risk and is used routinely in clinical practice. Our ambition is to develop a tool to measure cortical thickness using multi-view DXA instead of CT. In this initial study, we work with digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) derived from CT data as a surrogate for DXA scans: this enables us to compare directly the thickness estimates with the gold standard CT results. Our approach involves a model-based femoral shape reconstruction followed by a data-driven algorithm to extract numerous cortical thickness point estimates. In a series of experiments on the shaft and trochanteric regions of 48 proximal femurs, we validated our algorithm and established its performance limits using 20 views in the range 0°-171°: estimation errors were 0:19 +/- 0:53mm (mean +/- one standard deviation). In a more clinically viable protocol using four views in the range 0°-51°, where no other bony structures obstruct the projection of the femur, measurement errors were -0:07 +/- 0:79 mm.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor promoter methylation and cortical thickness in recurrent major depressive disorder

OpenAIRE

Na, Kyoung-Sae; Won, Eunsoo; Kang, June; Chang, Hun Soo; Yoon, Ho-Kyoung; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Yong-Ku; Lee, Min-Soo; Joe, Sook-Haeng; Kim, Hyun; Ham, Byung-Joo

2016-01-01

Recent studies have reported that methylation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene promoter is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to investigate the association between cortical thickness and methylation of BDNF promoters as well as serum BDNF levels in MDD. The participants consisted of 65 patients with recurrent MDD and 65 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Methylation of BDNF promoters and cortical thickness were compared between the gr...

Vessel-guided airway segmentation based on voxel classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lo, Pechin Chien Pau; Sporring, Jon; Ashraf, Haseem

2008-01-01

This paper presents a method for improving airway tree segmentation using vessel orientation information. We use the fact that an airway branch is always accompanied by an artery, with both structures having similar orientations. This work is based on a  voxel classification airway segmentation...... method proposed previously. The probability of a voxel belonging to the airway, from the voxel classification method, is augmented with an orientation similarity measure as a criterion for region growing. The orientation similarity measure of a voxel indicates how similar is the orientation...... of the surroundings of a voxel, estimated based on a tube model, is to that of a neighboring vessel. The proposed method is tested on 20 CT images from different subjects selected randomly from a lung cancer screening study. Length of the airway branches from the results of the proposed method are significantly...

VOXEL-BASED APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING URBAN TREE VOLUME FROM TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING DATA

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C. Vonderach

2012-07-01

extracted branch areas Ai of this horizontal cross-section multiplied by the thickness of the voxel layer. A significant improvement of this method could be obtained by a reasonable determination of the threshold for excluding sparsely filled voxels for noise reduction which can be defined based on the function change of filled voxels. Field measurements were used to validate this method. For a quality assessment nine deciduous trees were selected for control and were scanned before felling and weighing. The results are in good accordance to the control trees within a range of only -5.1% to +14.3%. The determined DBH values show only minor deviations, while the heights of trees are systematically underestimated, mainly due to field measurements. Possible error sources including gaps in surface voxels, influence of thin twigs and others are discussed in detail and several improvements of this approach are suggested. The advantages of the algorithm are the robustness and simple structure as well as the quality of the results obtained. The drawbacks are the high effort both in data acquisition and analysis, even if a remarkable data reduction can be obtained by the voxel structure.

Does cortical bone thickness in the last sacral vertebra differ among tail types in primates?

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Nishimura, Abigail C; Russo, Gabrielle A

2017-04-01

The external morphology of the sacrum is demonstrably informative regarding tail type (i.e., tail presence/absence, length, and prehensility) in living and extinct primates. However, little research has focused on the relationship between tail type and internal sacral morphology, a potentially important source of functional information when fossil sacra are incomplete. Here, we determine if cortical bone cross-sectional thickness of the last sacral vertebral body differs among tail types in extant primates and can be used to reconstruct tail types in extinct primates. Cortical bone cross-sectional thickness in the last sacral vertebral body was measured from high-resolution CT scans belonging to 20 extant primate species (N = 72) assigned to tail type categories ("tailless," "nonprehensile short-tailed," "nonprehensile long-tailed," and "prehensile-tailed"). The extant dataset was then used to reconstruct the tail types for four extinct primate species. Tailless primates had significantly thinner cortical bone than tail-bearing primates. Nonprehensile short-tailed primates had significantly thinner cortical bone than nonprehensile long-tailed primates. Cortical bone cross-sectional thickness did not distinguish between prehensile-tailed and nonprehensile long-tailed taxa. Results are strongly influenced by phylogeny. Corroborating previous studies, Epipliopithecus vindobonensis was reconstructed as tailless, Archaeolemur edwardsi as long-tailed, Megaladapis grandidieri as nonprehensile short-tailed, and Palaeopropithecus kelyus as nonprehensile short-tailed or tailless. Results indicate that, in the context of phylogenetic clade, measures of cortical bone cross-sectional thickness can be used to allocate extinct primate species to tail type categories. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pretraining Cortical Thickness Predicts Subsequent Perceptual Learning Rate in a Visual Search Task.

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Frank, Sebastian M; Reavis, Eric A; Greenlee, Mark W; Tse, Peter U

2016-03-01

We report that preexisting individual differences in the cortical thickness of brain areas involved in a perceptual learning task predict the subsequent perceptual learning rate. Participants trained in a motion-discrimination task involving visual search for a "V"-shaped target motion trajectory among inverted "V"-shaped distractor trajectories. Motion-sensitive area MT+ (V5) was functionally identified as critical to the task: after 3 weeks of training, activity increased in MT+ during task performance, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. We computed the cortical thickness of MT+ from anatomical magnetic resonance imaging volumes collected before training started, and found that it significantly predicted subsequent perceptual learning rates in the visual search task. Participants with thicker neocortex in MT+ before training learned faster than those with thinner neocortex in that area. A similar association between cortical thickness and training success was also found in posterior parietal cortex (PPC). © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Thickness and clearance visualization based on distance field of 3D objects

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Masatomo Inui

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel method for visualizing the thickness and clearance of 3D objects in a polyhedral representation. The proposed method uses the distance field of the objects in the visualization. A parallel algorithm is developed for constructing the distance field of polyhedral objects using the GPU. The distance between a voxel and the surface polygons of the model is computed many times in the distance field construction. Similar sets of polygons are usually selected as close polygons for close voxels. By using this spatial coherence, a parallel algorithm is designed to compute the distances between a cluster of close voxels and the polygons selected by the culling operation so that the fast shared memory mechanism of the GPU can be fully utilized. The thickness/clearance of the objects is visualized by distributing points on the visible surfaces of the objects and painting them with a unique color corresponding to the thickness/clearance values at those points. A modified ray casting method is developed for computing the thickness/clearance using the distance field of the objects. A system based on these algorithms can compute the distance field of complex objects within a few minutes for most cases. After the distance field construction, thickness/clearance visualization at a near interactive rate is achieved.

Heritability of cortical thickness changes over time in twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia.

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Hedman, Anna M; van Haren, Neeltje E M; van Baal, G Caroline M; Brouwer, Rachel M; Brans, Rachel G H; Schnack, Hugo G; Kahn, René S; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E

2016-06-01

Cortical thickness and surface area changes have repeatedly been found in schizophrenia. Whether progressive loss in cortical thickness and surface area are mediated by genetic or disease related factors is unknown. Here we investigate to what extent genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to the association between change in cortical thickness and surface area and liability to develop schizophrenia. Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study over a 5-year interval. Monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia were compared with healthy control twin pairs using repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Twins discordant for schizophrenia and healthy control twins were recruited from the twin cohort at the University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands. A total of 90 individuals from 46 same sex twin pairs were included: 9 MZ and 10 DZ discordant for schizophrenia and 14 MZ and 13 (11 complete and 2 incomplete) DZ healthy twin-pairs. Age varied between 19 and 57years. Higher genetic liability for schizophrenia was associated with progressive global thinning of the cortex, particularly of the left superior temporal cortex. Higher environmental liability for schizophrenia was associated with global attenuated thinning of the cortex, and including of the left superior temporal cortex. Cortical surface area change was heritable, but not significantly associated with higher genetic or environmental liability for schizophrenia. Excessive cortical thinning, particularly of the left superior temporal cortex, may represent a genetic risk marker for schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Finding significantly connected voxels based on histograms of connection strengths

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kasenburg, Niklas; Pedersen, Morten Vester; Darkner, Sune

2016-01-01

We explore a new approach for structural connectivity based segmentations of subcortical brain regions. Connectivity based segmentations are usually based on fibre connections from a seed region to predefined target regions. We present a method for finding significantly connected voxels based...... on the distribution of connection strengths. Paths from seed voxels to all voxels in a target region are obtained from a shortest-path tractography. For each seed voxel we approximate the distribution with a histogram of path scores. We hypothesise that the majority of estimated connections are false-positives...... and that their connection strength is distributed differently from true-positive connections. Therefore, an empirical null-distribution is defined for each target region as the average normalized histogram over all voxels in the seed region. Single histograms are then tested against the corresponding null...

A Preliminary Study of the Influence of Age of Onset and Childhood Trauma on Cortical Thickness in Major Depressive Disorder

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Natalia Jaworska

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Major depressive disorder (MDD neural underpinnings may differ based on onset age and childhood trauma. We assessed cortical thickness in patients who differed in age of MDD onset and examined trauma history influence. Methods. Adults with MDD (N=36 and controls (HC; N=18 underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty patients had MDD onset 25 years of age (adult onset. The MDD group was also subdivided into those with (N=12 and without (N=19 physical and/or sexual abuse as assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ. Cortical thickness was analyzed with FreeSurfer software. Results. Thicker frontal pole and a tendency for thinner transverse temporal cortices existed in MDD. The former was driven by the pediatric onset group and abuse history (independently, particularly in the right frontal pole. Inverse correlations existed between CTQ scores and frontal pole cortex thickness. A similar inverse relation existed with left inferior and right superior parietal cortex thickness. The superior temporal cortex tended to be thinner in pediatric versus adult onset groups with childhood abuse. Conclusions. This preliminary work suggests neural differences between pediatric and adult MDD onset. Trauma history also contributes to cytoarchitectural modulation. Thickened frontal pole cortices as a compensatory mechanism in MDD warrant evaluation.

a Voxel-Based Filtering Algorithm for Mobile LIDAR Data

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Qin, H.; Guan, G.; Yu, Y.; Zhong, L.

2018-04-01

This paper presents a stepwise voxel-based filtering algorithm for mobile LiDAR data. In the first step, to improve computational efficiency, mobile LiDAR points, in xy-plane, are first partitioned into a set of two-dimensional (2-D) blocks with a given block size, in each of which all laser points are further organized into an octree partition structure with a set of three-dimensional (3-D) voxels. Then, a voxel-based upward growing processing is performed to roughly separate terrain from non-terrain points with global and local terrain thresholds. In the second step, the extracted terrain points are refined by computing voxel curvatures. This voxel-based filtering algorithm is comprehensively discussed in the analyses of parameter sensitivity and overall performance. An experimental study performed on multiple point cloud samples, collected by different commercial mobile LiDAR systems, showed that the proposed algorithm provides a promising solution to terrain point extraction from mobile point clouds.

Laminar thickness alterations in the fronto-parietal cortical mantle of patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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Elseline Hoekzema

Full Text Available Although Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD was initially regarded as a disorder exclusive to childhood, nowadays its prevalence in adulthood is well established. The development of novel techniques for quantifying the thickness of the cerebral mantle allows the further exploration of the neuroanatomical profiles underlying the child and adult form of the disorder. To examine the cortical mantle in children and adults with ADHD, we applied a vertex-wise analysis of cortical thickness to anatomical brain MRI scans acquired from children with (n = 43 and without ADHD (n = 41, as well as a group of adult neurotypical individuals (n = 31, adult patients with a history of stimulant treatment (n = 31 and medication-naïve adults with ADHD (n = 24. We observed several clusters of reduced laminar cortical thickness in ADHD patients in comparison to neurotypical individuals. These differences were primarily located in the dorsal attention network, including the bilateral inferior and superior parietal cortex and a section of the frontal cortex (centered on the superior frontal and precentral gyrus bilaterally. Further laminar thickness deficits were observed in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and medial occipital cortex. The deficits in the cortical surface were especially pronounced in the child sample, while adult patients showed a more typical laminar thickness across the cerebral mantle. These findings show that the neuroanatomical profile of ADHD, especially the childhood form of the disorder, involves robust alterations in the cortical mantle, which are most prominent in brain regions subserving attentional processing.

Relationship between neurotoxic kynurenine metabolites and reductions in right medial prefrontal cortical thickness in major depressive disorder.

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Meier, Timothy B; Drevets, Wayne C; Wurfel, Brent E; Ford, Bart N; Morris, Harvey M; Victor, Teresa A; Bodurka, Jerzy; Teague, T Kent; Dantzer, Robert; Savitz, Jonathan

2016-03-01

Reductions in gray matter volume of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), especially the rostral and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (rACC, sgACC) are a widely reported finding in major depressive disorder (MDD). Inflammatory mediators, which are elevated in a subgroup of patients with MDD, activate the kynurenine metabolic pathway and increase production of neuroactive metabolites such as kynurenic acid (KynA), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HK) and quinolinic acid (QA) which influence neuroplasticity. It is not known whether the alterations in brain structure and function observed in major depressive disorders are due to the direct effect of inflammatory mediators or the effects of neurotoxic kynurenine metabolites. Here, using partial posterior predictive distribution mediation analysis, we tested whether the serum concentrations of kynurenine pathway metabolites mediated reductions in cortical thickness in mPFC regions in MDD. Further, we tested whether any association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and cortical thickness would be mediated by kynurenine pathway metabolites. Seventy-three unmedicated subjects who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for MDD and 91 healthy controls (HC) completed MRI scanning using a pulse sequence optimized for tissue contrast resolution. Automated cortical parcellation was performed using the PALS-B12 Brodmann area atlas as implemented in FreeSurfer in order to compare the cortical thickness and cortical area of six PFC regions: Brodmann areas (BA) 9, 10, 11, 24, 25, and 32. Serum concentrations of kynurenine pathway metabolites were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection, while high-sensitivity CRP concentration was measured immunoturbidimetrically. Compared with HCs, the MDD group showed a reduction in cortical thickness of the right BA24 (pdepressive episodes displayed thinner cortex in BA32 (pmediated the relationship between diagnosis and cortical thickness of right BA32

Macrostructural brain changes in patients with longstanding type 1 diabetes mellitus - a cortical thickness analysis study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frøkjær, J B; Brock, C; Søfteland, E

2013-01-01

.03) and superior parietal gyrus (P=0.008) in patients. The cortical thickness of these regions was not associated with diabetes duration, age at diabetes onset or to HbA1c (all P>0.08). Patients with peripheral neuropathy showed reduced right postcentral gyrus cortical thickness compared to patients without...... peripheral neuropathy (P=0.02).Patients with longstanding type 1 diabetes showed cortical thinning involving sensory related areas, even though no overall macrostructural brain alterations were detected. This could possibly have underlying functional significance since cortical thinning was associated...... to presence of peripheral neuropathy. The absence of universal macrostructural changes might illustrate that more pronounced brain pathology is likely to be preceded by more subtle microstructural changes as reported in other studies...

Cortical thickness changes correlate with cognition changes after cognitive training: Evidence from a Chinese community study

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Lijuan eJiang

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in cortical thickness correlated with cognitive function changes in healthy older adults after receiving cognitive training interventions. Moreover, it also aimed to examine the differential impacts of a multi-domain and a single-domain cognitive training interventions. Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scanning was performed on participants 65 to 75 years of age using the Siemens 3.0 T Trio Tim with the MPRAGE sequence. The cortical thickness was determined using FreeSurfer software. Cognitive functioning was evaluated using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS. There were significant group × time interaction effects on the left supramarginal, the left frontal pole cortical regions; and a marginal significant group × time interaction effects on visuospatial/constructional and delayed memory scores. In a multi-domain cognitive training group, a number of cortical region changes were significantly positively correlated with changes in attention, delayed memory, and the total score, but significantly negatively correlated with changes in immediate memory and language scores. In the single-domain cognitive training group, some cortical region changes were significantly positively associated with changes in immediate memory, delayed memory, and the total score, while they were significantly negatively associated with changes in visuospatial/constructional, language, and attention scores. Overall, multi-domain cognitive training offered more advantages in visuospatial/constructional, attention, and delayed memory abilities, while single-domain cognitive training benefited immediate memory ability more effectively. These findings suggest that healthy older adults benefit more from the multi-domain cognitive training than single-domain cognitive training. Cognitive training has impacted on cortical thickness changes in healthy elderly

Increased Executive Functioning, Attention, and Cortical Thickness in White-Collar Criminals

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Raine, Adrian; Laufer, William S.; Yang, Yaling; Narr, Katherine L.; Thompson, Paul; Toga, Arthur W.

2011-01-01

Very little is known on white collar crime and how it differs to other forms of offending. This study tests the hypothesis that white collar criminals have better executive functioning, enhanced information processing, and structural brain superiorities compared to offender controls. Using a case-control design, executive functioning, orienting, and cortical thickness was assessed in 21 white collar criminals matched with 21 controls on age, gender, ethnicity, and general level of criminal offending. White collar criminals had significantly better executive functioning, increased electrodermal orienting, increased arousal, and increased cortical gray matter thickness in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, somatosensory cortex, and the temporal-parietal junction compared to controls. Results, while initial, constitute the first findings on neurobiological characteristics of white-collar criminals It is hypothesized that white collar criminals have information-processing and brain superiorities that give them an advantage in perpetrating criminal offenses in occupational settings. PMID:22002326

Right frontal pole cortical thickness and executive functioning in children with traumatic brain injury: the impact on social problems.

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Levan, Ashley; Black, Garrett; Mietchen, Jonathan; Baxter, Leslie; Brock Kirwan, C; Gale, Shawn D

2016-12-01

Cognitive and social outcomes may be negatively affected in children with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that executive function would mediate the association between right frontal pole cortical thickness and problematic social behaviors. Child participants with a history of TBI were recruited from inpatient admissions for long-term follow-up (n = 23; average age = 12.8, average time post-injury =3.2 years). Three measures of executive function, the Trail Making Test, verbal fluency test, and the Conners' Continuous Performance Test-Second edition (CPT-II), were administered to each participant while caregivers completed the Childhood Behavior Checklist (CBCL). All participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging following cognitive testing. Regression analysis demonstrated right frontal pole cortical thickness significantly predicted social problems. Measures of executive functioning also significantly predicted social problems; however, the mediation model testing whether executive function mediated the relationship between cortical thickness and social problems was not statistically significant. Right frontal pole cortical thickness and omission errors on the CPT-II predicted Social Problems on the CBCL. Results did not indicate that the association between cortical thickness and social problems was mediated by executive function.

Dance Experience and Associations with Cortical Gray Matter Thickness in the Aging Population.

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Porat, Shai; Goukasian, Naira; Hwang, Kristy S; Zanto, Theodore; Do, Triet; Pierce, Jonathan; Joshi, Shantanu; Woo, Ellen; Apostolova, Liana G

2016-01-01

We investigated the effect dance experience may have on cortical gray matter thickness and cognitive performance in elderly participants with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). 39 cognitively normal and 48 MCI elderly participants completed a questionnaire regarding their lifetime experience with music, dance, and song. Participants identified themselves as either dancers or nondancers. All participants received structural 1.5-tesla MRI scans and detailed clinical and neuropsychological evaluations. An advanced 3D cortical mapping technique was then applied to calculate cortical thickness. Despite having a trend-level significantly thinner cortex, dancers performed better in cognitive tasks involving learning and memory, such as the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) short delay free recall (p = 0.004), the CVLT-II long delay free recall (p = 0.003), and the CVLT-II learning over trials 1-5 (p = 0.001). Together, these results suggest that dance may result in an enhancement of cognitive reserve in aging, which may help avert or delay MCI.

Imaging Effects of Neurotrophic Factor Genes on Brain Plasticity and Repair in Multiple Sclerosis

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2012-07-01

sensitive to focal and diffuse changes in brain tissue (including cortical thickness and subcortical volume measures, lesion volumetry , and voxel-based...sensitive to both focal and diffuse effects in gray and white matter, including cortical thickness and subcortical volume measures, lesion volumetry , and

Quantitative CBCT evaluation of maxillary and mandibular cortical bone thickness and density variability for orthodontic miniplate placement.

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Rossi, Margherita; Bruno, Giovanni; De Stefani, Alberto; Perri, Alessandro; Gracco, Antonio

2017-12-01

To assess whether cortical bone thickness and density vary in relation to age, sex and skeletal pattern at the maxillary and mandibular areas suitable for miniplates placement for orthodontic purposes. CBCT of 92 subjects (42 males and 50 females) with skeletal class I, II or III malocclusion, divided between adolescents and adults, were examined. InVivoDental ® software (Anatomage Inc, USA) was used to measure 34 maxillary areas and 40 mandibular areas per side. Values obtained were then compared between the groups of subjects. Statistical analysis was performed using the non-parametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank-sum test for independent samples. No significant differences were found in the cortical bone thickness values between the three skeletal patterns, and according to sex and age. Both maxilla and mandible showed an increase in cortical bone thickness from the anterior towards the posterior regions, and from the alveolar boneto the basal bone. Cortical bone density significantly varied in relation to the subject's age, with adults always showing higher values. Slight clinically significant differences were found between the three skeletal patterns and sex. In terms of cortical bone thickness, age, sex and skeletal pattern do not represent valid decision criteria for the evaluation of the best insertion areas for miniplates, while in terms of cortical bone density, only age is useful as a decision criterion. Copyright © 2017 CEO. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Influence of basis images and skull position on evaluation of cortical bone thickness in cone beam computed tomography.

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Nascimento, Monikelly do Carmo Chagas; Boscolo, Solange Maria de Almeida; Haiter-Neto, Francisco; Santos, Emanuela Carla Dos; Lambrichts, Ivo; Pauwels, Ruben; Jacobs, Reinhilde

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the number of basis images and the orientation of the skull on the evaluation of cortical alveolar bone in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Eleven skulls with a total of 59 anterior teeth were selected. CBCT images were acquired by using 4 protocols, by varying the rotation of the tube-detector arm and the orientation of the skull (protocol 1: 360°/0°; protocol 2: 180°/0°; protocol 3: 180°/90°; protocol 4: 180°/180°). Observers evaluated cortical bone as absent, thin, or thick. Direct observation of the skulls was used as the gold standard. Intra- and interobserver agreement, as well as agreement of scoring between the 3 bone thickness classifications, were calculated by using the κ statistic. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the 4 protocols. For lingual cortical bone, protocol 1 showed no statistical difference from the gold standard. Higher reliability was found in protocol 3 for absent (κ = 0.80) and thin (κ = 0.47) cortices, whereas for thick cortical bone, protocol 2 was more consistent (κ = 0.60). In buccal cortical bone, protocol 1 obtained the highest agreement for absent cortices (κ = 0.61), whereas protocol 4 was better for thin cortical plates (κ = 0.38) and protocol 2 for thick cortical plates (κ = 0.40). No consistent effect of the number of basis images or head orientation for visual detection of alveolar bone was detected, except for lingual cortical bone, for which full rotation scanning showed improved visualization. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Voxel-based models representing the male and female ICRP reference adult - the skeleton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zankl, M.; Eckerman, K.F.; Bolch, W.E.

2007-01-01

For the forthcoming update of organ dose conversion coefficients, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) will use voxel-based computational phantoms due to their improved anatomical realism compared with the class of mathematical or stylized phantoms used previously. According to the ICRP philosophy, these phantoms should be representative of the male and female reference adults with respect to their external dimensions, their organ topology and their organ masses. To meet these requirements, reference models of an adult male and adult female have been constructed at the GSF, based on existing voxel models segmented from tomographic images of two individuals whose body height and weight closely resemble the ICRP Publication 89 reference values. The skeleton is a highly complex structure of the body, composed of cortical bone, trabecular bone, red and yellow bone marrow and endosteum ('bone surfaces' in their older terminology). The skeleton of the reference phantoms consists of 19 individually segmented bones and bone groups. Sub-division of these bones into the above-mentioned constituents would be necessary in order to allow a direct calculation of dose to red bone marrow and endosteum. However, the dimensions of the trabeculae, the cavities containing bone marrow and the endosteum layer lining these cavities are clearly smaller than the resolution of a normal CT scan and, thus, these volumes could not be segmented in the tomographic images. As an attempt to represent the gross spatial distribution of these regions as realistically as possible at the given voxel resolution, 48 individual organ identification numbers were assigned to various parts of the skeleton: every segmented bone was subdivided into an outer shell of cortical bone and a spongious core; in the shafts of the long bones, a medullary cavity was additionally segmented. Using the data from ICRP Publication 89 on elemental tissue composition, from ICRU Report 46 on material

Group analyses of connectivity-based cortical parcellation using repeated k-means clustering.

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Nanetti, Luca; Cerliani, Leonardo; Gazzola, Valeria; Renken, Remco; Keysers, Christian

2009-10-01

K-means clustering has become a popular tool for connectivity-based cortical segmentation using Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) data. A sometimes ignored issue is, however, that the output of the algorithm depends on the initial placement of starting points, and that different sets of starting points therefore could lead to different solutions. In this study we explore this issue. We apply k-means clustering a thousand times to the same DWI dataset collected in 10 individuals to segment two brain regions: the SMA-preSMA on the medial wall, and the insula. At the level of single subjects, we found that in both brain regions, repeatedly applying k-means indeed often leads to a variety of rather different cortical based parcellations. By assessing the similarity and frequency of these different solutions, we show that approximately 256 k-means repetitions are needed to accurately estimate the distribution of possible solutions. Using nonparametric group statistics, we then propose a method to employ the variability of clustering solutions to assess the reliability with which certain voxels can be attributed to a particular cluster. In addition, we show that the proportion of voxels that can be attributed significantly to either cluster in the SMA and preSMA is relatively higher than in the insula and discuss how this difference may relate to differences in the anatomy of these regions.

Cortical thickness predicts the first onset of major depression in adolescence.

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Foland-Ross, Lara C; Sacchet, Matthew D; Prasad, Gautam; Gilbert, Brooke; Thompson, Paul M; Gotlib, Ian H

2015-11-01

Given the increasing prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder and recent advances in preventative treatments for this disorder, an important challenge in pediatric neuroimaging is the early identification of individuals at risk for depression. We examined whether machine learning can be used to predict the onset of depression at the individual level. Thirty-three never-disordered adolescents (10-15 years old) underwent structural MRI. Participants were followed for 5 years to monitor the emergence of clinically significant depressive symptoms. We used support vector machines (SVMs) to test whether baseline cortical thickness could reliably distinguish adolescents who develop depression from adolescents who remained free of any Axis I disorder. Accuracies from subsampled cross-validated classification were used to assess classifier performance. Baseline cortical thickness correctly predicted the future onset of depression with an overall accuracy of 70% (69% sensitivity, 70% specificity; p=0.021). Examination of SVM feature weights indicated that the right medial orbitofrontal, right precentral, left anterior cingulate, and bilateral insular cortex contributed most strongly to this classification. These findings indicate that cortical gray matter structure can predict the subsequent onset of depression. An important direction for future research is to elucidate mechanisms by which these anomalies in gray matter structure increase risk for developing this disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increased gray matter density in the parietal cortex of mathematicians: a voxel-based morphometry study.

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Aydin, K; Ucar, A; Oguz, K K; Okur, O O; Agayev, A; Unal, Z; Yilmaz, S; Ozturk, C

2007-01-01

The training to acquire or practicing to perform a skill, which may lead to structural changes in the brain, is called experience-dependent structural plasticity. The main purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the presence of experience-dependent structural plasticity in mathematicians' brains, which may develop after long-term practice of mathematic thinking. Twenty-six volunteer mathematicians, who have been working as academicians, were enrolled in the study. We applied an optimized method of voxel-based morphometry in the mathematicians and the age- and sex-matched control subjects. We assessed the gray and white matter density differences in mathematicians and the control subjects. Moreover, the correlation between the cortical density and the time spent as an academician was investigated. We found that cortical gray matter density in the left inferior frontal and bilateral inferior parietal lobules of the mathematicians were significantly increased compared with the control subjects. Furthermore, increase in gray matter density in the right inferior parietal lobule of the mathematicians was strongly correlated with the time spent as an academician (r = 0.84; P mathematicians' brains revealed increased gray matter density in the cortical regions related to mathematic thinking. The correlation between cortical density increase and the time spent as an academician suggests experience-dependent structural plasticity in mathematicians' brains.

Voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based diffusion tensor analysis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Zhiye; Ma Lin; Lou Xin; Wang Yan

2010-01-01

Objective: To evaluate gray matter volume, white matter volume and FA value changes in amyatrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based diffusion tensor analysis (VBDTA). Methods: Thirty-nine definite or probable ALS patients diagnosed by El Escorial standard and 39 healthy controls were recruited and underwent conventional MR scans and the neuropsychological evaluation. The 3D FSPGR T 1 WI and DTI data were collected on GE Medical 3.0 T MRI system. The 3DT 1 structural images were normalized, segmented and smoothed, and then VBM analysis was performed. DTI data were acquired from 76 healthy controls, and FA map template was made. FA maps generated from the DTI data of ALS patients and healthy controls were normalized to the FA map template for voxel-based analysis. ANCOVA was applied, controlling with age and total intracranial volume for VBM and age for VBDDTA. A statistical threshold of P<0.01 (uncorrected) and cluster level of more than continuous 20 voxels determined significance. Results: Statistical results showed no significant difference in the global volumes of gray matter and white matter, total intracranial volumes and gray matter fraction between ALS patients and healthy controls, but the white matter fraction of ALS patients (0.29 ± 0.02) was significantly less than that of healthy controls (0.30 ± 0.02) statistically (P=0.003). There was significant reduction of gray matter volumes in bilateral superior frontal gyri and precentral gyri, right middle frontal gyrus, right middle and inferior temporal gyrus, left superior occipital gyrus and cuneus and left insula in ALS patients when compared with healthy controls; and the regional reduction of white matter volumes in ALS patients mainly located in genu of corpus callosum, bilateral medial frontal gyri, paracentral lobule and insula, right superior and middle frontal gyrus and left postcentral gyrus. VBDTA showed decrease in FA values in bilateral

Motor features in posterior cortical atrophy and their imaging correlates.

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Ryan, Natalie S; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Lehmann, Manja; Keihaninejad, Shiva; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Leung, Kelvin K; Fox, Nick C; Crutch, Sebastian J

2014-12-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by impaired higher visual processing skills; however, motor features more commonly associated with corticobasal syndrome may also occur. We investigated the frequency and clinical characteristics of motor features in 44 PCA patients and, with 30 controls, conducted voxel-based morphometry, cortical thickness, and subcortical volumetric analyses of their magnetic resonance imaging. Prominent limb rigidity was used to define a PCA-motor subgroup. A total of 30% (13) had PCA-motor; all demonstrating asymmetrical left upper limb rigidity. Limb apraxia was more frequent and asymmetrical in PCA-motor, as was myoclonus. Tremor and alien limb phenomena only occurred in this subgroup. The subgroups did not differ in neuropsychological test performance or apolipoprotein E4 allele frequency. Greater asymmetry of atrophy occurred in PCA-motor, particularly involving right frontoparietal and peri-rolandic cortices, putamen, and thalamus. The 9 patients (including 4 PCA-motor) with pathology or cerebrospinal fluid all showed evidence of Alzheimer's disease. Our data suggest that PCA patients with motor features have greater atrophy of contralateral sensorimotor areas but are still likely to have underlying Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Motor features in posterior cortical atrophy and their imaging correlates☆

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Natalie S.; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Lehmann, Manja; Keihaninejad, Shiva; Nicholas, Jennifer M.; Leung, Kelvin K.; Fox, Nick C.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2014-01-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by impaired higher visual processing skills; however, motor features more commonly associated with corticobasal syndrome may also occur. We investigated the frequency and clinical characteristics of motor features in 44 PCA patients and, with 30 controls, conducted voxel-based morphometry, cortical thickness, and subcortical volumetric analyses of their magnetic resonance imaging. Prominent limb rigidity was used to define a PCA-motor subgroup. A total of 30% (13) had PCA-motor; all demonstrating asymmetrical left upper limb rigidity. Limb apraxia was more frequent and asymmetrical in PCA-motor, as was myoclonus. Tremor and alien limb phenomena only occurred in this subgroup. The subgroups did not differ in neuropsychological test performance or apolipoprotein E4 allele frequency. Greater asymmetry of atrophy occurred in PCA-motor, particularly involving right frontoparietal and peri-rolandic cortices, putamen, and thalamus. The 9 patients (including 4 PCA-motor) with pathology or cerebrospinal fluid all showed evidence of Alzheimer's disease. Our data suggest that PCA patients with motor features have greater atrophy of contralateral sensorimotor areas but are still likely to have underlying Alzheimer's disease. PMID:25086839

Longitudinal Development of Cortical Thickness, Folding, and Fiber Density Networks in the First 2 Years of Life

OpenAIRE

Nie, Jingxin; Li, Gang; Wang, Li; Shi, Feng; Lin, Weili; Gilmore, John H.; Shen, Dinggang

2013-01-01

Quantitatively characterizing the development of cortical anatomical networks during the early stage of life plays an important role in revealing the relationship between cortical structural connection and high-level functional development. The development of correlation networks of cortical-thickness, cortical folding, and fiber-density is systematically analyzed in this article to study the relationship between different anatomical properties during the first 2 years of life. Specifically, ...

Towards a Holistic Cortical Thickness Descriptor: Heat Kernel-Based Grey Matter Morphology Signatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gang; Wang, Yalin

2017-02-15

In this paper, we propose a heat kernel based regional shape descriptor that may be capable of better exploiting volumetric morphological information than other available methods, thereby improving statistical power on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis. The mechanism of our analysis is driven by the graph spectrum and the heat kernel theory, to capture the volumetric geometry information in the constructed tetrahedral meshes. In order to capture profound brain grey matter shape changes, we first use the volumetric Laplace-Beltrami operator to determine the point pair correspondence between white-grey matter and CSF-grey matter boundary surfaces by computing the streamlines in a tetrahedral mesh. Secondly, we propose multi-scale grey matter morphology signatures to describe the transition probability by random walk between the point pairs, which reflects the inherent geometric characteristics. Thirdly, a point distribution model is applied to reduce the dimensionality of the grey matter morphology signatures and generate the internal structure features. With the sparse linear discriminant analysis, we select a concise morphology feature set with improved classification accuracies. In our experiments, the proposed work outperformed the cortical thickness features computed by FreeSurfer software in the classification of Alzheimer's disease and its prodromal stage, i.e., mild cognitive impairment, on publicly available data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The multi-scale and physics based volumetric structure feature may bring stronger statistical power than some traditional methods for MRI-based grey matter morphology analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dance Experience and Associations with Cortical Gray Matter Thickness in the Aging Population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shai Porat

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: We investigated the effect dance experience may have on cortical gray matter thickness and cognitive performance in elderly participants with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI. Methods: 39 cognitively normal and 48 MCI elderly participants completed a questionnaire regarding their lifetime experience with music, dance, and song. Participants identified themselves as either dancers or nondancers. All participants received structural 1.5-tesla MRI scans and detailed clinical and neuropsychological evaluations. An advanced 3D cortical mapping technique was then applied to calculate cortical thickness. Results: Despite having a trend-level significantly thinner cortex, dancers performed better in cognitive tasks involving learning and memory, such as the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II short delay free recall (p = 0.004, the CVLT-II long delay free recall (p = 0.003, and the CVLT-II learning over trials 1-5 (p = 0.001. Discussion: Together, these results suggest that dance may result in an enhancement of cognitive reserve in aging, which may help avert or delay MCI.

Impaired cognitive control mediates the relationship between cortical thickness of the superior frontal gyrus and role functioning in schizophrenia.

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Tully, Laura M; Lincoln, Sarah Hope; Liyanage-Don, Nadia; Hooker, Christine I

2014-02-01

Structural abnormalities in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) are well-documented in schizophrenia and recent evidence suggests that these abnormalities relate to functional outcome. Cognitive control mechanisms, reliant on the LPFC, are impaired in schizophrenia and predict functional outcome, thus impaired cognitive control could mediate the relationship between neuroanatomical abnormalities in the LPFC and functional outcome. We used surface-based morphometry to investigate relationships between cortical surface characteristics, cognitive control, and measures of social and role functioning in 26 individuals with schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls. Results demonstrate that schizophrenia participants had thinner cortex in a region of the superior frontal gyrus (BA10). Across all participants, decreased cortical thickness in this region related to decreased cognitive control and decreased role functioning. Moreover, cognitive control fully mediated the relationship between cortical thickness in the superior frontal gyrus and role functioning, indicating that neuroanatomical abnormalities in the LPFC adversely impact role functioning via impaired cognitive control processes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Right frontal pole cortical thickness and social competence in children with chronic traumatic brain injury: cognitive proficiency as a mediator.

Science.gov (United States)

Levan, Ashley; Baxter, Leslie; Kirwan, C Brock; Black, Garrett; Gale, Shawn D

2015-01-01

To examine the association between right frontal pole cortical thickness, social competence, and cognitive proficiency in children participants with a history of chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). Twenty-three children (65% male; M age = 12.8 years, SD = 2.3 years) at least 1 year post-injury (M = 3.3 years, SD = 1.7 years) were evaluated with the Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th Edition, and their caregiver completed the Child Behavior Checklist. Social competence was evaluated with the Social Competence and Social Problems subscales from the Child Behavior Checklist. Right frontal pole cortical thickness was calculated via FreeSurfer from high-resolution 3-dimensional T1 magnetic resonance imaging scans. Direct effect of right frontal pole cortical thickness on social competence was significant (β = 14.09, SE = 4.6, P Right frontal pole cortical thickness significantly predicted CPI (β = 18.44, SE = 4.9, P right frontal lobe cortical integrity and social competence in pediatric participants with chronic TBI may be mediated through cognitive proficiency.

Behavioral changes in early ALS correlate with voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujimoto, Masashi; Senda, Jo; Ishihara, Tetsuro; Niimi, Yoshiki; Kawai, Yoshinari; Atsuta, Naoki; Watanabe, Hirohisa; Tanaka, Fumiaki; Naganawa, Shinji; Sobue, Gen

2011-08-15

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multisystem disorder with impairment of frontotemporal functions such as cognition and behavior, but the behavioral changes associated with ALS are not well defined. Twenty-one consecutive patients with sporadic ALS and 21 control subjects participated in the study. The Frontal System Behavior Scale (FrSBe) was used to assess behavioral change. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis of diffusion tensor images (DTI) were performed to explore the associations of brain degeneration with behavior. All patients were evaluated before the notification of ALS. FrSBe scores of ALS patients before notification were significantly increased compared to those of control subjects. Moreover, the FrSBe Apathy score of ALS patients significantly changed from pre- to post-illness (P<0.001). The severity of apathy was significantly correlated with atrophy in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the orbitofrontal (P=0.006) and dorsolateral prefrontal (P=0.006) cortices in VBM, and in the right frontal gyrus (P<0.001) in DTI. ALS patients exhibited apathy during the early course of the illness, the severity of which was significantly associated with frontal lobe involvement. These findings support the view that a continuum exits between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of environmental risks and polygenic loading for schizophrenia on cortical thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Neilson, Emma; Bois, Catherine; Gibson, Jude; Duff, Barbara; Watson, Andrew; Roberts, Neil; Brandon, Nicholas J; Dunlop, John; Hall, Jeremy; McIntosh, Andrew M; Whalley, Heather C; Lawrie, Stephen M

2017-06-01

There are established differences in cortical thickness (CT) in schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar (BD) patients when compared to healthy controls (HC). However, it is unknown to what extent environmental or genetic risk factors impact on CT in these populations. We have investigated the effect of Environmental Risk Scores (ERS) and Polygenic Risk Scores for SCZ (PGRS-SCZ) on CT. Structural MRI scans were acquired at 3T for patients with SCZ or BD (n=57) and controls (n=41). Cortical reconstructions were generated in FreeSurfer (v5.3). The ERS was created by determining exposure to cannabis use, childhood adverse events, migration, urbanicity and obstetric complications. The PGRS-SCZ were generated, for a subset of the sample (Patients=43, HC=32), based on the latest PGC GWAS findings. ANCOVAs were used to test the hypotheses that ERS and PGRS-SCZ relate to CT globally, and in frontal and temporal lobes. An increase in ERS was negatively associated with CT within temporal lobe for patients. A higher PGRS-SCZ was also related to global cortical thinning for patients. ERS effects remained significant when including PGRS-SCZ as a fixed effect. No relationship which survived FDR correction was found for ERS and PGRS-SCZ in controls. Environmental risk for SCZ was related to localised cortical thinning in patients with SCZ and BD, while increased PGRS-SCZ was associated with global cortical thinning. Genetic and environmental risk factors for SCZ appear therefore to have differential effects. This provides a mechanistic means by which different risk factors may contribute to the development of SCZ and BD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Development of Regional Cortical Thickness and Surface Area in Early Childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyall, Amanda E; Shi, Feng; Geng, Xiujuan; Woolson, Sandra; Li, Gang; Wang, Li; Hamer, Robert M; Shen, Dinggang; Gilmore, John H

2015-08-01

Cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are altered in many neuropsychiatric disorders and are correlated with cognitive functioning. Little is known about how these components of cortical gray matter develop in the first years of life. We studied the longitudinal development of regional CT and SA expansion in healthy infants from birth to 2 years. CT and SA have distinct and heterogeneous patterns of development that are exceptionally dynamic; overall CT increases by an average of 36.1%, while cortical SA increases 114.6%. By age 2, CT is on average 97% of adult values, compared with SA, which is 69%. This suggests that early identification, prevention, and intervention strategies for neuropsychiatric illness need to be targeted to this period of rapid postnatal brain development, and that SA expansion is the principal driving factor in cortical volume after 2 years of age. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Voxel based statistical analysis method for microPET studies to assess the cerebral glucose metabolism in cat deafness model: comparison to ROI based method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jin Su; Lee, Jae Sung; Park, Min Hyun; Lee, Jong Jin; Kang, Hye Jin; Lee, Hyo Jeong; Oh, Seung Ha; Kim, Chong Sun; Jung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul; Lee, Dong Soo; Lim, Sang Moo

2005-01-01

Imaging research on the brain of sensory-deprived cats using small animal PET scanner has gained interest since the abundant information about the sensory system of ths animal is available and close examination of the brain is possible due to larger size of its brain than mouse or rat. In this study, we have established the procedures for 3D voxel-based statistical analysis (SPM) of FDG PET image of cat brain, and confirmed using ROI based-method. FDG PET scans of 4 normal and 4 deaf cats were acquired for 30 minutes using microPET R4 scanner. Only the brain cortices were extracted using a masking and threshold method to facilitate spatial normalization. After spatial normalization and smoothing, 3D voxel-wise and ROI based t-test were performed to identify the regions with significant different FDG uptake between the normal and deaf cats. In ROI analysis, 26 ROIs were drawn on both hemispheres, and regional mean pixel value in each ROI was normalized to the global mean of the brain. Cat brains were spatially normalized well onto the target brain due to the removal of background activity. When cerebral glucose metabolism of deaf cats were compared to the normal controls after removing the effects of the global count, the glucose metabolism in the auditory cortex, head of caudate nucleus, and thalamus in both hemispheres of the deaf cats was significantly lower than that of the controls (P<0.01). No area showed a significantly increased metabolism in the deaf cats even in higher significance level (P<0.05). ROI analysis also showed significant reduction of glucose metabolism in the same region. This study established and confirmed a method for voxel-based analysis of animal PET data of cat brain, which showed high localization accuracy and specificity and was useful for examining the cerebral glucose metabolism in a cat cortical deafness model

Voxel based statistical analysis method for microPET studies to assess the cerebral glucose metabolism in cat deafness model: comparison to ROI based method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jin Su; Lee, Jae Sung; Park, Min Hyun; Lee, Jong Jin; Kang, Hye Jin; Lee, Hyo Jeong; Oh, Seung Ha; Kim, Chong Sun; Jung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul; Lee, Dong Soo [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Sang Moo [KIRAMS, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2005-07-01

Imaging research on the brain of sensory-deprived cats using small animal PET scanner has gained interest since the abundant information about the sensory system of ths animal is available and close examination of the brain is possible due to larger size of its brain than mouse or rat. In this study, we have established the procedures for 3D voxel-based statistical analysis (SPM) of FDG PET image of cat brain, and confirmed using ROI based-method. FDG PET scans of 4 normal and 4 deaf cats were acquired for 30 minutes using microPET R4 scanner. Only the brain cortices were extracted using a masking and threshold method to facilitate spatial normalization. After spatial normalization and smoothing, 3D voxel-wise and ROI based t-test were performed to identify the regions with significant different FDG uptake between the normal and deaf cats. In ROI analysis, 26 ROIs were drawn on both hemispheres, and regional mean pixel value in each ROI was normalized to the global mean of the brain. Cat brains were spatially normalized well onto the target brain due to the removal of background activity. When cerebral glucose metabolism of deaf cats were compared to the normal controls after removing the effects of the global count, the glucose metabolism in the auditory cortex, head of caudate nucleus, and thalamus in both hemispheres of the deaf cats was significantly lower than that of the controls (P<0.01). No area showed a significantly increased metabolism in the deaf cats even in higher significance level (P<0.05). ROI analysis also showed significant reduction of glucose metabolism in the same region. This study established and confirmed a method for voxel-based analysis of animal PET data of cat brain, which showed high localization accuracy and specificity and was useful for examining the cerebral glucose metabolism in a cat cortical deafness model.

Correlation between the thickness of the crestal and buccolingual cortical bone at varying depths and implant stability quotients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanthanat Chatvaratthana

Full Text Available Resonance frequency analysis (RFA is clinically used in dentistry to access the stiffness of dental implants in surrounding bone. However, the clear advantages and disadvantages of this method are still inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare implant stability quotient (ISQ values obtained from RFA with parameters obtained from a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT scan of the same region.Nineteen implants (Conelog were inserted in the posterior maxillary and mandibular partially edentulous regions of 16 patients. At the time of implant placement, the ISQ values were obtained using RFA (Osstell. CBCT was used to measure the thickness of the crestal, cortical, buccolingual cortical, and cancellous bone at 3, 6, and 9 mm below the crestal bone level, as indicated by radiographic markers. The ratio of the thickness of the cortical to cancellous bone at varying depths was also calculated and classified into 4 groups (Group 1-4.There was a strong correlation between the crestal cortical bone thickness and ISQ values (P<0.001. The thickness of the buccolingual cortical bone and ratio of the cortical to cancellous bone thickness at 3 mm were significantly related to the ISQ (P = 0.018 and P = 0.034, respectively. Furthermore, the ISQs in Group 1 were the highest compared with those in Group 2 and Group 3, whereas the CBCT parameters at 6 and 9 mm did not have any specific correlation with the ISQ values.This study showed that the ISQ values obtained from RFA highly correlated with the quantity and quality of bone 3 mm below the crestal bone level. The correlation between the ISQ and bone surrounding the implant site was dependent on the depth of measurement. Therefore, RFA can help to predict the marginal bone level, as confirmed in this study.

Voxel-by-voxel analysis of brain SPECT perfusion in Fibromyalgia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guedj, Eric; Taieb, David; Cammilleri, Serge; Lussato, David; Laforte, Catherine de; Niboyet, Jean; Mundler, Olivier

2007-01-01

We evaluated brain perfusion SPECT at rest, without noxious stiumuli, in a homogeneous group of hyperalgesic FM patients. We performed a voxel-based analysis in comparison to a control group, matched for age and gender. Under such conditions, we made the assumption that significant cerebral perfusion abnormalities could be demonstrated, evidencing altered cerebral processing associated with spontaneous pain in FM patients. The secondary objective was to study the reversibility and the prognostic value of such possible perfusion abnormalities under specific treatment. Eighteen hyperalgesic FM women (mean age 48 yr; range 25-63 yr; ACR criteria) and 10 healthy women matched for age were enrolled in the study. A voxel-by-voxel group analysis was performed using SPM2 (p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). All brain SPECT were performed before any change was made in therapy in the pain care unit. A second SPECT was performed a month later after specific treatment by Ketamine. Compared to control subjects, we observed individual brain SPECT abnormalities in FM patients, confirmed by SPM2 analysis with hyperperfusion of the somatosensory cortex and hypoperfusion of the frontal, cingulate, medial temporal and cerebellar cortices. We also found that a medial frontal and anterior cingulate hypoperfusions were highly predictive (PPV=83%; NPV=91%) of non-response on Ketamine, and that only responders showed significant modification of brain perfusion, after treatment. In the present study performed without noxious stimuli in hyperalgesic FM patients, we found significant hyperperfusion in regions of the brain known to be involved in sensory dimension of pain processing and significant hypoperfusion in areas assumed to be associated with the affective dimension. As current pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies act differently on both components of pain, we hypothesize that SPECT could be a valuable and readily available tool to guide individual therapeutic

Voxel-by-voxel analysis of brain SPECT perfusion in Fibromyalgia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guedj, Eric [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France)]. E-mail: eric.guedj@ap-hm.fr; Taieb, David [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France); Cammilleri, Serge [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France); Lussato, David [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France); Laforte, Catherine de [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France); Niboyet, Jean [Unite d' Etude et de Traitement de la Douleur, Clinique La Phoceanne, Marseille (France); Mundler, Olivier [Service Central de Biophysique et de Medecine Nucleaire, AP-HM Timone, Marseille (France)

2007-02-01

We evaluated brain perfusion SPECT at rest, without noxious stiumuli, in a homogeneous group of hyperalgesic FM patients. We performed a voxel-based analysis in comparison to a control group, matched for age and gender. Under such conditions, we made the assumption that significant cerebral perfusion abnormalities could be demonstrated, evidencing altered cerebral processing associated with spontaneous pain in FM patients. The secondary objective was to study the reversibility and the prognostic value of such possible perfusion abnormalities under specific treatment. Eighteen hyperalgesic FM women (mean age 48 yr; range 25-63 yr; ACR criteria) and 10 healthy women matched for age were enrolled in the study. A voxel-by-voxel group analysis was performed using SPM2 (p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). All brain SPECT were performed before any change was made in therapy in the pain care unit. A second SPECT was performed a month later after specific treatment by Ketamine. Compared to control subjects, we observed individual brain SPECT abnormalities in FM patients, confirmed by SPM2 analysis with hyperperfusion of the somatosensory cortex and hypoperfusion of the frontal, cingulate, medial temporal and cerebellar cortices. We also found that a medial frontal and anterior cingulate hypoperfusions were highly predictive (PPV=83%; NPV=91%) of non-response on Ketamine, and that only responders showed significant modification of brain perfusion, after treatment. In the present study performed without noxious stimuli in hyperalgesic FM patients, we found significant hyperperfusion in regions of the brain known to be involved in sensory dimension of pain processing and significant hypoperfusion in areas assumed to be associated with the affective dimension. As current pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies act differently on both components of pain, we hypothesize that SPECT could be a valuable and readily available tool to guide individual therapeutic

Bipolar disorder type I and II show distinct relationships between cortical thickness and executive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Abé, C; Rolstad, S; Petrovic, P; Ekman, C-J; Sparding, T; Ingvar, M; Landén, M

2018-06-15

Frontal cortical abnormalities and executive function impairment co-occur in bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that bipolar subtypes differ in the degree of structural and functional impairments. The relationships between cognitive performance and cortical integrity have not been clarified and might differ across patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and healthy subjects. Using a vertex-wise whole-brain analysis, we investigated how cortical integrity, as measured by cortical thickness, correlates with executive performance in patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and controls (N = 160). We found focal associations between executive function and cortical thickness in the medial prefrontal cortex in bipolar II patients and controls, but not in bipolar I disorder. In bipolar II patients, we observed additional correlations in lateral prefrontal and occipital regions. Our findings suggest that bipolar disorder patients show altered structure-function relationships, and importantly that those relationships may differ between bipolar subtypes. The findings are line with studies suggesting subtype-specific neurobiological and cognitive profiles. This study contributes to a better understanding of brain structure-function relationships in bipolar disorder and gives important insights into the neuropathophysiology of diagnostic subtypes. © 2018 The Authors Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of deep gray matter volume, cortical thickness and white matter integrity in patients with typical absence epilepsy: a study using voxelwise-based techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Correa, D.G.; Ventura, N.; Tukamoto, G.; Gasparetto, E.L. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem (CDPI), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Zimmermann, N. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Psychology, Porto Alegre (Brazil); Doring, T.M. [Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem (CDPI), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Leme, J.; Pereira, M. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Andrea, I. d' ; Rego, C.; Alves-Leon, S.V. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

2017-03-15

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cortical thickness and the volume of deep gray matter structures, measured from 3D T1-weighted gradient echo imaging, and white matter integrity, by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with typical absence epilepsy (AE). Patients (n = 19) with typical childhood AE and juvenile AE, currently taking antiepileptic medication, were compared with control subjects (n = 19), matched for gender and age. 3D T1 magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo-weighted imaging and DTI along 30 noncolinear directions were performed using a 1.5-T MR scanner. FreeSurfer was used to perform cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of deep gray matter structures. For tract-based spatial statistics analysis of DTI, a white matter skeleton was created, along with a permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations. A threshold of p < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The mean, radial, and axial diffusivities were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Patients with AE presented decreased FA and increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in the genu and the body of the corpus callosum and right anterior corona radiata, as well as decreased axial diffusivity in the left posterior thalamic radiation, inferior cerebellar peduncle, right cerebral peduncle, and right corticospinal tract. However, there were no significant differences in cortical thickness or deep gray matter structure volumes between patients with AE and controls. Abnormalities found in white matter integrity may help to better understand the pathophysiology of AE and optimize diagnosis and treatment strategies. (orig.)

Evaluation of deep gray matter volume, cortical thickness and white matter integrity in patients with typical absence epilepsy: a study using voxelwise-based techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correa, D.G.; Ventura, N.; Tukamoto, G.; Gasparetto, E.L.; Zimmermann, N.; Doring, T.M.; Leme, J.; Pereira, M.; Andrea, I. d'; Rego, C.; Alves-Leon, S.V.

2017-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cortical thickness and the volume of deep gray matter structures, measured from 3D T1-weighted gradient echo imaging, and white matter integrity, by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with typical absence epilepsy (AE). Patients (n = 19) with typical childhood AE and juvenile AE, currently taking antiepileptic medication, were compared with control subjects (n = 19), matched for gender and age. 3D T1 magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo-weighted imaging and DTI along 30 noncolinear directions were performed using a 1.5-T MR scanner. FreeSurfer was used to perform cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of deep gray matter structures. For tract-based spatial statistics analysis of DTI, a white matter skeleton was created, along with a permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations. A threshold of p < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The mean, radial, and axial diffusivities were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Patients with AE presented decreased FA and increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in the genu and the body of the corpus callosum and right anterior corona radiata, as well as decreased axial diffusivity in the left posterior thalamic radiation, inferior cerebellar peduncle, right cerebral peduncle, and right corticospinal tract. However, there were no significant differences in cortical thickness or deep gray matter structure volumes between patients with AE and controls. Abnormalities found in white matter integrity may help to better understand the pathophysiology of AE and optimize diagnosis and treatment strategies. (orig.)

A Retrospective Study on Indian Population to evaluate Cortical Bone Thickness in Maxilla and Mandible using Computed Tomography Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeegar Ketan Vakil

2014-01-01

Conclusion: Mini-implants have gained considerable popularity due to their low cost, effectiveness, clinical management and stability. Among the factors related to microimplant stability, bone density and cortical bone thickness appear to be critical for successful placement. This study will provide knowledge of cortical bone thickness in various areas which can guide the clinicians in selecting the placement site.

Construction tool and suitability of voxel phantom for skin dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antunes, Paula C.G.; Siqueira, Paulo T.D.; Fonseca, Gabriel P.; Yoriyaz, Helio

2011-01-01

This paper describes a new software tool called 'SkinVop' which was developed to enable accurate voxel phantom skin dosimetry. A voxel phantom is a model used to describe human anatomy in a realistic way in radiation transport codes. This model is a three-dimensional representation of the human body in the form of an array of identification numbers that are arranged in a 3D matrix. Each entry in this array represents a voxel (volume element) directly associated to the units of picture resolution (pixel) of medical images. Currently, these voxel phantoms, in association with the transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle), have provided subsidies to the planning systems used on the hospital routine, once they afford accurate and personalized estimative of dose distribution. However, these assessments are limited to geometric representations of organs and tissues in the voxel phantom, which do not discriminates some thin body structure, such as the skin. In this context, to enable accurate dosimetric skin dose assessment by the MCNP code, it was developed this new software tool that discriminates this region with thickness and localization in the voxel phantoms similar to the real. This methodology consists in manipulating the skin volume elements by segmenting and subdividing them in different thicknesses. A graphical user interface was designed to fulfill display the modified voxel model. This methodology is extremely useful once the skin dose is inaccurately assessed of current hospital system planning, justified justly by its small thickness. (author)

Construction tool and suitability of voxel phantom for skin dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antunes, Paula C.G.; Siqueira, Paulo T.D.; Fonseca, Gabriel P.; Yoriyaz, Helio, E-mail: ptsiquei@ipen.b, E-mail: hyoriyaz@ipen.b [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2011-07-01

This paper describes a new software tool called 'SkinVop' which was developed to enable accurate voxel phantom skin dosimetry. A voxel phantom is a model used to describe human anatomy in a realistic way in radiation transport codes. This model is a three-dimensional representation of the human body in the form of an array of identification numbers that are arranged in a 3D matrix. Each entry in this array represents a voxel (volume element) directly associated to the units of picture resolution (pixel) of medical images. Currently, these voxel phantoms, in association with the transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle), have provided subsidies to the planning systems used on the hospital routine, once they afford accurate and personalized estimative of dose distribution. However, these assessments are limited to geometric representations of organs and tissues in the voxel phantom, which do not discriminates some thin body structure, such as the skin. In this context, to enable accurate dosimetric skin dose assessment by the MCNP code, it was developed this new software tool that discriminates this region with thickness and localization in the voxel phantoms similar to the real. This methodology consists in manipulating the skin volume elements by segmenting and subdividing them in different thicknesses. A graphical user interface was designed to fulfill display the modified voxel model. This methodology is extremely useful once the skin dose is inaccurately assessed of current hospital system planning, justified justly by its small thickness. (author)

Association between cortical thickness and CSF biomarkers in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohades, Sara; Dubois, Jonathan; Parent, Maxime

regional cortical thinning (CT) measured by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and brain amyloidosis (measured by CSF Ab 1-42 concentrations), or tau hyperphosphorylation (tau 181; p-tau) in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients. We test the hypothesis that the association...... (CN; n¼8) were obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. Cortical surface reconstruction and group registration were generated using Freesurfer. A general linear model was used to conduct regressions between CSF markers and cortical thickness. Results: Correlation...

Topographic deformation patterns of knee cartilage after exercises with high knee flexion: an in vivo 3D MRI study using voxel-based analysis at 3T

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horng, Annie; Stockinger, M.; Notohamiprodjo, M.; Raya, J.G.; Pietschmann, M.; Hoehne-Hueckstaedt, U.; Glitsch, U.; Ellegast, R.; Hering, K.G.; Glaser, C.

2015-01-01

To implement a novel voxel-based technique to identify statistically significant local cartilage deformation and analyze in-vivo topographic knee cartilage deformation patterns using a voxel-based thickness map approach for high-flexion postures. Sagittal 3T 3D-T1w-FLASH-WE-sequences of 10 healthy knees were acquired before and immediately after loading (kneeling/squatting/heel sitting/knee bends). After cartilage segmentation, 3D-reconstruction and 3D-registration, colour-coded deformation maps were generated by voxel-based subtraction of loaded from unloaded datasets to visualize cartilage thickness changes in all knee compartments. Compression areas were found bifocal at the peripheral medial/caudolateral patella, both posterior femoral condyles and both anterior/central tibiae. Local cartilage thickening were found adjacent to the compression areas. Significant local strain ranged from +13 to -15 %. Changes were most pronounced after squatting, least after knee bends. Shape and location of deformation areas varied slightly with the loading paradigm, but followed a similar pattern consistent between different individuals. Voxel-based deformation maps identify individual in-vivo load-specific and posture-associated strain distribution in the articular cartilage. The data facilitate understanding individual knee loading properties and contribute to improve biomechanical 3 models. They lay a base to investigate the relationship between cartilage degeneration patterns in common osteoarthritis and areas at risk of cartilage wear due to mechanical loading in work-related activities. (orig.)

Topographic deformation patterns of knee cartilage after exercises with high knee flexion: an in vivo 3D MRI study using voxel-based analysis at 3T

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horng, Annie; Stockinger, M.; Notohamiprodjo, M. [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Munich (Germany); Raya, J.G. [New York University Langone Medical Center, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York, NY (United States); Pietschmann, M. [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Munich (Germany); Hoehne-Hueckstaedt, U.; Glitsch, U.; Ellegast, R. [Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin (Germany); Hering, K.G. [Miner' s Hospital, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Dortmund (Germany); Glaser, C. [Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Munich (Germany); RZM Zentrum, Munich (Germany)

2015-06-01

To implement a novel voxel-based technique to identify statistically significant local cartilage deformation and analyze in-vivo topographic knee cartilage deformation patterns using a voxel-based thickness map approach for high-flexion postures. Sagittal 3T 3D-T1w-FLASH-WE-sequences of 10 healthy knees were acquired before and immediately after loading (kneeling/squatting/heel sitting/knee bends). After cartilage segmentation, 3D-reconstruction and 3D-registration, colour-coded deformation maps were generated by voxel-based subtraction of loaded from unloaded datasets to visualize cartilage thickness changes in all knee compartments. Compression areas were found bifocal at the peripheral medial/caudolateral patella, both posterior femoral condyles and both anterior/central tibiae. Local cartilage thickening were found adjacent to the compression areas. Significant local strain ranged from +13 to -15 %. Changes were most pronounced after squatting, least after knee bends. Shape and location of deformation areas varied slightly with the loading paradigm, but followed a similar pattern consistent between different individuals. Voxel-based deformation maps identify individual in-vivo load-specific and posture-associated strain distribution in the articular cartilage. The data facilitate understanding individual knee loading properties and contribute to improve biomechanical 3 models. They lay a base to investigate the relationship between cartilage degeneration patterns in common osteoarthritis and areas at risk of cartilage wear due to mechanical loading in work-related activities. (orig.)

Computed tomography evaluation of human mandibles with regard to layer thickness and bone density of the cortical bone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markwardt, Jutta; Meissner, H.; Weber, A.; Reitemeier, B.; Laniado, M.

2013-01-01

Application of function-restoring individual implants for the bridging of defects in mandibles with continuity separation requires a stable fixation with special use of the cortical bone stumps. Five section planes each of 100 computed tomographies of poly-traumatized patients' jaws were used for measuring the thickness of the cortical layer and the bone density of the mandible. The CT scans of 28 female and 72 male candidates aged between 12 and 86 years with different dentition of the mandible were available. The computed tomographic evaluations of human mandibles regarding the layer thickness of the cortical bone showed that the edge of the mandible in the area of the horizontal branch possesses the biggest layer thickness of the whole of the lower jaws. The highest medians of the cortical bone layer thickness were found in the area of the molars and premolars at the lower edge of the lower jaws in 6-o'clock position, in the area of the molars in the vestibular cranial 10-o'clock position and in the chin region lingual-caudal in the 4-o'clock position. The measurement of the bone density showed the highest values in the 8-o'clock position (vestibular-caudal) in the molar region in both males and females. The average values available of the bone density and the layer thickness of the cortical bone in the various regions of the lower jaw, taking into consideration age, gender and dentition, are an important aid in practice for determining a safe fixation point for implants in the area of the surface layer of the mandible by means of screws or similar fixation elements. (orig.)

The impact of B1+ correction on MP2RAGE cortical T1 and apparent cortical thickness at 7T

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haast, Roy A M; Ivanov, Dimo; Uludağ, Kâmil

2018-01-01

Determination of cortical thickness using MRI has often been criticized due to the presence of various error sources. Specifically, anatomical MRI relying on T1 contrast may be unreliable due to spatially variable image contrast between gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid

Regional White Matter Decreases in Alzheimer's Disease Using Optimized Voxel-Based Morphometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shuyu Li; Fang Pu; Feng Shi; Sheng Xie; Yinhua Wang; Tianzi Jiang

2008-01-01

Background: Most studies that attempt to clarify structural abnormalities related to functional disconnection in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have focused on exploring pathological changes in cortical gray matter. However, white matter fibers connecting these cerebral areas may also be abnormal. Purpose: To investigate the regional changes of white matter volume in patients with AD compared to healthy subjects. Material and Methods: White matter volume changes in whole-brain magnetic resonance images acquired from 19 patients with AD and 20 healthy subjects (control group) were observed using the optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. In addition, the corpus callosum (CC) of AD patients and the control group was investigated further by outlining manually the boundary of the CC on a midsagittal slice. Each area of the CC was then corrected by dividing each subject's intracranial area in the midsagittal plane. Results: Compared with the control group, AD patients showed significantly reduced white matter volumes in the posterior part of the CC and the temporal lobe in the left and right hemispheres. Moreover, the voxel showing peak statistical difference in the posterior of the CC was left sided. The five subdivisions of the CC were also significantly smaller among the AD patients relative to the control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that these abnormalities in white matter regions may contribute to the functional disconnections in AD

Monte Carlo study of voxel S factor dependence on tissue density and atomic composition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amato, Ernesto, E-mail: eamato@unime.it [University of Messina, Department of Biomedical Sciences and of Morphologic and Functional Imaging, Section of Radiological Sciences, via Consolare Valeria, 1, I-98125 Messina (Italy); Italiano, Antonio [INFN – Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Gruppo Collegato di Messina (Italy); Baldari, Sergio [University of Messina, Department of Biomedical Sciences and of Morphologic and Functional Imaging, Section of Radiological Sciences, via Consolare Valeria, 1, I-98125 Messina (Italy)

2013-11-21

Voxel dosimetry is a common approach to the internal dosimetry of non-uniform activity distributions in nuclear medicine therapies with radiopharmaceuticals and in the estimation of the radiation hazard due to internal contamination of radionuclides. Aim of the present work is to extend our analytical approach for the calculation of voxel S factors to materials different from the soft tissue. We used a Monte Carlo simulation in GEANT4 of a voxelized region of each material in which the source of monoenergetic electrons or photons was uniformly distributed within the central voxel, and the energy deposition was scored over the surrounding 11×11×11 voxels. Voxel S factors were obtained for the following standard ICRP materials: Adipose tissue, Bone cortical, Brain, Lung, Muscle skeletal and Tissue soft with 1 g cm{sup −3} density. Moreover, we considered the standard ICRU materials: Bone compact and Muscle striated. Voxel S factors were represented as a function of the “normalized radius”, defined as the ratio between the source–target voxel distance and the voxel side. We found that voxel S factors and related analytical fit functions are mainly affected by the tissue density, while the material composition gives only a slight contribution to the difference between data series, which is negligible for practical purposes. Our results can help in broadening the dosimetric three-dimensional approach based on voxel S factors to other tissues where diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides can be taken up and radiation can propagate.

Monte Carlo study of voxel S factor dependence on tissue density and atomic composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amato, Ernesto; Italiano, Antonio; Baldari, Sergio

2013-01-01

Voxel dosimetry is a common approach to the internal dosimetry of non-uniform activity distributions in nuclear medicine therapies with radiopharmaceuticals and in the estimation of the radiation hazard due to internal contamination of radionuclides. Aim of the present work is to extend our analytical approach for the calculation of voxel S factors to materials different from the soft tissue. We used a Monte Carlo simulation in GEANT4 of a voxelized region of each material in which the source of monoenergetic electrons or photons was uniformly distributed within the central voxel, and the energy deposition was scored over the surrounding 11×11×11 voxels. Voxel S factors were obtained for the following standard ICRP materials: Adipose tissue, Bone cortical, Brain, Lung, Muscle skeletal and Tissue soft with 1 g cm −3 density. Moreover, we considered the standard ICRU materials: Bone compact and Muscle striated. Voxel S factors were represented as a function of the “normalized radius”, defined as the ratio between the source–target voxel distance and the voxel side. We found that voxel S factors and related analytical fit functions are mainly affected by the tissue density, while the material composition gives only a slight contribution to the difference between data series, which is negligible for practical purposes. Our results can help in broadening the dosimetric three-dimensional approach based on voxel S factors to other tissues where diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides can be taken up and radiation can propagate

Abnormal Gray Matter Shape, Thickness, and Volume in the Motor Cortico-Subcortical Loop in Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder: Association with Clinical and Motor Features.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahayel, Shady; Postuma, Ronald B; Montplaisir, Jacques; Bedetti, Christophe; Brambati, Simona; Carrier, Julie; Monchi, Oury; Bourgouin, Pierre-Alexandre; Gaubert, Malo; Gagnon, Jean-François

2018-02-01

Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a major risk factor for Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Anatomical gray matter abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop areas remain under studied in iRBD patients. We acquired T1-weighted images and administrated quantitative motor tasks in 41 patients with polysomnography-confirmed iRBD and 41 healthy subjects. Cortical thickness and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses were performed to investigate local cortical thickness and gray matter volume changes, vertex-based shape analysis to investigate shape of subcortical structures, and structure-based volumetric analyses to investigate volumes of subcortical and brainstem structures. Cortical thickness analysis revealed thinning in iRBD patients in bilateral medial superior frontal, orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate cortices, and the right dorsolateral primary motor cortex. VBM results showed lower gray matter volume in iRBD patients in the frontal lobes, anterior cingulate gyri, and caudate nucleus. Shape analysis revealed extensive surface contraction in the external and internal segments of the left pallidum. Clinical and motor impaired features in iRBD were associated with anomalies of the motor cortico-subcortical loop. In summary, iRBD patients showed numerous gray matter structural abnormalities in the motor cortico-subcortical loop, which are associated with lower motor performance and clinical manifestations of iRBD. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Restoration of Thickness, Density, and Volume for Highly Blurred Thin Cortical Bones in Clinical CT Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Pakdel, Amirreza; Hardisty, Michael; Fialkov, Jeffrey; Whyne, Cari

2016-11-01

In clinical CT images containing thin osseous structures, accurate definition of the geometry and density is limited by the scanner's resolution and radiation dose. This study presents and validates a practical methodology for restoring information about thin bone structure by volumetric deblurring of images. The methodology involves 2 steps: a phantom-free, post-reconstruction estimation of the 3D point spread function (PSF) from CT data sets, followed by iterative deconvolution using the PSF estimate. Performance of 5 iterative deconvolution algorithms, blind, Richardson-Lucy (standard, plus Total Variation versions), modified residual norm steepest descent (MRNSD), and Conjugate Gradient Least-Squares were evaluated using CT scans of synthetic cortical bone phantoms. The MRNSD algorithm resulted in the highest relative deblurring performance as assessed by a cortical bone thickness error (0.18 mm) and intensity error (150 HU), and was subsequently applied on a CT image of a cadaveric skull. Performance was compared against micro-CT images of the excised thin cortical bone samples from the skull (average thickness 1.08 ± 0.77 mm). Error in quantitative measurements made from the deblurred images was reduced 82% (p < 0.01) for cortical thickness and 55% (p < 0.01) for bone mineral mass. These results demonstrate a significant restoration of geometrical and radiological density information derived for thin osseous features.

Reduced Inhibitory Control Mediates the Relationship Between Cortical Thickness in the Right Superior Frontal Gyrus and Body Mass Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavagnino, Luca; Mwangi, Benson; Bauer, Isabelle E; Cao, Bo; Selvaraj, Sudhakar; Prossin, Alan; Soares, Jair C

2016-08-01

Unhealthy eating behaviors often develop in the setting of inadequate inhibitory control, a function broadly ascribed to the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Regulation of inhibitory control by the PFC and its anatomical components and their contribution to increasing body mass index (BMI) are poorly understood. To study the role of PFC in the regulation of inhibitory control and body weight, we examined measures of cortical thickness in PFC sub-regions, inhibitory control (color-word interference task (CWIT)), and BMI in 91 healthy volunteers. We tested the predictive effect of PFC sub-regional cortical thickness on BMI and mediation by inhibitory control measured with CWIT. Measures of depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI-T) and trauma-related symptoms (TSC-40) were collected; the disinhibition scale of the three-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ) was used to assess disinhibited eating. We then tested the relationship between BD-II, STAI-T, TSC-40, TFEQ, CWIT, and BMI with correlation analyses. Right superior frontal gyrus cortical thickness significantly predicted BMI (β=-0.91; t=-3.2; p=0.002). Mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of cortical thickness on BMI mediated by inhibitory control (95% CI=-6.1, -0.67). BMI was unrelated to BDI-II, STAI-T, TSC-40, or TFEQ scores. We found an inverse relationship between cortical thickness in the right-superior frontal gyrus and BMI, which was fully mediated by inhibitory control neurocognitive performance. Our results suggest possible targets for neuromodulation in obesity (ie superior frontal gyrus) and a quantifiable mediator of their effects (ie inhibitory control).

Increased Insular Cortical Thickness Associated With Symptom Severity in Male Youths With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Surface-Based Morphometric Study

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuai; Liu, Jing; Tian, Lin; Chen, Limin; Wang, Jun; Tang, Qunfeng; Zhang, Fuquan; Zhou, Zhenhe

2018-01-01

With the rising increase in Internet-usage, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has gained massive attention worldwide. However, detailed cerebral morphological changes remain unclear in youths with IGD. In the current study, our aim was to investigate cortical morphology and further explore the relationship between the cortical morphology and symptom severity in male youths with IGD. Forty-eight male youths with IGD and 32 age- and education-matched normal controls received magnetic resonance imaging scans. We employed a recently proposed surface-based morphometric approach for the measurement of cortical thickness (CT). We found that youths with IGD showed increased CT in the bilateral insulae and the right inferior temporal gyrus. Moreover, significantly decreased CT were found in several brain areas in youths with IGD, including the bilateral banks of the superior temporal sulci, the right inferior parietal cortex, the right precuneus, the right precentral gyrus, and the left middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, youths with IGD demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between the left insular CT and symptom severity. Our data provide evidence for the finding of abnormal CT in distributed cerebral areas and support the notion that altered structural abnormalities observed in substance addiction are also manifested in IGD. Such information extends current knowledge about IGD-related brain reorganization and could help future efforts in identifying the role of insula in the disorder. PMID:29666588

Increased Insular Cortical Thickness Associated With Symptom Severity in Male Youths With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Surface-Based Morphometric Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuai Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available With the rising increase in Internet-usage, Internet gaming disorder (IGD has gained massive attention worldwide. However, detailed cerebral morphological changes remain unclear in youths with IGD. In the current study, our aim was to investigate cortical morphology and further explore the relationship between the cortical morphology and symptom severity in male youths with IGD. Forty-eight male youths with IGD and 32 age- and education-matched normal controls received magnetic resonance imaging scans. We employed a recently proposed surface-based morphometric approach for the measurement of cortical thickness (CT. We found that youths with IGD showed increased CT in the bilateral insulae and the right inferior temporal gyrus. Moreover, significantly decreased CT were found in several brain areas in youths with IGD, including the bilateral banks of the superior temporal sulci, the right inferior parietal cortex, the right precuneus, the right precentral gyrus, and the left middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, youths with IGD demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between the left insular CT and symptom severity. Our data provide evidence for the finding of abnormal CT in distributed cerebral areas and support the notion that altered structural abnormalities observed in substance addiction are also manifested in IGD. Such information extends current knowledge about IGD-related brain reorganization and could help future efforts in identifying the role of insula in the disorder.

Negative correlation of cortical thickness with the severity and duration of abdominal pain in Asian women with irritable bowel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Chua, Chian Sem; Bai, Chyi-Huey; Shiao, Chen-Yu; Hsu, Chien-Yeh; Cheng, Chiao-Wen; Yang, Kuo-Ching; Chiu, Hung-Wen; Hsu, Jung-Lung

2017-01-01

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) manifests as chronic abdominal pain. One pathophysiological theory states that the brain-gut axis is responsible for pain control in the intestine. Although several studies have discussed the structural changes in the brain of IBS patients, most of these studies have been conducted in Western populations. Different cultures and sexes experience different pain sensations and have different pain responses. Accordingly, we aimed to identify the specific changes in the cortical thickness of Asian women with IBS and to compare these data to those of non-Asian women with IBS. Thirty Asian female IBS patients (IBS group) and 39 healthy individuals (control group) were included in this study. Brain structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed. We used FreeSurfer to analyze the differences in the cortical thickness and their correlations with patient characteristics. The left cuneus, left rostral middle frontal cortex, left supramarginal cortex, right caudal anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral insula exhibited cortical thinning in the IBS group compared with those in the controls. Furthermore, the brain cortical thickness correlated negatively the severity as well as duration of abdominal pain. Some of our findings differ from those of Western studies. In our study, all of the significant brain regions in the IBS group exhibited cortical thinning compared with those in the controls. The differences in cortical thickness between the IBS patients and controls may provide useful information to facilitate regulating abdominal pain in IBS patients. These findings offer insights into the association of different cultures and sexes with differences in cortical thinning in patients with IBS.

Altered grey matter volume and cortical thickness in patients with schizo-obsessive comorbidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yong-Ming; Zou, Lai-Quan; Xie, Wen-Lan

2018-01-01

Recent findings suggest that schizo-obsessive comorbidity (SOC) may be a unique diagnostic entity. We examined grey matter (GM) volume and cortical thickness in 22 patients with SOC, and compared them with 21 schizophrenia (SCZ) patients, 22 obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and 22...

Cortical thickness and surface area correlates with cognitive dysfunction among first-episode psychosis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Haring, L; Müürsepp, A; Mõttus, R; Ilves, P; Koch, K; Uppin, K; Tarnovskaja, J; Maron, E; Zharkovsky, A; Vasar, E; Vasar, V

2016-07-01

In studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), some have reported specific brain structure-function relationships among first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, but findings are inconsistent. We aimed to localize the brain regions where cortical thickness (CTh) and surface area (cortical area; CA) relate to neurocognition, by performing an MRI on participants and measuring their neurocognitive performance using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), in order to investigate any significant differences between FEP patients and control subjects (CS). Exploration of potential correlations between specific cognitive functions and brain structure was performed using CANTAB computer-based neurocognitive testing and a vertex-by-vertex whole-brain MRI analysis of 63 FEP patients and 30 CS. Significant correlations were found between cortical parameters in the frontal, temporal, cingular and occipital brain regions and performance in set-shifting, working memory manipulation, strategy usage and sustained attention tests. These correlations were significantly dissimilar between FEP patients and CS. Significant correlations between CTh and CA with neurocognitive performance were localized in brain areas known to be involved in cognition. The results also suggested a disrupted structure-function relationship in FEP patients compared with CS.

MicroCT-Based Skeletal Models for Use in Tomographic Voxel Phantoms for Radiological Protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolch, Wesley

2010-01-01

The University of Florida (UF) proposes to develop two high-resolution image-based skeletal dosimetry models for direct use by ICRP Committee 2's Task Group on Dose Calculation in their forthcoming Reference Voxel Male (RVM) and Reference Voxel Female (RVF) whole-body dosimetry phantoms. These two phantoms are CT-based, and thus do not have the image resolution to delineate and perform radiation transport modeling of the individual marrow cavities and bone trabeculae throughout their skeletal structures. Furthermore, new and innovative 3D microimaging techniques will now be required for the skeletal tissues following Committee 2's revision of the target tissues of relevance for radiogenic bone cancer induction. This target tissue had been defined in ICRP Publication 30 as a 10-(micro)m cell layer on all bone surfaces of trabecular and cortical bone. The revised target tissue is now a 50-(micro)m layer within the marrow cavities of trabecular bone only and is exclusive of the marrow adipocytes. Clearly, this new definition requires the use of 3D microimages of the trabecular architecture not available from past 2D optical studies of the adult skeleton. With our recent acquisition of two relatively young cadavers (males of age 18-years and 40-years), we will develop a series of reference skeletal models that can be directly applied to (1) the new ICRP reference voxel man and female phantoms developed for the ICRP, and (2) pediatric phantoms developed to target the ICRP reference children. Dosimetry data to be developed will include absorbed fractions for internal beta and alpha-particle sources, as well as photon and neutron fluence-to-dose response functions for direct use in external dosimetry studies of the ICRP reference workers and members of the general public

MicroCT-Based Skeletal Models for Use in Tomographic Voxel Phantoms for Radiological Protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolch, Wesley [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

2010-03-30

The University of Florida (UF) proposes to develop two high-resolution image-based skeletal dosimetry models for direct use by ICRP Committee 2’s Task Group on Dose Calculation in their forthcoming Reference Voxel Male (RVM) and Reference Voxel Female (RVF) whole-body dosimetry phantoms. These two phantoms are CT-based, and thus do not have the image resolution to delineate and perform radiation transport modeling of the individual marrow cavities and bone trabeculae throughout their skeletal structures. Furthermore, new and innovative 3D microimaging techniques will now be required for the skeletal tissues following Committee 2’s revision of the target tissues of relevance for radiogenic bone cancer induction. This target tissue had been defined in ICRP Publication 30 as a 10-μm cell layer on all bone surfaces of trabecular and cortical bone. The revised target tissue is now a 50-μm layer within the marrow cavities of trabecular bone only and is exclusive of the marrow adipocytes. Clearly, this new definition requires the use of 3D microimages of the trabecular architecture not available from past 2D optical studies of the adult skeleton. With our recent acquisition of two relatively young cadavers (males of age 18-years and 40-years), we will develop a series of reference skeletal models that can be directly applied to (1) the new ICRP reference voxel man and female phantoms developed for the ICRP, and (2) pediatric phantoms developed to target the ICRP reference children. Dosimetry data to be developed will include absorbed fractions for internal beta and alpha-particle sources, as well as photon and neutron fluence-to-dose response functions for direct use in external dosimetry studies of the ICRP reference workers and members of the general public

Cortical thickness in adolescent marijuana and alcohol users: A three-year prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Jacobus

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Studies suggest marijuana impacts gray and white matter neural tissue development, however few prospective studies have determined the relationship between cortical thickness and cannabis use spanning adolescence to young adulthood. This study aimed to understand how heavy marijuana use influences cortical thickness trajectories across adolescence. Subjects were adolescents with heavy marijuana use and concomitant alcohol use (MJ + ALC, n = 30 and controls (CON, n = 38 with limited substance use histories. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and comprehensive substance use assessment at three independent time points. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was used to look at main effects of group, time, and Group × Time interactions on cortical thickness. MJ + ALC showed thicker cortical estimates across the brain (23 regions, particularly in frontal and parietal lobes (ps < .05. More cumulative marijuana use was associated with increased thickness estimates by 3-year follow-up (ps < .05. Heavy marijuana use during adolescence and into young adulthood may be associated with altered neural tissue development and interference with neuromaturation that can have neurobehavioral consequences. Continued follow-up of adolescent marijuana users will help understand ongoing neural changes that are associated with development of problematic use into adulthood, as well as potential for neural recovery with cessation of use.

Cortical thickness in adolescent marijuana and alcohol users: A three-year prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobus, Joanna; Squeglia, Lindsay M; Meruelo, Alejandro D; Castro, Norma; Brumback, Ty; Giedd, Jay N; Tapert, Susan F

2015-12-01

Studies suggest marijuana impacts gray and white matter neural tissue development, however few prospective studies have determined the relationship between cortical thickness and cannabis use spanning adolescence to young adulthood. This study aimed to understand how heavy marijuana use influences cortical thickness trajectories across adolescence. Subjects were adolescents with heavy marijuana use and concomitant alcohol use (MJ+ALC, n=30) and controls (CON, n=38) with limited substance use histories. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and comprehensive substance use assessment at three independent time points. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was used to look at main effects of group, time, and Group × Time interactions on cortical thickness. MJ+ALC showed thicker cortical estimates across the brain (23 regions), particularly in frontal and parietal lobes (psadolescence and into young adulthood may be associated with altered neural tissue development and interference with neuromaturation that can have neurobehavioral consequences. Continued follow-up of adolescent marijuana users will help understand ongoing neural changes that are associated with development of problematic use into adulthood, as well as potential for neural recovery with cessation of use. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A voxel-based MRI morphometric study of Alzheimer's disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Jing; Li Kuncheng; Yang Yanhui; Wang Wei; Li Ke; Yan Bin; Shan Baoci

2005-01-01

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of voxel-based Morphometry (VBM) in studying Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Graymatter density were comprehensive assessed by means of VBM on T 1 -weighted MRI volume sets in 19 patients with AD and 15 healthy subjects of similar age and gender ratio, 15 healthy adults. The data were collected on Siemens 1.5 T Sonata MRI systems and analyzed by SPM 99 to generate gray matter density map. Results: Relative to healthy controls, significant clusters of reduced gray matter density were found to affect medial temporal lobe ( hippocampus) (P<0.001). For hippocampus, reduced gray matter density were 1529 in the right and 1281 in the left with right-sided predominance. Moreover, atrophy of right caudate head and left medial thalamus were showed. We demonstrate global asymmetrical cortical atrophy with sparing of the sensorimotor cortex, occipital lobe and cerebellum. Conclusion: The results from VBM are in perfect agreement with those of earlier neuroimaging, which confirmed its value in demonstrating neuroanatomy of AD. VBM, the simple and automatic approach providing a full-brain assessment of AD morphology, has a good clinical perspective. (authors)

Whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry: Multiple voxel S-value approach for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min Sun; Kim, Joong Hyun; Paeng, Jin Chul; Kang, Keon Wook; Jeong, Jae Min; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Jae Sung

2017-12-14

Personalized dosimetry with high accuracy is becoming more important because of the growing interests in personalized medicine and targeted radionuclide therapy. Voxel-based dosimetry using dose point kernel or voxel S-value (VSV) convolution is available. However, these approaches do not consider medium heterogeneity. Here, we propose a new method for whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions, which is referred to as the multiple VSV approach. Methods: The multiple numbers (N) of VSVs for media with different densities covering the whole-body density ranges were used instead of using only a single VSV for water. The VSVs were pre-calculated using GATE Monte Carlo simulation; those were convoluted with the time-integrated activity to generate density-specific dose maps. Computed tomography-based segmentation was conducted to generate binary maps for each density region. The final dose map was acquired by the summation of N segmented density-specific dose maps. We tested several sets of VSVs with different densities: N = 1 (single water VSV), 4, 6, 8, 10, and 20. To validate the proposed method, phantom and patient studies were conducted and compared with direct Monte Carlo, which was considered the ground truth. Finally, patient dosimetry (10 subjects) was conducted using the multiple VSV approach and compared with the single VSV and organ-based dosimetry approaches. Errors at the voxel- and organ-levels were reported for eight organs. Results: In the phantom and patient studies, the multiple VSV approach showed significant improvements regarding voxel-level errors, especially for the lung and bone regions. As N increased, voxel-level errors decreased, although some overestimations were observed at lung boundaries. In the case of multiple VSVs ( N = 8), we achieved voxel-level errors of 2.06%. In the dosimetry study, our proposed method showed much improved results compared to the single VSV and

Neuroanatomical correlates of tinnitus revealed by cortical thickness analysis and diffusion tensor imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldhafeeri, Faten M [The University of Liverpool, Department of Medical Imaging, School of Health Sciences, Liverpool (United Kingdom); King Khalid General Hospital, Ministry of Health, Radiology Department, Hafral-batin (Saudi Arabia); Mackenzie, Ian; Kay, Tony [Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool (United Kingdom); Alghamdi, Jamaan [The University of Liverpool, Department of Medical Imaging, School of Health Sciences, Liverpool (United Kingdom); King Abdul Aziz University, Physics Department, Faculty of Sciences, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); Sluming, Vanessa [The University of Liverpool, Department of Medical Imaging, School of Health Sciences, Liverpool (United Kingdom); Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Centre, Liverpool (United Kingdom)

2012-08-15

Tinnitus is a poorly understood auditory perception of sound in the absence of external stimuli. Convergent evidence proposes that tinnitus perception involves brain structural alterations as part of its pathophysiology. The aim of this study is to investigate the structural brain changes that might be associated with tinnitus-related stress and negative emotions. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging, we investigated grey matter and white matter (WM) alterations by estimating cortical thickness measures, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in 14 tinnitus subjects and 14 age- and sex-matched non-tinnitus subjects. Significant cortical thickness reductions were found in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal lobe and limbic system in tinnitus subjects compared to non-tinnitus subjects. Tinnitus sufferers were found to have disrupted WM integrity in tracts involving connectivity of the PFC, temporal lobe, thalamus and limbic system. Our results suggest that such neural changes may represent neural origins for tinnitus or consequences of tinnitus and its associations. (orig.)

Neuroanatomical correlates of tinnitus revealed by cortical thickness analysis and diffusion tensor imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldhafeeri, Faten M.; Mackenzie, Ian; Kay, Tony; Alghamdi, Jamaan; Sluming, Vanessa

2012-01-01

Tinnitus is a poorly understood auditory perception of sound in the absence of external stimuli. Convergent evidence proposes that tinnitus perception involves brain structural alterations as part of its pathophysiology. The aim of this study is to investigate the structural brain changes that might be associated with tinnitus-related stress and negative emotions. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging, we investigated grey matter and white matter (WM) alterations by estimating cortical thickness measures, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in 14 tinnitus subjects and 14 age- and sex-matched non-tinnitus subjects. Significant cortical thickness reductions were found in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal lobe and limbic system in tinnitus subjects compared to non-tinnitus subjects. Tinnitus sufferers were found to have disrupted WM integrity in tracts involving connectivity of the PFC, temporal lobe, thalamus and limbic system. Our results suggest that such neural changes may represent neural origins for tinnitus or consequences of tinnitus and its associations. (orig.)

Reconstruction of voxel phantoms for skin dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antunes, Paula Cristina Guimaraes

2010-01-01

Radiotherapy is a therapeutic modality that utilizes ionizing radiation for the destruction of neoplastic human cells. One of the requirements for this treatment methodology success lays on the appropriate use of planning systems, which performs, among other information, the patient's dose distribution estimate. Nowadays, transport codes have been providing huge subsidies to these planning systems, once it enables specific and accurate patient organ and tissue dosimetry. The model utilized by these codes to describe the human anatomy in a realistic way is known as voxel phantoms, which are represented by discrete volume elements (voxels) directly associated to tomographic data. Nowadays, voxel phantoms doable of being inserted and processed by the transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) presents a 3-4 mm image resolution; however, such resolution limits some thin body structure discrimination, such as skin. In this context, this work proposes a calculus routine that discriminates this region with thickness and localization in the voxel phantoms similar to the real, leading to an accurate dosimetric skin dose assessment by the MCNP code. Moreover, this methodology consists in manipulating the voxel phantoms volume elements by segmenting and subdividing it in different skin thickness. In addition to validate the skin dose calculated data, a set of experimental evaluations with thermoluminescent dosimeters were performed in an anthropomorphic phantom. Due to significant differences observed on the dose distribution of several skin representations, it was found that is important to discriminate the skin thickness similar to the real. The presented methodology is useful to obtain an accurate skin dosimetric evaluation for several radiotherapy procedures, with particular interest on the electron beam radiotherapy, in which highlights the whole body irradiation therapy (TSET), a procedure under implementation at the Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of congruent voxels

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Piqué, Alberto, E-mail: pique@nrl.navy.mil [Materials Science and Technology Division, Code 6364, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Kim, Heungsoo; Auyeung, Raymond C.Y.; Beniam, Iyoel [Materials Science and Technology Division, Code 6364, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Breckenfeld, Eric [National Research Council Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

2016-06-30

Highlights: • Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is demonstrated with high viscosity Ag nanopaste. • Under the right conditions (viscosity and fluence) the transfer of congruent voxels was achieved. • For viscosities under 100 Pa s, congruent voxel transfer of silver nano-suspensions is only possible under a very narrow range of conditions. • For viscosities over 100 Pa s, congruent voxel transfer of silver nano-pastes works over a wider range of fluences, donor substrate thickness, gap distances and voxel areas. • The laser transfer of congruent voxels can be used for printing electronic patterns in particular interconnects. - Abstract: Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of functional materials offers unique advantages and capabilities for the rapid prototyping of electronic, optical and sensor elements. The use of LIFT for printing high viscosity metallic nano-inks and nano-pastes can be optimized for the transfer of voxels congruent with the shape of the laser pulse, forming thin film-like structures non-lithographically. These processes are capable of printing patterns with excellent lateral resolution and thickness uniformity typically found in 3-dimensional stacked assemblies, MEMS-like structures and free-standing interconnects. However, in order to achieve congruent voxel transfer with LIFT, the particle size and viscosity of the ink or paste suspensions must be adjusted to minimize variations due to wetting and drying effects. When LIFT is carried out with high-viscosity nano-suspensions, the printed voxel size and shape become controllable parameters, allowing the printing of thin-film like structures whose shape is determined by the spatial distribution of the laser pulse. The result is a new level of parallelization beyond current serial direct-write processes whereby the geometry of each printed voxel can be optimized according to the pattern design. This work shows how LIFT of congruent voxels can be applied to the fabrication of 2D

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of congruent voxels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piqué, Alberto; Kim, Heungsoo; Auyeung, Raymond C.Y.; Beniam, Iyoel; Breckenfeld, Eric

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is demonstrated with high viscosity Ag nanopaste. • Under the right conditions (viscosity and fluence) the transfer of congruent voxels was achieved. • For viscosities under 100 Pa s, congruent voxel transfer of silver nano-suspensions is only possible under a very narrow range of conditions. • For viscosities over 100 Pa s, congruent voxel transfer of silver nano-pastes works over a wider range of fluences, donor substrate thickness, gap distances and voxel areas. • The laser transfer of congruent voxels can be used for printing electronic patterns in particular interconnects. - Abstract: Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of functional materials offers unique advantages and capabilities for the rapid prototyping of electronic, optical and sensor elements. The use of LIFT for printing high viscosity metallic nano-inks and nano-pastes can be optimized for the transfer of voxels congruent with the shape of the laser pulse, forming thin film-like structures non-lithographically. These processes are capable of printing patterns with excellent lateral resolution and thickness uniformity typically found in 3-dimensional stacked assemblies, MEMS-like structures and free-standing interconnects. However, in order to achieve congruent voxel transfer with LIFT, the particle size and viscosity of the ink or paste suspensions must be adjusted to minimize variations due to wetting and drying effects. When LIFT is carried out with high-viscosity nano-suspensions, the printed voxel size and shape become controllable parameters, allowing the printing of thin-film like structures whose shape is determined by the spatial distribution of the laser pulse. The result is a new level of parallelization beyond current serial direct-write processes whereby the geometry of each printed voxel can be optimized according to the pattern design. This work shows how LIFT of congruent voxels can be applied to the fabrication of 2D

Comparing the influence of crestal cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone in posterior maxilla bi-cortical dental implantation: a three-dimensional finite element analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xu; Zhang, Xinwen; Chi, Weichao; Ai, Hongjun; Wu, Lin

2015-05-01

This study aimed to compare the influence of alveolar ridge cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone in sinus areabi-cortical dental implantation by means of 3D finite element analysis. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models in a posterior maxillary region with sinus membrane and the same height of alveolar ridge of 10 mm were generated according to the anatomical data of the sinus area. They were either with fixed thickness of crestal cortical bone and variable thickness of sinus floor cortical bone or vice versa. Ten models were assumed to be under immediate loading or conventional loading. The standard implant model based on the Nobel Biocare implant system was created via computer-aided design software. All materials were assumed to be isotropic and linearly elastic. An inclined force of 129 N was applied. Von Mises stress mainly concentrated on the surface of crestal cortical bone around the implant neck. For all the models, both the axial and buccolingual resonance frequencies of conventional loading were higher than those of immediate loading; however, the difference is less than 5%. The results showed that bi-cortical implant in sinus area increased the stability of the implant, especially for immediately loading implantation. The thickness of both crestal cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone influenced implant micromotion and stress distribution; however, crestal cortical bone may be more important than sinus floor cortical bone.

Cortical thickness abnormalities associated with dyslexia, independent of remediation status

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yizhou; Koyama, Maki S.; Milham, Michael P.; Castellanos, F. Xavier; Quinn, Brian T.; Pardoe, Heath; Wang, Xiuyuan; Kuzniecky, Ruben; Devinsky, Orrin; Thesen, Thomas; Blackmon, Karen

2014-01-01

Abnormalities in cortical structure are commonly observed in children with dyslexia in key regions of the “reading network.” Whether alteration in cortical features reflects pathology inherent to dyslexia or environmental influence (e.g., impoverished reading experience) remains unclear. To address this question, we compared MRI-derived metrics of cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), gray matter volume (GMV), and their lateralization across three different groups of children with a historical diagnosis of dyslexia, who varied in current reading level. We compared three dyslexia subgroups with: (1) persistent reading and spelling impairment; (2) remediated reading impairment (normal reading scores), and (3) remediated reading and spelling impairments (normal reading and spelling scores); and a control group of (4) typically developing children. All groups were matched for age, gender, handedness, and IQ. We hypothesized that the dyslexia group would show cortical abnormalities in regions of the reading network relative to controls, irrespective of remediation status. Such a finding would support that cortical abnormalities are inherent to dyslexia and are not a consequence of abnormal reading experience. Results revealed increased CT of the left fusiform gyrus in the dyslexia group relative to controls. Similarly, the dyslexia group showed CT increase of the right superior temporal gyrus, extending into the planum temporale, which resulted in a rightward CT asymmetry on lateralization indices. There were no group differences in SA, GMV, or their lateralization. These findings held true regardless of remediation status. Each reading level group showed the same “double hit” of atypically increased left fusiform CT and rightward superior temporal CT asymmetry. Thus, findings provide evidence that a developmental history of dyslexia is associated with CT abnormalities, independent of remediation status. PMID:25610779

Cortical Thinning and Altered Cortico-Cortical Structural Covariance of the Default Mode Network in Patients with Persistent Insomnia Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Sooyeon; Kim, Hosung; Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh; Joo, Eunyeon; Shin, Chol

2016-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that structural abnormalities in insomnia may be linked with alterations in the default-mode network (DMN). This study compared cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia (PI) and good sleepers (GS). The current study used a clinical subsample from the longitudinal community-based Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia symptoms (PIS; n = 57) were compared to good sleepers (GS; n = 40). All participants underwent MRI acquisition. Based on literature review, we selected cortical regions corresponding to the DMN. A seed-based structural covariance analysis measured cortical thickness correlation between each seed region of the DMN and other cortical areas. Association of cortical thickness and covariance with sleep quality and neuropsychological assessments were further assessed. Compared to GS, cortical thinning was found in PIS in the anterior cingulate cortex, precentral cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. Decreased structural connectivity between anterior and posterior regions of the DMN was observed in the PIS group. Decreased structural covariance within the DMN was associated with higher PSQI scores. Cortical thinning in the lateral frontal lobe was related to poor performance in executive function in PIS. Disrupted structural covariance network in PIS might reflect malfunctioning of antero-posterior disconnection of the DMN during the wake to sleep transition that is commonly found during normal sleep. The observed structural network alteration may further implicate commonly observed sustained sleep difficulties and cognitive impairment in insomnia. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Combining voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging to detect age-related brain changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmbeck, Jan T; Brassen, Stefanie; Weber-Fahr, Wolfgang; Braus, Dieter F

2006-04-03

The present study combined optimized voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging to detect age-related brain changes. We compared grey matter density maps (grey matter voxel-based morphometry) and white matter fractional anisotropy maps (diffusion tensor imaging-voxel-based morphometry) between two groups of 17 younger and 17 older women. Older women exhibited reduced white matter fractional anisotropy as well as decreased grey matter density most prominently in the frontal, limbic, parietal and temporal lobes. A discriminant analysis identified four frontal and limbic grey and white matter areas that separated the two groups most effectively. We conclude that grey matter voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging voxel-based morphometry are well suited for the detection of age-related changes and their combination provides high accuracy when detecting the neural correlates of aging.

Contributions of polygenic risk for obesity to PTSD-related metabolic syndrome and cortical thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Erika J; Miller, Danielle R; Logue, Mark W; Sumner, Jennifer; Stoop, Tawni B; Leritz, Elizabeth C; Hayes, Jasmeet P; Stone, Annjanette; Schichman, Steven A; McGlinchey, Regina E; Milberg, William P; Miller, Mark W

2017-10-01

Research suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and that PTSD-associated MetS is related to decreased cortical thickness. However, the role of genetic factors in these associations is unclear. This study evaluated contributions of polygenic obesity risk and PTSD to MetS and of MetS and polygenic obesity risk to cortical thickness. 196 white, non-Hispanic veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underwent clinical diagnostic interviews, physiological assessments, and genome-wide genotyping; 168 also completed magnetic resonance imaging scans. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for obesity were calculated from results of a prior genome-wide association study (Speliotes et al., 2010) and PTSD and MetS severity factor scores were obtained. Obesity PRS (β=0.15, p=0.009) and PTSD (β=0.17, p=0.005) predicted MetS and interacted such that the association between PTSD and MetS was stronger in individuals with greater polygenic obesity risk (β=0.13, p=0.02). Whole-brain vertex-wise analyses suggested that obesity PRS interacted with MetS to predict decreased cortical thickness in left rostral middle frontal gyrus (β=-0.40, pobesity genetic risk increases stress-related metabolic pathology, and compounds the ill health effects of MetS on the brain. Genetic proclivity towards MetS should be considered in PTSD patients when prescribing psychotropic medications with adverse metabolic profiles. Results are consistent with a growing literature suggestive of PTSD-related accelerated aging. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Mild traumatic brain injury is associated with reduced cortical thickness in those at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Jasmeet P; Logue, Mark W; Sadeh, Naomi; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Verfaellie, Mieke; Hayes, Scott M; Reagan, Andrew; Salat, David H; Wolf, Erika J; McGlinchey, Regina E; Milberg, William P; Stone, Annjanette; Schichman, Steven A; Miller, Mark W

2017-03-01

Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury is one of the strongest environmental risk factors for the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as late-onset Alzheimer's disease, although it is unclear whether mild traumatic brain injury, or concussion, also confers risk. This study examined mild traumatic brain injury and genetic risk as predictors of reduced cortical thickness in brain regions previously associated with early Alzheimer's disease, and their relationship with episodic memory. Participants were 160 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans between the ages of 19 and 58, many of whom carried mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses. Whole-genome polygenic risk scores for the development of Alzheimer's disease were calculated using summary statistics from the largest Alzheimer's disease genome-wide association study to date. Results showed that mild traumatic brain injury moderated the relationship between genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and cortical thickness, such that individuals with mild traumatic brain injury and high genetic risk showed reduced cortical thickness in Alzheimer's disease-vulnerable regions. Among males with mild traumatic brain injury, high genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease was associated with cortical thinning as a function of time since injury. A moderated mediation analysis showed that mild traumatic brain injury and high genetic risk indirectly influenced episodic memory performance through cortical thickness, suggesting that cortical thinning in Alzheimer's disease-vulnerable brain regions is a mechanism for reduced memory performance. Finally, analyses that examined the apolipoprotein E4 allele, post-traumatic stress disorder, and genetic risk for schizophrenia and depression confirmed the specificity of the Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk finding. These results provide evidence that mild traumatic brain injury is associated with greater neurodegeneration and reduced memory performance

Cortical Thickness Changes and Their Relationship to Dual-Task Performance following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Urban, Karolina J; Riggs, Lily; Wells, Greg D; Keightley, Michelle; Chen, Jen-Kai; Ptito, Alain; Fait, Philippe; Taha, Tim; Sinopoli, Katia J

2017-02-15

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in youth, especially in those who participate in sport. Recent investigations from our group have shown that asymptomatic children and adolescents with mTBI continue to exhibit alterations in neural activity and cognitive performance compared with those without a history of mTBI. This is an intriguing finding, given that current return-to-learn and return-to-play protocols rely predominately on subjective symptom reports, which may not be sensitive enough to detect subtle injury-related changes. As a result, youth may be at greater risk for re-injury and long-term consequences if they are cleared for activity while their brains continue to be compromised. It is currently unknown whether mTBI also affects brain microstructure in the developing brain, particularly cortical thickness, and whether such changes are also related to cognitive performance. The present study examined cortical thickness in 13 asymptomatic youth (10-14 years old) who had sustained an mTBI 3-8 months prior to testing compared with 14 age-matched typically developing controls. Cortical thickness was also examined in relation to working memory performance during single and dual task paradigms. The results show that youth who had sustained an mTBI had thinner cortices in the left dorsolateral prefrontal region and right anterior and posterior inferior parietal lobes. Additionally, cortical thinning was associated with slower reaction time during the dual-task condition in the injured youth only. The results also point to a possible relationship between functional and structural alterations as a result of mTBI in youth, and lend evidence for neural changes beyond symptom resolution.

Efficiency factors for Phoswich based lung monitor using ICRP Voxel phantoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manohari, M.; Mathiyarasu, R.; Rajagopal, V.; Jose, M.T.; Venkatraman, B.

2016-01-01

The actinide contamination in lungs is measured either using array of HPGe detector or Phoswich based lung monitors. This paper discusses the results obtained during numerical calibration of Phoswich based lung counting system using ICRP VOXEL phantoms. The results are also compared with measured efficiency values obtained using LLNL phantom. The efficiency factors of 241 Am present in the lungs for phoswich detector was simulated using ICRP male voxel phantom and compared with experimentally observed values using LLNL Phantom. The observed deviation is 12%. The efficiency of the same for female subjects was estimated using ICRP female voxel phantom for both supine and posterior geometries

Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Elías Hernández

Full Text Available To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation.Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level, were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry.Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators.The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.

Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, Sergio Elías; Suero, José; Barros, Alfonso; González-Mora, José Luis; Rubia, Katya

2016-01-01

To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation. Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level, were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry. Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators. The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.

A voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging analysis of asymptomatic Parkinson's disease-related G2019S LRRK2 mutation carriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Thaler, Avner; Artzi, Moran; Mirelman, Anat; Jacob, Yael; Helmich, Rick C; van Nuenen, Bart F L; Gurevich, Tanya; Orr-Urtreger, Avi; Marder, Karen; Bressman, Susan; Bloem, Bastiaan R; Hendler, Talma; Giladi, Nir; Ben Bashat, Dafna

2014-05-01

Patients with Parkinson's disease have reduced gray matter volume and fractional anisotropy in both cortical and sub-cortical structures, yet changes in the pre-motor phase of the disease are unknown. A comprehensive imaging study using voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging tract-based spatial statistics analysis was performed on 64 Ashkenazi Jewish asymptomatic first degree relatives of patients with Parkinson's disease (30 mutation carriers), who carry the G2019S mutation in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene. No between-group differences in gray matter volume could be noted in either whole-brain or volume-of-interest analysis. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis did not identify group differences in white matter areas, and volume-of-interest analysis identified no differences in diffusivity parameters in Parkinson's disease-related structures. G2019S carriers do not manifest changes in gray matter volume or diffusivity parameters in Parkinson's disease-related structures prior to the appearance of motor symptoms. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Reduced frontal cortex thickness and cortical volume associated with pathological narcissism.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yu; Sang, Na; Wang, Yongchao; Hou, Xin; Huang, Hui; Wei, Dongtao; Zhang, Jinfu; Qiu, Jiang

2016-07-22

Pathological narcissism is often characterized by arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy, and willingness to exploit other individuals. Generally, individuals with high levels of narcissism are more likely to suffer mental disorders. However, the brain structural basis of individual pathological narcissism trait among healthy people has not yet been investigated with surface-based morphometry. Thus, in this study, we investigated the relationship between cortical thickness (CT), cortical volume (CV), and individual pathological narcissism in a large healthy sample of 176 college students. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlation between regional CT, CV, and the total Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) score, adjusting for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. The results showed that the PNI score was significantly negatively associated with CT and CV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, key region of the central executive network, CEN), which might be associated with impaired emotion regulation processes. Furthermore, the PNI score showed significant negative associations with CV in the right postcentral gyrus, left medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and the CT in the right inferior frontal cortex (IFG, overlap with social brain network), which may be related to impairments in social cognition. Together, these findings suggest a unique structural basis for individual differences in pathological narcissism, distributed across different gray matter regions of the social brain network and CEN. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphometric differences in planum temporale in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder revealed by statistical analysis of Labeled Cortical Depth Maps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Tilak eRatnanather

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Differences in cortical thickness in the lateral temporal lobe, including the planum temporale (PT, have been reported in MRI studies of schizophrenia (SCZ and bipolar disorder (BPD patients. Most of these studies have used a single-valued global or local measure for thickness. However, additional and complementary information can be obtained by generating Labelled Cortical Depth Maps (LCDMs, which are distances of labeled gray matter voxels from the nearest point on the gray/white matter (inner cortical surface. Statistical analyses of pooled and censored LCDM distances reveal subtle differences in PT between SCZ and BPD groups from data generated by Ratnanather et al. (Schizophrenia Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2013.08.014. These results confirm that the left PT (LPT is more sensitive than the right PT in distinguishing between SCZ, BPD and healthy controls. Also confirmed is a strong gender effect, with a thicker PT seen in males than in females. The differences between groups at smaller distances in the LPT revealed by pooled and censored LCDM analysis suggest that SCZ and BPD have different effects on the cortical mantle close to the gray/white matter surface. This is consistent with reported subtle changes in the cortical mantle observed in postmortem studies.

Regional White Matter Decreases in Alzheimer's Disease Using Optimized Voxel-Based Morphometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shuyu Li; Fang Pu; Feng Shi; Sheng Xie; Yinhua Wang; Tianzi Jiang [Dept. of Bioengineering, Beijing Univ. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing (China)

2008-02-15

Background: Most studies that attempt to clarify structural abnormalities related to functional disconnection in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have focused on exploring pathological changes in cortical gray matter. However, white matter fibers connecting these cerebral areas may also be abnormal. Purpose: To investigate the regional changes of white matter volume in patients with AD compared to healthy subjects. Material and Methods: White matter volume changes in whole-brain magnetic resonance images acquired from 19 patients with AD and 20 healthy subjects (control group) were observed using the optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. In addition, the corpus callosum (CC) of AD patients and the control group was investigated further by outlining manually the boundary of the CC on a midsagittal slice. Each area of the CC was then corrected by dividing each subject's intracranial area in the midsagittal plane. Results: Compared with the control group, AD patients showed significantly reduced white matter volumes in the posterior part of the CC and the temporal lobe in the left and right hemispheres. Moreover, the voxel showing peak statistical difference in the posterior of the CC was left sided. The five subdivisions of the CC were also significantly smaller among the AD patients relative to the control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that these abnormalities in white matter regions may contribute to the functional disconnections in AD.

Regional White Matter Decreases in Alzheimer's Disease Using Optimized Voxel-Based Morphometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shuyu Li; Fang Pu; Feng Shi; Sheng Xie; Yinhua Wang; Tianzi Jiang (Dept. of Bioengineering, Beijing Univ. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing (China))

2008-02-15

Background: Most studies that attempt to clarify structural abnormalities related to functional disconnection in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have focused on exploring pathological changes in cortical gray matter. However, white matter fibers connecting these cerebral areas may also be abnormal. Purpose: To investigate the regional changes of white matter volume in patients with AD compared to healthy subjects. Material and Methods: White matter volume changes in whole-brain magnetic resonance images acquired from 19 patients with AD and 20 healthy subjects (control group) were observed using the optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. In addition, the corpus callosum (CC) of AD patients and the control group was investigated further by outlining manually the boundary of the CC on a midsagittal slice. Each area of the CC was then corrected by dividing each subject's intracranial area in the midsagittal plane. Results: Compared with the control group, AD patients showed significantly reduced white matter volumes in the posterior part of the CC and the temporal lobe in the left and right hemispheres. Moreover, the voxel showing peak statistical difference in the posterior of the CC was left sided. The five subdivisions of the CC were also significantly smaller among the AD patients relative to the control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that these abnormalities in white matter regions may contribute to the functional disconnections in AD

Mesenchymal stem cells can modulate longitudinal changes in cortical thickness and its related cognitive decline in patients with multiple system atrophy

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Sunwoo, Mun Kyung; Yun, Hyuk Jin; Song, Sook K.; Ham, Ji Hyun; Hong, Jin Yong; Lee, Ji E.; Lee, Hye S.; Sohn, Young H.; Lee, Jong-Min; Lee, Phil Hyu

2014-01-01

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is an adult-onset, sporadic neurodegenerative disease. Because the prognosis of MSA is fatal, neuroprotective or regenerative strategies may be invaluable in MSA treatment. Previously, we obtained clinical and imaging evidence that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatment could have a neuroprotective role in MSA patients. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of MSC therapy on longitudinal changes in subcortical deep gray matter volumes and cortical thickness and their association with cognitive performance. Clinical and imaging data were obtained from our previous randomized trial of autologous MSC in MSA patients. During 1-year follow-up, we assessed longitudinal differences in automatic segmentation-based subcortical deep gray matter volumes and vertex-wise cortical thickness between placebo (n = 15) and MSC groups (n = 11). Next, we performed correlation analysis between the changes in cortical thickness and changes in the Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores and cognitive performance of each cognitive subdomain using a multiple, comparison correction. There were no significant differences in age at baseline, age at disease onset, gender ratio, disease duration, clinical severity, MoCA score, or education level between the groups. The automated subcortical volumetric analysis revealed that the changes in subcortical deep gray matter volumes of the caudate, putamen, and thalamus did not differ significantly between the groups. The areas of cortical thinning over time in the placebo group were more extensive, including the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas, whereas these areas in the MSC group were less extensive. Correlation analysis indicated that declines in MoCA scores and phonemic fluency during the follow-up period were significantly correlated with cortical thinning of the frontal and posterior temporal areas and anterior temporal areas in MSA patients, respectively. In contrast, no

Irritability Trajectories, Cortical Thickness, and Clinical Outcomes in a Sample Enriched for Preschool Depression.

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Pagliaccio, David; Pine, Daniel S; Barch, Deanna M; Luby, Joan L; Leibenluft, Ellen

2018-05-01

Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and genetic associations exist between irritability and depression. Prior studies have examined developmental trajectories of irritability, clinical outcomes, and associations with child and familial depression. However, studies have not integrated neurobiological measures. The present study examined developmental trajectories of irritability, clinical outcomes, and cortical structure among preschoolers oversampled for depressive symptoms. Beginning at 3 to 5 years old, a sample of 271 children enriched for early depressive symptoms were assessed longitudinally by clinical interview. Latent class mixture models identified trajectories of irritability severity. Risk factors, clinical outcomes, and cortical thickness were compared across trajectory classes. Cortical thickness measures were extracted from 3 waves of magnetic resonance imaging at 7 to 12 years of age. Three trajectory classes were identified among these youth: 53.50% of children exhibited elevated irritability during preschool that decreased longitudinally, 30.26% exhibited consistently low irritability, and 16.24% exhibited consistently elevated irritability. Compared with other classes, the elevated irritability class exhibited higher rates of maternal depression, early life adversity, later psychiatric diagnoses, and functional impairment. Further, elevated baseline irritability predicted later depression beyond adversity and personal and maternal depression history. The elevated irritability class exhibited a thicker cortex in the left superior frontal and temporal gyri and the right inferior parietal lobule. Irritability manifested with specific developmental trajectories in this sample enriched for early depression. Persistently elevated irritability predicted poor psychiatric outcomes, higher risk for later depression, and decreased overall function later in development. Greater frontal, temporal, and parietal cortical thickness also was found, providing neural

Effects of cross-sex hormone treatment on cortical thickness in transsexual individuals.

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Zubiaurre-Elorza, Leire; Junque, Carme; Gómez-Gil, Esther; Guillamon, Antonio

2014-05-01

Untreated transsexuals have a brain cortical phenotype. Cross-sex hormone treatments are used to masculinize or feminize the bodies of female-to-male (FtMs) or male-to-female (MtFs) transsexuals, respectively. A longitudinal design was conducted to investigate the effects of treatments on brain cortical thickness (CTh) of FtMs and MtFs. This study investigated 15 female-to-male (FtMs) and 14 male-to-female (MtFs) transsexuals prior and during at least six months of cross-sex hormone therapy treatment. Brain MRI imaging was performed in a 3-Tesla TIM-TRIO Siemens scanner. T1-weighted images were analyzed with FreeSurfer software to obtain CTh as well as subcortical volumetric values. Changes in brain CTh thickness and volumetry associated to changes in hormonal levels due to cross-sex hormone therapy. After testosterone treatment, FtMs showed increases of CTh bilaterally in the postcentral gyrus and unilaterally in the inferior parietal, lingual, pericalcarine, and supramarginal areas of the left hemisphere and the rostral middle frontal and the cuneus region of the right hemisphere. There was a significant positive correlation between the serum testosterone and free testosterone index changes and CTh changes in parieto-temporo-occipital regions. In contrast, MtFs, after estrogens and antiandrogens treatment, showed a general decrease in CTh and subcortical volumetric measures and an increase in the volume of the ventricles. Testosterone therapy increases CTh in FtMs. Thickening in cortical regions is associated to changes in testosterone levels. Estrogens and antiandrogens therapy in MtFs is associated to a decrease in the CTh that consequently induces an enlargement of the ventricular system. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

[Voxel-Based Morphometry in Autism Spectrum Disorder].

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Yamasue, Hidenori

2017-05-01

Autism spectrum disorder shows deficits in social communication and interaction including nonverbal communicative behaviors (e.g., eye contact, gestures, voice prosody, and facial expressions) and restricted and repetitive behaviors as its core symptoms. These core symptoms are emerged as an atypical behavioral development in toddlers with the disorder. Atypical neural development is considered to be a neural underpinning of such behaviorally atypical development. A number of studies using voxel-based morphometry have already been conducted to compare regional brain volumes between individuals with autism spectrum disorder and those with typical development. Furthermore, more than ten papers employing meta-analyses of the comparisons using voxel based morphometry between individuals with autism spectrum disorder and those with typical development have already been published. The current review paper adds some brief discussions about potential factors contributing to the inconsistency observed in the previous findings such as difficulty in controlling the confounding effects of different developmental phases among study participants.

A voxel-based approach to gray matter asymmetries.

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Luders, E; Gaser, C; Jancke, L; Schlaug, G

2004-06-01

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze gray matter (GM) asymmetries in a large sample (n = 60) of male and female professional musicians with and without absolute pitch (AP). We chose to examine these particular groups because previous studies using traditional region-of-interest (ROI) analyses have shown differences in hemispheric asymmetry related to AP and gender. Voxel-based methods may have advantages over traditional ROI-based methods since the analysis can be performed across the whole brain with minimal user bias. After determining that the VBM method was sufficiently sensitive for the detection of differences in GM asymmetries between groups, we found that male AP musicians were more leftward lateralized in the anterior region of the planum temporale (PT) than male non-AP musicians. This confirmed the results of previous studies using ROI-based methods that showed an association between PT asymmetry and the AP phenotype. We further observed that male non-AP musicians revealed an increased leftward GM asymmetry in the postcentral gyrus compared to female non-AP musicians, again corroborating results of a previously published study using ROI-based methods. By analyzing hemispheric GM differences across our entire sample, we were able to partially confirm findings of previous studies using traditional morphometric techniques, as well as more recent, voxel-based analyses. In addition, we found some unusually pronounced GM asymmetries in our musician sample not previously detected in subjects unselected for musical training. Since we were able to validate gender- and AP-related brain asymmetries previously described using traditional ROI-based morphometric techniques, the results of our analyses support the use of VBM for examinations of GM asymmetries.

AVP-stimulated nucleotide secretion in perfused mouse medullary thick ascending limb and cortical collecting duct

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Elvin V. P.; Prætorius, Helle; Leipziger, Jens Georg

2009-01-01

is stimulated remain elusive. Here, we investigate the phenomenon of nucleotide secretion in intact, perfused mouse medullary thick ascending limb (mTAL) and cortical collecting duct (CCD). The nucleotide secretion was monitored by a biosensor adapted to register nucleotides in the tubular outflow...

Altered Brain Network in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Resting Graph Theory-Based Network Study at Voxel-Wise Level.

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Zhou, Chaoyang; Hu, Xiaofei; Hu, Jun; Liang, Minglong; Yin, Xuntao; Chen, Lin; Zhang, Jiuquan; Wang, Jian

2016-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare degenerative disorder characterized by loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Neuroimaging has provided noticeable evidence that ALS is a complex disease, and shown that anatomical and functional lesions extend beyond precentral cortices and corticospinal tracts, to include the corpus callosum; frontal, sensory, and premotor cortices; thalamus; and midbrain. The aim of this study is to investigate graph theory-based functional network abnormalities at voxel-wise level in ALS patients on a whole brain scale. Forty-three ALS patients and 44 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled. The voxel-wise network degree centrality (DC), a commonly employed graph-based measure of network organization, was used to characterize the alteration of whole brain functional network. Compared with the controls, the ALS patients showed significant increase of DC in the left cerebellum posterior lobes, bilateral cerebellum crus, bilateral occipital poles, right orbital frontal lobe, and bilateral prefrontal lobes; significant decrease of DC in the bilateral primary motor cortex, bilateral sensory motor region, right prefrontal lobe, left bilateral precuneus, bilateral lateral temporal lobes, left cingulate cortex, and bilateral visual processing cortex. The DC's z-scores of right inferior occipital gyrus were significant negative correlated with the ALSFRS-r scores. Our findings confirm that the regions with abnormal network DC in ALS patients were located in multiple brain regions including primary motor, somatosensory and extra-motor areas, supporting the concept that ALS is a multisystem disorder. Specifically, our study found that DC in the visual areas was altered and ALS patients with higher DC in right inferior occipital gyrus have more severity of disease. The result demonstrated that the altered DC value in this region can probably be used to assess severity of ALS.

Altered brain network in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: a resting graph theory-based network study at voxel-wise level

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Chaoyang eZhou

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS is a rare degenerative disorder characterized by loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Neuroimaging has provided noticeable evidence that ALS is a complex disease, and shown that anatomical and functional lesions extend beyond precentral cortices and corticospinal tracts, to include the corpus callosum; frontal, sensory, and premotor cortices; thalamus; and midbrain. The aim of this study is to investigate graph theory-based functional network abnormalities at voxel-wise level in ALS patients on a whole brain scale. Forty-three ALS patients and 44 age- and sex- matched healthy volunteers were enrolled. The voxel-wise network degree centrality (DC, a commonly employed graph-based measure of network organization, was used to characterize the alteration of whole brain functional network. Compared with the controls, the ALS patients showed significant increase of DC in the left cerebellum posterior lobes, bilateral cerebellum crus, bilateral occipital poles, right orbital frontal lobe and bilateral prefrontal lobes; significant decrease of DC in the bilateral primary motor cortex, bilateral sensory motor region, right prefrontal lobe, left bilateral precuneus, bilateral lateral temporal lobes, left cingulate cortex, and bilateral visual processing cortex. The DC’s z-scores of right inferior occipital gyrus were significant negative correlated with the ALSFRS-r scores. Our findings confirm that the regions with abnormal network DC in ALS patients were located in multiple brain regions including primary motor, somatosensory and extra-motor areas, supporting the concept that ALS is a multisystem disorder. Specifically, our study found that DC in the visual areas was altered and ALS patients with higher DC in right inferior occipital gyrus have more severity of disease. The result demonstrated that the altered DC value in this region can probably be used to assess severity of ALS.

Brief communication: Paleobiological inferences on the locomotor repertoire of extinct hominoids based on femoral neck cortical thickness: The fossil great ape hispanopithecus laietanus as a test-case study.

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Pina, Marta; Alba, David M; Almécija, Sergio; Fortuny, Josep; Moyà-Solà, Salvador

2012-09-01

The relationship between femoral neck superior and inferior cortical thickness in primates is related to locomotor behavior. This relationship has been employed to infer bipedalism in fossil hominins, although bipeds share the same pattern of generalized quadrupeds, where the superior cortex is thinner than the inferior one. In contrast, knuckle-walkers and specialized suspensory taxa display a more homogeneous distribution of cortical bone. These different patterns, probably related to the range of movement at the hip joint and concomitant differences in the load stresses at the femoral neck, are very promising for making locomotor inferences in extinct primates. To evaluate the utility of this feature in the fossil record, we relied on computed tomography applied to the femur of the Late Miocene hominoid Hispanopithecus laietanus as a test-case study. Both an orthograde body plan and orang-like suspensory adaptations had been previously documented for this taxon on different anatomical grounds, leading to the hypothesis that this fossil ape should display a modern ape-like distribution of femoral neck cortical thickness. This is confirmed by the results of this study, leading to the conclusion that Hispanopithecus represents the oldest evidence of a homogeneous cortical bone distribution in the hominoid fossil record. Our results therefore strengthen the utility of femoral neck cortical thickness for making paleobiological inferences on the locomotor repertoire of fossil primates. This feature would be particularly useful for assessing the degree of orthograde arboreal locomotor behaviors vs. terrestrial bipedalism in putative early hominins. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Structural Changes after Videogame Practice Related to a Brain Network Associated with Intelligence

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Colom, Roberto; Quiroga, Ma. Angeles; Solana, Ana Beatriz; Burgaleta, Miguel; Roman, Francisco J.; Privado, Jesus; Escorial, Sergio; Martinez, Kenia; Alvarez-Linera, Juan; Alfayate, Eva; Garcia, Felipe; Lepage, Claude; Hernandez-Tamames, Juan Antonio; Karama, Sherif

2012-01-01

Here gray and white matter changes after four weeks of videogame practice were analyzed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM), cortical surface and cortical thickness indices, and white matter integrity computed from several projection, commissural, and association tracts relevant to cognition. Beginning with a sample of one hundred young…

Chord-based versus voxel-based methods of electron transport in the skeletal tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, Amish P.; Jokisch, Derek W.; Rajon, Didier A.; Watchman, Christopher J.; Patton, Phillip W.; Bolch, Wesley E.

2005-01-01

Anatomic models needed for internal dose assessment have traditionally been developed using mathematical surface equations to define organ boundaries, shapes, and their positions within the body. Many researchers, however, are now advocating the use of tomographic models created from segmented patient computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) scans. In the skeleton, however, the tissue structures of the bone trabeculae, marrow cavities, and endosteal layer are exceedingly small and of complex shape, and thus do not lend themselves easily to either stylistic representations or in-vivo CT imaging. Historically, the problem of modeling the skeletal tissues has been addressed through the development of chord-based methods of radiation particle transport, as given by studies at the University of Leeds (Leeds, UK) using a 44-year male subject. We have proposed an alternative approach to skeletal dosimetry in which excised sections of marrow-intact cadaver spongiosa are imaged directly via microCT scanning. The cadaver selected for initial investigation of this technique was a 66-year male subject of nominal body mass index (22.7 kg m -2 ). The objectives of the present study were to compare chord-based versus voxel-based methods of skeletal dosimetry using data from the UF 66-year male subject. Good agreement between chord-based and voxel-based transport was noted for marrow irradiation by either bone surface or bone volume sources up to 500-1000 keV (depending upon the skeletal site). In contrast, chord-based models of electron transport yielded consistently lower values of the self-absorbed fraction to marrow tissues than seen under voxel-based transport at energies above 100 keV, a feature directly attributed to the inability of chord-based models to account for nonlinear electron trajectories. Significant differences were also noted in the dosimetry of the endosteal layer (for all source tissues), with chord-based transport predicting a higher fraction of

A computer-simulation study on the effects of MRI voxel dimensions on carotid plaque lipid-core and fibrous cap segmentation and stress modeling.

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Harm A Nieuwstadt

Full Text Available The benefits of a decreased slice thickness and/or in-plane voxel size in carotid MRI for atherosclerotic plaque component quantification accuracy and biomechanical peak cap stress analysis have not yet been investigated in detail because of practical limitations.In order to provide a methodology that allows such an investigation in detail, numerical simulations of a T1-weighted, contrast-enhanced, 2D MRI sequence were employed. Both the slice thickness (2 mm, 1 mm, and 0.5 mm and the in plane acquired voxel size (0.62x0.62 mm2 and 0.31x0.31 mm2 were varied. This virtual MRI approach was applied to 8 histology-based 3D patient carotid atherosclerotic plaque models.A decreased slice thickness did not result in major improvements in lumen, vessel wall, and lipid-rich necrotic core size measurements. At 0.62x0.62 mm2 in-plane, only a 0.5 mm slice thickness resulted in improved minimum fibrous cap thickness measurements (a 2-3 fold reduction in measurement error and only marginally improved peak cap stress computations. Acquiring voxels of 0.31x0.31 mm2 in-plane, however, led to either similar or significantly larger improvements in plaque component quantification and computed peak cap stress.This study provides evidence that for currently-used 2D carotid MRI protocols, a decreased slice thickness might not be more beneficial for plaque measurement accuracy than a decreased in-plane voxel size. The MRI simulations performed indicate that not a reduced slice thickness (i.e. more isotropic imaging, but the acquisition of anisotropic voxels with a relatively smaller in-plane voxel size could improve carotid plaque quantification and computed peak cap stress accuracy.

Comparison of grey matter volume and thickness for analysing cortical changes in chronic schizophrenia: a matter of surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast, and curvature.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Li; Herold, Christina J; Zöllner, Frank; Salat, David H; Lässer, Marc M; Schmid, Lena A; Fellhauer, Iven; Thomann, Philipp A; Essig, Marco; Schad, Lothar R; Erickson, Kirk I; Schröder, Johannes

2015-02-28

Grey matter volume and cortical thickness are the two most widely used measures for detecting grey matter morphometric changes in various diseases such as schizophrenia. However, these two measures only share partial overlapping regions in identifying morphometric changes. Few studies have investigated the contributions of the potential factors to the differences of grey matter volume and cortical thickness. To investigate this question, 3T magnetic resonance images from 22 patients with schizophrenia and 20 well-matched healthy controls were chosen for analyses. Grey matter volume and cortical thickness were measured by VBM and Freesurfer. Grey matter volume results were then rendered onto the surface template of Freesurfer to compare the differences from cortical thickness in anatomical locations. Discrepancy regions of the grey matter volume and thickness where grey matter volume significantly decreased but without corresponding evidence of cortical thinning involved the rostral middle frontal, precentral, lateral occipital and superior frontal gyri. Subsequent region-of-interest analysis demonstrated that changes in surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast and curvature accounted for the discrepancies. Our results suggest that the differences between grey matter volume and thickness could be jointly driven by surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast and curvature. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Absorbed dose estimates to structures of the brain and head using a high-resolution voxel-based head phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, Jeffrey F.; Blue, Thomas E.; Gupta, Nilendu

2001-01-01

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the viability of using a high-resolution 3-D head phantom in Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) structure dosimetry. This work describes a high-resolution voxel-based model of a human head and its use for calculating absorbed doses to the structures of the brain. The Zubal head phantom is a 3-D model of a human head that can be displayed and manipulated on a computer. Several changes were made to the original head phantom which now contains over 29 critical structures of the brain and head. The modified phantom is a 85x109x120 lattice of voxels, where each voxel is 2.2x2.2x1.4 mm 3 . This model was translated into MCNP lattice format. As a proof of principle study, two MCNP absorbed dose calculations were made (left and right lateral irradiations) using a uniformly distributed neutron disk source with an 1/E energy spectrum. Additionally, the results of these two calculations were combined to estimate the absorbed doses from a bilateral irradiation. Radiobiologically equivalent (RBE) doses were calculated for all structures and were normalized to 12.8 Gy-Eq. For a left lateral irradiation, the left motor cortex receives the limiting RBE dose. For a bilateral irradiation, the insula cortices receive the limiting dose. Among the nonencephalic structures, the parotid glands receive RBE doses that were within 15% of the limiting dose

A Corner-Point-Grid-Based Voxelization Method for Complex Geological Structure Model with Folds

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qiyu; Mariethoz, Gregoire; Liu, Gang

2017-04-01

3D voxelization is the foundation of geological property modeling, and is also an effective approach to realize the 3D visualization of the heterogeneous attributes in geological structures. The corner-point grid is a representative data model among all voxel models, and is a structured grid type that is widely applied at present. When carrying out subdivision for complex geological structure model with folds, we should fully consider its structural morphology and bedding features to make the generated voxels keep its original morphology. And on the basis of which, they can depict the detailed bedding features and the spatial heterogeneity of the internal attributes. In order to solve the shortage of the existing technologies, this work puts forward a corner-point-grid-based voxelization method for complex geological structure model with folds. We have realized the fast conversion from the 3D geological structure model to the fine voxel model according to the rule of isocline in Ramsay's fold classification. In addition, the voxel model conforms to the spatial features of folds, pinch-out and other complex geological structures, and the voxels of the laminas inside a fold accords with the result of geological sedimentation and tectonic movement. This will provide a carrier and model foundation for the subsequent attribute assignment as well as the quantitative analysis and evaluation based on the spatial voxels. Ultimately, we use examples and the contrastive analysis between the examples and the Ramsay's description of isoclines to discuss the effectiveness and advantages of the method proposed in this work when dealing with the voxelization of 3D geologic structural model with folds based on corner-point grids.

Computational analysis of cerebral cortex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Ohtomo, Kuni [University of Tokyo, Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan)

2010-08-15

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used in many in vivo anatomical studies of the brain. Computational neuroanatomy is an expanding field of research, and a number of automated, unbiased, objective techniques have been developed to characterize structural changes in the brain using structural MRI without the need for time-consuming manual measurements. Voxel-based morphometry is one of the most widely used automated techniques to examine patterns of brain changes. Cortical thickness analysis is also becoming increasingly used as a tool for the study of cortical anatomy. Both techniques can be relatively easily used with freely available software packages. MRI data quality is important in order for the processed data to be accurate. In this review, we describe MRI data acquisition and preprocessing for morphometric analysis of the brain and present a brief summary of voxel-based morphometry and cortical thickness analysis. (orig.)

Computational analysis of cerebral cortex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Ohtomo, Kuni

2010-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used in many in vivo anatomical studies of the brain. Computational neuroanatomy is an expanding field of research, and a number of automated, unbiased, objective techniques have been developed to characterize structural changes in the brain using structural MRI without the need for time-consuming manual measurements. Voxel-based morphometry is one of the most widely used automated techniques to examine patterns of brain changes. Cortical thickness analysis is also becoming increasingly used as a tool for the study of cortical anatomy. Both techniques can be relatively easily used with freely available software packages. MRI data quality is important in order for the processed data to be accurate. In this review, we describe MRI data acquisition and preprocessing for morphometric analysis of the brain and present a brief summary of voxel-based morphometry and cortical thickness analysis. (orig.)

Sexual orientation related differences in cortical thickness in male individuals.

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Christoph Abé

Full Text Available Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated sex and also sexual orientation related structural and functional differences in the human brain. Genetic information and effects of sex hormones are assumed to contribute to the male/female differentiation of the brain, and similar effects could play a role in processes influencing human's sexual orientation. However, questions about the origin and development of a person's sexual orientation remain unanswered, and research on sexual orientation related neurobiological characteristics is still very limited. To contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of sexual orientation, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in order to compare regional cortical thickness (Cth and subcortical volumes of homosexual men (hoM, heterosexual men (heM and heterosexual women (heW. hoM (and heW had thinner cortices primarily in visual areas and smaller thalamus volumes than heM, in which hoM and heW did not differ. Our results support previous studies, which suggest cerebral differences between hoM and heM in regions, where sex differences have been reported, which are frequently proposed to underlie biological mechanisms. Thus, our results contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation related differences in cortical thickness in male individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Abé, Christoph; Johansson, Emilia; Allzén, Elin; Savic, Ivanka

2014-01-01

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated sex and also sexual orientation related structural and functional differences in the human brain. Genetic information and effects of sex hormones are assumed to contribute to the male/female differentiation of the brain, and similar effects could play a role in processes influencing human's sexual orientation. However, questions about the origin and development of a person's sexual orientation remain unanswered, and research on sexual orientation related neurobiological characteristics is still very limited. To contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of sexual orientation, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to compare regional cortical thickness (Cth) and subcortical volumes of homosexual men (hoM), heterosexual men (heM) and heterosexual women (heW). hoM (and heW) had thinner cortices primarily in visual areas and smaller thalamus volumes than heM, in which hoM and heW did not differ. Our results support previous studies, which suggest cerebral differences between hoM and heM in regions, where sex differences have been reported, which are frequently proposed to underlie biological mechanisms. Thus, our results contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of sexual orientation.

Mapping cortical thickness of the patients with unilateral end-stage open angle glaucoma on planar cerebral cortex maps.

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Piotr Bogorodzki

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To estimate and compare cerebral cortex thickness in patients with unilateral end-stage glaucoma with that of age-matched individuals with unaffected vision. METHODS: 14 patients with unilateral end-stage primary open angle glaucoma (POAG and 12 age-matched control individuals with no problems with vision were selected for the study based on detailed ophthalmic examination. For each participant 3D high-resolution structural brain T1-weighted magnetization prepared MR images were acquired on a 3.0 T scanner. Brain cortex thickness was estimated using the FreeSurfer image analysis environment. After warping of subjects' cortical surfaces to FreeSurfer common space, differences between POAG and control groups were inferred at the group analysis level with the General Linear Model. RESULTS: The analysis performed revealed local thinning in the visual cortex areas in the POAG group. Statistically significant differences form 600 mm2 clusters located in the Brodmann area BA19 in the left and right hemisphere. CONCLUSION: Unilateral vision loss due to end-stage neuropathy from POAG is associated with significant thinning of cortical areas employed in vision.

Voxel-based analysis of cerebral glucose metabolism in AD and non-AD degenerative dementia using statistical parametric mapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zugui; Gao Shuo; Zhang Benshu; Ma Aijun; Cai Li; Li Dacheng; Li Yansheng; Liu Lei

2008-01-01

Objective: It is know that Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD degenerative dementia have some clinical features in common. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific patterns of regional, cerebral glucose metabolism of AD and non-AD degenerative dementia patients, using a voxel-based 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET study. Methods: Twenty-three AD patients and 24 non-AD degenerative dementia patients including 9 Parkinson's disease with dementia(PDD), 7 frontal-temporal dementia (FTD), 8 dementia of Lewy bodies (DLB) patients, and 40 normal controls (NC)were included in the study. To evaluate the relative cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRglc), 18 F-FDG PET imaging was performed in all subjects. Subsequently, statistical comparison of PET data with NC was performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Results: The AD-associated FDG imaging pattern typically presented as focal cortical hypometabolism in bilateral parietotemporal association cortes and(or) frontal lobe and the posterior cingulate gyms. As compared with the comparative NC, FTD group demonstrated significant regional reductions in rCMRglc in bilateral frontal, parietal lobes, the cingulate gyri, insulae, left precuneus, and the subcortical structures (including right putamen, right medial dorsal nucleus and ventral anterior nucleus). The PDD group showed regional reductions in rCMRglc in bilateral frontal cortexes, parietotemporal association cortexes, and the subcortical structures (including left caudate, right putamen, the dorsomedial thalamus, lateral posterior nucleus, and pulvinar). By the voxel-by-voxel comparison between the DLB group and NC group, regional reductions in rCMRglc included bilateral occipital cortexes, precuneuses, frontal and parietal lobes, left anterior cingulate gyms, right superior temporal cortex, and the subcortical structures including putamen, caudate, lateral posterior nucleus, and pulvinar. Conclusions: The rCMRglc was found to be different

The cortical signature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Federica Agosta

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to explore the pattern of regional cortical thickness in patients with non-familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and to investigate whether cortical thinning is associated with disease progression rate. Cortical thickness analysis was performed in 44 ALS patients and 26 healthy controls. Group differences in cortical thickness and the age-by-group effects were assessed using vertex-by-vertex and multivariate linear models. The discriminatory ability of MRI variables in distinguishing patients from controls was estimated using the Concordance Statistics (C-statistic within logistic regression analyses. Correlations between cortical thickness measures and disease progression rate were tested using the Pearson coefficient. Relative to controls, ALS patients showed a bilateral cortical thinning of the primary motor, prefrontal and ventral frontal cortices, cingulate gyrus, insula, superior and inferior temporal and parietal regions, and medial and lateral occipital areas. There was a significant age-by-group effect in the sensorimotor cortices bilaterally, suggesting a stronger association between age and cortical thinning in ALS patients compared to controls. The mean cortical thickness of the sensorimotor cortices distinguished patients with ALS from controls (C-statistic ≥ 0.74. Cortical thinning of the left sensorimotor cortices was related to a faster clinical progression (r = -0.33, p = 0.03. Cortical thickness measurements allowed the detection and quantification of motor and extramotor involvement in patients with ALS. Cortical thinning of the precentral gyrus might offer a marker of upper motor neuron involvement and disease progression.

The cortical signature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Agosta, Federica; Valsasina, Paola; Riva, Nilo; Copetti, Massimiliano; Messina, Maria Josè; Prelle, Alessandro; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the pattern of regional cortical thickness in patients with non-familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to investigate whether cortical thinning is associated with disease progression rate. Cortical thickness analysis was performed in 44 ALS patients and 26 healthy controls. Group differences in cortical thickness and the age-by-group effects were assessed using vertex-by-vertex and multivariate linear models. The discriminatory ability of MRI variables in distinguishing patients from controls was estimated using the Concordance Statistics (C-statistic) within logistic regression analyses. Correlations between cortical thickness measures and disease progression rate were tested using the Pearson coefficient. Relative to controls, ALS patients showed a bilateral cortical thinning of the primary motor, prefrontal and ventral frontal cortices, cingulate gyrus, insula, superior and inferior temporal and parietal regions, and medial and lateral occipital areas. There was a significant age-by-group effect in the sensorimotor cortices bilaterally, suggesting a stronger association between age and cortical thinning in ALS patients compared to controls. The mean cortical thickness of the sensorimotor cortices distinguished patients with ALS from controls (C-statistic ≥ 0.74). Cortical thinning of the left sensorimotor cortices was related to a faster clinical progression (r = -0.33, p = 0.03). Cortical thickness measurements allowed the detection and quantification of motor and extramotor involvement in patients with ALS. Cortical thinning of the precentral gyrus might offer a marker of upper motor neuron involvement and disease progression.

Aging effects on cerebral asymmetry: a voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study.

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Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Yamasue, Hidenori; Aoki, Shigeki; Kasai, Kiyoto; Sasaki, Hiroki; Ohtomo, Kuni

2010-01-01

The hemispheres of the human brain are functionally and structurally asymmetric. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of aging on gray and white matter asymmetry. Two hundred twenty-six right-handed normal volunteers aged 21-71 years were included in this study. The effects of aging on gray matter volume asymmetry and white matter fractional anisotropy asymmetry were evaluated with use of voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based analysis of fractional anisotropy maps derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. The voxel-based morphometry showed no significant correlation between age and gray matter volume asymmetry. The voxel-based analysis of DTI also showed no significant correlation between age and white matter fractional anisotropy asymmetry. Our results showed no significant effects of aging on either gray matter volume asymmetry or white matter fractional anisotropy asymmetry.

The Right Hemisphere Planum Temporale Supports Enhanced Visual Motion Detection Ability in Deaf People: Evidence from Cortical Thickness.

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Shiell, Martha M; Champoux, François; Zatorre, Robert J

2016-01-01

After sensory loss, the deprived cortex can reorganize to process information from the remaining modalities, a phenomenon known as cross-modal reorganization. In blind people this cross-modal processing supports compensatory behavioural enhancements in the nondeprived modalities. Deaf people also show some compensatory visual enhancements, but a direct relationship between these abilities and cross-modally reorganized auditory cortex has only been established in an animal model, the congenitally deaf cat, and not in humans. Using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, we measured cortical thickness in the planum temporale, Heschl's gyrus and sulcus, the middle temporal area MT+, and the calcarine sulcus, in early-deaf persons. We tested for a correlation between this measure and visual motion detection thresholds, a visual function where deaf people show enhancements as compared to hearing. We found that the cortical thickness of a region in the right hemisphere planum temporale, typically an auditory region, was greater in deaf individuals with better visual motion detection thresholds. This same region has previously been implicated in functional imaging studies as important for functional reorganization. The structure-behaviour correlation observed here demonstrates this area's involvement in compensatory vision and indicates an anatomical correlate, increased cortical thickness, of cross-modal plasticity.

Dance Experience and Associations with Cortical Gray Matter Thickness in the Aging Population

OpenAIRE

Porat, Shai; Goukasian, Naira; Hwang, Kristy S.; Zanto, Theodore; Do, Triet; Pierce, Jonathan; Joshi, Shantanu; Woo, Ellen; Apostolova, Liana G.

2016-01-01

Introduction: We investigated the effect dance experience may have on cortical gray matter thickness and cognitive performance in elderly participants with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: 39 cognitively normal and 48 MCI elderly participants completed a questionnaire regarding their lifetime experience with music, dance, and song. Participants identified themselves as either dancers or nondancers. All participants received structural 1.5-tesla MRI scans and detailed clin...

Impaired response inhibition and excess cortical thickness as candidate endophenotypes for trichotillomania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odlaug, Brian Lawrence; Chamberlain, Samuel R; Derbyshire, Katie L

2014-01-01

occupying an intermediate position. Permutation cluster analysis revealed significant excesses of cortical thickness in patients and their relatives compared to controls, in right inferior/middle frontal gyri (Brodmann Area, BA 47 & 11), right lingual gyrus (BA 18), left superior temporal cortex (BA 21......Trichotillomania is characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's own hair. Impaired response inhibition has been identified in patients with trichotillomania, along with gray matter density changes in distributed neural regions including frontal cortex. The objective of this study...

Automated voxel-based analysis of brain perfusion SPECT for vasospasm after subarachnoid haemorrhage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwabuchi, S.; Yokouchi, T.; Hayashi, M.; Kimura, H.; Tomiyama, A.; Hirata, Y.; Saito, N.; Harashina, J.; Nakayama, H.; Sato, K.; Aoki, K.; Samejima, H.; Ueda, M.; Terada, H.; Hamazaki, K.

2008-01-01

We evaluated regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during vasospasm after subarachnoid haemorrhage ISAH) using automated voxel-based analysis of brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPELT). Brain perfusion SPECT was performed 7 to 10 days after onset of SAH. Automated voxel-based analysis of SPECT used a Z-score map that was calculated by comparing the patients data with a control database. In cases where computed tomography (CT) scans detected an ischemic region due to vasospasm, automated voxel-based analysis of brain perfusion SPECT revealed dramatically reduced rCBF (Z-score ≤ -4). No patients with mildly or moderately diminished rCBF (Z-score > -3) progressed to cerebral infarction. Some patients with a Z-score < -4 did not progress to cerebral infarction after active treatment with a angioplasty. Three-dimensional images provided detailed anatomical information and helped us to distinguish surgical sequelae from vasospasm. In conclusion, automated voxel-based analysis of brain perfusion SPECT using a Z-score map is helpful in evaluating decreased rCBF due to vasospasm. (author)

Postnatal Changes in Humerus Cortical Bone Thickness Reflect the Development of Metabolic Bone Disease in Preterm Infants

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Shuko Tokuriki

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To use cortical bone thickness (CBT of the humerus to identify risk factors for the development of metabolic bone disease in preterm infants. Methods. Twenty-seven infants born at <32 weeks of gestational age, with a birth weight of <1,500 g, were enrolled. Humeral CBT was measured from chest radiographs at birth and at 27-28, 31-32, and 36–44 weeks of postmenstrual age (PMA. The risk factors for the development of osteomalacia were statistically analyzed. Results. The humeral CBT at 36–44 weeks of PMA was positively correlated with gestational age and birth weight and negatively correlated with the duration of mechanical ventilation. CBT increased with PMA, except in six very early preterm infants in whom it decreased. Based on logistic regression analysis, gestational age and duration of mechanical ventilation were identified as risk factors for cortical bone thinning. Conclusions. Humeral CBT may serve as a radiologic marker of metabolic bone disease at 36–44 weeks of PMA in preterm infants. Cortical bones of extremely preterm infants are fragile, even when age is corrected for term, and require extreme care to lower the risk of fractures.

Strategies for improving the Voxel-based statistical analysis for animal PET studies: assessment of cerebral glucose metabolism in cat deafness model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jin Su; Lee, Jae Sung; Park, Min Hyun; Kang, Hye Jin; Im, Ki Chun; Moon, Dae Hyuk; Lim, Sang Moo; Oh, Seung Ha; Lee, Dong Soo

2007-01-01

In imaging studies of the human brain, voxel-based statistical analysis method was widely used, since these methods were originally developed for the analysis of the human brain data, they are not optimal for the animal brain data. The aim of this study is to optimize the procedures for the 3D voxel-based statistical analysis of cat FDG PET brain images. A microPET Focus 120 scanner was used. Eight cats underwent FDG PET scans twice before and after inducing the deafness. Only the brain and adjacent regions were extracted from each data set by manual masking. Individual PET image at normal and deaf state was realigned to each other to remove the confounding effects by the different spatial normalization parameters on the results of statistical analyses. Distance between the sampling points on the reference image and kernel size of Gaussian filter applied to the images before estimating the realignment parameters were adjusted to 0.5 mm and 2 mm. Both data was then spatial normalized onto study-specific cat brain template. Spatially normalized PET data were smoothed and voxel-based paired t-test was performed. Cerebral glucose metabolism decreased significantly after the loss of hearing capability in parietal lobes, postcentral gyri, STG, MTG, lTG, and IC at both hemisphere and left SC (FDR corrected P < 0.05, k=50). Cerebral glucose metabolism in deaf cats was found to be significantly higher than in controls in the right cingulate (FDR corrected P < 0.05, k=50). The ROI analysis also showed significant reduction of glucose metabolism in the same areas as in the SPM analysis, except for some regions (P < 0.05). Method for the voxel-based analysis of cat brain PET data was optimized for analysis of cat brain PET. This result was also confirmed by ROI analysis. The results obtained demonstrated the high localization accuracy and specificity of the developed method, and were found to be useful for examining cerebral glucose metabolism in a cat cortical deafness model

Strategies for improving the Voxel-based statistical analysis for animal PET studies: assessment of cerebral glucose metabolism in cat deafness model

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Kim, Jin Su; Lee, Jae Sung; Park, Min Hyun; Kang, Hye Jin; Im, Ki Chun; Moon, Dae Hyuk; Lim, Sang Moo; Oh, Seung Ha; Lee, Dong Soo [Seoul National Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-07-01

In imaging studies of the human brain, voxel-based statistical analysis method was widely used, since these methods were originally developed for the analysis of the human brain data, they are not optimal for the animal brain data. The aim of this study is to optimize the procedures for the 3D voxel-based statistical analysis of cat FDG PET brain images. A microPET Focus 120 scanner was used. Eight cats underwent FDG PET scans twice before and after inducing the deafness. Only the brain and adjacent regions were extracted from each data set by manual masking. Individual PET image at normal and deaf state was realigned to each other to remove the confounding effects by the different spatial normalization parameters on the results of statistical analyses. Distance between the sampling points on the reference image and kernel size of Gaussian filter applied to the images before estimating the realignment parameters were adjusted to 0.5 mm and 2 mm. Both data was then spatial normalized onto study-specific cat brain template. Spatially normalized PET data were smoothed and voxel-based paired t-test was performed. Cerebral glucose metabolism decreased significantly after the loss of hearing capability in parietal lobes, postcentral gyri, STG, MTG, lTG, and IC at both hemisphere and left SC (FDR corrected P < 0.05, k=50). Cerebral glucose metabolism in deaf cats was found to be significantly higher than in controls in the right cingulate (FDR corrected P < 0.05, k=50). The ROI analysis also showed significant reduction of glucose metabolism in the same areas as in the SPM analysis, except for some regions (P < 0.05). Method for the voxel-based analysis of cat brain PET data was optimized for analysis of cat brain PET. This result was also confirmed by ROI analysis. The results obtained demonstrated the high localization accuracy and specificity of the developed method, and were found to be useful for examining cerebral glucose metabolism in a cat cortical deafness model.

Type-2 diabetes mellitus reduces cortical thickness and decreases oxidative metabolism in sensorimotor regions after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferris, Jennifer K; Peters, Sue; Brown, Katlyn E; Tourigny, Katherine; Boyd, Lara A

2018-05-01

Individuals with type-2 diabetes mellitus experience poor motor outcomes after ischemic stroke. Recent research suggests that type-2 diabetes adversely impacts neuronal integrity and function, yet little work has considered how these neuronal changes affect sensorimotor outcomes after stroke. Here, we considered how type-2 diabetes impacted the structural and metabolic function of the sensorimotor cortex after stroke using volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). We hypothesized that the combination of chronic stroke and type-2 diabetes would negatively impact the integrity of sensorimotor cortex as compared to individuals with chronic stroke alone. Compared to stroke alone, individuals with stroke and diabetes had lower cortical thickness bilaterally in the primary somatosensory cortex, and primary and secondary motor cortices. Individuals with stroke and diabetes also showed reduced creatine levels bilaterally in the sensorimotor cortex. Contralesional primary and secondary motor cortex thicknesses were negatively related to sensorimotor outcomes in the paretic upper-limb in the stroke and diabetes group such that those with thinner primary and secondary motor cortices had better motor function. These data suggest that type-2 diabetes alters cerebral energy metabolism, and is associated with thinning of sensorimotor cortex after stroke. These factors may influence motor outcomes after stroke.

Cortical surface area reduction in identification of subjects at high risk for post-traumatic stress disorder: A pilot study.

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Hu, Hao; Sun, Yawen; Su, Shanshan; Wang, Yao; Qiu, Yongming; Yang, Xi; Zhou, Yan; Xiao, Zeping; Wang, Zhen

2018-01-01

Victims of motor vehicle accidents often develop post-traumatic stress disorder, which causes significant social function loss. For the difficulty in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, identification of subjects at high risk for post-traumatic stress disorder is essential for providing possible intervention. This paper aims to examine the cortical structural traits related to susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder. To address this issue, we performed structural magnetic resonance imaging study in motor vehicle accident victims within 48 hours from the accidents. A total of 70 victims, available for both clinical and magnetic resonance imaging data, enrolled in our study. Upon completion of 6-month follow-up, 29 of them developed post-traumatic stress disorder, while 41 of them didn't. At baseline, voxelwise comparisons of cortical thickness, cortical area and cortical volume were conducted between post-traumatic stress disorder group and trauma control group. As expected, several reduced cortical volume within frontal-temporal loop were observed in post-traumatic stress disorder. For cortical thickness, no between-group differences were observed. There were three clusters in left hemisphere and one cluster in right hemisphere showing decreased cortical area in post-traumatic stress disorder patients, compared with trauma controls. Peak voxels of the three clusters in left hemisphere were separately located in superior parietal cortex, insula and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. The finding of reduced surface area of left insula and left rostral anterior cingulate cortex suggests that shrinked surface area in motor vehicle accident victims could act as potential biomarker of subjects at high risk for post-traumatic stress disorder.

A voxel visualization and analysis system based on AutoCAD

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Marschallinger, Robert

1996-05-01

A collection of AutoLISP programs is presented which enable the visualization and analysis of voxel models by AutoCAD rel. 12/rel. 13. The programs serve as an interactive, graphical front end for manipulating the results of three-dimensional modeling software producing block estimation data. ASCII data files describing geometry and attributes per estimation block are imported and stored as a voxel array. Each voxel may contain multiple attributes, therefore different parameters may be incorporated in one voxel array. Voxel classification is implemented on a layer basis providing flexible treatment of voxel classes such as recoloring, peeling, or volumetry. A versatile clipping tool enables slicing voxel arrays according to combinations of three perpendicular clipping planes. The programs feature an up-to-date, graphical user interface for user-friendly operation by non AutoCAD specialists.

Effect of micro-computed tomography voxel size and segmentation method on trabecular bone microstructure measures in mice

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Blaine A. Christiansen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Micro-computed tomography (μCT is currently the gold standard for determining trabecular bone microstructure in small animal models. Numerous parameters associated with scanning and evaluation of μCT scans can strongly affect morphologic results obtained from bone samples. However, the effect of these parameters on specific trabecular bone outcomes is not well understood. This study investigated the effect of μCT scanning with nominal voxel sizes between 6–30 μm on trabecular bone outcomes quantified in mouse vertebral body trabecular bone. Additionally, two methods for determining a global segmentation threshold were compared: based on qualitative assessment of 2D images, or based on quantitative assessment of image histograms. It was found that nominal voxel size had a strong effect on several commonly reported trabecular bone parameters, in particular connectivity density, trabecular thickness, and bone tissue mineral density. Additionally, the two segmentation methods provided similar trabecular bone outcomes for scans with small nominal voxel sizes, but considerably different outcomes for scans with larger voxel sizes. The Qualitatively Selected segmentation method more consistently estimated trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV and trabecular thickness across different voxel sizes, but the Histogram segmentation method more consistently estimated trabecular number, trabecular separation, and structure model index. Altogether, these results suggest that high-resolution scans be used whenever possible to provide the most accurate estimation of trabecular bone microstructure, and that the limitations of accurately determining trabecular bone outcomes should be considered when selecting scan parameters and making conclusions about inter-group variance or between-group differences in studies of trabecular bone microstructure in small animals. Keywords: Trabecular bone, Microstructure, Micro-computed tomography, Voxel size, Resolution

Reduced cortical thickness and increased surface area in antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Weixiong; Li, Gang; Liu, Huasheng; Shi, Feng; Wang, Tao; Shen, Celina; Shen, Hui; Lee, Seong-Whan; Hu, Dewen; Wang, Wei; Shen, Dinggang

2016-11-19

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), one of whose characteristics is high impulsivity, is of great interest in the field of brain structure and function. However, little is known about possible impairments in the cortical anatomy in ASPD, in terms of cortical thickness (CTh) and surface area (SA), as well as their possible relationship with impulsivity. In this neuroimaging study, we first investigated the changes of CTh and SA in ASPD patients, in comparison to those of healthy controls, and then performed correlation analyses between these measures and the ability of impulse control. We found that ASPD patients showed thinner cortex while larger SA in several specific brain regions, i.e., bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG), orbitofrontal and triangularis, insula cortex, precuneus, middle frontal gyrus (MFG), middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and left bank of superior temporal sulcus (STS). In addition, we also found that the ability of impulse control was positively correlated with CTh in the SFG, MFG, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), pars triangularis, superior temporal gyrus (STG), and insula cortex. To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal simultaneous changes in CTh and SA in ASPD, as well as their relationship with impulsivity. These cortical structural changes may introduce uncontrolled and callous behavioral characteristic in ASPD patients, and these potential biomarkers may be very helpful in understanding the pathomechanism of ASPD. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Widespread cortical thinning in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S-H; Kwak, K; Hyun, J-W; Jeong, I H; Jo, H-J; Joung, A; Kim, J-H; Lee, S H; Yun, S; Joo, J; Lee, J-M; Kim, H J

2016-07-01

Studies on cortical involvement and its relationship with cognitive function in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) remain scarce. The objective of this study was to compare cortical thickness on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between patients with NMOSD and multiple sclerosis (MS) and to investigate its relationship with clinical features and cognitive function. This observational clinical imaging study of 91 patients with NMOSD, 52 patients with MS and 44 healthy controls was conducted from 1 December 2013 to 30 April 2015 at the institutional referral center. Three tesla MRI of the brain and neuropsychological tests were performed. Cortical thickness was measured using three-dimensional surface-based analysis. Both sets of patients exhibited cortical thinning throughout the entire brain cortex. Patients with MS showed a significantly greater reduction in cortical thickness over broad regions of the bilateral frontal and parieto-temporal cortices and the left precuneus compared to those with NMOSD. Memory functions in patients with MS were correlated with broad regional cortical thinning, whereas no significant associations were observed between cortical thickness and cognitive function in patients with NMOSD. Widespread cortical thinning was observed in patients with NMOSD and MS, but the extent of cortical thinning was greater in patients with MS. The more severe cortical atrophy may contribute to memory impairment in patients with MS but not in those with NMOSD. These results provide in vivo evidence that the severity and clinical relevance of cortical thinning differ between NMOSD and MS. © 2016 EAN.

Regional patterns of grey matter atrophy and magnetisation transfer ratio abnormalities in multiple sclerosis clinical subgroups: a voxel-based analysis study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallik, Shahrukh; Muhlert, Nils; Samson, Rebecca S; Sethi, Varun; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A M; Miller, David H; Chard, Declan T

2015-04-01

In multiple sclerosis (MS), demyelination and neuro-axonal loss occur in the brain grey matter (GM). We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of GM magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR) and volume to assess the regional localisation of reduced MTR (reflecting demyelination) and atrophy (reflecting neuro-axonal loss) in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS). A total of 98 people with MS (51 RRMS, 28 SPMS, 19 PPMS) and 29 controls had T1-weighted volumetric and magnetisation transfer scans. SPM8 was used to undertake voxel-based analysis (VBA) of GM tissue volumes and MTR. MS subgroups were compared with controls, adjusting for age and gender. A voxel-by-voxel basis correlation analysis between MTR and volume within each subject group was performed, using biological parametric mapping. MTR reduction was more extensive than atrophy. RRMS and SPMS patients showed proportionately more atrophy in the deep GM. SPMS and PPMS patients showed proportionately greater cortical MTR reduction. RRMS patients demonstrated the most correlation of MTR reduction and atrophy in deep GM. In SPMS and PPMS patients, there was less extensive correlation. These results suggest that in the deep GM of RRMS patients, demyelination and neuro-axonal loss may be linked, while in SPMS and PPMS patients, neuro-axonal loss and demyelination may occur mostly independently. © The Author(s), 2014.

A whole-brain gray and white matter analysis in children with 45XO karyotype Turner syndrome: voxel-based morphometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Qiuling; Zhang Zhixin; Cheng Pangui; Xie Sheng; Liu Xiwei; Pan Hui; Li Kang; Zhang Jiaying; Gong Gaolang

2013-01-01

Objective: To detect the structural changes of cerebral gray and white matter in children of monosomy Turner syndrome (TS) by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Nine children 45XO karyotype TS and 20 age-matched control girls were recruited in this study. Wechsler intelligence scale for children was used to obtain their intelligence quotients (IQ). High-resolution magnetic MR imaging was performed in TS children and control girls to collect the whole brain structural data. The data were analyzed by VBM based on SPM 8 to compare the volume of gray and white matter between the TS children and normal controls by using covariance analysis. Results: The IQ of TS children was 81 ± 13, and the IQ of the controls was 109 ± 16. Statistical analysis revealed significant difference of IQ between the two groups (t = -4.70, P < 0.05). Compared with normal controls, TS children showed significantly decreased volume (numbers of voxel in clusters were 631, 525, 520, t = 3.95, 3.50, 3.36, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected) in the gray matter of the right superior parietal lobule, postcentral gyrus, precuneus lobule, calcarine, cuneus cortices, as well as the left middle and inferior occipital lobe. However, the volume of the bilateral supplemental motor area and the medial superior frontal lobes, the right middle cingulum, the left superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri were increased in the TS children compared to the controls. The left fusiform, the left parahippocampus, the left hippocampus and the left cerebellum were also enlarged in TS children (numbers of voxel in clusters were 2082, 974, 1708, 588, 579, t = 5.45, 4.59, 4.40, 4.29, 3.55, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). White matter regions in the left postcentral gyrus and inferior parietal lobule showed significantly reduced volume (voxel number 957, t = 5.85, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). Conclusion: Children with monosomy TS show abnormal gray and white matter volumes in some brain regions, which may be involved in the

Gray and white matter alterations in early HIV-infected patients: Combined voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bo; Liu, Zhenyu; Liu, Jiaojiao; Tang, Zhenchao; Li, Hongjun; Tian, Jie

2016-06-01

To investigate both the gray matter (GM) and whiter matter (WM) alterations in a homogeneous cohort of early HIV-infected patients by combining voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Twenty-six HIV and 26 control subjects enrolled in this study with 3D T1 and diffusion-tensor imaging acquired on a 3.0T Siemens scanner. Group differences in regional GM were assessed using VBM analysis, while differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and relative anisotropy (RD) of WM were evaluated using TBSS analysis. After that, interactions between GM changes and white matter alterations were investigated by using a correlation analysis. The HIV-infected patients displayed decreased GM volume, mainly located in the bilateral frontal cortices, bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, and left supplementary motor area (P 0.05). Our results indicate that structural brain alterations occurred early in HIV-infected patients. The current study may shed further light on the potential brain effects of HIV. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;43:1474-1483. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Allostatic Load Is Linked to Cortical Thickness Changes Depending on Body-Weight Status

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Jonatan Ottino-González

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Overweight (body mass index or BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and stress interact with each other in complex ways. Overweight promotes chronic low-inflammation states, while stress is known to mediate caloric intake. Both conditions are linked to several avoidable health problems and to cognitive decline, brain atrophy, and dementia. Since it was proposed as a framework for the onset of mental illness, the allostatic load model has received increasing attention. Although changes in health and cognition related to overweight and stress are well-documented separately, the association between allostatic load and brain integrity has not been addressed in depth, especially among overweight subjects.Method: Thirty-four healthy overweight-to-obese and 29 lean adults underwent blood testing, neuropsychological examination, and magnetic resonance imaging to assess the relationship between cortical thickness and allostatic load, represented as an index of 15 biomarkers (this is, systolic and diastolic arterial tension, glycated hemoglobin, glucose, creatinine, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, c-reactive protein, interleukin-6, insulin, cortisol, fibrinogen, and leptin.Results: Allostatic load indexes showed widespread positive and negative significant correlations (p < 0.01 with cortical thickness values depending on body-weight status.Conclusion: The increase of allostatic load is linked to changes in the gray matter composition of regions monitoring behavior, sensory-reward processing, and general cognitive function.

Allostatic Load Is Linked to Cortical Thickness Changes Depending on Body-Weight Status

Science.gov (United States)

Ottino-González, Jonatan; Jurado, María A.; García-García, Isabel; Segura, Bàrbara; Marqués-Iturria, Idoia; Sender-Palacios, María J.; Tor, Encarnació; Prats-Soteras, Xavier; Caldú, Xavier; Junqué, Carme; Garolera, Maite

2017-01-01

Objective: Overweight (body mass index or BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and stress interact with each other in complex ways. Overweight promotes chronic low-inflammation states, while stress is known to mediate caloric intake. Both conditions are linked to several avoidable health problems and to cognitive decline, brain atrophy, and dementia. Since it was proposed as a framework for the onset of mental illness, the allostatic load model has received increasing attention. Although changes in health and cognition related to overweight and stress are well-documented separately, the association between allostatic load and brain integrity has not been addressed in depth, especially among overweight subjects. Method: Thirty-four healthy overweight-to-obese and 29 lean adults underwent blood testing, neuropsychological examination, and magnetic resonance imaging to assess the relationship between cortical thickness and allostatic load, represented as an index of 15 biomarkers (this is, systolic and diastolic arterial tension, glycated hemoglobin, glucose, creatinine, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, c-reactive protein, interleukin-6, insulin, cortisol, fibrinogen, and leptin). Results: Allostatic load indexes showed widespread positive and negative significant correlations (p < 0.01) with cortical thickness values depending on body-weight status. Conclusion: The increase of allostatic load is linked to changes in the gray matter composition of regions monitoring behavior, sensory-reward processing, and general cognitive function. PMID:29375342

The impact of sample size on the reproducibility of voxel-based lesion-deficit mappings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorca-Puls, Diego L; Gajardo-Vidal, Andrea; White, Jitrachote; Seghier, Mohamed L; Leff, Alexander P; Green, David W; Crinion, Jenny T; Ludersdorfer, Philipp; Hope, Thomas M H; Bowman, Howard; Price, Cathy J

2018-07-01

This study investigated how sample size affects the reproducibility of findings from univariate voxel-based lesion-deficit analyses (e.g., voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping and voxel-based morphometry). Our effect of interest was the strength of the mapping between brain damage and speech articulation difficulties, as measured in terms of the proportion of variance explained. First, we identified a region of interest by searching on a voxel-by-voxel basis for brain areas where greater lesion load was associated with poorer speech articulation using a large sample of 360 right-handed English-speaking stroke survivors. We then randomly drew thousands of bootstrap samples from this data set that included either 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, or 360 patients. For each resample, we recorded effect size estimates and p values after conducting exactly the same lesion-deficit analysis within the previously identified region of interest and holding all procedures constant. The results show (1) how often small effect sizes in a heterogeneous population fail to be detected; (2) how effect size and its statistical significance varies with sample size; (3) how low-powered studies (due to small sample sizes) can greatly over-estimate as well as under-estimate effect sizes; and (4) how large sample sizes (N ≥ 90) can yield highly significant p values even when effect sizes are so small that they become trivial in practical terms. The implications of these findings for interpreting the results from univariate voxel-based lesion-deficit analyses are discussed. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Mesenchymal stem cells can modulate longitudinal changes in cortical thickness and its related cognitive decline in patients with multiple system atrophy

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Mun Kyung eSunwoo

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Multiple system atrophy (MSA is an adult-onset sporadic neurodegenerative disease. Because the prognosis of MSA is fatal, neuroprotective or regenerative strategies may be invaluable in MSA treatment. Previously, we obtained clinical and imaging evidence that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC treatment could have a neuroprotective role in MSA patients. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of MSC therapy on longitudinal changes in subcortical deep grey matter volumes and cortical thickness and their association with cognitive performance. Clinical and imaging data were obtained from our previous randomized trial of autologous MSC in MSA patients. During 1-year follow-up, we assessed longitudinal differences in subcortical deep grey matter volumes and cortical thickness between placebo (n=15 and MSC groups (n=11. Next, we performed correlation analysis between the changes in cortical thickness and changes in the Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA scores and detailed cognitive performance. There were no significant differences in age, gender ratio, disease duration, clinical severity, MoCA score, or education level between the groups. The subcortical volumetric analysis revealed that the changes in deep grey matter volumes of the caudate, putamen, and thalamus did not differ significantly between the groups. The areas of cortical thinning over time in the placebo group were more extensive, including the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas, whereas these areas in the MSC group were less extensive. Correlation analysis indicated that declines in MoCA scores and phonemic fluency were significantly correlated with cortical thinning of the frontal and posterior temporal areas and anterior temporal areas in MSA patients, respectively. These results suggest that MSC treatment in patients with MSA may modulate cortical thinning over time and related cognitive performance, inferring a future therapeutic candidate for cognitive

Focal cortical thinning in patients with stable relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Cross-sectional-based novel estimation of gray matter kinetics

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Orbach, Lior; Menascu, Shay; Hoffmann, Chen; Achiron, Anat [Sheba Medical Center, Multiple Sclerosis Center, Tel-Hashomer (Israel); Tel-Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv (Israel); Miron, Shmuel [Sheba Medical Center, Multiple Sclerosis Center, Tel-Hashomer (Israel)

2018-02-15

The aim of our study is to identify radiological patterns of cortical gray matter atrophy (CGMA) that correlate with disease duration in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). RRMS patients were randomly selected from the Sheba Multiple Sclerosis (MS) center computerized data registry based on stratification of disease duration up to 10 years. Patients were scanned by 3.0 T (Signa, GE) MRI, using a T1 weighted 3D high resolution, FSPGR, MS protocol. Neurological disability was assessed by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). FreeSurfer was used to obtain brain volumetric segmentation and to perform cortical thickness surface-based analysis. Clusters of change in cortical thickness with correlation to disease duration were produced. Two hundred seventy-one RRMS patients, mean ± SD age 33.0 ± 7.0 years, EDSS 1.6 ± 1.2, disease duration 5.0 ± 3.4 years. Cortical thickness analysis demonstrated focal areas of cerebral thinning that correlated with disease duration. Seven clusters accounting for 11.7% of the left hemisphere surface and eight clusters accounting for 10.6% of the right hemisphere surface were identified, with cluster-wise probability of p < 0.002 and p < 0.02, respectively.The clusters included bilateral involvement of areas within the cingulate, precentral, postcentral, paracentral, superior-parietal, superior-frontal gyri and insular cortex. Mean and cluster-wise cortical thickness negatively correlated with EDSS score, p < 0.001, with stronger Spearman rho for cluster-wise measurements. We identified CGMA patterns in sensitive brain regions which give insight and better understanding of the progression of cortical gray matter loss in relation to dissemination in space and time. These patterns may serve as markers to modulate therapeutic interventions to improve the management of MS patients. (orig.)

Grey matter volume and cortical structure in Prader-Willi syndrome compared to typically developing young adults

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Katherine E. Manning

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS is a neurodevelopmental disorder of genomic imprinting, presenting with a characteristic overeating disorder, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and a variable range of social and behavioral difficulties. Consequently, widespread alterations in neural structure and developmental and maturational trajectory would be expected. To date, there have been few quantitative and systematic studies of brain morphology in PWS, although alterations of volume and of cortical organisation have been reported. This study aimed to investigate, in detail, the structure of grey matter and cortex in the brain in a sample of young adults with PWS in a well-matched case-controlled analysis. 20 young adults with PWS, aged 19–27 years, underwent multiparameter mapping magnetic resonance imaging sequences, from which measures of grey matter volume, cortical thickness and magnetisation transfer saturation, as a proxy measure of myelination, were examined. These variables were investigated in comparison to a control group of 40 typically developing young adults, matched for age and sex. A voxel-based morphometry analysis identified large and widespread bilateral clusters of both increased and decreased grey matter volume in the brain in PWS. In particular, widespread areas of increased volume encompassed parts of the prefrontal cortex, especially medially, the majority of the cingulate cortices, from anterior to posterior aspects, insula cortices, and areas of the parietal and temporal cortices. Increased volume was also reported in the caudate, putamen and thalamus. The most ventromedial prefrontal areas, in contrast, showed reduced volume, as did the parts of the medial temporal lobe, bilateral temporal poles, and a small cluster in the right lateral prefrontal cortex. Analysis of cortical structure revealed that areas of increased volume in the PWS group were largely driven by greater cortical thickness. Conversely, analysis of

Grey matter volume and cortical structure in Prader-Willi syndrome compared to typically developing young adults.

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Manning, Katherine E; Tait, Roger; Suckling, John; Holland, Anthony J

2018-01-01

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder of genomic imprinting, presenting with a characteristic overeating disorder, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and a variable range of social and behavioral difficulties. Consequently, widespread alterations in neural structure and developmental and maturational trajectory would be expected. To date, there have been few quantitative and systematic studies of brain morphology in PWS, although alterations of volume and of cortical organisation have been reported. This study aimed to investigate, in detail, the structure of grey matter and cortex in the brain in a sample of young adults with PWS in a well-matched case-controlled analysis. 20 young adults with PWS, aged 19-27 years, underwent multiparameter mapping magnetic resonance imaging sequences, from which measures of grey matter volume, cortical thickness and magnetisation transfer saturation, as a proxy measure of myelination, were examined. These variables were investigated in comparison to a control group of 40 typically developing young adults, matched for age and sex. A voxel-based morphometry analysis identified large and widespread bilateral clusters of both increased and decreased grey matter volume in the brain in PWS. In particular, widespread areas of increased volume encompassed parts of the prefrontal cortex, especially medially, the majority of the cingulate cortices, from anterior to posterior aspects, insula cortices, and areas of the parietal and temporal cortices. Increased volume was also reported in the caudate, putamen and thalamus. The most ventromedial prefrontal areas, in contrast, showed reduced volume, as did the parts of the medial temporal lobe, bilateral temporal poles, and a small cluster in the right lateral prefrontal cortex. Analysis of cortical structure revealed that areas of increased volume in the PWS group were largely driven by greater cortical thickness. Conversely, analysis of myelin content using

Increased Cortical Thickness in Male-to-Female Transsexualism.

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Luders, Eileen; Sánchez, Francisco J; Tosun, Duygu; Shattuck, David W; Gaser, Christian; Vilain, Eric; Toga, Arthur W

2012-08-01

The degree to which one identifies as male or female has a profound impact on one's life. Yet, there is a limited understanding of what contributes to this important characteristic termed gender identity . In order to reveal factors influencing gender identity, studies have focused on people who report strong feelings of being the opposite sex, such as male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals. To investigate potential neuroanatomical variations associated with transsexualism, we compared the regional thickness of the cerebral cortex between 24 MTF transsexuals who had not yet been treated with cross-sex hormones and 24 age-matched control males. Results revealed thicker cortices in MTF transsexuals, both within regions of the left hemisphere (i.e., frontal and orbito-frontal cortex, central sulcus, perisylvian regions, paracentral gyrus) and right hemisphere (i.e., pre-/post-central gyrus, parietal cortex, temporal cortex, precuneus, fusiform, lingual, and orbito-frontal gyrus). These findings provide further evidence that brain anatomy is associated with gender identity, where measures in MTF transsexuals appear to be shifted away from gender-congruent men.

Neonatal pain-related stress predicts cortical thickness at age 7 years in children born very preterm.

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Manon Ranger

Full Text Available Altered brain development is evident in children born very preterm (24-32 weeks gestational age, including reduction in gray and white matter volumes, and thinner cortex, from infancy to adolescence compared to term-born peers. However, many questions remain regarding the etiology. Infants born very preterm are exposed to repeated procedural pain-related stress during a period of very rapid brain development. In this vulnerable population, we have previously found that neonatal pain-related stress is associated with atypical brain development from birth to term-equivalent age. Our present aim was to evaluate whether neonatal pain-related stress (adjusted for clinical confounders of prematurity is associated with altered cortical thickness in very preterm children at school age.42 right-handed children born very preterm (24-32 weeks gestational age followed longitudinally from birth underwent 3-D T1 MRI neuroimaging at mean age 7.9 yrs. Children with severe brain injury and major motor/sensory/cognitive impairment were excluded. Regional cortical thickness was calculated using custom developed software utilizing FreeSurfer segmentation data. The association between neonatal pain-related stress (defined as the number of skin-breaking procedures accounting for clinical confounders (gestational age, illness severity, infection, mechanical ventilation, surgeries, and morphine exposure, was examined in relation to cortical thickness using constrained principal component analysis followed by generalized linear modeling.After correcting for multiple comparisons and adjusting for neonatal clinical factors, greater neonatal pain-related stress was associated with significantly thinner cortex in 21/66 cerebral regions (p-values ranged from 0.00001 to 0.014, predominately in the frontal and parietal lobes.In very preterm children without major sensory, motor or cognitive impairments, neonatal pain-related stress appears to be associated with thinner cortex

Neonatal pain-related stress predicts cortical thickness at age 7 years in children born very preterm.

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Ranger, Manon; Chau, Cecil M Y; Garg, Amanmeet; Woodward, Todd S; Beg, Mirza Faisal; Bjornson, Bruce; Poskitt, Kenneth; Fitzpatrick, Kevin; Synnes, Anne R; Miller, Steven P; Grunau, Ruth E

2013-01-01

Altered brain development is evident in children born very preterm (24-32 weeks gestational age), including reduction in gray and white matter volumes, and thinner cortex, from infancy to adolescence compared to term-born peers. However, many questions remain regarding the etiology. Infants born very preterm are exposed to repeated procedural pain-related stress during a period of very rapid brain development. In this vulnerable population, we have previously found that neonatal pain-related stress is associated with atypical brain development from birth to term-equivalent age. Our present aim was to evaluate whether neonatal pain-related stress (adjusted for clinical confounders of prematurity) is associated with altered cortical thickness in very preterm children at school age. 42 right-handed children born very preterm (24-32 weeks gestational age) followed longitudinally from birth underwent 3-D T1 MRI neuroimaging at mean age 7.9 yrs. Children with severe brain injury and major motor/sensory/cognitive impairment were excluded. Regional cortical thickness was calculated using custom developed software utilizing FreeSurfer segmentation data. The association between neonatal pain-related stress (defined as the number of skin-breaking procedures) accounting for clinical confounders (gestational age, illness severity, infection, mechanical ventilation, surgeries, and morphine exposure), was examined in relation to cortical thickness using constrained principal component analysis followed by generalized linear modeling. After correcting for multiple comparisons and adjusting for neonatal clinical factors, greater neonatal pain-related stress was associated with significantly thinner cortex in 21/66 cerebral regions (p-values ranged from 0.00001 to 0.014), predominately in the frontal and parietal lobes. In very preterm children without major sensory, motor or cognitive impairments, neonatal pain-related stress appears to be associated with thinner cortex in multiple

Multimodal surface-based morphometry reveals diffuse cortical atrophy in traumatic brain injury.

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Sorenson Donna J

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI often present with significant cognitive deficits without corresponding evidence of cortical damage on neuroradiological examinations. One explanation for this puzzling observation is that the diffuse cortical abnormalities that characterize TBI are difficult to detect with standard imaging procedures. Here we investigated a patient with severe TBI-related cognitive impairments whose scan was interpreted as normal by a board-certified radiologist in order to determine if quantitative neuroimaging could detect cortical abnormalities not evident with standard neuroimaging procedures. Methods Cortical abnormalities were quantified using multimodal surfaced-based morphometry (MSBM that statistically combined information from high-resolution structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI. Normal values of cortical anatomy and cortical and pericortical DTI properties were quantified in a population of 43 healthy control subjects. Corresponding measures from the patient were obtained in two independent imaging sessions. These data were quantified using both the average values for each lobe and the measurements from each point on the cortical surface. The results were statistically analyzed as z-scores from the mean with a p Results The TBI patient showed significant regional abnormalities in cortical thickness, gray matter diffusivity and pericortical white matter integrity that replicated across imaging sessions. Consistent with the patient's impaired performance on neuropsychological tests of executive function, cortical abnormalities were most pronounced in the frontal lobes. Conclusions MSBM is a promising tool for detecting subtle cortical abnormalities with high sensitivity and selectivity. MSBM may be particularly useful in evaluating cortical structure in TBI and other neurological conditions that produce diffuse abnormalities in both cortical structure and tissue properties.

Unified voxel- and tensor-based morphometry (UVTBM) using registration confidence.

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Khan, Ali R; Wang, Lei; Beg, Mirza Faisal

2015-01-01

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tensor-based morphometry (TBM) both rely on spatial normalization to a template and yet have different requirements for the level of registration accuracy. VBM requires only global alignment of brain structures, with limited degrees of freedom in transformation, whereas TBM performs best when the registration is highly deformable and can achieve higher registration accuracy. In addition, the registration accuracy varies over the whole brain, with higher accuracy typically observed in subcortical areas and lower accuracy seen in cortical areas. Hence, even the determinant of Jacobian of registration maps is spatially varying in their accuracy, and combining these with VBM by direct multiplication introduces errors in VBM maps where the registration is inaccurate. We propose a unified approach to combining these 2 morphometry methods that is motivated by these differing requirements for registration and our interest in harnessing the advantages of both. Our novel method uses local estimates of registration confidence to determine how to weight the influence of VBM- and TBM-like approaches. Results are shown on healthy and mild Alzheimer's subjects (N = 150) investigating age and group differences, and potential of differential diagnosis is shown on a set of Alzheimer's disease (N = 34) and frontotemporal dementia (N = 30) patients compared against controls (N = 14). These show that the group differences detected by our proposed approach are more descriptive than those detected from VBM, Jacobian-modulated VBM, and TBM separately, hence leveraging the advantages of both approaches in a unified framework. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structural brain alterations in bipolar disorder II: a combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study.

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Ambrosi, Elisa; Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Comparelli, Anna; Del Casale, Antonio; Carducci, Filippo; Romano, Andrea; Manfredi, Giovanni; Tatarelli, Roberto; Bozzao, Alessandro; Girardi, Paolo

2013-09-05

Brain structural changes have been described in bipolar disorder (BP), but usually studies focused on both I and II subtypes indiscriminately and investigated changes in either brain volume or white matter (WM) integrity. We used combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis to track changes in the grey matter (GM) and WM in the brains of patients affected by BPII, as compared to healthy controls. Using VBM and DTI, we scanned 20 DSM-IV-TR BPII patients in their euthymic phase and 21 healthy, age- and gender-matched volunteers with no psychiatric history. VBM showed decreases in GM of BPII patients, compared to controls, which were diffuse in nature and most prominent in the right middle frontal gyrus and in the right superior temporal gurus. DTI showed significant and widespread FA reduction in BPII patients in all major WM tracts, including cortico-cortical association tracts. The small sample size limits the generalisability of our findings. Reduced GM volumes and WM integrity changes in BPII patients are not prominent like those previously reported in bipolar disorder type-I and involve cortical structures and their related association tracts. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evidence for a cerebral cortical thickness network anti-correlated with amygdalar volume in healthy youths: implications for the neural substrates of emotion regulation.

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Albaugh, Matthew D; Ducharme, Simon; Collins, D Louis; Botteron, Kelly N; Althoff, Robert R; Evans, Alan C; Karama, Sherif; Hudziak, James J

2013-05-01

Recent functional connectivity studies have demonstrated that, in resting humans, activity in a dorsally-situated neocortical network is inversely associated with activity in the amygdalae. Similarly, in human neuroimaging studies, aspects of emotion regulation have been associated with increased activity in dorsolateral, dorsomedial, orbital and ventromedial prefrontal regions, as well as concomitant decreases in amygdalar activity. These findings indicate the presence of two countervailing systems in the human brain that are reciprocally related: a dorsally-situated cognitive control network, and a ventrally-situated limbic network. We investigated the extent to which this functional reciprocity between limbic and dorsal neocortical regions is recapitulated from a purely structural standpoint. Specifically, we hypothesized that amygdalar volume would be related to cerebral cortical thickness in cortical regions implicated in aspects of emotion regulation. In 297 typically developing youths (162 females, 135 males; 572 MRIs), the relationship between cortical thickness and amygdalar volume was characterized. Amygdalar volume was found to be inversely associated with thickness in bilateral dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal, inferior parietal, as well as bilateral orbital and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. Our findings are in line with previous work demonstrating that a predominantly dorsally-centered neocortical network is reciprocally related to core limbic structures such as the amygdalae. Future research may benefit from investigating the extent to which such cortical-limbic morphometric relations are qualified by the presence of mood and anxiety psychopathology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Altered cortical hubs in functional brain networks in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Ma, Xujing; Zhang, Jiuquan; Zhang, Youxue; Chen, Heng; Li, Rong; Wang, Jian; Chen, Huafu

2015-11-01

Cortical hubs are highly connected nodes in functional brain networks that play vital roles in the efficient transfer of information across brain regions. Although altered functional connectivity has been found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the changing pattern in functional network hubs in ALS remains unknown. In this study, we applied a voxel-wise method to investigate the changing pattern of cortical hubs in ALS. Through resting-state fMRI, we constructed whole-brain voxel-wise functional networks by measuring the temporal correlations of each pair of brain voxels and identified hubs using the graph theory method. Specifically, a functional connectivity strength (FCS) map was derived from the data on 20 patients with ALS and 20 healthy controls. The brain regions with high FCS values were regarded as functional network hubs. Functional hubs were found mainly in the bilateral precuneus, parietal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and in several visual regions and temporal areas in both groups. Within the hub regions, the ALS patients exhibited higher FCS in the prefrontal cortex compared with the healthy controls. The FCS value in the significantly abnormal hub regions was correlated with clinical variables. Results indicated the presence of altered cortical hubs in the ALS patients and could therefore shed light on the pathophysiology mechanisms underlying ALS.

Cerebral asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study.

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Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Yamasue, Hidenori; Aoki, Shigeki; Kasai, Kiyoto; Ohtomo, Kuni

2010-01-01

To evaluate the differences in gray- and white-matter asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects. Forty-eight right-handed patients with chronic schizophrenia (24 males and 24 females) and 48 right-handed age- and sex-matched healthy controls (24 males and 24 females) were included in this study. The effects of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry and white-matter fractional anisotropy (FA) asymmetry were evaluated with use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis of FA maps derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. The mean gray- and white-matter volumes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) showed no significant effect of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry. The voxel-based analysis of DTI also showed no significant effect of diagnosis on white-matter FA asymmetry. Our results of voxel-based analyses showed no significant differences in either gray-matter volume asymmetry or white-matter FA asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Voxel-based model construction from colored tomographic images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loureiro, Eduardo Cesar de Miranda

2002-07-01

This work presents a new approach in the construction of voxel-based phantoms that was implemented to simplify the segmentation process of organs and tissues reducing the time used in this procedure. The segmentation process is performed by painting tomographic images and attributing a different color for each organ or tissue. A voxel-based head and neck phantom was built using this new approach. The way as the data are stored allows an increasing in the performance of the radiation transport code. The program that calculates the radiation transport also works with image files. This capability allows image reconstruction showing isodose areas, under several points of view, increasing the information to the user. Virtual X-ray photographs can also be obtained allowing that studies could be accomplished looking for the radiographic techniques optimization assessing, at the same time, the doses in organs and tissues. The accuracy of the program here presented, called MCvoxEL, that implements this new approach, was tested by comparison to results from two modern and well-supported Monte Carlo codes. Dose conversion factors for parallel X-ray exposure were also calculated. (author)

Interaction between DRD2 and lead exposure on the cortical thickness of the frontal lobe in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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Kim, Johanna Inhyang; Kim, Jae-Won; Lee, Jong-Min; Yun, Hyuk Jin; Sohn, Chul-Ho; Shin, Min-Sup; Kim, Bongseog; Chae, Jonghee; Roh, Jaewoo; Kim, Bung-Nyun

2018-03-02

The dopamine receptor D2 receptor (DRD2) gene and lead exposure are both thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is characterized by delay in brain maturation, most prominent in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The D2 receptor is also mainly located in the PFC, and animal studies show that lead exposure affects the dopaminergic system of the frontal lobe, indicating an overlap in neural correlates of ADHD, DRD2, and lead exposure. We examined the interaction effects of DRD2 rs1800497 and lead exposure on the cortical thickness of the frontal lobe in patients with ADHD. A 1:1 age- and gender-matched sample of 75 participants with ADHD and 75 healthy participants was included in the analysis. The interaction effects of DRD2 and lead exposure on the cortical thickness of 12 regions of interest in the frontal lobe were examined by multivariable linear regression analyses. When we investigated the DRD2×lead effects in the ADHD and HC groups separately, significant DRD2×lead effects were found in the ADHD group, but not in the healthy control group in multiple ROIs of the frontal lobe. There was a significant negative correlation between the cortical thickness of the right superior frontal gyrus and inattention scores. The present findings demonstrated significant interaction effects of DRD2 and lead exposure on the cortical thickness of the frontal lobe in ADHD. Replication studies with larger sample sizes, using a prospective design, are warranted to confirm these findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of Screw Length and Bone Thickness on the Stability of Temporary Implants

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Daniel Jogaib Fernandes

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this work was to study the influence of screw length and bone thickness on the stability of temporary implants. A total of 96 self-drilling temporary screws with two different lengths were inserted into polyurethane blocks (n = 66, bovine femurs (n = 18 and rabbit tibia (n = 12 with different cortical thicknesses (1 to 8 mm. Screws insertion in polyurethane blocks was assisted by a universal testing machine, torque peaks were collected by a digital torquemeter and bone thickness was monitored by micro-CT. The results showed that the insertion torque was significantly increased with the thickness of cortical bone from polyurethane (p < 0.0001, bovine (p = 0.0035 and rabbit (p < 0.05 sources. Cancellous bone improved significantly the mechanical implant stability. Insertion torque and insertion strength was successfully moduled by equations, based on the cortical/cancellous bone behavior. Based on the results, insertion torque and bone strength can be estimate in order to prevent failure of the cortical layer during temporary screw placement. The stability provided by a cortical thickness of 2 or 1 mm coupled to cancellous bone was deemed sufficient for temporary implants stability.

Voxel-based morphometry in the parkinson variant of multiple system atrophy

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Zhao Yanping; Wang Han; Li Zhou; Feng Feng

2010-01-01

Objective: To assess patterns of the gray and white matter atrophy in patients with multiple system atrophy-P (MSA-P) variant of whole brain compared with normal controls. Methods: Three dimensional fast spoiled gradient echo (3D-FSPGR) T 1 WI of whole brain were obtained from 13 patients with probable MSA-P and 14 age-matched normal controls. The volume of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of MSA-P patients and normal controls was analyzed with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) 8. Results: Compared with the controls, the MSA-P patients showed decreased gray matter and white matter in broad areas. Gray matter loss mainly symmetrically distributed in bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA), dorsal posterior cingulate cortex (DPCC), medial frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, cerebellum cortex, eta Unilateral involvement of cortices mainly located in right primary motor cortex, somatosensory association cortex (SAC), and left ventral anterior cingulate cortex (VACC). There was white matter loss in bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral precuneus, bilateral sub-gyrus of frontal lobe, left superior temporal gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, right orbitofrontal area, right sub- gyrus of temporal lobe, etc. Conclusion: VBM method is an automatic and comprehensive volumetry method and can objectively detect the difference of the whole brain structure in patients with probable MSA- P comparing with normal controls. (authors)

Absorbed fractions in a voxel-based phantom calculated with the MCNP-4B code.

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Yoriyaz, H; dos Santos, A; Stabin, M G; Cabezas, R

2000-07-01

A new approach for calculating internal dose estimates was developed through the use of a more realistic computational model of the human body. The present technique shows the capability to build a patient-specific phantom with tomography data (a voxel-based phantom) for the simulation of radiation transport and energy deposition using Monte Carlo methods such as in the MCNP-4B code. MCNP-4B absorbed fractions for photons in the mathematical phantom of Snyder et al. agreed well with reference values. Results obtained through radiation transport simulation in the voxel-based phantom, in general, agreed well with reference values. Considerable discrepancies, however, were found in some cases due to two major causes: differences in the organ masses between the phantoms and the occurrence of organ overlap in the voxel-based phantom, which is not considered in the mathematical phantom.

Creation of voxel-based models for paediatric dosimetry from automatic segmentation methods

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Acosta, O.; Li, R.; Ourselin, S.; Caon, M.

2006-01-01

Full text: The first computational models representing human anatomy were mathematical phantoms, but still far from accurate representations of human body. These models have been used with radiation transport codes (Monte Carlo) to estimate organ doses from radiological procedures. Although new medical imaging techniques have recently allowed the construction of voxel-based models based on the real anatomy, few children models from individual CT or MRI data have been reported [1,3]. For pediatric dosimetry purposes, a large range of voxel models by ages is required since scaling the anatomy from existing models is not sufficiently accurate. The small number of models available arises from the small number of CT or MRI data sets of children available and the long amount of time required to segment the data sets. The existing models have been constructed by manual segmentation slice by slice and using simple thresholding techniques. In medical image segmentation, considerable difficulties appear when applying classical techniques like thresholding or simple edge detection. Until now, any evidence of more accurate or near-automatic methods used in construction of child voxel models exists. We aim to construct a range of pediatric voxel models, integrating automatic or semi-automatic 3D segmentation techniques. In this paper we present the first stage of this work using pediatric CT data.

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of congruent voxels

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Piqué, Alberto; Kim, Heungsoo; Auyeung, Raymond C. Y.; Beniam, Iyoel; Breckenfeld, Eric

2016-06-01

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of functional materials offers unique advantages and capabilities for the rapid prototyping of electronic, optical and sensor elements. The use of LIFT for printing high viscosity metallic nano-inks and nano-pastes can be optimized for the transfer of voxels congruent with the shape of the laser pulse, forming thin film-like structures non-lithographically. These processes are capable of printing patterns with excellent lateral resolution and thickness uniformity typically found in 3-dimensional stacked assemblies, MEMS-like structures and free-standing interconnects. However, in order to achieve congruent voxel transfer with LIFT, the particle size and viscosity of the ink or paste suspensions must be adjusted to minimize variations due to wetting and drying effects. When LIFT is carried out with high-viscosity nano-suspensions, the printed voxel size and shape become controllable parameters, allowing the printing of thin-film like structures whose shape is determined by the spatial distribution of the laser pulse. The result is a new level of parallelization beyond current serial direct-write processes whereby the geometry of each printed voxel can be optimized according to the pattern design. This work shows how LIFT of congruent voxels can be applied to the fabrication of 2D and 3D microstructures by adjusting the viscosity of the nano-suspension and laser transfer parameters.

Detection and quantification of regional cortical gray matter damage in multiple sclerosis utilizing gradient echo MRI

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Jie Wen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Cortical gray matter (GM damage is now widely recognized in multiple sclerosis (MS. The standard MRI does not reliably detect cortical GM lesions, although cortical volume loss can be measured. In this study, we demonstrate that the gradient echo MRI can reliably and quantitatively assess cortical GM damage in MS patients using standard clinical scanners. High resolution multi-gradient echo MRI was used for regional mapping of tissue-specific MRI signal transverse relaxation rate values (R2* in 10 each relapsing–remitting, primary-progressive and secondary-progressive MS subjects. A voxel spread function method was used to correct artifacts induced by background field gradients. R2* values from healthy controls (HCs of varying ages were obtained to establish baseline data and calculate ΔR2* values – age-adjusted differences between MS patients and HC. Thickness of cortical regions was also measured in all subjects. In cortical regions, ΔR2* values of MS patients were also adjusted for changes in cortical thickness. Symbol digit modalities (SDMT and paced auditory serial addition (PASAT neurocognitive tests, as well as Expanded Disability Status Score, 25-foot timed walk and nine-hole peg test results were also obtained on all MS subjects. We found that ΔR2* values were lower in multiple cortical GM and normal appearing white matter (NAWM regions in MS compared with HC. ΔR2* values of global cortical GM and several specific cortical regions showed significant (p < 0.05 correlations with SDMT and PASAT scores, and showed better correlations than volumetric measures of the same regions. Neurological tests not focused on cognition (Expanded Disability Status Score, 25-foot timed walk and nine-hole peg tests showed no correlation with cortical GM ΔR2* values. The technique presented here is robust and reproducible. It requires less than 10 min and can be implemented on any MRI scanner. Our results show that quantitative tissue-specific R2

Brain atrophy and neuropsychological outcome after treatment of ruptured anterior cerebral artery aneurysms: a voxel-based morphometric study

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Bendel, Paula; Koskenkorva, Paeivi; Vanninen, Ritva; Koivisto, Timo; Aeikiae, Marja; Niskanen, Eini; Koenoenen, Mervi; Haenninen, Tuomo

2009-01-01

Cognitive impairment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is frequently detected. Here, we describe the pattern of cerebral (gray matter) atrophy and its clinical relevance after treatment of aSAH caused by a ruptured anterior cerebral artery (ACA) aneurysm. Thirty-seven aSAH patients with ACA aneurysm (17 surgical, 20 endovascular treatment) and a good or moderate clinical outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale V or IV) and 30 controls underwent brain MRI. Voxel-based morphometric analysis was applied to compare the patients and controls. Patients also underwent a detailed neuropsychological assessment. The comparisons between controls and either all patients (n=37) or the subgroup of surgically treated patients (n=17) revealed bilateral cortical atrophy in the frontal lobes, mainly in the basal areas. The brainstem, bilateral thalamic and hypothalamic areas, and ipsilateral caudate nucleus were also involved. Small areas of atrophy were detected in temporal lobes. The hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus showed atrophy ipsilateral to the surgical approach. In the subgroup of endovascularly treated patients (n = 15), small areas of atrophy were detected in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and in the thalamic region. Twenty patients (54%) showed cognitive deficits in neuropsychological assessment. Group analysis after aSAH and treatment of the ruptured ACA aneurysm revealed gray matter atrophy, principally involving the frontobasal cortical areas and hippocampus ipsilateral to the surgical approach. Areas of reduced gray matter were more pronounced after surgical than endovascular treatment. Together with possible focal cortical infarctions and brain retraction deficits in individual patients, this finding may explain the neuropsychological disturbances commonly detected after treatment of ruptured ACA aneurysms. (orig.)

Brain atrophy and neuropsychological outcome after treatment of ruptured anterior cerebral artery aneurysms: a voxel-based morphometric study

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Bendel, Paula; Koskenkorva, Paeivi; Vanninen, Ritva [Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio (Finland); Koivisto, Timo; Aeikiae, Marja [Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Neurosurgery, Kuopio (Finland); Niskanen, Eini [Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Neurology, Kuopio (Finland); Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Physics, Kuopio (Finland); Koenoenen, Mervi [Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio (Finland); Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio (Finland); Haenninen, Tuomo [Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Department of Neurology, Kuopio (Finland)

2009-11-15

Cognitive impairment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is frequently detected. Here, we describe the pattern of cerebral (gray matter) atrophy and its clinical relevance after treatment of aSAH caused by a ruptured anterior cerebral artery (ACA) aneurysm. Thirty-seven aSAH patients with ACA aneurysm (17 surgical, 20 endovascular treatment) and a good or moderate clinical outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale V or IV) and 30 controls underwent brain MRI. Voxel-based morphometric analysis was applied to compare the patients and controls. Patients also underwent a detailed neuropsychological assessment. The comparisons between controls and either all patients (n=37) or the subgroup of surgically treated patients (n=17) revealed bilateral cortical atrophy in the frontal lobes, mainly in the basal areas. The brainstem, bilateral thalamic and hypothalamic areas, and ipsilateral caudate nucleus were also involved. Small areas of atrophy were detected in temporal lobes. The hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus showed atrophy ipsilateral to the surgical approach. In the subgroup of endovascularly treated patients (n = 15), small areas of atrophy were detected in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and in the thalamic region. Twenty patients (54%) showed cognitive deficits in neuropsychological assessment. Group analysis after aSAH and treatment of the ruptured ACA aneurysm revealed gray matter atrophy, principally involving the frontobasal cortical areas and hippocampus ipsilateral to the surgical approach. Areas of reduced gray matter were more pronounced after surgical than endovascular treatment. Together with possible focal cortical infarctions and brain retraction deficits in individual patients, this finding may explain the neuropsychological disturbances commonly detected after treatment of ruptured ACA aneurysms. (orig.)

Estimation of skull table thickness with clinical CT and validation with microCT.

Science.gov (United States)

Lillie, Elizabeth M; Urban, Jillian E; Weaver, Ashley A; Powers, Alexander K; Stitzel, Joel D

2015-01-01

Brain injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes (MVC) are extremely common yet the details of the mechanism of injury remain to be well characterized. Skull deformation is believed to be a contributing factor to some types of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Understanding biomechanical contributors to skull deformation would provide further insight into the mechanism of head injury resulting from blunt trauma. In particular, skull thickness is thought be a very important factor governing deformation of the skull and its propensity for fracture. Current computed tomography (CT) technology is limited in its ability to accurately measure cortical thickness using standard techniques. A method to evaluate cortical thickness using cortical density measured from CT data has been developed previously. This effort validates this technique for measurement of skull table thickness in clinical head CT scans using two postmortem human specimens. Bone samples were harvested from the skulls of two cadavers and scanned with microCT to evaluate the accuracy of the estimated cortical thickness measured from clinical CT. Clinical scans were collected at 0.488 and 0.625 mm in plane resolution with 0.625 mm thickness. The overall cortical thickness error was determined to be 0.078 ± 0.58 mm for cortical samples thinner than 4 mm. It was determined that 91.3% of these differences fell within the scanner resolution. Color maps of clinical CT thickness estimations are comparable to color maps of microCT thickness measurements, indicating good quantitative agreement. These data confirm that the cortical density algorithm successfully estimates skull table thickness from clinical CT scans. The application of this technique to clinical CT scans enables evaluation of cortical thickness in population-based studies. © 2014 Anatomical Society.

Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter reduction in first-episode patients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

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Peng Jing, E-mail: ppengjjing@sina.com.cn [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China); Liu Jiangtao, E-mail: Liujiangtao813@sina.com [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China); Nie Binbin, E-mail: niebb@ihep.ac.cn [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 918, Yu-Quan St, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049 (China); Li Yang, E-mail: Liyang2007428@hotmail.com [Department of Psychiatry, Anding Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 5, An Kang Hutong, Deshengmen wai, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088 (China); Shan Baoci, E-mail: shanbc@ihep.ac.cn [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 918, Yu-Quan St, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049 (China); Wang Gang, E-mail: gangwang@gmail.com [Department of Psychiatry, Anding Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 5, An Kang Hutong, Deshengmen wai, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088 (China); Li Kuncheng, E-mail: likuncheng1955@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China)

2011-11-15

Purpose: To investigate cerebral and cerebellar gray matter abnormalities in patients with first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD). Materials and methods: We examined the structural difference in regional gray matter density (GMD) between 22 first-episode MDD patients and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls by optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Compared with healthy controls, MDD patients showed decreased GMD in the right medial and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral temporal pole, right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral anterior insular cortex, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left cerebellum. In addition, in MDD patients, there was a negative correlation between GMD values of the right DLPFC and the score of the depression rating scale. Conclusions: Our findings provided additional support for the involvement of limbic-cortical circuits in the pathophysiology of MDD and preliminary evidence that a defect involving the cerebellum may also be implicated.

Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter reduction in first-episode patients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Jing; Liu Jiangtao; Nie Binbin; Li Yang; Shan Baoci; Wang Gang; Li Kuncheng

2011-01-01

Purpose: To investigate cerebral and cerebellar gray matter abnormalities in patients with first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD). Materials and methods: We examined the structural difference in regional gray matter density (GMD) between 22 first-episode MDD patients and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls by optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Compared with healthy controls, MDD patients showed decreased GMD in the right medial and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral temporal pole, right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral anterior insular cortex, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left cerebellum. In addition, in MDD patients, there was a negative correlation between GMD values of the right DLPFC and the score of the depression rating scale. Conclusions: Our findings provided additional support for the involvement of limbic-cortical circuits in the pathophysiology of MDD and preliminary evidence that a defect involving the cerebellum may also be implicated.

Widespread structural brain changes in OCD: a systematic review of voxel-based morphometry studies.

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Piras, Federica; Piras, Fabrizio; Chiapponi, Chiara; Girardi, Paolo; Caltagirone, Carlo; Spalletta, Gianfranco

2015-01-01

The most widely accepted model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) assumes brain abnormalities in the "affective circuit", mainly consisting of volume reduction in the medial orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate and temporolimbic cortices, and tissue expansion in the striatum and thalamus. The advent of whole-brain, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) has provided increasing evidence that regions outside the "affective" orbitofronto-striatal circuit are involved in OCD. Nevertheless, potential confounds from the different image analysis methods, as well as other factors, such as patients' medication and comorbidity status, may limit generalization of results. In the present paper, we systematically reviewed the whole-brain VBM literature on OCD by focussing specifically on degree of consistency between studies, extent to which findings have been replicated and interrelation between clinical variables and OCD anatomy, a potentially crucial factor that has been systematically examined only in a limited number of studies. The PubMed database was searched through February 2012. A total of 156 studies were identified; 18 of them fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria and included 511 patients and 504 controls. Results support the notion that the brain alterations responsible for OCD are represented at the network level, and that widespread structural abnormalities may contribute to neurobiological vulnerability to OCD. Apart from defects in regions within the classic "affective" circuit, volume reduction of the cortical source of the dorsolateral (DL) prefronto-striatal "executive" circuit (dorsomedial, DL, ventrolateral and frontopolar prefrontal cortices), and of reciprocally connected regions (temporo-parieto-occipital associative areas) is consistently described in OCD patients. Moreover, increased volume of the internal capsule and reduced frontal and parietal white matter volumes may account for altered anatomical connectivity in fronto-subcortical circuitry

Altered grey matter volume and cortical thickness in patients with schizo-obsessive comorbidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yongming; Zou, Lai-quan; Xie, Wen-lan

2018-01-01

healthy controls (HCs). We found that patients with SOC exhibited reduced GM volume in the left thalamus, the left inferior semi-lunar lobule of the cerebellum, the bilateral medial orbitofrontal cortex (medial oFC), the medial superior frontal gyrus (medial sFG), the rectus gyrus and the anterior...... cingulate cortex (aCC) compared with HCs. Patients with SOC also exhibited reduced cortical thickness in the right superior temporal gyrus (sTG), the right angular gyrus, the right supplementary motor area (SMA), the right middle cingulate cortex (mCC) and the right middle occipital gyrus (mOG) compared...

Cortical volumes and atrophy rates in FTD-3 CHMP2B mutation carriers and related non-carriers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Simon F; Østergaard, Lasse R; Rodell, Anders B

2008-01-01

with a mean interval of 16 months and surface based cortical segmentation we measured cortical thickness and volume, and quantified atrophy rates. Cortical thickness and atrophy rates were averaged within major lobes and focal effects were determined by parametric statistical maps. The volumetric atrophy...... in the frontal and occipital lobes, and in the left temporal lobe. Results indicated that cortical thickness has a higher sensitivity for detecting small changes than whole-brain volumetric measures. Comparing mutation carriers with non-carriers revealed increased atrophy rates in mutation carriers bilaterally...

Segmentation Based Classification of 3D Urban Point Clouds: A Super-Voxel Based Approach with Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Trassoudaine

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Segmentation and classification of urban range data into different object classes have several challenges due to certain properties of the data, such as density variation, inconsistencies due to missing data and the large data size that require heavy computation and large memory. A method to classify urban scenes based on a super-voxel segmentation of sparse 3D data obtained from LiDAR sensors is presented. The 3D point cloud is first segmented into voxels, which are then characterized by several attributes transforming them into super-voxels. These are joined together by using a link-chain method rather than the usual region growing algorithm to create objects. These objects are then classified using geometrical models and local descriptors. In order to evaluate the results, a new metric that combines both segmentation and classification results simultaneously is presented. The effects of voxel size and incorporation of RGB color and laser reflectance intensity on the classification results are also discussed. The method is evaluated on standard data sets using different metrics to demonstrate its efficacy.

Cortical and subcortical brain alterations in Juvenile Absence Epilepsy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Tondelli

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the common assumption that genetic generalized epilepsies are characterized by a macroscopically normal brain on magnetic resonance imaging, subtle structural brain alterations have been detected by advanced neuroimaging techniques in Childhood Absence Epilepsy syndrome. We applied quantitative structural MRI analysis to a group of adolescents and adults with Juvenile Absence Epilepsy (JAE in order to investigate micro-structural brain changes using different brain measures. We examined grey matter volumes, cortical thickness, surface areas, and subcortical volumes in 24 patients with JAE compared to 24 healthy controls; whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM and Freesurfer analyses were used. When compared to healthy controls, patients revealed both grey matter volume and surface area reduction in bilateral frontal regions, anterior cingulate, and right mesial-temporal lobe. Correlation analysis with disease duration showed that longer disease was correlated with reduced surface area in right pre- and post-central gyrus. A possible effect of valproate treatment on brain structures was excluded. Our results indicate that subtle structural brain changes are detectable in JAE and are mainly located in anterior nodes of regions known to be crucial for awareness, attention and memory.

Cortical thinning in type 2 diabetes mellitus and recovering effects of insulin therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhiye; Sun, Jie; Yang, Yang; Lou, Xin; Wang, Yulin; Wang, Yan; Ma, Lin

2015-02-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the brain structural changes in type 2 diabetes and the effect of insulin on the brain using a surface-based cortical thickness analysis. High-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted fast spoiled gradient recalled echo MRI were obtained from 11 patients with type 2 diabetes before and after insulin therapy. The cortical thickness over the entire brain was calculated, and cross-sectional and longitudinal surface-based cortical thickness analyses were also performed. Regional cortical thinning was demonstrated in the middle temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, right lateral occipital gyrus and entorhinal cortex bilaterally for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus compared with normal controls. Cortical thickening was seen in the middle temporal gyrus, entorhinal cortex and left inferior temporal gyrus bilaterally after patients underwent 1 year of insulin therapy. These findings suggest that insulin therapy may have recovering effects on the brain cortex in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The precise mechanism should be investigated further. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Direct voxel-based comparisons between grey matter shrinkage and glucose hypometabolism in chronic alcoholism.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritz, Ludivine; Segobin, Shailendra; Lannuzel, Coralie; Boudehent, Céline; Vabret, François; Eustache, Francis; Beaunieux, Hélène; Pitel, Anne L

2016-09-01

Alcoholism is associated with widespread brain structural abnormalities affecting mainly the frontocerebellar and the Papez's circuits. Brain glucose metabolism has received limited attention, and few studies used regions of interest approach and showed reduced global brain metabolism predominantly in the frontal and parietal lobes. Even though these studies have examined the relationship between grey matter shrinkage and hypometabolism, none has performed a direct voxel-by-voxel comparison between the degrees of structural and metabolic abnormalities. Seventeen alcoholic patients and 16 control subjects underwent both structural magnetic resonance imaging and (18)F-2-fluoro-deoxy-glucose-positron emission tomography examinations. Structural abnormalities and hypometabolism were examined in alcoholic patients compared with control subjects using two-sample t-tests. Then, these two patterns of brain damage were directly compared with a paired t-test. Compared to controls, alcoholic patients had grey matter shrinkage and hypometabolism in the fronto-cerebellar circuit and several nodes of Papez's circuit. The direct comparison revealed greater shrinkage than hypometabolism in the cerebellum, cingulate cortex, thalamus and hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. Conversely, hypometabolism was more severe than shrinkage in the dorsolateral, premotor and parietal cortices. The distinct profiles of abnormalities found within the Papez's circuit, the fronto-cerebellar circuit and the parietal gyrus in chronic alcoholism suggest the involvement of different pathological mechanisms. © The Author(s) 2015.

A voxel-based technique to estimate the volume of trees from terrestrial laser scanner data

Science.gov (United States)

Bienert, A.; Hess, C.; Maas, H.-G.; von Oheimb, G.

2014-06-01

The precise determination of the volume of standing trees is very important for ecological and economical considerations in forestry. If terrestrial laser scanner data are available, a simple approach for volume determination is given by allocating points into a voxel structure and subsequently counting the filled voxels. Generally, this method will overestimate the volume. The paper presents an improved algorithm to estimate the wood volume of trees using a voxel-based method which will correct for the overestimation. After voxel space transformation, each voxel which contains points is reduced to the volume of its surrounding bounding box. In a next step, occluded (inner stem) voxels are identified by a neighbourhood analysis sweeping in the X and Y direction of each filled voxel. Finally, the wood volume of the tree is composed by the sum of the bounding box volumes of the outer voxels and the volume of all occluded inner voxels. Scan data sets from several young Norway maple trees (Acer platanoides) were used to analyse the algorithm. Therefore, the scanned trees as well as their representing point clouds were separated in different components (stem, branches) to make a meaningful comparison. Two reference measurements were performed for validation: A direct wood volume measurement by placing the tree components into a water tank, and a frustum calculation of small trunk segments by measuring the radii along the trunk. Overall, the results show slightly underestimated volumes (-0.3% for a probe of 13 trees) with a RMSE of 11.6% for the individual tree volume calculated with the new approach.

Right anterior cingulate cortical thickness and bilateral striatal volume correlate with child behavior checklist aggressive behavior scores in healthy children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ducharme, Simon; Hudziak, James J; Botteron, Kelly N; Ganjavi, Hooman; Lepage, Claude; Collins, D Louis; Albaugh, Matthew D; Evans, Alan C; Karama, Sherif

2011-08-01

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and basal ganglia have been implicated in pathological aggression. This study aimed at identifying neuroanatomical correlates of impulsive aggression in healthy children. Data from 193 representative 6- to 18-year-old healthy children were obtained from the National Institutes of Health Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Normal Brain Development after a blinded quality control. Cortical thickness and subcortical volumes were obtained with automated software. Aggression levels were measured with the Aggressive Behavior scale (AGG) of the Child Behavior Checklist. AGG scores were regressed against cortical thickness and basal ganglia volumes using first- and second-order linear models while controlling for age, gender, scanner site, and total brain volume. Gender by AGG interactions were analyzed. There were positive associations between bilateral striatal volumes and AGG scores (right: r = .238, p = .001; left: r = .188, p = .01). A significant association was found with right ACC and subgenual ACC cortical thickness in a second-order linear model (p right ACC cortex. An AGG by gender interaction trend was found in bilateral OFC and ACC associations with AGG scores. This study shows the existence of relationships between impulsive aggression in healthy children and the structure of the striatum and right ACC. It also suggests the existence of gender-specific patterns of association in OFC/ACC gray matter. These results may guide research on oppositional-defiant and conduct disorders. Copyright © 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of interradicular distances and cortical bone thickness in Thai patients with class I and class II skeletal patterns using cone-beam computed tomography

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Khumsarn, Nattida [Dental Division of Lamphun Hospital, Lamphun (Thailand); Patanaporn, Virush; Janhom, Apirum; Jotikasthira, Dhirawat [Faculty of Dentistry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai (Thailand)

2016-06-15

This study evaluated and compared interradicular distances and cortical bone thickness in Thai patients with Class I and Class II skeletal patterns, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Pretreatment CBCT images of 24 Thai orthodontic patients with Class I and Class II skeletal patterns were included in the study. Three measurements were chosen for investigation: the mesiodistal distance between the roots, the width of the buccolingual alveolar process, and buccal cortical bone thickness. All distances were recorded at five different levels from the cementoenamel junction (CEJ). Descriptive statistical analysis and t-tests were performed, with the significance level for all tests set at p<0.05. Patients with a Class II skeletal pattern showed significantly greater maxillary mesiodistal distances (between the first and second premolars) and widths of the buccolingual alveolar process (between the first and second molars) than Class I skeletal pattern patients at 10 mm above the CEJ. The maxillary buccal cortical bone thicknesses between the second premolar and first molar at 8 mm above the CEJ in Class II patients were likewise significantly greater than in Class I patients. Patients with a Class I skeletal pattern showed significantly wider mandibular buccolingual alveolar processes than did Class II patients (between the first and second molars) at 4, 6, and 8 mm below the CEJ. In both the maxilla and mandible, the mesiodistal distances, the width of the buccolingual alveolar process, and buccal cortical bone thickness tended to increase from the CEJ to the apex in both Class I and Class II skeletal patterns.

Comparison of interradicular distances and cortical bone thickness in Thai patients with class I and class II skeletal patterns using cone-beam computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khumsarn, Nattida; Patanaporn, Virush; Janhom, Apirum; Jotikasthira, Dhirawat

2016-01-01

This study evaluated and compared interradicular distances and cortical bone thickness in Thai patients with Class I and Class II skeletal patterns, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Pretreatment CBCT images of 24 Thai orthodontic patients with Class I and Class II skeletal patterns were included in the study. Three measurements were chosen for investigation: the mesiodistal distance between the roots, the width of the buccolingual alveolar process, and buccal cortical bone thickness. All distances were recorded at five different levels from the cementoenamel junction (CEJ). Descriptive statistical analysis and t-tests were performed, with the significance level for all tests set at p<0.05. Patients with a Class II skeletal pattern showed significantly greater maxillary mesiodistal distances (between the first and second premolars) and widths of the buccolingual alveolar process (between the first and second molars) than Class I skeletal pattern patients at 10 mm above the CEJ. The maxillary buccal cortical bone thicknesses between the second premolar and first molar at 8 mm above the CEJ in Class II patients were likewise significantly greater than in Class I patients. Patients with a Class I skeletal pattern showed significantly wider mandibular buccolingual alveolar processes than did Class II patients (between the first and second molars) at 4, 6, and 8 mm below the CEJ. In both the maxilla and mandible, the mesiodistal distances, the width of the buccolingual alveolar process, and buccal cortical bone thickness tended to increase from the CEJ to the apex in both Class I and Class II skeletal patterns

Age and gender effects on normal regional cerebral blood flow studied using two different voxel-based statistical analyses; Effets de l'age et du genre sur la perfusion cerebrale regionale etudiee par deux methodes d'analyse statistique voxel-par-voxel

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Pirson, A.S.; George, J.; Krug, B.; Vander Borght, T. [Universite Catholique de Louvain, Service de Medecine Nucleaire, Cliniques Universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Yvoir (Belgium); Van Laere, K. [Leuven Univ. Hospital, Nuclear Medicine Div. (Belgium); Jamart, J. [Universite Catholique de Louvain, Dept. de Biostatistiques, Cliniques Universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Yvoir (Belgium); D' Asseler, Y. [Ghent Univ., Medical Signal and Image Processing Dept. (MEDISIP), Faculty of applied sciences (Belgium); Minoshima, S. [Washington Univ., Dept. of Radiology, Seattle (United States)

2009-10-15

Fully automated analysis programs have been applied more and more to aid for the reading of regional cerebral blood flow SPECT study. They are increasingly based on the comparison of the patient study with a normal database. In this study, we evaluate the ability of Three-Dimensional Stereotactic Surface Projection (3 D-S.S.P.) to isolate effects of age and gender in a previously studied normal population. The results were also compared with those obtained using Statistical Parametric Mapping (S.P.M.99). Methods Eighty-nine {sup 99m}Tc-E.C.D.-SPECT studies performed in carefully screened healthy volunteers (46 females, 43 males; age 20 - 81 years) were analysed using 3 D-S.S.P.. A multivariate analysis based on the general linear model was performed with regions as intra-subject factor, gender as inter-subject factor and age as co-variate. Results Both age and gender had a significant interaction effect with regional tracer uptake. An age-related decline (p < 0.001) was found in the anterior cingulate gyrus, left frontal association cortex and left insula. Bilateral occipital association and left primary visual cortical uptake showed a significant relative increase with age (p < 0.001). Concerning the gender effect, women showed higher uptake (p < 0.01) in the parietal and right sensorimotor cortices. An age by gender interaction (p < 0.01) was only found in the left medial frontal cortex. The results were consistent with those obtained with S.P.M.99. Conclusion 3 D-S.S.P. analysis of normal r.C.B.F. variability is consistent with the literature and other automated voxel-based techniques, which highlight the effects of both age and gender. (authors)

Reconstruction of segmented human voxel phantoms for skin dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antunes, Paula C.G.; Siqueira, Paulo de Tarso D.; Yoriyaz, Helio; Fonseca, Gabriel P.; Reis, Gabriela; Furnari, Laura

2009-01-01

High-resolution medical images along with methods that simulate the interaction of radiation with matter, as the Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, have been widely used in medical physics procedures. These images provide the construction of realistic anatomical models, which after being coupled to these codes, may drive to better assessments of dose distributions on the patient. These anatomical models constructed from medical images are known as voxel phantoms (voxel - volume element of an image). Present day regular images are unsuitable to correctly perform skin dose distribution evaluations. This inability is due to improper skin discrimination in most of the current medical images, once its thickness stands below the resolution of the pixels that form the image. This paper proposes the voxel phantom reconstruction by subdividing and segmenting the elements that form the phantom. It is done in order to better discriminate the skin by assigning it more adequate thickness and actual location, allowing a better dosimetric evaluation of the skin. This task is an important issue in many radiotherapy procedures. Particular interest lays in Total Skin Irradiation (TSI) with electron beams, where skin dose evaluation stands as the treatment key point of the whole body irradiation. This radiotherapy procedure is under implementation at the Hospital das Clinicas da Universidade de Sao Paulo (HC-USP). (author)

Prediction of Alzheimer’s disease in mild cognitive impairment using sulcal morphology and cortical thickness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plocharski, Maciej; Østergaard, Lasse Riis

2019-01-01

converters, or MCIc). The purpose of this study was to predict future AD-conversion in patients with MCI using machine learning with sulcal morphology and cortical thickness measures as classification features. 32 sulci per subject were extracted from 1.5T T1-weighted ADNI database MRI scans of 90 MCIc......Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate condition between healthy ageing and dementia. The amnestic MCI is often a high risk factor for subsequent Alzheimer’s disease (AD) conversion. Some MCI patients never develop AD (MCI non-converters, or MCInc), but some do progress to AD (MCI...... subjects as future converters, (89.7% sensitivity, 84.4% specificity, 0.94 AUC), using 10-fold cross-validation. These results using sulcal and cortical features are superior to the state-of-the-art methods. The most discriminating predictive features were observed in the temporal and frontal lobes...

Glucose hypometabolism is highly localized, but lower cortical thickness and brain atrophy are widespread in cognitively normal older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nugent, Scott; Castellano, Christian-Alexandre; Goffaux, Philippe; Whittingstall, Kevin; Lepage, Martin; Paquet, Nancy; Bocti, Christian; Fulop, Tamas; Cunnane, Stephen C

2014-06-01

Several studies have suggested that glucose hypometabolism may be present in specific brain regions in cognitively normal older adults and could contribute to the risk of subsequent cognitive decline. However, certain methodological shortcomings, including a lack of partial volume effect (PVE) correction or insufficient cognitive testing, confound the interpretation of most studies on this topic. We combined [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([(18)F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to quantify cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRg) as well as cortical volume and thickness in 43 anatomically defined brain regions from a group of cognitively normal younger (25 ± 3 yr old; n = 25) and older adults (71 ± 9 yr old; n = 31). After correcting for PVE, we observed 11-17% lower CMRg in three specific brain regions of the older group: the superior frontal cortex, the caudal middle frontal cortex, and the caudate (P ≤ 0.01 false discovery rate-corrected). In the older group, cortical volumes and cortical thickness were 13-33 and 7-18% lower, respectively, in multiple brain regions (P ≤ 0.01 FDR correction). There were no differences in CMRg between individuals who were or were not prescribed antihypertensive medication. There were no significant correlations between CMRg and cognitive performance or metabolic parameters measured in fasting plasma. We conclude that highly localized glucose hypometabolism and widespread cortical thinning and atrophy can be present in older adults who are cognitively normal, as assessed using age-normed neuropsychological testing measures. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

Anatomical specificity of vascular endothelial growth factor expression in glioblastomas: a voxel-based mapping analysis

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Fan, Xing [Capital Medical University, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing (China); Wang, Yinyan [Capital Medical University, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing (China); Capital Medical University, Department of Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Beijing (China); Wang, Kai; Ma, Jun; Li, Shaowu [Capital Medical University, Department of Neuroradiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing (China); Liu, Shuai [Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Departments of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing (China); Liu, Yong [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Beijing (China); Jiang, Tao [Capital Medical University, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing (China); Beijing Academy of Critical Illness in Brain, Department of Clinical Oncology, Beijing (China)

2016-01-15

The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a common genetic alteration in malignant gliomas and contributes to the angiogenesis of tumors. This study aimed to investigate the anatomical specificity of VEGF expression levels in glioblastomas using voxel-based neuroimaging analysis. Clinical information, MR scans, and immunohistochemistry stains of 209 patients with glioblastomas were reviewed. All tumor lesions were segmented manually and subsequently registered to standard brain space. Voxel-based regression analysis was performed to correlate the brain regions of tumor involvement with the level of VEGF expression. Brain regions identified as significantly associated with high or low VEGF expression were preserved following permutation correction. High VEGF expression was detected in 123 (58.9 %) of the 209 patients. Voxel-based statistical analysis demonstrated that high VEGF expression was more likely in tumors located in the left frontal lobe and the right caudate and low VEGF expression was more likely in tumors that occurred in the posterior region of the right lateral ventricle. Voxel-based neuroimaging analysis revealed the anatomic specificity of VEGF expression in glioblastoma, which may further our understanding of genetic heterogeneity during tumor origination. This finding provides primary theoretical support for potential future application of customized antiangiogenic therapy. (orig.)

Anatomical specificity of vascular endothelial growth factor expression in glioblastomas: a voxel-based mapping analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Xing; Wang, Yinyan; Wang, Kai; Ma, Jun; Li, Shaowu; Liu, Shuai; Liu, Yong; Jiang, Tao

2016-01-01

The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a common genetic alteration in malignant gliomas and contributes to the angiogenesis of tumors. This study aimed to investigate the anatomical specificity of VEGF expression levels in glioblastomas using voxel-based neuroimaging analysis. Clinical information, MR scans, and immunohistochemistry stains of 209 patients with glioblastomas were reviewed. All tumor lesions were segmented manually and subsequently registered to standard brain space. Voxel-based regression analysis was performed to correlate the brain regions of tumor involvement with the level of VEGF expression. Brain regions identified as significantly associated with high or low VEGF expression were preserved following permutation correction. High VEGF expression was detected in 123 (58.9 %) of the 209 patients. Voxel-based statistical analysis demonstrated that high VEGF expression was more likely in tumors located in the left frontal lobe and the right caudate and low VEGF expression was more likely in tumors that occurred in the posterior region of the right lateral ventricle. Voxel-based neuroimaging analysis revealed the anatomic specificity of VEGF expression in glioblastoma, which may further our understanding of genetic heterogeneity during tumor origination. This finding provides primary theoretical support for potential future application of customized antiangiogenic therapy. (orig.)

Micromechanical analysis of nanocomposites using 3D voxel based material model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon

2012-01-01

A computational study on the effect of nanocomposite structures on the elastic properties is carried out with the use of the 3D voxel based model of materials and the combined Voigt–Reuss method. A hierarchical voxel based model of a material reinforced by an array of exfoliated and intercalated...... nanoclay platelets surrounded by interphase layers is developed. With this model, the elastic properties of the interphase layer are estimated using the inverse analysis. The effects of aspect ratio, intercalation and orientation of nanoparticles on the elastic properties of the nanocomposites are analyzed....... For modeling the damage in nanocomposites with intercalated structures, “four phase” model is suggested, in which the strength of “intrastack interphase” is lower than that of “outer” interphase around the nanoplatelets. Analyzing the effect of nanoreinforcement in the matrix on the failure probability...

Using modern human cortical bone distribution to test the systemic robusticity hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Baab, Karen L; Copes, Lynn E; Ward, Devin L; Wells, Nora; Grine, Frederick E

2018-06-01

The systemic robusticity hypothesis links the thickness of cortical bone in both the cranium and limb bones. This hypothesis posits that thick cortical bone is in part a systemic response to circulating hormones, such as growth hormone and thyroid hormone, possibly related to physical activity or cold climates. Although this hypothesis has gained popular traction, only rarely has robusticity of the cranium and postcranial skeleton been considered jointly. We acquired computed tomographic scans from associated crania, femora and humeri from single individuals representing 11 populations in Africa and North America (n = 228). Cortical thickness in the parietal, frontal and occipital bones and cortical bone area in limb bone diaphyses were analyzed using correlation, multiple regression and general linear models to test the hypothesis. Absolute thickness values from the crania were not correlated with cortical bone area of the femur or humerus, which is at odds with the systemic robusticity hypothesis. However, measures of cortical bone scaled by total vault thickness and limb cross-sectional area were positively correlated between the cranium and postcranium. When accounting for a range of potential confounding variables, including sex, age and body mass, variation in relative postcranial cortical bone area explained ∼20% of variation in the proportion of cortical cranial bone thickness. While these findings provide limited support for the systemic robusticity hypothesis, cranial cortical thickness did not track climate or physical activity across populations. Thus, some of the variation in cranial cortical bone thickness in modern humans is attributable to systemic effects, but the driving force behind this effect remains obscure. Moreover, neither absolute nor proportional measures of cranial cortical bone thickness are positively correlated with total cranial bone thickness, complicating the extrapolation of these findings to extinct species where only cranial

Evaluation of absorbed doses in voxel-based and simplified models for small animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammadi, A.; Kinase, S.; Saito, K.

2008-01-01

Internal dosimetry in non-human biota is desirable from the viewpoint of radiation protection of the environment. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) proposed Reference Animals and Plants using simplified models, such as ellipsoids and spheres and calculated absorbed fractions (AFs) for whole bodies. In this study, photon and electron AFs in whole bodies of voxel-based rat and frog models have been calculated and compared with AFs in the reference models. It was found that the voxel-based and the reference frog (or rat) models can be consistent for the whole-body AFs within a discrepancy of 25 %, as the source was uniformly distributed in the whole body. The specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) and S values were also evaluated in whole bodies and all organs of the voxel-based frog and rat models as the source was distributed in the whole body or skeleton. The results demonstrated that the whole-body SAFs reflect SAFs of all individual organs as the source was uniformly distributed per mass within the whole body by about 30 % uncertainties with exceptions for body contour (up to -40 %) for both electrons and photons due to enhanced radiation leakages, and for the skeleton for photons only (up to +185 %) due to differences in the mass attenuation coefficients. For nuclides such as 90 Y and 90 Sr, which were concentrated in the skeleton, there were large differences between S values in the whole body and those in individual organs, however the whole-body S values for the reference models with the whole body as the source were remarkably similar to those for the voxel-based models with the skeleton as the source, within about 4 and 0.3 %, respectively. It can be stated that whole-body SAFs or S values in simplified models without internal organs are not sufficient for accurate internal dosimetry because they do not reflect SAFs or S values of all individual organs as the source was not distributed uniformly in whole body. Thus, voxel-based

Focal Cortical Thickness Correlates of Exceptional Memory Training in Vedic Priests

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Giridhar Padmanabhan Kalamangalam

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The capacity for semantic memory – the ability to acquire and store knowledge of the world - is highly developed in the human brain. In particular, semantic memory assimilated through an auditory route may be a uniquely human capacity. One method of obtaining neurobiological insight into auditory semantic memory mechanisms is through the study of experts. In this work, we study a group of Hindu Vedic priests, whose religious training requires the memorization of vast tracts of scriptural texts through an oral tradition, recalled spontaneously during a lifetime of subsequent spiritual practice. We demonstrate focal increases of cortical thickness in the dominant prefrontal lobe and non-dominant temporal lobe in Vedic priests, in comparison to a group of matched controls. The findings are relevant to current hypotheses regarding cognitive processes underlying storage and recall of long-term declarative memory.

Voxel-based Monte Carlo simulation of X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bottigli, U.; Brunetti, A.; Golosio, B.; Oliva, P.; Stumbo, S.; Vincze, L.; Randaccio, P.; Bleuet, P.; Simionovici, A.; Somogyi, A.

2004-01-01

A Monte Carlo code for the simulation of X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments in heterogeneous samples is presented. The energy spectrum, polarization and profile of the incident beam can be defined so that X-ray tube systems as well as synchrotron sources can be simulated. The sample is modeled as a 3D regular grid. The chemical composition and density is given at each point of the grid. Photoelectric absorption, fluorescent emission, elastic and inelastic scattering are included in the simulation. The core of the simulation is a fast routine for the calculation of the path lengths of the photon trajectory intersections with the grid voxels. The voxel representation is particularly useful for samples that cannot be well described by a small set of polyhedra. This is the case of most naturally occurring samples. In such cases, voxel-based simulations are much less expensive in terms of computational cost than simulations on a polygonal representation. The efficient scheme used for calculating the path lengths in the voxels and the use of variance reduction techniques make the code suitable for the detailed simulation of complex experiments on generic samples in a relatively short time. Examples of applications to X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments are discussed

Voxel-based Monte Carlo simulation of X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bottigli, U. [Istituto di Matematica e Fisica dell' Universita di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari (Italy); Sezione INFN di Cagliari (Italy); Brunetti, A. [Istituto di Matematica e Fisica dell' Universita di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari (Italy); Golosio, B. [Istituto di Matematica e Fisica dell' Universita di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari (Italy) and Sezione INFN di Cagliari (Italy)]. E-mail: golosio@uniss.it; Oliva, P. [Istituto di Matematica e Fisica dell' Universita di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari (Italy); Stumbo, S. [Istituto di Matematica e Fisica dell' Universita di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari (Italy); Vincze, L. [Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp (Belgium); Randaccio, P. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita di Cagliari and Sezione INFN di Cagliari (Italy); Bleuet, P. [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France); Simionovici, A. [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France); Somogyi, A. [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France)

2004-10-08

A Monte Carlo code for the simulation of X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments in heterogeneous samples is presented. The energy spectrum, polarization and profile of the incident beam can be defined so that X-ray tube systems as well as synchrotron sources can be simulated. The sample is modeled as a 3D regular grid. The chemical composition and density is given at each point of the grid. Photoelectric absorption, fluorescent emission, elastic and inelastic scattering are included in the simulation. The core of the simulation is a fast routine for the calculation of the path lengths of the photon trajectory intersections with the grid voxels. The voxel representation is particularly useful for samples that cannot be well described by a small set of polyhedra. This is the case of most naturally occurring samples. In such cases, voxel-based simulations are much less expensive in terms of computational cost than simulations on a polygonal representation. The efficient scheme used for calculating the path lengths in the voxels and the use of variance reduction techniques make the code suitable for the detailed simulation of complex experiments on generic samples in a relatively short time. Examples of applications to X-ray imaging and spectroscopy experiments are discussed.

Regional vulnerability of longitudinal cortical association connectivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Ceschin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Preterm born children with spastic diplegia type of cerebral palsy and white matter injury or periventricular leukomalacia (PVL, are known to have motor, visual and cognitive impairments. Most diffusion tensor imaging (DTI studies performed in this group have demonstrated widespread abnormalities using averaged deterministic tractography and voxel-based DTI measurements. Little is known about structural network correlates of white matter topography and reorganization in preterm cerebral palsy, despite the availability of new therapies and the need for brain imaging biomarkers. Here, we combined novel post-processing methodology of probabilistic tractography data in this preterm cohort to improve spatial and regional delineation of longitudinal cortical association tract abnormalities using an along-tract approach, and compared these data to structural DTI cortical network topology analysis. DTI images were acquired on 16 preterm children with cerebral palsy (mean age 5.6 ± 4 and 75 healthy controls (mean age 5.7 ± 3.4. Despite mean tract analysis, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS and voxel-based morphometry (VBM demonstrating diffusely reduced fractional anisotropy (FA reduction in all white matter tracts, the along-tract analysis improved the detection of regional tract vulnerability. The along-tract map-structural network topology correlates revealed two associations: (1 reduced regional posterior–anterior gradient in FA of the longitudinal visual cortical association tracts (inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, optic radiation, posterior thalamic radiation correlated with reduced posterior–anterior gradient of intra-regional (nodal efficiency metrics with relative sparing of frontal and temporal regions; and (2 reduced regional FA within frontal–thalamic–striatal white matter pathways (anterior limb/anterior thalamic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus and cortical spinal tract

Automated Volumetry and Regional Thickness Analysis of Hippocampal Subfields and Medial Temporal Cortical Structures in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Yushkevich, Paul A.; Pluta, John B.; Wang, Hongzhi; Xie, Long; Ding, Song-Lin; Gertje, E. C.; Mancuso, Lauren; Kliot, Daria; Das, Sandhitsu R.; Wolk, David A.

2014-01-01

We evaluate a fully automatic technique for labeling hippocampal subfields and cortical subregions in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in in vivo 3 Tesla MRI. The method performs segmentation on a T2-weighted MRI scan with 0.4 × 0.4 × 2.0 mm3 resolution, partial brain coverage, and oblique orientation. Hippocampal subfields, entorhinal cortex, and perirhinal cortex are labeled using a pipeline that combines multi-atlas label fusion and learning-based error correction. In contrast to earlier work on automatic subfield segmentation in T2-weighted MRI (Yushkevich et al., 2010), our approach requires no manual initialization, labels hippocampal subfields over a greater anterior-posterior extent, and labels the perirhinal cortex, which is further subdivided into Brodmann areas 35 and 36. The accuracy of the automatic segmentation relative to manual segmentation is measured using cross-validation in 29 subjects from a study of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), and is highest for the dentate gyrus (Dice coefficient is 0.823), CA1 (0.803), perirhinal cortex (0.797) and entorhinal cortex (0.786) labels. A larger cohort of 83 subjects is used to examine the effects of aMCI in the hippocampal region using both subfield volume and regional subfield thickness maps. Most significant differences between aMCI and healthy aging are observed bilaterally in the CA1 subfield and in the left Brodmann area 35. Thickness analysis results are consistent with volumetry, but provide additional regional specificity and suggest non-uniformity in the effects of aMCI on hippocampal subfields and MTL cortical subregions. PMID:25181316

Shifting from region of interest (ROI) to voxel-based analysis in human brain mapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astrakas, Loukas G.; Argyropoulou, Maria I.

2010-01-01

Current clinical studies involve multidimensional high-resolution images containing an overwhelming amount of structural and functional information. The analysis of such a wealth of information is becoming increasingly difficult yet necessary in order to improve diagnosis, treatment and healthcare. Voxel-wise analysis is a class of modern methods of image processing in the medical field with increased popularity. It has replaced manual region of interest (ROI) analysis and has provided tools to make statistical inferences at voxel level. The introduction of voxel-based analysis software in all modern commercial scanners allows clinical use of these techniques. This review will explain the main principles, advantages and disadvantages behind these methods of image analysis. (orig.)

The impact of ADHD persistence, recent cannabis use, and age of regular cannabis use onset on subcortical volume and cortical thickness in young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Lisdahl, Krista M; Tamm, Leanne; Epstein, Jeffery N; Jernigan, Terry; Molina, Brooke S G; Hinshaw, Stephen P; Swanson, James M; Newman, Erik; Kelly, Clare; Bjork, James M

2016-04-01

Both Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and chronic cannabis (CAN) use have been associated with brain structural abnormalities, although little is known about the effects of both in young adults. Participants included: those with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD who were CAN users (ADHD_CAN; n=37) and non-users (NU) (ADHD_NU; n=44) and a local normative comparison group (LNCG) who did (LNCG_CAN; n=18) and did not (LNCG_NU; n=21) use CAN regularly. Multiple regressions and MANCOVAs were used to examine the independent and interactive effects of a childhood ADHD diagnosis and CAN group status and age of onset (CUO) on subcortical volumes and cortical thickness. After controlling for age, gender, total brain volume, nicotine use, and past-year binge drinking, childhood ADHD diagnosis did not predict brain structure; however, persistence of ADHD was associated with smaller left precentral/postcentral cortical thickness. Compared to all non-users, CAN users had decreased cortical thickness in right hemisphere superior frontal sulcus, anterior cingulate, and isthmus of cingulate gyrus regions and left hemisphere superior frontal sulcus and precentral gyrus regions. Early cannabis use age of onset (CUO) in those with ADHD predicted greater right hemisphere superior frontal and postcentral cortical thickness. Young adults with persistent ADHD demonstrated brain structure abnormalities in regions underlying motor control, working memory and inhibitory control. Further, CAN use was linked with abnormal brain structure in regions with high concentrations of cannabinoid receptors. Additional large-scale longitudinal studies are needed to clarify how substance use impacts neurodevelopment in youth with and without ADHD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cortical Thickness, Surface Area and Subcortical Volume Differentially Contribute to Cognitive Heterogeneity in Parkinson's Disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerrits, Niels J H M; van Loenhoud, Anita C; van den Berg, Stan F; Berendse, Henk W; Foncke, Elisabeth M J; Klein, Martin; Stoffers, Diederick; van der Werf, Ysbrand D; van den Heuvel, Odile A

2016-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is often associated with cognitive deficits, although their severity varies considerably between patients. Recently, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to show that individual differences in gray matter (GM) volume relate to cognitive heterogeneity in PD. VBM does,

Light regimes in Populus plantations using the Voxel-based Light Interception Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Zande, D.; Dieussart, K.; Stuckens, J.; Verstraeten, W.W.; Coppin, P.

2011-01-01

Three-dimensional light interception by three uniform Populus canopies was studied using the Voxel-based Light Interception Model (VLIM) in combination with ground-based Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) measurements. As the VLIM was developed and validated in a virtual environment to ensure

A Surface-based Analysis of Language Lateralization and Cortical Asymmetry

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Douglas N.; Van der Haegen, Lise; Cai, Qing; Stufflebeam, Steven; Sabuncu, Mert R.; Fischl, Bruce; Bysbaert, Marc

2013-01-01

Among brain functions, language is one of the most lateralized. Cortical language areas are also some of the most asymmetrical in the brain. An open question is whether the asymmetry in function is linked to the asymmetry in anatomy. To address this question, we measured anatomical asymmetry in 34 participants shown with fMRI to have language dominance of the left hemisphere (LLD) and 21 participants shown to have atypical right hemisphere dominance (RLD). All participants were healthy and left-handed, and most (80%) were female. Gray matter (GM) volume asymmetry was measured using an automated surface-based technique in both ROIs and exploratory analyses. In the ROI analysis, a significant difference between LLD and RLD was found in the insula. No differences were found in planum temporale (PT), pars opercularis (POp), pars triangularis (PTr), or Heschl’s gyrus (HG). The PT, POp, insula, and HG were all significantly left lateralized in both LLD and RLD participants. Both the positive and negative ROI findings replicate a previous study using manually labeled ROIs in a different cohort [Keller, S. S., Roberts, N., Garcia-Finana, M., Mohammadi, S., Ringelstein, E. B., Knecht, S., et al. Can the language-dominant hemisphere be predicted by brain anatomy? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 2013–2029, 2011]. The exploratory analysis was accomplished using a new surface-based registration that aligns cortical folding patterns across both subject and hemisphere. A small but significant cluster was found in the superior temporal gyrus that overlapped with the PT. A cluster was also found in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex corresponding to the visual word recognition area. The surface-based analysis also makes it possible to disentangle the effects of GM volume, thickness, and surface area while removing the effects of curvature. For both the ROI and exploratory analyses, the difference between LLD and RLD volume laterality was most strongly driven by

Combined brain voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study in idiopathic restless legs syndrome patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzo, G; Manners, D; Vetrugno, R; Tonon, C; Malucelli, E; Plazzi, G; Marconi, S; Pizza, F; Testa, C; Provini, F; Montagna, P; Lodi, R

2012-07-01

  The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of abnormalities in the brain of patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) using voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).   Twenty patients and twenty controls were studied. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM8) and FSL-VBM software tools. For voxel-wise analysis of DTI, tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and SPM8 were used.   Applying an appropriate threshold of probability, no significant results were found either in comparison or in correlation analyses.   Our data argue against clear structural or microstructural abnormalities in the brain of patients with idiopathic RLS, suggesting a prevalent role of functional or metabolic impairment. © 2011 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2011 EFNS.

How distributed processing produces false negatives in voxel-based lesion-deficit analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Gajardo-Vidal, Andrea; Lorca-Puls, Diego L; Crinion, Jennifer T; White, Jitrachote; Seghier, Mohamed L; Leff, Alex P; Hope, Thomas M H; Ludersdorfer, Philipp; Green, David W; Bowman, Howard; Price, Cathy J

2018-07-01

In this study, we hypothesized that if the same deficit can be caused by damage to one or another part of a distributed neural system, then voxel-based analyses might miss critical lesion sites because preservation of each site will not be consistently associated with preserved function. The first part of our investigation used voxel-based multiple regression analyses of data from 359 right-handed stroke survivors to identify brain regions where lesion load is associated with picture naming abilities after factoring out variance related to object recognition, semantics and speech articulation so as to focus on deficits arising at the word retrieval level. A highly significant lesion-deficit relationship was identified in left temporal and frontal/premotor regions. Post-hoc analyses showed that damage to either of these sites caused the deficit of interest in less than half the affected patients (76/162 = 47%). After excluding all patients with damage to one or both of the identified regions, our second analysis revealed a new region, in the anterior part of the left putamen, which had not been previously detected because many patients had the deficit of interest after temporal or frontal damage that preserved the left putamen. The results illustrate how (i) false negative results arise when the same deficit can be caused by different lesion sites; (ii) some of the missed effects can be unveiled by adopting an iterative approach that systematically excludes patients with lesions to the areas identified in previous analyses, (iii) statistically significant voxel-based lesion-deficit mappings can be driven by a subset of patients; (iv) focal lesions to the identified regions are needed to determine whether the deficit of interest is the consequence of focal damage or much more extensive damage that includes the identified region; and, finally, (v) univariate voxel-based lesion-deficit mappings cannot, in isolation, be used to predict outcome in other patients

Focal retrograde amnesia: voxel-based morphometry findings in a case without MRI lesions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernhard Sehm

Full Text Available Focal retrograde amnesia (FRA is a rare neurocognitive disorder presenting with an isolated loss of retrograde memory. In the absence of detectable brain lesions, a differentiation of FRA from psychogenic causes is difficult. Here we report a case study of persisting FRA after an epileptic seizure. A thorough neuropsychological assessment confirmed severe retrograde memory deficits while anterograde memory abilities were completely normal. Neurological and psychiatric examination were unremarkable and high-resolution MRI showed no neuroradiologically apparent lesion. However, voxel-based morphometry (VBM-comparing the MRI to an education-, age-and sex-matched control group (n = 20 disclosed distinct gray matter decreases in left temporopolar cortex and a region between right posterior parahippocampal and lingual cortex. Although the results of VBM-based comparisons between a single case and a healthy control group are generally susceptible to differences unrelated to the specific symptoms of the case, we believe that our data suggest a causal role of the cortical areas detected since the retrograde memory deficit is the preeminent neuropsychological difference between patient and controls. This was paralleled by grey matter differences in central nodes of the retrograde memory network. We therefore suggest that these subtle alterations represent structural correlates of the focal retrograde amnesia in our patient. Beyond the implications for the diagnosis and etiology of FRA, our results advocate the use of VBM in conditions that do not show abnormalities in clinical radiological assessment, but show distinct neuropsychological deficits.

Accuracy limits for the determination of cortical width and density: the influence of object size and CT imaging parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prevrhal, S.; Engelke, K.; Kalender, W.A.

1999-01-01

In this study we analysed the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) measurements in assessing cortical bone. We determined the dependency of thickness and density measurements on the true width and density of the cortex and on the spatial resolution in the CT images using two optimized segmentation methods. As a secondary goal, we assessed the ability of CT to reflect small changes in cortical thickness. Two different bone-mimicking phantoms with varying cortical thickness were scanned with single-slice CT on a Somatom Plus 4 scanner. Images were reconstructed with both a standard and a high-resolution convolution kernel. Two special operator-independent segmentation methods were used to automatically detect the edges of the cortical shell. We measured cortical thickness and density and compared the phantom measurements with theoretical computations by simulating a cross-sectional shape of the cortical shell. Based on the simulations, we calculated CT's power to detect small changes in cortical thickness. Simulations and phantom measurements were in very good agreement. Cortical thickness could be measured with an error of less than 10% if the true thickness was larger than 0.9 (0.7) mm for the standard (high-resolution) kernel which is close to the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the point spread functions for these kernels and our scanner. Density measurements yielded errors of less than 10% for true cortical thickness values above two to three times the FWHM corresponding to 2.5 (2) mm in our case. The simulations showed that a 10% change in cortical width would not be detected with satisfying probability in bones with a cortical shell thinner than 1.2 mm. An accurate determination of the cortical thickness is limited to bones with a thickness higher than the FWHM of the scanner's point spread function. Therefore, the use of a high-resolution reconstruction kernel is crucial. Cortical bone mineral density can only be measured accurately in bones two to three

Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and child ADHD symptoms, executive function and cortical thickness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Buss

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Rationale/statement of the problem : Increasing evidence suggests exposure to adverse conditions in intrauterine life may increase the risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD in childhood. High maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI has been shown to predict child ADHD symptoms; however, the neurocognitive processes underlying this relationship are not known. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that this association is mediated by alterations in child executive function and cortical development. Methods : A population-based cohort of 174 children (mean age = 7.3±0.9 (SD years, 55% girls was evaluated for ADHD symptoms, using the Child Behavior Checklist, and for neurocognitive function, using the Go/No-go Task. This cohort had been followed prospectively from early gestation and birth through infancy and childhood with serial measures of maternal and child prenatal and postnatal factors. In 108 children, a structural MRI scan was acquired and the association between maternal obesity and child cortical thickness was investigated using Freesurfer software. Results : Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was a significant predictor of child ADHD symptoms (F (1,158=4.80, p = 0.03 and of child performance on the Go/No-go Task (F (1,157=8.37, p=0.004 after controlling for key potential confounding variables. A test of the mediation model revealed that the association between higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and child ADHD symptoms was mediated by impaired executive function (inefficient/less attentive processing; Sobel test: t=2.39 (±0.002, SEM; p=0.02. Interestingly, after controlling for key potential confounding variables pre-pregnancy obesity was furthermore associated with region-specific thinner cortices, including regions previously reported to be thinner in children with ADHD, like the prefrontal cortex. Conclusion : To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the

Normalization of cortical thickness measurements across different T1 magnetic resonance imaging protocols by novel W-Score standardization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Jinyong; Yoo, Kwangsun; Lee, Peter; Kim, Chan Mi; Roh, Jee Hoon; Park, Ji Eun; Kim, Sang Joon; Seo, Sang Won; Shin, Jeong-Hyeon; Seong, Joon-Kyung; Jeong, Yong

2017-10-01

The use of different 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance (T1 MR) imaging protocols induces image incompatibility across multicenter studies, negating the many advantages of multicenter studies. A few methods have been developed to address this problem, but significant image incompatibility still remains. Thus, we developed a novel and convenient method to improve image compatibility. W-score standardization creates quality reference values by using a healthy group to obtain normalized disease values. We developed a protocol-specific w-score standardization to control the protocol effect, which is applied to each protocol separately. We used three data sets. In dataset 1, brain T1 MR images of normal controls (NC) and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from two centers, acquired with different T1 MR protocols, were used (Protocol 1 and 2, n = 45/group). In dataset 2, data from six subjects, who underwent MRI with two different protocols (Protocol 1 and 2), were used with different repetition times, echo times, and slice thicknesses. In dataset 3, T1 MR images from a large number of healthy normal controls (Protocol 1: n = 148, Protocol 2: n = 343) were collected for w-score standardization. The protocol effect and disease effect on subjects' cortical thickness were analyzed before and after the application of protocol-specific w-score standardization. As expected, different protocols resulted in differing cortical thickness measurements in both NC and AD subjects. Different measurements were obtained for the same subject when imaged with different protocols. Multivariate pattern difference between measurements was observed between the protocols. Classification accuracy between two protocols was nearly 90%. After applying protocol-specific w-score standardization, the differences between the protocols substantially decreased. Most importantly, protocol-specific w-score standardization reduced both univariate and multivariate differences in the images while

Positive Association between Cognitive Ability and Cortical Thickness in a Representative US Sample of Healthy 6 to 18 Year-Olds

Science.gov (United States)

Karama, S.; Ad-Dab'bagh, Y.; Haier, R. J.; Deary, I. J.; Lyttelton, O. C.; Lepage, C.; Evans, A. C.

2009-01-01

Neuroimaging studies, using various modalities, have evidenced a link between the general intelligence factor (g) and regional brain function and structure in several multimodal association areas. While in the last few years, developments in computational neuroanatomy have made possible the "in vivo" quantification of cortical thickness, the…

VoxelStats: A MATLAB Package for Multi-Modal Voxel-Wise Brain Image Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathotaarachchi, Sulantha; Wang, Seqian; Shin, Monica; Pascoal, Tharick A; Benedet, Andrea L; Kang, Min Su; Beaudry, Thomas; Fonov, Vladimir S; Gauthier, Serge; Labbe, Aurélie; Rosa-Neto, Pedro

2016-01-01

In healthy individuals, behavioral outcomes are highly associated with the variability on brain regional structure or neurochemical phenotypes. Similarly, in the context of neurodegenerative conditions, neuroimaging reveals that cognitive decline is linked to the magnitude of atrophy, neurochemical declines, or concentrations of abnormal protein aggregates across brain regions. However, modeling the effects of multiple regional abnormalities as determinants of cognitive decline at the voxel level remains largely unexplored by multimodal imaging research, given the high computational cost of estimating regression models for every single voxel from various imaging modalities. VoxelStats is a voxel-wise computational framework to overcome these computational limitations and to perform statistical operations on multiple scalar variables and imaging modalities at the voxel level. VoxelStats package has been developed in Matlab(®) and supports imaging formats such as Nifti-1, ANALYZE, and MINC v2. Prebuilt functions in VoxelStats enable the user to perform voxel-wise general and generalized linear models and mixed effect models with multiple volumetric covariates. Importantly, VoxelStats can recognize scalar values or image volumes as response variables and can accommodate volumetric statistical covariates as well as their interaction effects with other variables. Furthermore, this package includes built-in functionality to perform voxel-wise receiver operating characteristic analysis and paired and unpaired group contrast analysis. Validation of VoxelStats was conducted by comparing the linear regression functionality with existing toolboxes such as glim_image and RMINC. The validation results were identical to existing methods and the additional functionality was demonstrated by generating feature case assessments (t-statistics, odds ratio, and true positive rate maps). In summary, VoxelStats expands the current methods for multimodal imaging analysis by allowing the

Effect of porosity, tissue density, and mechanical properties on radial sound speed in human cortical bone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eneh, C. T. M., E-mail: chibuzor.eneh@uef.fi, E-mail: markus.malo@uef.fi, E-mail: janne.karjalainen@boneindex.fi, E-mail: jukka.liukkonen@gmail.com, E-mail: juha.toyras@uef.fi; Töyräs, J., E-mail: chibuzor.eneh@uef.fi, E-mail: markus.malo@uef.fi, E-mail: janne.karjalainen@boneindex.fi, E-mail: jukka.liukkonen@gmail.com, E-mail: juha.toyras@uef.fi; Jurvelin, J. S., E-mail: jukka.jurvelin@uef.fi [Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland and Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital, P.O. Box 100, Kuopio FI-70029 (Finland); Malo, M. K. H., E-mail: chibuzor.eneh@uef.fi, E-mail: markus.malo@uef.fi, E-mail: janne.karjalainen@boneindex.fi, E-mail: jukka.liukkonen@gmail.com, E-mail: juha.toyras@uef.fi; Liukkonen, J., E-mail: chibuzor.eneh@uef.fi, E-mail: markus.malo@uef.fi, E-mail: janne.karjalainen@boneindex.fi, E-mail: jukka.liukkonen@gmail.com, E-mail: juha.toyras@uef.fi [Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, Kuopio FI-70211 (Finland); Karjalainen, J. P., E-mail: chibuzor.eneh@uef.fi, E-mail: markus.malo@uef.fi, E-mail: janne.karjalainen@boneindex.fi, E-mail: jukka.liukkonen@gmail.com, E-mail: juha.toyras@uef.fi [Bone Index Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1188, Kuopio FI-70211 (Finland)

2016-05-15

in vivo, the relationship between radial SOS and cortical porosity can be utilized and a porosity based radial SOS estimate could be implemented to determine cortical thickness. This would constitute a step toward individualized quantitative ultrasound diagnostics of osteoporosis.

Effect of porosity, tissue density, and mechanical properties on radial sound speed in human cortical bone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eneh, C. T. M.; Töyräs, J.; Jurvelin, J. S.; Malo, M. K. H.; Liukkonen, J.; Karjalainen, J. P.

2016-01-01

, the relationship between radial SOS and cortical porosity can be utilized and a porosity based radial SOS estimate could be implemented to determine cortical thickness. This would constitute a step toward individualized quantitative ultrasound diagnostics of osteoporosis.

Longitudinal development of frontoparietal activity during feedback learning: Contributions of age, performance, working memory and cortical thickness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Peters

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Feedback learning is a crucial skill for cognitive flexibility that continues to develop into adolescence, and is linked to neural activity within a frontoparietal network. Although it is well conceptualized that activity in the frontoparietal network changes during development, there is surprisingly little consensus about the direction of change. Using a longitudinal design (N = 208, 8–27 years, two measurements in two years, we investigated developmental trajectories in frontoparietal activity during feedback learning. Our first aim was to test for linear and nonlinear developmental trajectories in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, superior parietal cortex (SPC, supplementary motor area (SMA and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. Second, we tested which factors (task performance, working memory, cortical thickness explained additional variance in time-related changes in activity besides age. Developmental patterns for activity in DLPFC and SPC were best characterized by a quadratic age function leveling off/peaking in late adolescence. There was a linear increase in SMA and a linear decrease with age in ACC activity. In addition to age, task performance explained variance in DLPFC and SPC activity, whereas cortical thickness explained variance in SMA activity. Together, these findings provide a novel perspective of linear and nonlinear developmental changes in the frontoparietal network during feedback learning.

Cortical surface-based analysis reduces bias and variance in kinetic modeling of brain PET data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Douglas N; Svarer, Claus; Fisher, Patrick M

2014-01-01

Exploratory (i.e., voxelwise) spatial methods are commonly used in neuroimaging to identify areas that show an effect when a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis cannot be performed because no strong a priori anatomical hypothesis exists. However, noise at a single voxel is much higher than noise...... in a ROI making noise management critical to successful exploratory analysis. This work explores how preprocessing choices affect the bias and variability of voxelwise kinetic modeling analysis of brain positron emission tomography (PET) data. These choices include the use of volume- or cortical surface...

A longitudinal study: changes in cortical thickness and surface area during pubertal maturation.

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Megan M Herting

Full Text Available Sex hormones have been shown to contribute to the organization and function of the brain during puberty and adolescence. Moreover, it has been suggested that distinct hormone changes in girls versus boys may contribute to the emergence of sex differences in internalizing and externalizing behavior during adolescence. In the current longitudinal study, the influence of within-subject changes in puberty (physical and hormonal on cortical thickness and surface area was examined across a 2-year span, while controlling for age. Greater increases in Tanner Stage predicted less superior frontal thinning and decreases in precuneus surface area in both sexes. Significant Tanner Stage and sex interactions were also seen, with less right superior temporal thinning in girls but not boys, as well as greater decreases in the right bank of the superior temporal sulcus surface area in boys compared to girls. In addition, within-subject changes in testosterone over the 2-year follow-up period were found to relate to decreases in middle superior frontal surface area in boys, but increases in surface area in girls. Lastly, larger increases in estradiol in girls predicted greater middle temporal lobe thinning. These results show that within-subject physical and hormonal markers of puberty relate to region and sex-specific changes in cortical development across adolescence.

A longitudinal study: changes in cortical thickness and surface area during pubertal maturation.

Science.gov (United States)

Herting, Megan M; Gautam, Prapti; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Dahl, Ronald E; Sowell, Elizabeth R

2015-01-01

Sex hormones have been shown to contribute to the organization and function of the brain during puberty and adolescence. Moreover, it has been suggested that distinct hormone changes in girls versus boys may contribute to the emergence of sex differences in internalizing and externalizing behavior during adolescence. In the current longitudinal study, the influence of within-subject changes in puberty (physical and hormonal) on cortical thickness and surface area was examined across a 2-year span, while controlling for age. Greater increases in Tanner Stage predicted less superior frontal thinning and decreases in precuneus surface area in both sexes. Significant Tanner Stage and sex interactions were also seen, with less right superior temporal thinning in girls but not boys, as well as greater decreases in the right bank of the superior temporal sulcus surface area in boys compared to girls. In addition, within-subject changes in testosterone over the 2-year follow-up period were found to relate to decreases in middle superior frontal surface area in boys, but increases in surface area in girls. Lastly, larger increases in estradiol in girls predicted greater middle temporal lobe thinning. These results show that within-subject physical and hormonal markers of puberty relate to region and sex-specific changes in cortical development across adolescence.

The cortical signature of impaired gesturing: Findings from schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Verena Viher

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is characterized by deficits in gesturing that is important for nonverbal communication. Research in healthy participants and brain-damaged patients revealed a left-lateralized fronto-parieto-temporal network underlying gesture performance. First evidence from structural imaging studies in schizophrenia corroborates these results. However, as of yet, it is unclear if cortical thickness abnormalities contribute to impairments in gesture performance. We hypothesized that patients with deficits in gesture production show cortical thinning in 12 regions of interest (ROIs of a gesture network relevant for gesture performance and recognition. Forty patients with schizophrenia and 41 healthy controls performed hand and finger gestures as either imitation or pantomime. Group differences in cortical thickness between patients with deficits, patients without deficits, and controls were explored using a multivariate analysis of covariance. In addition, the relationship between gesture recognition and cortical thickness was investigated. Patients with deficits in gesture production had reduced cortical thickness in eight ROIs, including the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior and inferior parietal lobes, and the superior and middle temporal gyri. Gesture recognition correlated with cortical thickness in fewer, but mainly the same, ROIs within the patient sample. In conclusion, our results show that impaired gesture production and recognition in schizophrenia is associated with cortical thinning in distinct areas of the gesture network.

Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry of white matter in mild cognitive impairment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhiqun; Guo Xiaojuan; Qi Zhigang; Yao Li; Li Kuncheng

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze whole-brain white matter changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Materials and methods: We studied 14 patients with MCI and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on T1-weighted 3D datasets. The data were collected on a 3T MR system and analyzed by SPM2 to generate white matter volume maps. Results: Voxel-based morphometry revealed diffusively reduced white matter in MCI prominently including the bilateral temporal gyrus, the right anterior cingulate, the bilateral superior and medial frontal gyrus and right parietal angular gyrus. White matter reduction was more prominent in anterior regions than that in posterior regions. Conclusion: Whole-brain white matter reduction in MCI patients detected with VBM has special distribution which is in line with the white matter pathology of MCI.

Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry of white matter in mild cognitive impairment

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Wang Zhiqun [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, 100053, Beijing (China); Guo Xiaojuan [College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing (China); National Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing (China); Qi Zhigang [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, 100053, Beijing (China); Yao Li [College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing (China); National Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing (China); Li Kuncheng, E-mail: likuncheng@xwh.ccmu.edu.c [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, 100053, Beijing (China)

2010-08-15

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze whole-brain white matter changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Materials and methods: We studied 14 patients with MCI and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on T1-weighted 3D datasets. The data were collected on a 3T MR system and analyzed by SPM2 to generate white matter volume maps. Results: Voxel-based morphometry revealed diffusively reduced white matter in MCI prominently including the bilateral temporal gyrus, the right anterior cingulate, the bilateral superior and medial frontal gyrus and right parietal angular gyrus. White matter reduction was more prominent in anterior regions than that in posterior regions. Conclusion: Whole-brain white matter reduction in MCI patients detected with VBM has special distribution which is in line with the white matter pathology of MCI.

Metabolic patterns in prion diseases: an FDG PET voxel-based analysis

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Prieto, Elena; Dominguez-Prado, Ines; Jesus Ribelles, Maria; Arbizu, Javier [Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Nuclear Medicine Department, Pamplona (Spain); Riverol, Mario; Ortega-Cubero, Sara; Rosario Luquin, Maria; Castro, Purificacion de [Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Neurology Department, Pamplona (Spain)

2015-09-15

Clinical diagnosis of human prion diseases can be challenging since symptoms are common to other disorders associated with rapidly progressive dementia. In this context, {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) might be a useful complementary tool. The aim of this study was to determine the metabolic pattern in human prion diseases, particularly sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI). We retrospectively studied 17 patients with a definitive, probable or possible prion disease who underwent FDG PET in our institution. Of these patients, 12 were diagnosed as sCJD (9 definitive, 2 probable and 1 possible), 1 was diagnosed as definitive vCJD and 4 were diagnosed as definitive FFI. The hypometabolic pattern of each individual and comparisons across the groups of subjects (control subjects, sCJD and FFI) were evaluated using a voxel-based analysis. The sCJD group exhibited a pattern of hypometabolism that affected both subcortical (bilateral caudate, thalamus) and cortical (frontal cortex) structures, while the FFI group only presented a slight hypometabolism in the thalamus. Individual analysis demonstrated a considerable variability of metabolic patterns among patients, with the thalamus and basal ganglia the most frequently affected areas, combined in some cases with frontal and temporal hypometabolism. Patients with a prion disease exhibit a characteristic pattern of brain metabolism presentation in FDG PET imaging. Consequently, in patients with rapidly progressive cognitive impairment, the detection of these patterns in the FDG PET study could orient the diagnosis to a prion disease. (orig.)

Metabolic patterns in prion diseases: an FDG PET voxel-based analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prieto, Elena; Dominguez-Prado, Ines; Jesus Ribelles, Maria; Arbizu, Javier; Riverol, Mario; Ortega-Cubero, Sara; Rosario Luquin, Maria; Castro, Purificacion de

2015-01-01

Clinical diagnosis of human prion diseases can be challenging since symptoms are common to other disorders associated with rapidly progressive dementia. In this context, 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) might be a useful complementary tool. The aim of this study was to determine the metabolic pattern in human prion diseases, particularly sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI). We retrospectively studied 17 patients with a definitive, probable or possible prion disease who underwent FDG PET in our institution. Of these patients, 12 were diagnosed as sCJD (9 definitive, 2 probable and 1 possible), 1 was diagnosed as definitive vCJD and 4 were diagnosed as definitive FFI. The hypometabolic pattern of each individual and comparisons across the groups of subjects (control subjects, sCJD and FFI) were evaluated using a voxel-based analysis. The sCJD group exhibited a pattern of hypometabolism that affected both subcortical (bilateral caudate, thalamus) and cortical (frontal cortex) structures, while the FFI group only presented a slight hypometabolism in the thalamus. Individual analysis demonstrated a considerable variability of metabolic patterns among patients, with the thalamus and basal ganglia the most frequently affected areas, combined in some cases with frontal and temporal hypometabolism. Patients with a prion disease exhibit a characteristic pattern of brain metabolism presentation in FDG PET imaging. Consequently, in patients with rapidly progressive cognitive impairment, the detection of these patterns in the FDG PET study could orient the diagnosis to a prion disease. (orig.)

Role of altered cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in the neurobiology of essential tremor

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Lenka, Abhishek; Bhalsing, Ketaki Swapnil; Jhunjhunwala, Ketan [National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, Bangalore, Karnataka (India); National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Bangalore, Karnataka (India); Panda, Rajanikant; Saini, Jitender; Bharath, Rose Dawn [National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Department of Neuroimaging and Interventional Radiology, Bangalore, Karnataka (India); Naduthota, Rajini M.; Yadav, Ravi; Pal, Pramod Kumar [National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, Bangalore, Karnataka (India)

2017-02-15

Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder among adults. Although ET has been recognized as a mono-symptomatic benign illness, reports of non-motor symptoms and non-tremor motor symptoms have increased its clinical heterogeneity. The neural correlates of ET are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to understand the neurobiology of ET using resting state fMRI. Resting state functional MR images of 30 patients with ET and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were obtained. The functional connectivity of the two groups was compared using whole-brain seed-to-voxel-based analysis. The ET group had decreased connectivity of several cortical regions especially of the primary motor cortex and the primary somatosensory cortex with several right cerebellar lobules compared to the controls. The thalamus on both hemispheres had increased connectivity with multiple posterior cerebellar lobules and vermis. Connectivity of several right cerebellar seeds with the cortical and thalamic seeds had significant correlation with an overall score of Fahn-Tolosa-Marin tremor rating scale (FTM-TRS) as well as the subscores for head tremor and limb tremor. Seed-to-voxel resting state connectivity analysis revealed significant alterations in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in patients with ET. These alterations correlated with the overall FTM scores as well as the subscores for limb tremor and head tremor in patients with ET. These results further support the previous evidence of cerebellar pathology in ET. (orig.)

Role of altered cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in the neurobiology of essential tremor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenka, Abhishek; Bhalsing, Ketaki Swapnil; Jhunjhunwala, Ketan; Panda, Rajanikant; Saini, Jitender; Bharath, Rose Dawn; Naduthota, Rajini M.; Yadav, Ravi; Pal, Pramod Kumar

2017-01-01

Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder among adults. Although ET has been recognized as a mono-symptomatic benign illness, reports of non-motor symptoms and non-tremor motor symptoms have increased its clinical heterogeneity. The neural correlates of ET are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to understand the neurobiology of ET using resting state fMRI. Resting state functional MR images of 30 patients with ET and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were obtained. The functional connectivity of the two groups was compared using whole-brain seed-to-voxel-based analysis. The ET group had decreased connectivity of several cortical regions especially of the primary motor cortex and the primary somatosensory cortex with several right cerebellar lobules compared to the controls. The thalamus on both hemispheres had increased connectivity with multiple posterior cerebellar lobules and vermis. Connectivity of several right cerebellar seeds with the cortical and thalamic seeds had significant correlation with an overall score of Fahn-Tolosa-Marin tremor rating scale (FTM-TRS) as well as the subscores for head tremor and limb tremor. Seed-to-voxel resting state connectivity analysis revealed significant alterations in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in patients with ET. These alterations correlated with the overall FTM scores as well as the subscores for limb tremor and head tremor in patients with ET. These results further support the previous evidence of cerebellar pathology in ET. (orig.)

Imaging derived cortical thickness reduction in high-functioning autism: key regions and temporal slope.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheel, Christian; Rotarska-Jagiela, Anna; Schilbach, Leonhard; Lehnhardt, Fritz G; Krug, Barbara; Vogeley, Kai; Tepest, Ralf

2011-09-15

Cortical thickness (CT) changes possibly contribute to the complex symptomatology of autism. The aberrant developmental trajectories underlying such differences in certain brain regions and their continuation in adulthood are a matter of intense debate. We studied 28 adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and 28 control subjects matched for age, gender, IQ and handedness. A surface-based whole brain analysis utilizing FreeSurfer was employed to detect CT differences between the two diagnostic groups and to investigate the time course of age-related changes. Direct comparison with control subjects revealed thinner cortex in HFA in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) of the left hemisphere. Considering the time course of CT development we found clusters around the pSTS and cuneus in the left and the paracentral lobule in the right hemisphere to be thinner in HFA with comparable age-related slopes in patients and controls. Conversely, we found clusters around the supramarginal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in the left and the precentral and postcentral gyrus in the right hemisphere to be thinner in HFA, but with different age-related slopes in patients and controls. In the latter regions CT showed a steady decrease in controls but no analogous thinning in HFA. CT analyses contribute in characterizing neuroanatomical correlates of HFA. Reduced CT is present in brain regions involved in social cognition. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that aberrant brain development leading to such differences is proceeding throughout adulthood. Discrepancies in prior morphometric studies may be induced by the complex time course of cortical changes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diffusion tensor imaging of the cortical plate and subplate in very-low-birth-weight infants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudink, Jeroen; Govaert, Paul; Zwol, Arjen L. van; Conneman, Nikk; Goudoever, Johannes B. van [Erasmus MC-Sophia Children' s Hospital, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Buijs, Jan [Maxima Medical Center, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Veldhoven (Netherlands); Lequin, Maarten [Erasmus MC-Sophia Children' s Hospital, Division of Paediatrics, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam, Zuid-holland (Netherlands)

2010-08-15

Many intervention studies in preterm infants aim to improve neurodevelopmental outcome, but short-term proxy outcome measurements are lacking. Cortical plate and subplate development could be such a marker. Our aim was to provide normal DTI reference values for the cortical plate and subplate of preterm infants. As part of an ongoing study we analysed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) images of 19 preterm infants without evidence of injury on conventional MRI, with normal outcome (Bayley-II assessed at age 2), and scanned in the first 4 days of life. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the frontal and temporal subplate and cortical plate were measured in single and multiple voxel regions of interest (ROI) placed on predefined regions. Using single-voxel ROIs, statistically significant inverse correlation was found between gestational age (GA) and FA of the frontal (r = -0.5938, P = 0.0058) and temporal (r = -0.4912, P = 0.0327) cortical plate. ADC values had a significant positive correlation with GA in the frontal (r = 0.5427, P = 0.0164) and temporal (r = 0.5540, P = 0.0138) subplate. Diffusion tensor imaging allows in vivo exploration of the evolving cortical plate and subplate. We provide FA and ADC values of the subplate and cortical plate in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants with normal developmental outcome that can be used as reference values. (orig.)

Diffusion tensor imaging of the cortical plate and subplate in very-low-birth-weight infants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudink, Jeroen; Govaert, Paul; Zwol, Arjen L. van; Conneman, Nikk; Goudoever, Johannes B. van; Buijs, Jan; Lequin, Maarten

2010-01-01

Many intervention studies in preterm infants aim to improve neurodevelopmental outcome, but short-term proxy outcome measurements are lacking. Cortical plate and subplate development could be such a marker. Our aim was to provide normal DTI reference values for the cortical plate and subplate of preterm infants. As part of an ongoing study we analysed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) images of 19 preterm infants without evidence of injury on conventional MRI, with normal outcome (Bayley-II assessed at age 2), and scanned in the first 4 days of life. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the frontal and temporal subplate and cortical plate were measured in single and multiple voxel regions of interest (ROI) placed on predefined regions. Using single-voxel ROIs, statistically significant inverse correlation was found between gestational age (GA) and FA of the frontal (r = -0.5938, P = 0.0058) and temporal (r = -0.4912, P = 0.0327) cortical plate. ADC values had a significant positive correlation with GA in the frontal (r = 0.5427, P = 0.0164) and temporal (r = 0.5540, P = 0.0138) subplate. Diffusion tensor imaging allows in vivo exploration of the evolving cortical plate and subplate. We provide FA and ADC values of the subplate and cortical plate in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants with normal developmental outcome that can be used as reference values. (orig.)

Organizing Principles of Human Cortical Development--Thickness and Area from 4 to 30 Years: Insights from Comparative Primate Neuroanatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Amlien, Inge K; Fjell, Anders M; Tamnes, Christian K; Grydeland, Håkon; Krogsrud, Stine K; Chaplin, Tristan A; Rosa, Marcello G P; Walhovd, Kristine B

2016-01-01

The human cerebral cortex undergoes a protracted, regionally heterogeneous development well into young adulthood. Cortical areas that expand the most during human development correspond to those that differ most markedly when the brains of macaque monkeys and humans are compared. However, it remains unclear to what extent this relationship derives from allometric scaling laws that apply to primate brains in general, or represents unique evolutionary adaptations. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the relationship only applies to surface area (SA), or also holds for cortical thickness (CT). In 331 participants aged 4 to 30, we calculated age functions of SA and CT, and examined the correspondence of human cortical development with macaque to human expansion, and with expansion across nonhuman primates. CT followed a linear negative age function from 4 to 30 years, while SA showed positive age functions until 12 years with little further development. Differential cortical expansion across primates was related to regional maturation of SA and CT, with age trajectories differing between high- and low-expanding cortical regions. This relationship adhered to allometric scaling laws rather than representing uniquely macaque-human differences: regional correspondence with human development was as large for expansion across nonhuman primates as between humans and macaque. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Age and gender effects on normal regional cerebral blood flow studied using two different voxel-based statistical analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pirson, A.S.; George, J.; Krug, B.; Vander Borght, T.; Van Laere, K.; Jamart, J.; D'Asseler, Y.; Minoshima, S.

2009-01-01

Fully automated analysis programs have been applied more and more to aid for the reading of regional cerebral blood flow SPECT study. They are increasingly based on the comparison of the patient study with a normal database. In this study, we evaluate the ability of Three-Dimensional Stereotactic Surface Projection (3 D-S.S.P.) to isolate effects of age and gender in a previously studied normal population. The results were also compared with those obtained using Statistical Parametric Mapping (S.P.M.99). Methods Eighty-nine 99m Tc-E.C.D.-SPECT studies performed in carefully screened healthy volunteers (46 females, 43 males; age 20 - 81 years) were analysed using 3 D-S.S.P.. A multivariate analysis based on the general linear model was performed with regions as intra-subject factor, gender as inter-subject factor and age as co-variate. Results Both age and gender had a significant interaction effect with regional tracer uptake. An age-related decline (p < 0.001) was found in the anterior cingulate gyrus, left frontal association cortex and left insula. Bilateral occipital association and left primary visual cortical uptake showed a significant relative increase with age (p < 0.001). Concerning the gender effect, women showed higher uptake (p < 0.01) in the parietal and right sensorimotor cortices. An age by gender interaction (p < 0.01) was only found in the left medial frontal cortex. The results were consistent with those obtained with S.P.M.99. Conclusion 3 D-S.S.P. analysis of normal r.C.B.F. variability is consistent with the literature and other automated voxel-based techniques, which highlight the effects of both age and gender. (authors)

Voxel-Based Neighborhood for Spatial Shape Pattern Classification of Lidar Point Clouds with Supervised Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Plaza-Leiva

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Improving the effectiveness of spatial shape features classification from 3D lidar data is very relevant because it is largely used as a fundamental step towards higher level scene understanding challenges of autonomous vehicles and terrestrial robots. In this sense, computing neighborhood for points in dense scans becomes a costly process for both training and classification. This paper proposes a new general framework for implementing and comparing different supervised learning classifiers with a simple voxel-based neighborhood computation where points in each non-overlapping voxel in a regular grid are assigned to the same class by considering features within a support region defined by the voxel itself. The contribution provides offline training and online classification procedures as well as five alternative feature vector definitions based on principal component analysis for scatter, tubular and planar shapes. Moreover, the feasibility of this approach is evaluated by implementing a neural network (NN method previously proposed by the authors as well as three other supervised learning classifiers found in scene processing methods: support vector machines (SVM, Gaussian processes (GP, and Gaussian mixture models (GMM. A comparative performance analysis is presented using real point clouds from both natural and urban environments and two different 3D rangefinders (a tilting Hokuyo UTM-30LX and a Riegl. Classification performance metrics and processing time measurements confirm the benefits of the NN classifier and the feasibility of voxel-based neighborhood.

Voxel-Based Neighborhood for Spatial Shape Pattern Classification of Lidar Point Clouds with Supervised Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Plaza-Leiva, Victoria; Gomez-Ruiz, Jose Antonio; Mandow, Anthony; García-Cerezo, Alfonso

2017-03-15

Improving the effectiveness of spatial shape features classification from 3D lidar data is very relevant because it is largely used as a fundamental step towards higher level scene understanding challenges of autonomous vehicles and terrestrial robots. In this sense, computing neighborhood for points in dense scans becomes a costly process for both training and classification. This paper proposes a new general framework for implementing and comparing different supervised learning classifiers with a simple voxel-based neighborhood computation where points in each non-overlapping voxel in a regular grid are assigned to the same class by considering features within a support region defined by the voxel itself. The contribution provides offline training and online classification procedures as well as five alternative feature vector definitions based on principal component analysis for scatter, tubular and planar shapes. Moreover, the feasibility of this approach is evaluated by implementing a neural network (NN) method previously proposed by the authors as well as three other supervised learning classifiers found in scene processing methods: support vector machines (SVM), Gaussian processes (GP), and Gaussian mixture models (GMM). A comparative performance analysis is presented using real point clouds from both natural and urban environments and two different 3D rangefinders (a tilting Hokuyo UTM-30LX and a Riegl). Classification performance metrics and processing time measurements confirm the benefits of the NN classifier and the feasibility of voxel-based neighborhood.

Alternative normalization methods demonstrate widespread cortical hypometabolism in untreated de novo Parkinson's disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berti, Valentina; Polito, C; Borghammer, Per

2012-01-01

, recent studies suggested that conventional data normalization procedures may not always be valid, and demonstrated that alternative normalization strategies better allow detection of low magnitude changes. We hypothesized that these alternative normalization procedures would disclose more widespread...... metabolic alterations in de novo PD. METHODS: [18F]FDG PET scans of 26 untreated de novo PD patients (Hoehn & Yahr stage I-II) and 21 age-matched controls were compared using voxel-based analysis. Normalization was performed using gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) reference regions and Yakushev...... normalization. RESULTS: Compared to GM normalization, WM and Yakushev normalization procedures disclosed much larger cortical regions of relative hypometabolism in the PD group with extensive involvement of frontal and parieto-temporal-occipital cortices, and several subcortical structures. Furthermore...

A voxel-based investigation for MRI-only radiotherapy of the brain using ultra short echo times

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edmund, Jens Morgenthaler; Kjer, Hans Martin; Van Leemput, Koen

2014-01-01

including or excluding additional spatial information. Approach 3 used a statistical regression correlating MRI voxels with their corresponding CT voxels. A similar photon and proton treatment plan was generated for a target positioned between the nasal cavity and the brainstem for all patients. The CT...... receiving cranial irradiation, each containing a co-registered MRI and CT scan, were included. An ultra short echo time MRI sequence for bone visualization was used. Six methods were investigated for three popular types of voxel-based approaches; (1) threshold-based segmentation, (2) Bayesian segmentation...... significantly better than the threshold and Bayesian segmentation methods (excluding spatial information). All methods agreed significantly better with CT than a reference water MRI comparison. The mean dosimetric deviation for photons and protons compared to the CT was about 2% and highest in the gradient dose...

Longitudinal development of frontoparietal activity during feedback learning: Contributions of age, performance, working memory and cortical thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Sabine; Van Duijvenvoorde, Anna C K; Koolschijn, P Cédric M P; Crone, Eveline A

2016-06-01

Feedback learning is a crucial skill for cognitive flexibility that continues to develop into adolescence, and is linked to neural activity within a frontoparietal network. Although it is well conceptualized that activity in the frontoparietal network changes during development, there is surprisingly little consensus about the direction of change. Using a longitudinal design (N=208, 8-27 years, two measurements in two years), we investigated developmental trajectories in frontoparietal activity during feedback learning. Our first aim was to test for linear and nonlinear developmental trajectories in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), superior parietal cortex (SPC), supplementary motor area (SMA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Second, we tested which factors (task performance, working memory, cortical thickness) explained additional variance in time-related changes in activity besides age. Developmental patterns for activity in DLPFC and SPC were best characterized by a quadratic age function leveling off/peaking in late adolescence. There was a linear increase in SMA and a linear decrease with age in ACC activity. In addition to age, task performance explained variance in DLPFC and SPC activity, whereas cortical thickness explained variance in SMA activity. Together, these findings provide a novel perspective of linear and nonlinear developmental changes in the frontoparietal network during feedback learning. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Voxel-Based Morphometry ALE meta-analysis of Bipolar Disorder

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Magana, Omar; Laird, Robert

2012-03-01

A meta-analysis was performed independently to view the changes in gray matter (GM) on patients with Bipolar disorder (BP). The meta-analysis was conducted on a Talairach Space using GingerALE to determine the voxels and their permutation. In order to achieve the data acquisition, published experiments and similar research studies were uploaded onto the online Voxel-Based Morphometry database (VBM). By doing so, coordinates of activation locations were extracted from Bipolar disorder related journals utilizing Sleuth. Once the coordinates of given experiments were selected and imported to GingerALE, a Gaussian was performed on all foci points to create the concentration points of GM on BP patients. The results included volume reductions and variations of GM between Normal Healthy controls and Patients with Bipolar disorder. A significant amount of GM clusters were obtained in Normal Healthy controls over BP patients on the right precentral gyrus, right anterior cingulate, and the left inferior frontal gyrus. In future research, more published journals could be uploaded onto the database and another VBM meta-analysis could be performed including more activation coordinates or a variation of age groups.

Synchronous changes of cortical thickness and corresponding white matter microstructure during brain development accessed by diffusion MRI tractography from parcellated cortex

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Tina eJeon

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cortical thickness (CT changes during normal brain development is associated with complicated cellular and molecular processes including synaptic pruning and apoptosis. In parallel, the microstructural enhancement of developmental white matter (WM axons with their neuronal bodies in the cerebral cortex has been widely reported with measurements of metrics derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI, especially fractional anisotropy (FA. We hypothesized that the changes of CT and microstructural enhancement of corresponding axons are highly interacted during development. DTI and T1-weighted images of 50 healthy children and adolescents between the ages of 7 to 25 years were acquired. With the parcellated cortical gyri transformed from T1-weighted images to DTI space as the tractography seeds, probabilistic tracking was performed to delineate the WM fibers traced from specific parcellated cortical regions. CT was measured at certain cortical regions and FA was measured from the WM fibers traced from same cortical regions. The CT of all frontal cortical gyri, includeing Brodmann areas 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 44, 45, 46 and 47, decreased significantly and heterogeneously; concurrently, significant and heterogeneous increases of FA of WM traced from corresponding regions were found. We further revealed significant correlation between the slopes of the CT decrease and the slopes of corresponding WM FA increase in all frontal cortical gyri, suggesting coherent cortical pruning and corresponding WM microstructural enhancement. Such correlation was not found in cortical regions other than frontal cortex. The molecular and cellular mechanisms of these synchronous changes may be associated with overlapping signaling pathways of axonal guidance, synaptic pruning, neuronal apoptosis and more prevalent interstitial neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Revealing the coherence of cortical and WM structural changes during development may open a new window for

An Exploratory Study of Spectroscopic Glutamatergic Correlates of Cortical Excitability in Depressed Adolescents

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Charles P. Lewis

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS research has suggested dysfunction in cortical glutamatergic systems in depression, while proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS studies have demonstrated deficits in concentrations of glutamatergic metabolites in depressed individuals in several cortical regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. However, few studies have combined TMS and MRS methods to examine relationships between glutamatergic neurochemistry and excitatory and inhibitory neural functions, and none have utilized TMS-MRS methodology in clinical populations or in youth. This exploratory study aimed to examine relationships between TMS measures of cortical excitability and inhibition and concentrations of glutamatergic metabolites as measured by 1H-MRS in depressed adolescents. Methods: Twenty-four children and adolescents (aged 11-18 years with depressive symptoms underwent TMS testing, which included measures of the resting motor threshold (RMT, cortical silent period (CSP, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI, and intracortical facilitation (ICF. Fourteen participants from the same sample also completed 1H-MRS in a 3 T MRI scanner after TMS testing. Glutamate + glutamine (Glx concentrations were measured in medial ACC and left primary motor cortex voxels with a TE-optimized PRESS sequence. Metabolite concentrations were corrected for cerebrospinal fluid after tissue segmentation. Pearson product-moment and Spearman rank-order correlations were calculated to assess relationships between TMS measures and Glx. Results: In the left primary motor cortex voxel, Glx had a significant positive correlation with the RMT. In the medial ACC voxel, Glx had significant positive correlations with ICF at the 10-ms and 20-ms ISIs.Conclusions: These preliminary data implicate glutamate in cortical excitatory processes measured by TMS. Limitations included small sample size, lack of healthy control comparators

Bladder wall thickness mapping for magnetic resonance cystography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Yang; Liang Zhengrong; Zhu Hongbin; Han Hao; Yan Zengmin; Duan Chaijie; Lu Hongbing; Gu Xianfeng

2013-01-01

Clinical studies have shown evidence that the bladder wall thickness is an effective biomarker for bladder abnormalities. Clinical optical cystoscopy, the current gold standard, cannot show the wall thickness. The use of ultrasound by experts may generate some local thickness information, but the information is limited in field-of-view and is user dependent. Recent advances in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technologies lead MR-based virtual cystoscopy or MR cystography toward a potential alternative to map the wall thickness for the entire bladder. From a high-resolution structural MR volumetric image of the abdomen, a reasonable segmentation of the inner and outer borders of the bladder wall can be achievable. Starting from here, this paper reviews the limitation of a previous distance field-based approach of measuring the thickness between the two borders and then provides a solution to overcome the limitation by an electric field-based strategy. In addition, this paper further investigates a surface-fitting strategy to minimize the discretization errors on the voxel-like borders and facilitate the thickness mapping on the three-dimensional patient-specific bladder model. The presented thickness calculation and mapping were tested on both phantom and human subject datasets. The results are preliminary but very promising with a noticeable improvement over the previous distance field-based approach. (paper)

Cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate cortex predicts multiple sclerosis patients' fluency performance in a lateralised manner

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Olivia Geisseler

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive impairment is as an important feature of Multiple Sclerosis (MS, and might be even more relevant to patients than mobility restrictions. Compared to the multitude of studies investigating memory deficits or basic cognitive slowing, executive dysfunction is a rarely studied cognitive domain in MS, and its neural correlates remain largely unexplored. Even rarer are topological studies on specific cognitive functions in MS. Here we used several structural MRI parameters – including cortical thinning and T2 lesion load – to investigate neural correlates of executive dysfunction, both on a global and a regional level by means of voxel- and vertex-wise analyses. Forty-eight patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 48 healthy controls participated in the study. Five executive functions were assessed, i.e. verbal and figural fluency, working memory, interference control and set shifting. Patients scored lower than controls in verbal and figural fluency only, and displayed widespread cortical thinning. On a global level, cortical thickness independently predicted verbal fluency performance, when controlling for lesion volume and central brain atrophy estimates. On a regional level, cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate region correlated with deficits in verbal and figural fluency and did so in a lateralised manner: Left-sided thinning was related to reduced verbal – but not figural – fluency, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for right-sided thinning. We conclude that executive dysfunction in MS patients can specifically affect verbal and figural fluency. The observed lateralised clinico-anatomical correlation has previously been described in brain-damaged patients with large focal lesions only, for example after stroke. Based on focal grey matter atrophy, we here show for the first time comparable lateralised findings in a white matter disease with widespread pathology.

Brain cortical characteristics of lifetime cognitive ageing.

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Cox, Simon R; Bastin, Mark E; Ritchie, Stuart J; Dickie, David Alexander; Liewald, Dave C; Muñoz Maniega, Susana; Redmond, Paul; Royle, Natalie A; Pattie, Alison; Valdés Hernández, Maria; Corley, Janie; Aribisala, Benjamin S; McIntosh, Andrew M; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Deary, Ian J

2018-01-01

Regional cortical brain volume is the product of surface area and thickness. These measures exhibit partially distinct trajectories of change across the brain's cortex in older age, but it is unclear which cortical characteristics at which loci are sensitive to cognitive ageing differences. We examine associations between change in intelligence from age 11 to 73 years and regional cortical volume, surface area, and thickness measured at age 73 years in 568 community-dwelling older adults, all born in 1936. A relative positive change in intelligence from 11 to 73 was associated with larger volume and surface area in selective frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions (r cognitive ageing and a thinner cortex for any region. Interestingly, thickness and surface area were phenotypically independent across bilateral lateral temporal loci, whose surface area was significantly related to change in intelligence. These findings suggest that associations between regional cortical volume and cognitive ageing differences are predominantly driven by surface area rather than thickness among healthy older adults. Regional brain surface area has been relatively underexplored, and is a potentially informative biomarker for identifying determinants of cognitive ageing differences.

WE-D-BRE-06: Quantification of Dose-Response for High Grade Esophagtis Patients Using a Novel Voxel-To-Voxel Method

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Niedzielski, J; Martel, M; Tucker, S; Gomez, D; Court, L; Yang, J; Briere, T

2014-01-01

Purpose: Radiation induces an inflammatory response in the esophagus, discernible on CT studies. This work objectively quantifies the voxel esophageal radiation-response for patients with acute esophagitis. This knowledge is an important first-step towards predicting the effect of complex dose distributions on patient esophagitis symptoms. Methods: A previously validated voxel-based methodology of quantifying radiation esophagitis severity was used to identify the voxel dose-response for 18 NSCLC patients with severe esophagitis (CTCAE grading criteria, grade2 or higher). The response is quantified as percent voxel volume change for a given dose. During treatment (6–8 weeks), patients had weekly 4DCT studies and esophagitis scoring. Planning CT esophageal contours were deformed to each weekly CT using a demons DIR algorithm. An algorithm using the Jacobian Map from the DIR of the planning CT to all weekly CTs was used to quantify voxel-volume change, along with corresponding delivered voxel dose, to the planning voxel. Dose for each voxel for each time-point was calculated on each previous weekly CT image, and accumulated using DIR. Thus, for each voxel, the volume-change and delivered dose was calculated for each time-point. The data was binned according to when the volume-change first increased by a threshold volume (10%–100%, in 10% increments), and the average delivered dose calculated for each bin. Results: The average dose resulting in a voxel volume increase of 10–100% was 21.6 to 45.9Gy, respectively. The mean population dose to give a 50% volume increase was 36.3±4.4Gy, (range:29.8 to 43.5Gy). The average week of 50% response was 4.1 (range:4.9 to 2.8 weeks). All 18 patients showed similar dose to first response curves, showing a common trend in the initial inflammatoryresponse. Conclusion: We extracted the dose-response curve of the esophagus on a voxel-to-voxel level. This may be useful for estimating the esophagus response (and patient symptoms

Cortical morphology of adolescents with bipolar disorder and with schizophrenia.

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Janssen, Joost; Alemán-Gómez, Yasser; Schnack, Hugo; Balaban, Evan; Pina-Camacho, Laura; Alfaro-Almagro, Fidel; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina; Otero, Soraya; Baeza, Inmaculada; Moreno, Dolores; Bargalló, Nuria; Parellada, Mara; Arango, Celso; Desco, Manuel

2014-09-01

Recent evidence points to overlapping decreases in cortical thickness and gyrification in the frontal lobe of patients with adult-onset schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms, but it is not clear if these findings generalize to patients with a disease onset during adolescence and what may be the mechanisms underlying a decrease in gyrification. This study analyzed cortical morphology using surface-based morphometry in 92 subjects (age range 11-18 years, 52 healthy controls and 40 adolescents with early-onset first-episode psychosis diagnosed with schizophrenia (n=20) or bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms (n=20) based on a two year clinical follow up). Average lobar cortical thickness, surface area, gyrification index (GI) and sulcal width were compared between groups, and the relationship between the GI and sulcal width was assessed in the patient group. Both patients groups showed decreased cortical thickness and increased sulcal width in the frontal cortex when compared to healthy controls. The schizophrenia subgroup also had increased sulcal width in all other lobes. In the frontal cortex of the combined patient group sulcal width was negatively correlated (r=-0.58, padolescents with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms there is cortical thinning, decreased GI and increased sulcal width of the frontal cortex present at the time of the first psychotic episode. Decreased frontal GI is associated with the widening of the frontal sulci which may reduce sulcal surface area. These results suggest that abnormal growth (or more pronounced shrinkage during adolescence) of the frontal cortex represents a shared endophenotype for psychosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cortical thickness in children receiving intensive therapy for idiopathic apraxia of speech.

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Kadis, Darren S; Goshulak, Debra; Namasivayam, Aravind; Pukonen, Margit; Kroll, Robert; De Nil, Luc F; Pang, Elizabeth W; Lerch, Jason P

2014-03-01

Children with idiopathic apraxia experience difficulties planning the movements necessary for intelligible speech. There is increasing evidence that targeted early interventions, such as Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), can be effective in treating these disorders. In this study, we investigate possible cortical thickness correlates of idiopathic apraxia of speech in childhood, and changes associated with participation in an 8-week block of PROMPT therapy. We found that children with idiopathic apraxia (n = 11), aged 3-6 years, had significantly thicker left supramarginal gyri than a group of typically-developing age-matched controls (n = 11), t(20) = 2.84, p ≤ 0.05. Over the course of therapy, the children with apraxia (n = 9) experienced significant thinning of the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (canonical Wernicke's area), t(8) = 2.42, p ≤ 0.05. This is the first study to demonstrate experience-dependent structural plasticity in children receiving therapy for speech sound disorders.

Treatment plan modification using voxel-based weighting factors/dose prescription

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Chuan; Olivera, Gustavo H; Jeraj, Robert; Keller, Harry; Mackie, Thomas R

2003-01-01

Under various clinical situations, it is desirable to modify the original treatment plan to better suit the clinical goals. In this work, a method to help physicians modify treatment plans based on their clinical preferences is proposed. The method uses a weighted quadratic dose objective function. The commonly used organ-/ROI-based weighting factors are expanded to a set of voxel-based weighting factors in order to obtain greater flexibility in treatment plan modification. Two different but equivalent modification schemes based on Rustem's quadratic programming algorithms -modification of a weighting matrix and modification of prescribed doses - are presented. Case studies demonstrated the effectiveness of the two methods with regard to their capability to fine-tune treatment plans

Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry of white matter in medial temporal lobe epilepsy

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Yu Aihong [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053 (China); Li Kuncheng [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053 (China)], E-mail: Likuncheng@vip.sina.com; Li Lin; Shan Baoci [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China); Wang Yuping; Xue Sufang [Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences (China)

2008-01-15

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze whole-brain white matter changes in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Materials and methods: We studied 23 patients with MTLE and 13 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on T1-weighted 3D datasets. The seizure focus was right sided in 11 patients and left sided in 12. The data were collected on a 1.5 T MR system and analyzed by SPM 99 to generate white matter density maps. Results: Voxel-based morphometry revealed diffusively reduced white matter in MTLE prominently including bilateral frontal lobes, bilateral temporal lobes and corpus callosum. White matter reduction was also found in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres in the left MTLE group. Conclusion: VBM is a simple and automated approach that is able to identify diffuse whole-brain white matter reduction in MTLE.

Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry of white matter in medial temporal lobe epilepsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Aihong; Li Kuncheng; Li Lin; Shan Baoci; Wang Yuping; Xue Sufang

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze whole-brain white matter changes in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Materials and methods: We studied 23 patients with MTLE and 13 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on T1-weighted 3D datasets. The seizure focus was right sided in 11 patients and left sided in 12. The data were collected on a 1.5 T MR system and analyzed by SPM 99 to generate white matter density maps. Results: Voxel-based morphometry revealed diffusively reduced white matter in MTLE prominently including bilateral frontal lobes, bilateral temporal lobes and corpus callosum. White matter reduction was also found in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres in the left MTLE group. Conclusion: VBM is a simple and automated approach that is able to identify diffuse whole-brain white matter reduction in MTLE

A combined tract-based spatial statistics and voxel-based morphometry study of the first MRI scan after diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with subgroup analysis.

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Alruwaili, A R; Pannek, K; Coulthard, A; Henderson, R; Kurniawan, N D; McCombe, P

2018-02-01

This study aims to compare the cortical and subcortical deep gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of ALS subjects and controls and to compare ALS subjects with (ALScog) and without (ALSnon-cog) cognitive impairment. The study was performed in 30 ALS subjects, and 19 healthy controls. Structural T1- and diffusion-weighted MRI data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). All DTI measures and GM volume differed significantly between ALS subjects and controls. Compared to controls, greater DTI changes were present in ALScog than ALSnon-cog subjects. GM results showed reduction in the caudate nucleus volume in ALScog subjects compared to ALSnon-cog. and comparing all ALS with controls, there were changes on the right side and in a small region in the left middle frontal gyrus. This combined DTI and VBM study showed changes in motor and extra-motor regions. The DTI changes were more extensive in ALScog than ALSnon-cog subjects. It is likely that the inclusion of ALS subjects with cognitive impairment in previous studies resulted in extra-motor WM abnormalities being reported in ALS subjects. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Cortical thickness and low insight into symptoms in enduring schizophrenia.

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Emami, Seema; Guimond, Synthia; Mallar Chakravarty, M; Lepage, Martin

2016-01-01

Poor insight is a common, multidimensional phenomenon in patients with schizophrenia, associated with poorer outcomes and treatment non-adherence. Yet scant research has investigated the neuronal correlates of insight into symptoms (IS), a dimension of insight that may be particularly significant in enduring schizophrenia. Sixty-six patients with enduring schizophrenia (duration >4years) and 33 healthy controls completed MRI scanning and IQ, depression, and anxiety assessments. The Scale to Assess Insight-Expanded (SAI-E) measured insight into patients' four most prominent symptoms and patients were classified into two groups: low IS (0-2; n=33), and high IS (>2; n=33). We evaluated the association between cortical thickness (CT) and insight into symptoms using two methods: (1) a between-patients region-of-interest analysis in the insula, superior temporal gyrus (STG) and frontal lobe; and (2) a whole-brain exploratory regression between patient and controls. Brain regions were segmented using a neuroanatomical atlas and vertex-wise CT analyses were conducted with CIVET, covaried for age and sex. ROI analysis revealed thinner insula cortex in patients with low IS (pinsight-related differences in CT that has been previously unexplored in enduring schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relationship between the thickness of the renal cortex and age: study with CT measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Yufeng; Tang Guangjian

2004-01-01

Objective: To study the relationship between the renal cortical thickness and age, and to establish the range of the normal renal cortex thickness by using CT measurement in different age groups so as to obtain a best age-related and practicable method for clinical measurement. Methods: (1) the accuracy of measuring renal cortical thickness by CT was evaluated: 18 kidney resected due to renal neoplasm were studied and the cortical thickness of the normal part of these specimens was assessed. The difference between the renal cortical thickness of specimens and preoperative measurements of renal cortex of the same patient by contrast enhanced CT was analyzed statistically. (2) 120 patients without history of renal disease or long term usage of potentially renal toxic drugs or history of hypertension were examined by CT with indication (s) other than renal disease. All the patients were divided into 20-40, 41-60, and 61-80 year-old groups. The renal cortical and parenchymal thickness and renal size were measured in three CT sections. The difference of the measurements among the three groups and their relationship to age was analyzed statistically. Results: There was no significant difference between the renal cortical thickness measured by enhanced spiral CT and measured in renal specimens (t=0.80, P=0.43). The renal cortical thickness in three groups was 0.73 cm, 0.65 cm, and 0.53 cm, respectively, and the differences among the three groups were significant (F=93.430, P 0.05). Conclusion: The measurement of the renal cortical thickness with enhanced spiral CT was reliable and was a sensitive method in investigating the morphologic changes of the kidney. The renal cortical thickness of normal kidney diminishes with age, but the change of the ratio of thickness of renal cortex to renal parenchyma with age was not significant

Cortical morphometry in frontoparietal and default mode networks in math-gifted adolescents.

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Navas-Sánchez, Francisco J; Carmona, Susana; Alemán-Gómez, Yasser; Sánchez-González, Javier; Guzmán-de-Villoria, Juan; Franco, Carolina; Robles, Olalla; Arango, Celso; Desco, Manuel

2016-05-01

Math-gifted subjects are characterized by above-age performance in intelligence tests, exceptional creativity, and high task commitment. Neuroimaging studies reveal enhanced functional brain organization and white matter microstructure in the frontoparietal executive network of math-gifted individuals. However, the cortical morphometry of these subjects remains largely unknown. The main goal of this study was to compare the cortical morphometry of math-gifted adolescents with that of an age- and IQ-matched control group. We used surface-based methods to perform a vertex-wise analysis of cortical thickness and surface area. Our results show that math-gifted adolescents present a thinner cortex and a larger surface area in key regions of the frontoparietal and default mode networks, which are involved in executive processing and creative thinking, respectively. The combination of reduced cortical thickness and larger surface area suggests above-age neural maturation of these networks in math-gifted individuals. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1893-1902, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Relevance Voxel Machine (RVoxM): A Bayesian Method for Image-Based Prediction

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Sabuncu, Mert R.; Van Leemput, Koen

2011-01-01

This paper presents the Relevance VoxelMachine (RVoxM), a Bayesian multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) algorithm that is specifically designed for making predictions based on image data. In contrast to generic MVPA algorithms that have often been used for this purpose, the method is designed to ...

A voxel-based investigation for MRI-only radiotherapy of the brain using ultra short echo times

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Edmund, Jens M.; Kjer, Hans M.; Van Leemput, Koen; Hansen, Rasmus H.; Andersen, Jon AL; Andreasen, Daniel

2014-12-01

Radiotherapy (RT) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the only modality, so-called MRI-only RT, would remove the systematic registration error between MR and computed tomography (CT), and provide co-registered MRI for assessment of treatment response and adaptive RT. Electron densities, however, need to be assigned to the MRI images for dose calculation and patient setup based on digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs). Here, we investigate the geometric and dosimetric performance for a number of popular voxel-based methods to generate a so-called pseudo CT (pCT). Five patients receiving cranial irradiation, each containing a co-registered MRI and CT scan, were included. An ultra short echo time MRI sequence for bone visualization was used. Six methods were investigated for three popular types of voxel-based approaches; (1) threshold-based segmentation, (2) Bayesian segmentation and (3) statistical regression. Each approach contained two methods. Approach 1 used bulk density assignment of MRI voxels into air, soft tissue and bone based on logical masks and the transverse relaxation time T2 of the bone. Approach 2 used similar bulk density assignments with Bayesian statistics including or excluding additional spatial information. Approach 3 used a statistical regression correlating MRI voxels with their corresponding CT voxels. A similar photon and proton treatment plan was generated for a target positioned between the nasal cavity and the brainstem for all patients. The CT agreement with the pCT of each method was quantified and compared with the other methods geometrically and dosimetrically using both a number of reported metrics and introducing some novel metrics. The best geometrical agreement with CT was obtained with the statistical regression methods which performed significantly better than the threshold and Bayesian segmentation methods (excluding spatial information). All methods agreed significantly better with CT than a reference water MRI

Abnormalities of cortical structures in adolescent-onset conduct disorder.

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Jiang, Y; Guo, X; Zhang, J; Gao, J; Wang, X; Situ, W; Yi, J; Zhang, X; Zhu, X; Yao, S; Huang, B

2015-12-01

Converging evidence has revealed both functional and structural abnormalities in adolescents with early-onset conduct disorder (EO-CD). The neurological abnormalities underlying EO-CD may be different from that of adolescent-onset conduct disorder (AO-CD) patients. However, the cortical structure in AO-CD patients remains largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cortical alterations in AO-CD patients. We investigated T1-weighted brain images from AO-CD patients and age-, gender- and intelligence quotient-matched controls. Cortical structures including thickness, folding and surface area were measured using the surface-based morphometric method. Furthermore, we assessed impulsivity and antisocial symptoms using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Compared with the controls, we found significant cortical thinning in the paralimbic system in AO-CD patients. For the first time, we observed cortical thinning in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in AO-CD patients which has not been reported in EO-CD patients. Prominent folding abnormalities were found in the paralimbic structures and frontal cortex while diminished surface areas were shown in the precentral and inferior temporal cortex. Furthermore, cortical thickness of the paralimbic structures was found to be negatively correlated with impulsivity and antisocial behaviors measured by the BIS and APSD, respectively. The present study indicates that AO-CD is characterized by cortical structural abnormalities in the paralimbic system, and, in particular, we highlight the potential role of deficient structures including the precuneus and PCC in the etiology of AO-CD.

Genetic Analysis of Cortical Thickness and Fractional Anisotropy of Water Diffusion in the Brain

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Peter eKochunov

2011-10-01

Full Text Available ObjectivesThe thickness of the brain’s cortical gray matter (GM and the fractional anisotropy (FA of the cerebral white matter (WM each follow an inverted U-shape trajectory with age. Both measures are positively correlated, suggesting a common biological mechanism. We employed bivariate genetic analyses to localize quantitative trait loci (QTLs and individual genes acting pleiotropically upon these phenotypes.MethodsWhole-brain and regional GM thickness and FA values were measured from high-resolution anatomical (0.8mm isotropic and diffusion tensor MR images (1.7x1.7x3.0mm, 55 directions collected for 712 active participants (274/438 male/females, age=47.9±13.2years in the Genetics of Brain Structure study.ResultsBivariate, whole-genome quantitative trait loci (QTL analyses of the whole brain measures localized significant (LOD≥3.0 QTLs within chromosome region 15q22-23. More detailed localization was achieved using single nuclear polymorphism (SNP association and gene expression analyses. No significant association (p<510-5 was observed for 1565 SNPs located within the QTLs. However, post-hoc analysis indicated that 40% of the potentially significant (p≤10-3 polymorphisms were localized to the RORA and NARG2 genes. A potentially significant association (p=310-4 was also observed for the rs2456930 polymorphism that was previously reported as a significant GWAS finding in ADNI subjects. Lymphocyte expression measurements for two genes, located under QTL, RORA and ADAM10 were significantly (p<0.05 correlated with both FA and GM thickness values. Expression measurements for NARG2 was significantly correlated with GM thickness (p<0.05 but failed to show a significant correlation (p=0.09 with FA.Discussion This study identified a novel, significant QTL at 15q22-23. SNP association and correlation with gene-expression analyses indicated that RORA, NARG2 and ADAM10 jointly influence GM thickness and cerebral WM integrity.

A voxel-based morphometry study of brain volume changes in patients with neuromyelitis optica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Yunyun; Liu Yaou; Liang Peipeng; Huang Jing; Ren Zhuoqiong; Ye Jing; Dong Huiqing; Chen Hai; Li Kuncheng

2012-01-01

Objective: To detect changes of regional grey matter and white matter volume in patients of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) by voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and investigate its relationship with clinical variables. Methods: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and structural three-dimensional MRI were obtained from 20 NMO and 20 sex-and age-matched healthy volunteers. The comparison of grey matter and white matter volume between the two groups was analyzed by VBM tools of statistical parametric mapping (SPM) 5. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess correlations between regional volume decrease and disease duration and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores in NMO patients. Results: Compared with normal controls, NMO patients had grey matter atrophy in several cortical regions, such as right inferior frontal gyrus (cluster size 514), left superior temporal gyrus (282), right middle temporal gyrus (229) and right insula (211) (t=3.58-5.11, AlphaSim corrected, P<0.05). White matter atrophy was found in several subcortical regions in NMO patients, such as right precentral and postcentral gyrus (cluster size 457, 110), left middle frontal gyrus (285), and right inferior parietal lobule (231) (t=2.90-4.25, AlphaSim corrected, P<0.05). Grey matter and white matter volume loss were not significantly correlated with clinical duration or EDSS score in NMO. Conclusion: By means of VBM, regional atrophy of grey matter and white matter is found in NMO patients, which may provide evidence for brain structural abnormality in NMO. (authors)

Structural changes of central white matter tracts in Kennedy's disease - a diffusion tensor imaging and voxel-based morphometry study.

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Pieper, C C; Konrad, C; Sommer, J; Teismann, I; Schiffbauer, H

2013-05-01

Spinobulbar muscular atrophy [Kennedy's disease (KD)] is a rare X-linked neurodegenerative disorder of mainly spinal and bulbar motoneurons. Recent studies suggest a multisystem character of this disease. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize structural changes of gray (GM) and white matter (WM) in the central nervous system. Whole-brain-based voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses were applied to MRI data of eight genetically proven patients with KD and compared with 16 healthy age-matched controls. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis showed not only decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the brainstem, but also widespread changes in central WM tracts, whereas VBM analysis of the WM showed alterations primarily in the brainstem and cerebellum. There were no changes in GM volume. The FA value decrease in the brainstem correlated with the disease duration. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis revealed subtle changes of central WM tract integrity, while GM and WM volume remained unaffected. In our patient sample, KD had more extended effects than previously reported. These changes could either be attributed primarily to neurodegeneration or reflect secondary plastic changes due to atrophy of lower motor neurons and reorganization of cortical structures. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Cortical thinning and clinical heterogeneity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mezzapesa, Domenico Maria; D'Errico, Eustachio; Tortelli, Rosanna; Distaso, Eugenio; Cortese, Rosa; Tursi, Marianna; Federico, Francesco; Zoccolella, Stefano; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Dicuonzo, Franca; Simone, Isabella Laura

2013-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has heterogeneous clinical features that could be translated into specific patterns of brain atrophy. In the current study we have evaluated the relationship between different clinical expressions of classical ALS and measurements of brain cortical thickness. Cortical thickness analysis was conducted from 3D-MRI using FreeSurfer software in 29 ALS patients and 20 healthy controls. We explored three clinical traits of the disease, subdividing the patients into two groups for each of them: the bulbar or spinal onset, the higher or lower upper motor neuron burden, the faster or slower disease progression. We used both a whole brain vertex-wise analysis and a ROI analysis on primary motor areas. ALS patients showed cortical thinning in bilateral precentral gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus and right occipital cortex. ALS patients with higher upper motor neuron burden showed a significant cortical thinning in the right precentral gyrus and in other frontal extra-motor areas, compared to healthy controls. ALS patients with spinal onset showed a significant cortical thinning in the right precentral gyrus and paracentral lobule, compared to healthy controls. ALS patients with faster progressive disease showed a significant cortical thinning in widespread bilateral frontal and temporal areas, including the bilateral precentral gyrus, compared to healthy controls. Focusing on the primary motor areas, the ROI analysis revealed that the mean cortical thickness values were significantly reduced in ALS patients with higher upper motor neuron burden, spinal onset and faster disease progression related to healthy controls. In conclusion, the thickness of primary motor cortex could be a useful surrogate marker of upper motor neuron involvement in ALS; also our results suggest that cortical thinning in motor and non motor areas seem to reflect the clinical heterogeneity of the disease.

Cortical thinning and clinical heterogeneity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domenico Maria Mezzapesa

Full Text Available Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS has heterogeneous clinical features that could be translated into specific patterns of brain atrophy. In the current study we have evaluated the relationship between different clinical expressions of classical ALS and measurements of brain cortical thickness. Cortical thickness analysis was conducted from 3D-MRI using FreeSurfer software in 29 ALS patients and 20 healthy controls. We explored three clinical traits of the disease, subdividing the patients into two groups for each of them: the bulbar or spinal onset, the higher or lower upper motor neuron burden, the faster or slower disease progression. We used both a whole brain vertex-wise analysis and a ROI analysis on primary motor areas. ALS patients showed cortical thinning in bilateral precentral gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus and right occipital cortex. ALS patients with higher upper motor neuron burden showed a significant cortical thinning in the right precentral gyrus and in other frontal extra-motor areas, compared to healthy controls. ALS patients with spinal onset showed a significant cortical thinning in the right precentral gyrus and paracentral lobule, compared to healthy controls. ALS patients with faster progressive disease showed a significant cortical thinning in widespread bilateral frontal and temporal areas, including the bilateral precentral gyrus, compared to healthy controls. Focusing on the primary motor areas, the ROI analysis revealed that the mean cortical thickness values were significantly reduced in ALS patients with higher upper motor neuron burden, spinal onset and faster disease progression related to healthy controls. In conclusion, the thickness of primary motor cortex could be a useful surrogate marker of upper motor neuron involvement in ALS; also our results suggest that cortical thinning in motor and non motor areas seem to reflect the clinical heterogeneity of the disease.

A multicriteria framework with voxel-dependent parameters for radiotherapy treatment plan optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarepisheh, Masoud; Uribe-Sanchez, Andres F.; Li, Nan; Jia, Xun; Jiang, Steve B.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To establish a new mathematical framework for radiotherapy treatment optimization with voxel-dependent optimization parameters. Methods: In the treatment plan optimization problem for radiotherapy, a clinically acceptable plan is usually generated by an optimization process with weighting factors or reference doses adjusted for a set of the objective functions associated to the organs. Recent discoveries indicate that adjusting parameters associated with each voxel may lead to better plan quality. However, it is still unclear regarding the mathematical reasons behind it. Furthermore, questions about the objective function selection and parameter adjustment to assure Pareto optimality as well as the relationship between the optimal solutions obtained from the organ-based and voxel-based models remain unanswered. To answer these questions, the authors establish in this work a new mathematical framework equipped with two theorems. Results: The new framework clarifies the different consequences of adjusting organ-dependent and voxel-dependent parameters for the treatment plan optimization of radiation therapy, as well as the impact of using different objective functions on plan qualities and Pareto surfaces. The main discoveries are threefold: (1) While in the organ-based model the selection of the objective function has an impact on the quality of the optimized plans, this is no longer an issue for the voxel-based model since the Pareto surface is independent of the objective function selection and the entire Pareto surface could be generated as long as the objective function satisfies certain mathematical conditions; (2) All Pareto solutions generated by the organ-based model with different objective functions are parts of a unique Pareto surface generated by the voxel-based model with any appropriate objective function; (3) A much larger Pareto surface is explored by adjusting voxel-dependent parameters than by adjusting organ-dependent parameters, possibly

Brain surface anatomy in adults with autism: the relationship between surface area, cortical thickness, and autistic symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Ecker, Christine; Ginestet, Cedric; Feng, Yue; Johnston, Patrick; Lombardo, Michael V; Lai, Meng-Chuan; Suckling, John; Palaniyappan, Lena; Daly, Eileen; Murphy, Clodagh M; Williams, Steven C; Bullmore, Edward T; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Brammer, Michael; Murphy, Declan G M

2013-01-01

Neuroimaging studies of brain anatomy in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have mostly been based on measures of cortical volume (CV). However, CV is a product of 2 distinct parameters, cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA), that in turn have distinct genetic and developmental origins. To investigate regional differences in CV, SA, and CT as well as their relationship in a large and well-characterized sample of men with ASD and matched controls. Multicenter case-control design using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Medical Research Council UK Autism Imaging Multicentre Study. A total of 168 men, 84 diagnosed as having ASD and 84 controls who did not differ significantly in mean (SD) age (26 [7] years vs 28 [6] years, respectively) or full-scale IQ (110 [14] vs 114 [12], respectively). Between-group differences in CV, SA, and CT investigated using a spatially unbiased vertex-based approach; the degree of spatial overlap between the differences in CT and SA; and their relative contribution to differences in regional CV. Individuals with ASD differed from controls in all 3 parameters. These mainly consisted of significantly increased CT within frontal lobe regions and reduced SA in the orbitofrontal cortex and posterior cingulum. These differences in CT and SA were paralleled by commensurate differences in CV. The spatially distributed patterns for CT and SA were largely nonoverlapping and shared only about 3% of all significantly different locations on the cerebral surface. Individuals with ASD have significant differences in CV, but these may be underpinned by (separable) variations in its 2 components, CT and SA. This is of importance because both measures result from distinct developmental pathways that are likely modulated by different neurobiological mechanisms. This finding may provide novel targets for future studies into the etiology of the condition and a new way to fractionate the disorder.

Voxel inversion of airborne electromagnetic data for improved model integration

Science.gov (United States)

Fiandaca, Gianluca; Auken, Esben; Kirkegaard, Casper; Vest Christiansen, Anders

2014-05-01

Inversion of electromagnetic data has migrated from single site interpretations to inversions including entire surveys using spatial constraints to obtain geologically reasonable results. Though, the model space is usually linked to the actual observation points. For airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys the spatial discretization of the model space reflects the flight lines. On the contrary, geological and groundwater models most often refer to a regular voxel grid, not correlated to the geophysical model space, and the geophysical information has to be relocated for integration in (hydro)geological models. We have developed a new geophysical inversion algorithm working directly in a voxel grid disconnected from the actual measuring points, which then allows for informing directly geological/hydrogeological models. The new voxel model space defines the soil properties (like resistivity) on a set of nodes, and the distribution of the soil properties is computed everywhere by means of an interpolation function (e.g. inverse distance or kriging). Given this definition of the voxel model space, the 1D forward responses of the AEM data are computed as follows: 1) a 1D model subdivision, in terms of model thicknesses, is defined for each 1D data set, creating "virtual" layers. 2) the "virtual" 1D models at the sounding positions are finalized by interpolating the soil properties (the resistivity) in the center of the "virtual" layers. 3) the forward response is computed in 1D for each "virtual" model. We tested the new inversion scheme on an AEM survey carried out with the SkyTEM system close to Odder, in Denmark. The survey comprises 106054 dual mode AEM soundings, and covers an area of approximately 13 km X 16 km. The voxel inversion was carried out on a structured grid of 260 X 325 X 29 xyz nodes (50 m xy spacing), for a total of 2450500 inversion parameters. A classical spatially constrained inversion (SCI) was carried out on the same data set, using 106054

Voxel-based morphometry analyses of in-vivo MRI in the aging mouse lemur primate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen John Sawiak

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Cerebral atrophy is one of the most widely brain alterations associated to aging. A clear relationship has been established between age-associated cognitive impairments and cerebral atrophy. The mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus is a small primate used as a model of age-related neurodegenerative processes. It is the first nonhuman primate in which cerebral atrophy has been correlated with cognitive deficits. Previous studies of cerebral atrophy in this model were based on time consuming manual delineation or measurement of selected brain regions from magnetic resonance images (MRI. These measures could not be used to analyse regions that cannot be easily outlined such as the nucleus basalis of Meynert or the subiculum. In humans, morphometric assessment of structural changes with age is generally performed with automated procedures such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM. The objective of our work was to perform user-independent assessment of age-related morphological changes in the whole brain of large mouse lemur populations thanks to VBM. The study was based on the SPMMouse toolbox of SPM 8 and involved thirty mouse lemurs aged from 1.9 to 11.3 years. The automatic method revealed for the first time atrophy in regions where manual delineation is prohibitive (nucleus basalis of Meynert, subiculum, prepiriform cortex, Brodmann areas 13-16, hypothalamus, putamen, thalamus, corpus callosum. Some of these regions are described as particularly sensitive to age-associated alterations in humans. The method revealed also age-associated atrophy in cortical regions (cingulate, occipital, parietal, nucleus septalis, and the caudate. Manual measures performed in some of these regions were in good agreement with results from automatic measures. The templates generated in this study as well as the toolbox for SPM8 can be downloaded. These tools will be valuable for future evaluation of various treatments that are tested to modulate cerebral aging in lemurs.

Sensitivity study of voxel-based PET image comparison to image registration algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yip, Stephen, E-mail: syip@lroc.harvard.edu; Chen, Aileen B.; Berbeco, Ross [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States); Aerts, Hugo J. W. L. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 and Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States)

2014-11-01

Purpose: Accurate deformable registration is essential for voxel-based comparison of sequential positron emission tomography (PET) images for proper adaptation of treatment plan and treatment response assessment. The comparison may be sensitive to the method of deformable registration as the optimal algorithm is unknown. This study investigated the impact of registration algorithm choice on therapy response evaluation. Methods: Sixteen patients with 20 lung tumors underwent a pre- and post-treatment computed tomography (CT) and 4D FDG-PET scans before and after chemoradiotherapy. All CT images were coregistered using a rigid and ten deformable registration algorithms. The resulting transformations were then applied to the respective PET images. Moreover, the tumor region defined by a physician on the registered PET images was classified into progressor, stable-disease, and responder subvolumes. Particularly, voxels with standardized uptake value (SUV) decreases >30% were classified as responder, while voxels with SUV increases >30% were progressor. All other voxels were considered stable-disease. The agreement of the subvolumes resulting from difference registration algorithms was assessed by Dice similarity index (DSI). Coefficient of variation (CV) was computed to assess variability of DSI between individual tumors. Root mean square difference (RMS{sub rigid}) of the rigidly registered CT images was used to measure the degree of tumor deformation. RMS{sub rigid} and DSI were correlated by Spearman correlation coefficient (R) to investigate the effect of tumor deformation on DSI. Results: Median DSI{sub rigid} was found to be 72%, 66%, and 80%, for progressor, stable-disease, and responder, respectively. Median DSI{sub deformable} was 63%–84%, 65%–81%, and 82%–89%. Variability of DSI was substantial and similar for both rigid and deformable algorithms with CV > 10% for all subvolumes. Tumor deformation had moderate to significant impact on DSI for progressor

Validation of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on MRI

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xueyu; Chen, Kewei; Guo, Xiaojuan; Yao, Li

2007-03-01

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is an automated and objective image analysis technique for detecting differences in regional concentration or volume of brain tissue composition based on structural magnetic resonance (MR) images. VBM has been used widely to evaluate brain morphometric differences between different populations, but there isn't an evaluation system for its validation until now. In this study, a quantitative and objective evaluation system was established in order to assess VBM performance. We recruited twenty normal volunteers (10 males and 10 females, age range 20-26 years, mean age 22.6 years). Firstly, several focal lesions (hippocampus, frontal lobe, anterior cingulate, back of hippocampus, back of anterior cingulate) were simulated in selected brain regions using real MRI data. Secondly, optimized VBM was performed to detect structural differences between groups. Thirdly, one-way ANOVA and post-hoc test were used to assess the accuracy and sensitivity of VBM analysis. The results revealed that VBM was a good detective tool in majority of brain regions, even in controversial brain region such as hippocampus in VBM study. Generally speaking, much more severity of focal lesion was, better VBM performance was. However size of focal lesion had little effects on VBM analysis.

Single-view volumetric PIV via high-resolution scanning, isotropic voxel restructuring and 3D least-squares matching (3D-LSM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brücker, C; Hess, D; Kitzhofer, J

2013-01-01

Scanning PIV as introduced by Brücker (1995 Exp. Fluids 19 255–63, 1996a Appl. Sci. Res. 56 157–79) has been successfully applied in the last 20 years to different flow problems where the frame rate was sufficient to ensure a ‘frozen’ field condition. The limited number of parallel planes however leads typically to an under-sampling in the scan direction in depth; therefore, the spatial resolution in depth is typically considerably lower than the spatial resolution in the plane of the laser sheet (depth resolution = scan shift Δz ≫ pixel unit in object space). In addition, a partial volume averaging effect due to the thickness of the light sheet must be taken into account. Herein, the method is further developed using a high-resolution scanning in combination with a Gaussian regression technique to achieve an isotropic representation of the tracer particles in a voxel-based volume reconstruction with cuboidal voxels. This eliminates the partial volume averaging effect due to light sheet thickness and leads to comparable spatial resolution of the particle field reconstructions in x-, y- and z-axes. In addition, advantage of voxel-based processing with estimations of translation, rotation and shear/strain is taken by using a 3D least-squares matching method, well suited for reconstruction of grey-level pattern fields. The method is discussed in this paper and used to investigate the ring vortex instability at Re = 2500 within a measurement volume of roughly 75 × 75 × 50 mm 3 with a spatial resolution of 100 µm/voxel (750 × 750 × 500 voxel elements). The volume has been scanned with a number of 100 light sheets and scan rates of 10 kHz. The results show the growth of the Tsai–Widnall azimuthal instabilities accompanied with a precession of the axis of the vortex ring. Prior to breakdown, secondary instabilities evolve along the core with streamwise oriented striations. The front stagnation point's streamwise distance to the core starts to decrease

a Super Voxel-Based Riemannian Graph for Multi Scale Segmentation of LIDAR Point Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Minglei

2018-04-01

Automatically segmenting LiDAR points into respective independent partitions has become a topic of great importance in photogrammetry, remote sensing and computer vision. In this paper, we cast the problem of point cloud segmentation as a graph optimization problem by constructing a Riemannian graph. The scale space of the observed scene is explored by an octree-based over-segmentation with different depths. The over-segmentation produces many super voxels which restrict the structure of the scene and will be used as nodes of the graph. The Kruskal coordinates are used to compute edge weights that are proportional to the geodesic distance between nodes. Then we compute the edge-weight matrix in which the elements reflect the sectional curvatures associated with the geodesic paths between super voxel nodes on the scene surface. The final segmentation results are generated by clustering similar super voxels and cutting off the weak edges in the graph. The performance of this method was evaluated on LiDAR point clouds for both indoor and outdoor scenes. Additionally, extensive comparisons to state of the art techniques show that our algorithm outperforms on many metrics.

Rapid Assemblers for Voxel-Based VLSI Robotics

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-12

flux vector given by the Nernst -Planck equation ( equation ), where the partial derivative of the concentration of ions with respect to time plus the...species i given by the Nernst -Einstein equation . The boundary conditions are that the diffusive and convective contribu- tions to the flux are zero at...dependent partial differential equations . SIAM Journal of Numerical Analysis, 32(3):797-823, 1995. Task 2: cm-scale voxels for prototypes Task

A voxel-based finite element model for the prediction of bladder deformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiangfei, Chai; Herk, Marcel van; Hulshof, Maarten C. C. M.; Bel, Arjan [Radiation Oncology Department, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam (Netherlands); Radiation Oncology Department, Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam (Netherlands); Radiation Oncology Department, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2012-01-15

Purpose: A finite element (FE) bladder model was previously developed to predict bladder deformation caused by bladder filling change. However, two factors prevent a wide application of FE models: (1) the labor required to construct a FE model with high quality mesh and (2) long computation time needed to construct the FE model and solve the FE equations. In this work, we address these issues by constructing a low-resolution voxel-based FE bladder model directly from the binary segmentation images and compare the accuracy and computational efficiency of the voxel-based model used to simulate bladder deformation with those of a classical FE model with a tetrahedral mesh. Methods: For ten healthy volunteers, a series of MRI scans of the pelvic region was recorded at regular intervals of 10 min over 1 h. For this series of scans, the bladder volume gradually increased while rectal volume remained constant. All pelvic structures were defined from a reference image for each volunteer, including bladder wall, small bowel, prostate (male), uterus (female), rectum, pelvic bone, spine, and the rest of the body. Four separate FE models were constructed from these structures: one with a tetrahedral mesh (used in previous study), one with a uniform hexahedral mesh, one with a nonuniform hexahedral mesh, and one with a low-resolution nonuniform hexahedral mesh. Appropriate material properties were assigned to all structures and uniform pressure was applied to the inner bladder wall to simulate bladder deformation from urine inflow. Performance of the hexahedral meshes was evaluated against the performance of the standard tetrahedral mesh by comparing the accuracy of bladder shape prediction and computational efficiency. Results: FE model with a hexahedral mesh can be quickly and automatically constructed. No substantial differences were observed between the simulation results of the tetrahedral mesh and hexahedral meshes (<1% difference in mean dice similarity coefficient to

A voxel-based finite element model for the prediction of bladder deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chai Xiangfei; Herk, Marcel van; Hulshof, Maarten C. C. M.; Bel, Arjan

2012-01-01

Purpose: A finite element (FE) bladder model was previously developed to predict bladder deformation caused by bladder filling change. However, two factors prevent a wide application of FE models: (1) the labor required to construct a FE model with high quality mesh and (2) long computation time needed to construct the FE model and solve the FE equations. In this work, we address these issues by constructing a low-resolution voxel-based FE bladder model directly from the binary segmentation images and compare the accuracy and computational efficiency of the voxel-based model used to simulate bladder deformation with those of a classical FE model with a tetrahedral mesh. Methods: For ten healthy volunteers, a series of MRI scans of the pelvic region was recorded at regular intervals of 10 min over 1 h. For this series of scans, the bladder volume gradually increased while rectal volume remained constant. All pelvic structures were defined from a reference image for each volunteer, including bladder wall, small bowel, prostate (male), uterus (female), rectum, pelvic bone, spine, and the rest of the body. Four separate FE models were constructed from these structures: one with a tetrahedral mesh (used in previous study), one with a uniform hexahedral mesh, one with a nonuniform hexahedral mesh, and one with a low-resolution nonuniform hexahedral mesh. Appropriate material properties were assigned to all structures and uniform pressure was applied to the inner bladder wall to simulate bladder deformation from urine inflow. Performance of the hexahedral meshes was evaluated against the performance of the standard tetrahedral mesh by comparing the accuracy of bladder shape prediction and computational efficiency. Results: FE model with a hexahedral mesh can be quickly and automatically constructed. No substantial differences were observed between the simulation results of the tetrahedral mesh and hexahedral meshes (<1% difference in mean dice similarity coefficient to

A GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for photon transport in a voxel phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellezzo, M.; Do Nascimento, E.; Yoriyaz, H., E-mail: mbellezzo@gmail.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares / CNEN, Av. Lineu Prestes 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2014-08-15

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo method has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this paper, we present the CUBMC code, a GPU-based Mc photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in Penelope, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the Material routine, als present in Penelope code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. To demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithm developed in the present work four 128 x 128 x 128 voxel phantoms have been considered. One of them is composed by a homogeneous water-based media, the second is composed by bone, the third is composed by lung and the fourth is composed by a heterogeneous bone and vacuum geometry. Simulations were done considering a 6 MeV monoenergetic photon point source. There are two distinct approaches that were used for transport simulation. The first of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon stop in the frontier will be considered depending on the material changing across the photon travel line. Dose calculations using these methods are compared for validation with Penelope and MCNP5 codes. Speed-up factors are compared using a NVidia GTX 560-Ti GPU card against a 2.27 GHz Intel Xeon CPU processor. (Author)

A GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for photon transport in a voxel phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellezzo, M.; Do Nascimento, E.; Yoriyaz, H.

2014-08-01

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo method has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this paper, we present the CUBMC code, a GPU-based Mc photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in Penelope, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the Material routine, als present in Penelope code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. To demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithm developed in the present work four 128 x 128 x 128 voxel phantoms have been considered. One of them is composed by a homogeneous water-based media, the second is composed by bone, the third is composed by lung and the fourth is composed by a heterogeneous bone and vacuum geometry. Simulations were done considering a 6 MeV monoenergetic photon point source. There are two distinct approaches that were used for transport simulation. The first of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon stop in the frontier will be considered depending on the material changing across the photon travel line. Dose calculations using these methods are compared for validation with Penelope and MCNP5 codes. Speed-up factors are compared using a NVidia GTX 560-Ti GPU card against a 2.27 GHz Intel Xeon CPU processor. (Author)

A non-voxel-based broad-beam (NVBB) framework for IMRT treatment planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Weiguo

2010-12-07

We present a novel framework that enables very large scale intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning in limited computation resources with improvements in cost, plan quality and planning throughput. Current IMRT optimization uses a voxel-based beamlet superposition (VBS) framework that requires pre-calculation and storage of a large amount of beamlet data, resulting in large temporal and spatial complexity. We developed a non-voxel-based broad-beam (NVBB) framework for IMRT capable of direct treatment parameter optimization (DTPO). In this framework, both objective function and derivative are evaluated based on the continuous viewpoint, abandoning 'voxel' and 'beamlet' representations. Thus pre-calculation and storage of beamlets are no longer needed. The NVBB framework has linear complexities (O(N(3))) in both space and time. The low memory, full computation and data parallelization nature of the framework render its efficient implementation on the graphic processing unit (GPU). We implemented the NVBB framework and incorporated it with the TomoTherapy treatment planning system (TPS). The new TPS runs on a single workstation with one GPU card (NVBB-GPU). Extensive verification/validation tests were performed in house and via third parties. Benchmarks on dose accuracy, plan quality and throughput were compared with the commercial TomoTherapy TPS that is based on the VBS framework and uses a computer cluster with 14 nodes (VBS-cluster). For all tests, the dose accuracy of these two TPSs is comparable (within 1%). Plan qualities were comparable with no clinically significant difference for most cases except that superior target uniformity was seen in the NVBB-GPU for some cases. However, the planning time using the NVBB-GPU was reduced many folds over the VBS-cluster. In conclusion, we developed a novel NVBB framework for IMRT optimization. The continuous viewpoint and DTPO nature of the algorithm eliminate the need for beamlets and lead to better plan

A non-voxel-based broad-beam (NVBB) framework for IMRT treatment planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu Weiguo, E-mail: wlu@tomotherapy.co [TomoTherapy Inc., 1240 Deming Way, Madison, WI 53717 (United States)

2010-12-07

We present a novel framework that enables very large scale intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning in limited computation resources with improvements in cost, plan quality and planning throughput. Current IMRT optimization uses a voxel-based beamlet superposition (VBS) framework that requires pre-calculation and storage of a large amount of beamlet data, resulting in large temporal and spatial complexity. We developed a non-voxel-based broad-beam (NVBB) framework for IMRT capable of direct treatment parameter optimization (DTPO). In this framework, both objective function and derivative are evaluated based on the continuous viewpoint, abandoning 'voxel' and 'beamlet' representations. Thus pre-calculation and storage of beamlets are no longer needed. The NVBB framework has linear complexities (O(N{sup 3})) in both space and time. The low memory, full computation and data parallelization nature of the framework render its efficient implementation on the graphic processing unit (GPU). We implemented the NVBB framework and incorporated it with the TomoTherapy treatment planning system (TPS). The new TPS runs on a single workstation with one GPU card (NVBB-GPU). Extensive verification/validation tests were performed in house and via third parties. Benchmarks on dose accuracy, plan quality and throughput were compared with the commercial TomoTherapy TPS that is based on the VBS framework and uses a computer cluster with 14 nodes (VBS-cluster). For all tests, the dose accuracy of these two TPSs is comparable (within 1%). Plan qualities were comparable with no clinically significant difference for most cases except that superior target uniformity was seen in the NVBB-GPU for some cases. However, the planning time using the NVBB-GPU was reduced many folds over the VBS-cluster. In conclusion, we developed a novel NVBB framework for IMRT optimization. The continuous viewpoint and DTPO nature of the algorithm eliminate the need for beamlets

Cortical thinning in cognitively normal elderly cohort of 60 to 89 year old from AIBL database and vulnerable brain areas

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhongmin S.; Avinash, Gopal; Yan, Litao; McMillan, Kathryn

2014-03-01

Age-related cortical thinning has been studied by many researchers using quantitative MR images for the past three decades and vastly differing results have been reported. Although results have shown age-related cortical thickening in elderly cohort statistically in some brain regions under certain conditions, cortical thinning in elderly cohort requires further systematic investigation. This paper leverages our previously reported brain surface intensity model (BSIM)1 based technique to measure cortical thickness to study cortical changes due to normal aging. We measured cortical thickness of cognitively normal persons from 60 to 89 years old using Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study (AIBL) data. MRI brains of 56 healthy people including 29 women and 27 men were selected. We measured average cortical thickness of each individual in eight brain regions: parietal, frontal, temporal, occipital, visual, sensory motor, medial frontal and medial parietal. Unlike the previous published studies, our results showed consistent age-related thinning of cerebral cortex in all brain regions. The parietal, medial frontal and medial parietal showed fastest thinning rates of 0.14, 0.12 and 0.10 mm/decade respectively while the visual region showed the slowest thinning rate of 0.05 mm/decade. In sensorimotor and parietal areas, women showed higher thinning (0.09 and 0.16 mm/decade) than men while in all other regions men showed higher thinning than women. We also created high resolution cortical thinning rate maps of the cohort and compared them to typical patterns of PET metabolic reduction of moderate AD and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The results seemed to indicate vulnerable areas of cortical deterioration that may lead to brain dementia. These results validate our cortical thickness measurement technique by demonstrating the consistency of the cortical thinning and prediction of cortical deterioration trend with AIBL database.

Auras and clinical features in temporal lobe epilepsy: a new approach on the basis of voxel-based morphometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Santana, Maria Teresa Castilho Garcia; Jackowski, Andrea Parolin; da Silva, Henrique Hattori; Caboclo, Luis Otávio Sales Ferreira; Centeno, Ricardo Silva; Bressan, Rodrigo A; Carrete, Henrique; Yacubian, Elza Márcia Targas

2010-05-01

MRI investigations in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) have demonstrated structural abnormalities extending beyond ipsilateral hippocampus which may be studied through voxel-based morphometry (VBM). We investigated brain morphology related to clinical features in patients with refractory TLE with MTS using VBM. One hundred patients with unilateral TLE with MTS (59 left) and 30 controls were enrolled. VBM5 was employed to analyze (1) hemispheric damage, (2) influence of initial precipitating injury (IPI): 23 patients with febrile seizures and 19 with status epilepticus, and (3) types of auras classified as: mesial, including psychic auras (19 patients); anterior mesio-lateral, as autonomic symptoms, specially epigastric auras (27 patients) and neocortical, which included auditory, vertiginous, somatosensory and visual auras (16 patients). (1) Left TLE patients presented more widespread gray matter volume (GMV) reductions affecting ipsilateral hippocampus, temporal neocortex, insula and also left uncus, precentral gyrus, thalamus, parietal lobule, cuneus and bilateral cingulum. (2) Febrile seizures group presented ipsilateral GMV reductions in hippocampus, neocortical temporal, frontal and occipital cortices, insula and cingulum. Status epilepticus group presented more widespread GMV reductions involving temporal and extratemporal lobes. (3) Patients with mesial auras showed significant ipsilateral GMV reductions in hippocampus and amygdala, particularly right TLE group, who presented greater extension of GMV reduction in the entorhinal cortex. Significant reductions in hippocampus, amygdala and insula were seen in patients with anterior mesio-lateral auras. This study evaluated a large number of TLE-MTS patients showing structural damage extending beyond hippocampus, and different types of IPI associated with the extension of brain damage. Subtypes of auras are related to different clusters of areas of GMV reductions in

A voxel-based multiscale model to simulate the radiation response of hypoxic tumors.

Science.gov (United States)

Espinoza, I; Peschke, P; Karger, C P

2015-01-01

In radiotherapy, it is important to predict the response of tumors to irradiation prior to the treatment. This is especially important for hypoxic tumors, which are known to be highly radioresistant. Mathematical modeling based on the dose distribution, biological parameters, and medical images may help to improve this prediction and to optimize the treatment plan. A voxel-based multiscale tumor response model for simulating the radiation response of hypoxic tumors was developed. It considers viable and dead tumor cells, capillary and normal cells, as well as the most relevant biological processes such as (i) proliferation of tumor cells, (ii) hypoxia-induced angiogenesis, (iii) spatial exchange of cells leading to tumor growth, (iv) oxygen-dependent cell survival after irradiation, (v) resorption of dead cells, and (vi) spatial exchange of cells leading to tumor shrinkage. Oxygenation is described on a microscopic scale using a previously published tumor oxygenation model, which calculates the oxygen distribution for each voxel using the vascular fraction as the most important input parameter. To demonstrate the capabilities of the model, the dependence of the oxygen distribution on tumor growth and radiation-induced shrinkage is investigated. In addition, the impact of three different reoxygenation processes is compared and tumor control probability (TCP) curves for a squamous cells carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSSC) are simulated under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The model describes the spatiotemporal behavior of the tumor on three different scales: (i) on the macroscopic scale, it describes tumor growth and shrinkage during radiation treatment, (ii) on a mesoscopic scale, it provides the cell density and vascular fraction for each voxel, and (iii) on the microscopic scale, the oxygen distribution may be obtained in terms of oxygen histograms. With increasing tumor size, the simulated tumors develop a hypoxic core. Within the model, tumor shrinkage was

A voxel-based multiscale model to simulate the radiation response of hypoxic tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinoza, I.; Peschke, P.; Karger, C. P.

2015-01-01

Purpose: In radiotherapy, it is important to predict the response of tumors to irradiation prior to the treatment. This is especially important for hypoxic tumors, which are known to be highly radioresistant. Mathematical modeling based on the dose distribution, biological parameters, and medical images may help to improve this prediction and to optimize the treatment plan. Methods: A voxel-based multiscale tumor response model for simulating the radiation response of hypoxic tumors was developed. It considers viable and dead tumor cells, capillary and normal cells, as well as the most relevant biological processes such as (i) proliferation of tumor cells, (ii) hypoxia-induced angiogenesis, (iii) spatial exchange of cells leading to tumor growth, (iv) oxygen-dependent cell survival after irradiation, (v) resorption of dead cells, and (vi) spatial exchange of cells leading to tumor shrinkage. Oxygenation is described on a microscopic scale using a previously published tumor oxygenation model, which calculates the oxygen distribution for each voxel using the vascular fraction as the most important input parameter. To demonstrate the capabilities of the model, the dependence of the oxygen distribution on tumor growth and radiation-induced shrinkage is investigated. In addition, the impact of three different reoxygenation processes is compared and tumor control probability (TCP) curves for a squamous cells carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSSC) are simulated under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Results: The model describes the spatiotemporal behavior of the tumor on three different scales: (i) on the macroscopic scale, it describes tumor growth and shrinkage during radiation treatment, (ii) on a mesoscopic scale, it provides the cell density and vascular fraction for each voxel, and (iii) on the microscopic scale, the oxygen distribution may be obtained in terms of oxygen histograms. With increasing tumor size, the simulated tumors develop a hypoxic core. Within the

Accuracy and reproducibility of voxel based superimposition of cone beam computed tomography models on the anterior cranial base and the zygomatic arches.

Science.gov (United States)

Nada, Rania M; Maal, Thomas J J; Breuning, K Hero; Bergé, Stefaan J; Mostafa, Yehya A; Kuijpers-Jagtman, Anne Marie

2011-02-09

Superimposition of serial Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans has become a valuable tool for three dimensional (3D) assessment of treatment effects and stability. Voxel based image registration is a newly developed semi-automated technique for superimposition and comparison of two CBCT scans. The accuracy and reproducibility of CBCT superimposition on the anterior cranial base or the zygomatic arches using voxel based image registration was tested in this study. 16 pairs of 3D CBCT models were constructed from pre and post treatment CBCT scans of 16 adult dysgnathic patients. Each pair was registered on the anterior cranial base three times and on the left zygomatic arch twice. Following each superimposition, the mean absolute distances between the 2 models were calculated at 4 regions: anterior cranial base, forehead, left and right zygomatic arches. The mean distances between the models ranged from 0.2 to 0.37 mm (SD 0.08-0.16) for the anterior cranial base registration and from 0.2 to 0.45 mm (SD 0.09-0.27) for the zygomatic arch registration. The mean differences between the two registration zones ranged between 0.12 to 0.19 mm at the 4 regions. Voxel based image registration on both zones could be considered as an accurate and a reproducible method for CBCT superimposition. The left zygomatic arch could be used as a stable structure for the superimposition of smaller field of view CBCT scans where the anterior cranial base is not visible.

Adaptations in tibial cortical thickness and total volumetric bone density in postmenopausal South Asian women with small bone size.

Science.gov (United States)

Darling, Andrea L; Hakim, Ohood A; Horton, Khim; Gibbs, Michelle A; Cui, Liang; Berry, Jacqueline L; Lanham-New, Susan A; Hart, Kathryn H

2013-07-01

There is some evidence that South Asian women may have an increased risk of osteoporosis compared with Caucasian women, although whether South Asians are at increased risk of fracture is not clear. It is unknown whether older South Asian women differ from Caucasian women in bone geometry. This is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, to use peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) to measure radial and tibial bone geometry in postmenopausal South Asian women. In comparison to Caucasian women, Asian women had smaller bone size at the 4% (-18% pAsians had increased cortical thickness (-17% p=0.04) at the 38% tibia, (in proportion to bone size (-30% p=0.003)). Furthermore, at the 4% and 14% tibia there were increased total densities (+12% to +29% pAsians. These differences at the 14% and 38% (but not 4%) remained statistically significant after adjustment for Body Mass Index (BMI). These adaptations are similar to those seen previously in Chinese women. Asian women had reduced strength at the radius and tibia, evidenced by the 20-40% reduction in both polar Strength Strain Index (SSIp) and fracture load (under bending). Overall, the smaller bone size in South Asians is likely to be detrimental to bone strength, despite some adaptations in tibial cortical thickness and tibial and radial density which may partially compensate for this. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduced visual cortex gray matter volume and thickness in young adults who witnessed domestic violence during childhood.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akemi Tomoda

Full Text Available Exposure to interparental violence is associated with negative outcomes, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and reduced cognitive abilities. However, little is known about the potential effects of witnessing domestic violence during childhood on gray matter volume (GMV or cortical thickness. High-resolution 3.0 T volumetric scans (Siemens Trio Scanner were obtained on 52 subjects (18-25 years including 22 (6 males/16 females with a history of visually witnessing episodes of domestic violence, and 30 (8 males/22 females unexposed control subjects, with neither a current nor past DSM-IV Axis I or II disorder. Potential confounding effects of age, gender, level of parental verbal aggression, parental education, financial stress, full scale IQ, and total GMV, or average thickness were modeled using voxel based morphometry and FreeSurfer. Witnessing domestic violence subjects had a 6.1% GMV reduction in the right lingual gyrus (BA18 (P = 0.029, False Discovery Rate corrected peak level. Thickness in this region was also reduced, as was thickness in V2 bilaterally and left occipital pole. Theses regions were maximally sensitive to exposure to witnessing domestic violence between 11-13 years of age. Regional reductions in GMV and thickness were observed in both susceptible and resilient witnessing domestic violence subjects. Results in subjects witnessing domestic violence were similar to previously reported results in subjects with childhood sexual abuse, as the primary region affected was visual cortex. Brain regions that process and convey the adverse sensory input of the abuse may be specifically modified by this experience, particularly in subjects exposed to a single type of maltreatment. Exposure to multiple types of maltreatment is more commonly associated with morphological alterations in corticolimbic regions. These findings fit with preclinical studies showing that visual cortex is a highly plastic structure.

Relationship between grey matter integrity and executive abilities in aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Manard, Marine; Bahri, Mohamed Ali; Salmon, Eric; Collette, Fabienne

2016-07-01

This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate grey matter changes that occur in healthy aging and the relationship between grey matter characteristics and executive functioning. Thirty-six young adults (18-30 years old) and 43 seniors (60-75 years old) were included. A general executive score was derived from a large battery of neuropsychological tests assessing three major aspects of executive functioning (inhibition, updating and shifting). Age-related grey matter changes were investigated by comparing young and older adults using voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based cortical thickness methods. A widespread difference in grey matter volume was found across many brain regions, whereas cortical thinning was mainly restricted to central areas. Multivariate analyses showed age-related changes in relatively similar brain regions to the respective univariate analyses but appeared more limited. Finally, in the older adult sample, a significant relationship between global executive performance and decreased grey matter volume in anterior (i.e. frontal, insular and cingulate cortex) but also some posterior brain areas (i.e. temporal and parietal cortices) as well as subcortical structures was observed. Results of this study highlight the distribution of age-related effects on grey matter volume and show that cortical atrophy does not appear primarily in "frontal" brain regions. From a cognitive viewpoint, age-related executive functioning seems to be related to grey matter volume but not to cortical thickness. Therefore, our results also highlight the influence of methodological aspects (from preprocessing to statistical analysis) on the pattern of results, which could explain the lack of consensus in literature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MRI of focal cortical dysplasia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, B.C.P.; Hatfield, G.A.; Bourgeois, B.; Park, T.S.

1998-01-01

We studied nine cases of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) by MRI, with surface-rendered 3D reconstructions. One case was also examined using single-voxel proton MR spectroscopy (MRS). The histological features were reviewed and correlated with the MRI findings. The gyri affected by FCD were enlarged and the signal of the cortex was slightly increased on T1-weighted images. The gray-white junction was indistinct. Signal from the subcortical white matter was decreased on T1- and increased on T2-weighted images in most cases. Contrast enhancement was seen in two cases. Proton MRS showed a spectrum identical to that of normal brain. (orig.) (orig.)

Influence of cortical endplates on ultrasonic properties of trabecular bone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yoon Mi; Lee, Kang Il

2015-01-01

The present study investigated the influence of thick cortical endplates on the ultrasonic properties of trabecular bone in a femur with a high fracture risk. Twelve trabecular bone samples were prepared from bovine femurs, and acrylic plates with thicknesses of 1.25, 1.80, and 2.75 mm were manufactured to simulate the cortical endplates using acrylic with a density and a sound speed similar to cortical bone. Although the thickness of the acrylic plates attached to the two sides of the trabecular bone increased, high correlations were observed between the speed of sound and the apparent bone density of the trabecular bone, with Pearson's correlation coefficients of 0.80-0.86. High correlations were also observed between the attenuation coefficient at 0.5 mm and the apparent bone density of the trabecular bone, with Pearson's correlation coefficients of 0.84-0.91. These results suggest that the speed of sound and attenuation coefficient at a specific frequency measured in a femur with relatively thick cortical endplates compared to the calcaneus could be used as indices for predicting the bone mineral density of the femur.

Greater Cortical Thickness in Elderly Female Yoga Practitioners—A Cross-Sectional Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui F. Afonso

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Yoga, a mind-body activity that requires attentional engagement, has been associated with positive changes in brain structure and function, especially in areas related to awareness, attention, executive functions and memory. Normal aging, on the other hand, has also been associated with structural and functional brain changes, but these generally involve decreased cognitive functions. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare brain cortical thickness (CT in elderly yoga practitioners and a group of age-matched healthy non-practitioners. We tested 21 older women who had practiced hatha yoga for at least 8 years and 21 women naive to yoga, meditation or any mind-body interventions who were matched to the first group in age, years of formal education and physical activity level. A T1-weighted MPRAGE sequence was acquired for each participant. Yoga practitioners showed significantly greater CT in a left prefrontal lobe cluster, which included portions of the lateral middle frontal gyrus, anterior superior frontal gyrus and dorsal superior frontal gyrus. We found greater CT in the left prefrontal cortex of healthy elderly women who trained yoga for a minimum of 8 years compared with women in the control group.

Morphometric changes of whole brain in patients with alcohol addiction: a voxel-based morphometry study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jinfeng; Chen Zhiye; Ma Lin

2011-01-01

Objective: To evaluate morphometric changes of brain in patients with alcohol addiction by voxel-based morphometry. Methods: Fifteen patients with alcohol addiction and 15 health controls were recruited and underwent fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and 3D fast spoiled gradient echo (FSPGR) T 1 -weighted sequences on a 3.0 T MRI system. 3D FSPGR T 1 structure images were normalized, segmented and smoothed, and then underwent voxel-based morphometry. An ANCOVA was applied with age, body mass index (BMI), and education years as covariates because of exact sex match. A statistical threshold of P 0.05). Conclusions: Regional gray and white matter atrophy can be the initial changes in patients with alcohol addiction and the frontal region is a relative specific damaged brain region. VBM has a potential value for the detection of subtle brain atrophy in patients with alcohol addiction. (authors)

Cortical Thinning and Clinical Heterogeneity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

OpenAIRE

Mezzapesa, Domenico Maria; D?Errico, Eustachio; Tortelli, Rosanna; Distaso, Eugenio; Cortese, Rosa; Tursi, Marianna; Federico, Francesco; Zoccolella, Stefano; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Dicuonzo, Franca; Simone, Isabella Laura

2013-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has heterogeneous clinical features that could be translated into specific patterns of brain atrophy. In the current study we have evaluated the relationship between different clinical expressions of classical ALS and measurements of brain cortical thickness. Cortical thickness analysis was conducted from 3D-MRI using FreeSurfer software in 29 ALS patients and 20 healthy controls. We explored three clinical traits of the disease, subdividing the patients in...

Voxel-based lesion analysis of brain regions underlying reading and writing.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldo, Juliana V; Kacinik, Natalie; Ludy, Carl; Paulraj, Selvi; Moncrief, Amber; Piai, Vitória; Curran, Brian; Turken, And; Herron, Tim; Dronkers, Nina F

2018-03-20

The neural basis of reading and writing has been a source of inquiry as well as controversy in the neuroscience literature. Reading has been associated with both left posterior ventral temporal zones (termed the "visual word form area") as well as more dorsal zones, primarily in left parietal cortex. Writing has also been associated with left parietal cortex, as well as left sensorimotor cortex and prefrontal regions. Typically, the neural basis of reading and writing are examined in separate studies and/or rely on single case studies exhibiting specific deficits. Functional neuroimaging studies of reading and writing typically identify a large number of activated regions but do not necessarily identify the core, critical hubs. Last, due to constraints on the functional imaging environment, many previous studies have been limited to measuring the brain activity associated with single-word reading and writing, rather than sentence-level processing. In the current study, the brain correlates of reading and writing at both the single- and sentence-level were studied in a large sample of 111 individuals with a history of chronic stroke using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM). VLSM provides a whole-brain, voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis of the role of distinct regions in a particular behavior by comparing performance of individuals with and without a lesion at every voxel. Rather than comparing individual cases or small groups with particular behavioral dissociations in reading and writing, VLSM allowed us to analyze data from a large, well-characterized sample of stroke patients exhibiting a wide range of reading and writing impairments. The VLSM analyses revealed that reading was associated with a critical left inferior temporo-occipital focus, while writing was primarily associated with the left supramarginal gyrus. Separate VLSM analyses of single-word versus sentence-level reading showed that sentence-level reading was uniquely associated with anterior

Sex differences in thickness, and folding developments throughout the cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutlu, A Kadir; Schneider, Maude; Debbané, Martin; Badoud, Deborah; Eliez, Stephan; Schaer, Marie

2013-11-15

While significant differences in male and female brain structures have commonly been reported, only a few studies have focused on the sex differences in the way the cortex matures over time. Here, we investigated cortical thickness maturation between the age of 6 to 30 years, using 209 longitudinally-acquired brain MRI scans. Significant sex differences in the trajectories of cortical thickness change with age were evidenced using non-linear mixed effects models. Similar statistical analyses were computed to quantify the differences between cortical gyrification changes with age in males and females. During adolescence, we observed a statistically significant higher rate of cortical thinning in females compared to males in the right temporal regions, the left temporoparietal junction and the left orbitofrontal cortex. This finding is interpreted as a faster maturation of the social brain areas in females. Concomitantly, statistically significant sex differences in cortical folding changes with age were observed only in one cluster of the right prefrontal regions, suggesting that the mechanisms underlying cortical thickness and gyrification changes with age are quite distinct. Sexual dimorphism in the developmental course of the cortical maturation may be associated with the different age of onset and clinical presentation of many psychiatric disorders between males and females. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of phantom voxelization in CT simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goertzen, Andrew L.; Beekman, Freek J.; Cherry, Simon R.

2002-01-01

In computer simulations of x-ray CT systems one can either use continuous geometrical descriptions for phantoms or a voxelized representation. The voxelized approach allows arbitrary phantoms to be defined without being confined to geometrical shapes. The disadvantage of the voxelized approach is that inherent errors are introduced due to the phantom voxelization. To study effects of phantom discretization, analytical CT simulations were run for a fan-beam geometry with phantom voxel sizes ranging from 0.0625 to 2 times the reconstructed pixel size and noise levels corresponding to 10 3 -10 7 photons per detector pixel prior to attenuation. The number of rays traced per detector element was varied from 1 to 16. Differences in the filtered backprojection images caused by changing the phantom matrix sizes and number of rays traced were assessed by calculating the difference between reconstructions based on the finest matrix and coarser matrix simulations. In noise free simulations, all phantom matrix sizes produced a measurable difference in comparison with the finest phantom matrix used. When even a small amount of noise was added to the projection data, the differences due to the phantom discretization were masked by the noise, and in all cases there was almost no improvement by using a phantom matrix that was more than twice as fine as the reconstruction matrix. No substantial improvement was achieved by tracing more than 4 rays per detector pixel

Changes in Thickness and Surface Area of the Human Cortex and Their Relationship with Intelligence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schnack, H.G.; van Haren, N.E.M.; Brouwer, R.M.; Evans, A.; Durston, S.; Boomsma, D.I.; Kahn, R.S.; Hulshoff Pol, H.E.

2015-01-01

Changes in cortical thickness over time have been related to intelligence, but whether changes in cortical surface area are related to general cognitive functioning is unknown. We therefore examined the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and changes in cortical thickness and surface

Anatomical abnormalities in gray and white matter of the cortical surface in persons with schizophrenia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiziano Colibazzi

Full Text Available Although schizophrenia has been associated with abnormalities in brain anatomy, imaging studies have not fully determined the nature and relative contributions of gray matter (GM and white matter (WM disturbances underlying these findings. We sought to determine the pattern and distribution of these GM and WM abnormalities. Furthermore, we aimed to clarify the contribution of abnormalities in cortical thickness and cortical surface area to the reduced GM volumes reported in schizophrenia.We recruited 76 persons with schizophrenia and 57 healthy controls from the community and obtained measures of cortical and WM surface areas, of local volumes along the brain and WM surfaces, and of cortical thickness.We detected reduced local volumes in patients along corresponding locations of the brain and WM surfaces in addition to bilateral greater thickness of perisylvian cortices and thinner cortex in the superior frontal and cingulate gyri. Total cortical and WM surface areas were reduced. Patients with worse performance on the serial-position task, a measure of working memory, had a higher burden of WM abnormalities.Reduced local volumes along the surface of the brain mirrored the locations of abnormalities along the surface of the underlying WM, rather than of abnormalities of cortical thickness. Moreover, anatomical features of white matter, but not cortical thickness, correlated with measures of working memory. We propose that reductions in WM and smaller total cortical surface area could be central anatomical abnormalities in schizophrenia, driving, at least partially, the reduced regional GM volumes often observed in this illness.

Accuracy and reproducibility of voxel based superimposition of cone beam computed tomography models on the anterior cranial base and the zygomatic arches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rania M Nada

Full Text Available Superimposition of serial Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT scans has become a valuable tool for three dimensional (3D assessment of treatment effects and stability. Voxel based image registration is a newly developed semi-automated technique for superimposition and comparison of two CBCT scans. The accuracy and reproducibility of CBCT superimposition on the anterior cranial base or the zygomatic arches using voxel based image registration was tested in this study. 16 pairs of 3D CBCT models were constructed from pre and post treatment CBCT scans of 16 adult dysgnathic patients. Each pair was registered on the anterior cranial base three times and on the left zygomatic arch twice. Following each superimposition, the mean absolute distances between the 2 models were calculated at 4 regions: anterior cranial base, forehead, left and right zygomatic arches. The mean distances between the models ranged from 0.2 to 0.37 mm (SD 0.08-0.16 for the anterior cranial base registration and from 0.2 to 0.45 mm (SD 0.09-0.27 for the zygomatic arch registration. The mean differences between the two registration zones ranged between 0.12 to 0.19 mm at the 4 regions. Voxel based image registration on both zones could be considered as an accurate and a reproducible method for CBCT superimposition. The left zygomatic arch could be used as a stable structure for the superimposition of smaller field of view CBCT scans where the anterior cranial base is not visible.

Simulation of computed tomography dose based on voxel phantom

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chunyu; Lv, Xiangbo; Li, Zhaojun

2017-01-01

Computed Tomography (CT) is one of the preferred and the most valuable imaging tool used in diagnostic radiology, which provides a high-quality cross-sectional image of the body. It still causes higher doses of radiation to patients comparing to the other radiological procedures. The Monte-Carlo method is appropriate for estimation of the radiation dose during the CT examinations. The simulation of the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) phantom was developed in this paper. Under a similar conditions used in physical measurements, dose profiles were calculated and compared against the measured values that were reported. The results demonstrate a good agreement between the calculated and the measured doses. From different CT exam simulations using the voxel phantom, the highest absorbed dose was recorded for the lung, the brain, the bone surface. A comparison between the different scan type shows that the effective dose for a chest scan is the highest one, whereas the effective dose values during abdomen and pelvis scan are very close, respectively. The lowest effective dose resulted from the head scan. Although, the dose in CT is related to various parameters, such as the tube current, exposure time, beam energy, slice thickness and patient size, this study demonstrates that the MC simulation is a useful tool to accurately estimate the dose delivered to any specific organs for patients undergoing the CT exams and can be also a valuable technique for the design and the optimization of the CT x-ray source.

The Effects of FreeSurfer Version, Workstation Type, and Macintosh Operating System Version on Anatomical Volume and Cortical Thickness Measurements

OpenAIRE

Gronenschild, Ed H. B. M.; Habets, Petra; Jacobs, Heidi I. L.; Mengelers, Ron; Rozendaal, Nico; van Os, Jim; Marcelis, Machteld

2012-01-01

FreeSurfer is a popular software package to measure cortical thickness and volume of neuroanatomical structures. However, little if any is known about measurement reliability across various data processing conditions. Using a set of 30 anatomical T1-weighted 3T MRI scans, we investigated the effects of data processing variables such as FreeSurfer version (v4.3.1, v4.5.0, and v5.0.0), workstation (Macintosh and Hewlett-Packard), and Macintosh operating system version (OSX 10.5 and OSX 10.6). S...

Response of cortical bone to antiresorptive treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hyldstrup, Lars; Jørgensen, J T; Sørensen, T K

2001-01-01

of the spine, hip, and forearm. Longitudinal changes in bone densitometry were compared with changes captured by DXR: BMD evaluated by DXR (BMDDXR), cortical thickness of the second metacarpal (CTMC2), and porosity of cortical bone. The expected annual postmenopausal reduction in BMD in the control group...... treatment regimens used in the prevention of osteoporosis....

SU-E-CAMPUS-I-02: Estimation of the Dosimetric Error Caused by the Voxelization of Hybrid Computational Phantoms Using Triangle Mesh-Based Monte Carlo Transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, C [Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (United States); Badal, A [U.S. Food ' Drug Administration (CDRH/OSEL), Silver Spring, MD (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Computational voxel phantom provides realistic anatomy but the voxel structure may result in dosimetric error compared to real anatomy composed of perfect surface. We analyzed the dosimetric error caused from the voxel structure in hybrid computational phantoms by comparing the voxel-based doses at different resolutions with triangle mesh-based doses. Methods: We incorporated the existing adult male UF/NCI hybrid phantom in mesh format into a Monte Carlo transport code, penMesh that supports triangle meshes. We calculated energy deposition to selected organs of interest for parallel photon beams with three mono energies (0.1, 1, and 10 MeV) in antero-posterior geometry. We also calculated organ energy deposition using three voxel phantoms with different voxel resolutions (1, 5, and 10 mm) using MCNPX2.7. Results: Comparison of organ energy deposition between the two methods showed that agreement overall improved for higher voxel resolution, but for many organs the differences were small. Difference in the energy deposition for 1 MeV, for example, decreased from 11.5% to 1.7% in muscle but only from 0.6% to 0.3% in liver as voxel resolution increased from 10 mm to 1 mm. The differences were smaller at higher energies. The number of photon histories processed per second in voxels were 6.4×10{sup 4}, 3.3×10{sup 4}, and 1.3×10{sup 4}, for 10, 5, and 1 mm resolutions at 10 MeV, respectively, while meshes ran at 4.0×10{sup 4} histories/sec. Conclusion: The combination of hybrid mesh phantom and penMesh was proved to be accurate and of similar speed compared to the voxel phantom and MCNPX. The lowest voxel resolution caused a maximum dosimetric error of 12.6% at 0.1 MeV and 6.8% at 10 MeV but the error was insignificant in some organs. We will apply the tool to calculate dose to very thin layer tissues (e.g., radiosensitive layer in gastro intestines) which cannot be modeled by voxel phantoms.

Repeated intravenous administration of gadobutrol does not lead to increased signal intensity on unenhanced T1-weighted images - a voxel-based whole brain analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langner, Soenke; Kromrey, Marie-Luise [University Medicine Greifswald, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald (Germany); Kuehn, Jens-Peter [University Medicine Greifswald, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald (Germany); University Hospital, Carl Gustav Carus University Dresden, Institute for Radiology, Dresden (Germany); Grothe, Matthias [University Medicine Greifswald, Department of Neurology, Greifswald (Germany); Domin, Martin [University Medicine Greifswald, Functional Imaging Unit, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald (Germany)

2017-09-15

To identify a possible association between repeated intravenous administration of gadobutrol and increased signal intensity in the grey and white matter using voxel-based whole-brain analysis. In this retrospective single-centre study, 217 patients with a clinically isolated syndrome underwent baseline brain magnetic resonance imaging and at least one annual follow-up examination with intravenous administration of 0.1 mmol/kg body weight of gadobutrol. Using the ''Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration using Exponentiated Lie algebra'' (DARTEL) normalisation process, tissue templates for grey matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were calculated, as were GM-CSF and WM-CSF ratios. Voxel-based whole-brain analysis was used to calculate the signal intensity for each voxel in each data set. Paired t-test was applied to test differences to baseline MRI for significance. Voxel-based whole-brain analysis demonstrated no significant changes in signal intensity of grey and white matter after up to five gadobutrol administrations. There was no significant change in GM-CSF and grey WM-CSF ratios. Voxel-based whole-brain analysis did not demonstrate increased signal intensity of GM and WM on unenhanced T1-weighted images after repeated gadobutrol administration. The molecular structure of gadolinium-based contrast agent preparations may be an essential factor causing SI increase on unenhanced T1-weighted images. (orig.)

Automated Coarse Registration of Point Clouds in 3d Urban Scenes Using Voxel Based Plane Constraint

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Y.; Boerner, R.; Yao, W.; Hoegner, L.; Stilla, U.

2017-09-01

For obtaining a full coverage of 3D scans in a large-scale urban area, the registration between point clouds acquired via terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is normally mandatory. However, due to the complex urban environment, the automatic registration of different scans is still a challenging problem. In this work, we propose an automatic marker free method for fast and coarse registration between point clouds using the geometric constrains of planar patches under a voxel structure. Our proposed method consists of four major steps: the voxelization of the point cloud, the approximation of planar patches, the matching of corresponding patches, and the estimation of transformation parameters. In the voxelization step, the point cloud of each scan is organized with a 3D voxel structure, by which the entire point cloud is partitioned into small individual patches. In the following step, we represent points of each voxel with the approximated plane function, and select those patches resembling planar surfaces. Afterwards, for matching the corresponding patches, a RANSAC-based strategy is applied. Among all the planar patches of a scan, we randomly select a planar patches set of three planar surfaces, in order to build a coordinate frame via their normal vectors and their intersection points. The transformation parameters between scans are calculated from these two coordinate frames. The planar patches set with its transformation parameters owning the largest number of coplanar patches are identified as the optimal candidate set for estimating the correct transformation parameters. The experimental results using TLS datasets of different scenes reveal that our proposed method can be both effective and efficient for the coarse registration task. Especially, for the fast orientation between scans, our proposed method can achieve a registration error of less than around 2 degrees using the testing datasets, and much more efficient than the classical baseline methods.

Age- and gender-related regional variations of human brain cortical thickness, complexity, and gradient in the third decade.

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Creze, Maud; Versheure, Leslie; Besson, Pierre; Sauvage, Chloe; Leclerc, Xavier; Jissendi-Tchofo, Patrice

2014-06-01

Brain functional and cytoarchitectural maturation continue until adulthood, but little is known about the evolution of the regional pattern of cortical thickness (CT), complexity (CC), and intensity or gradient (CG) in young adults. We attempted to detect global and regional age- and gender-related variations of brain CT, CC, and CG, in 28 healthy young adults (19-33 years) using a three-dimensional T1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequence and surface-based methods. Whole brain interindividual variations of CT and CG were similar to that in the literature. As a new finding, age- and gender-related variations significantly affected brain complexity (P gender), all in the right hemisphere. Regions of interest analyses showed age and gender significant interaction (P left inferior parietal. In addition, we found significant inverse correlations between CT and CC and between CT and CG over the whole brain and markedly in precentral and occipital areas. Our findings differ in details from previous reports and may correlate with late brain maturation and learning plasticity in young adults' brain in the third decade. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Trajectories of cortical surface area and cortical volume maturation in normal brain development

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Simon Ducharme

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This is a report of developmental trajectories of cortical surface area and cortical volume in the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. The quality-controlled sample included 384 individual typically-developing subjects with repeated scanning (1–3 per subject, total scans n=753 from 4.9 to 22.3 years of age. The best-fit model (cubic, quadratic, or first-order linear was identified at each vertex using mixed-effects models, with statistical correction for multiple comparisons using random field theory. Analyses were performed with and without controlling for total brain volume. These data are provided for reference and comparison with other databases. Further discussion and interpretation on cortical developmental trajectories can be found in the associated Ducharme et al.׳s article “Trajectories of cortical thickness maturation in normal brain development – the importance of quality control procedures” (Ducharme et al., 2015 [1].

Reliability and statistical power analysis of cortical and subcortical FreeSurfer metrics in a large sample of healthy elderly.

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Liem, Franziskus; Mérillat, Susan; Bezzola, Ladina; Hirsiger, Sarah; Philipp, Michel; Madhyastha, Tara; Jäncke, Lutz

2015-03-01

FreeSurfer is a tool to quantify cortical and subcortical brain anatomy automatically and noninvasively. Previous studies have reported reliability and statistical power analyses in relatively small samples or only selected one aspect of brain anatomy. Here, we investigated reliability and statistical power of cortical thickness, surface area, volume, and the volume of subcortical structures in a large sample (N=189) of healthy elderly subjects (64+ years). Reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) of cortical and subcortical parameters is generally high (cortical: ICCs>0.87, subcortical: ICCs>0.95). Surface-based smoothing increases reliability of cortical thickness maps, while it decreases reliability of cortical surface area and volume. Nevertheless, statistical power of all measures benefits from smoothing. When aiming to detect a 10% difference between groups, the number of subjects required to test effects with sufficient power over the entire cortex varies between cortical measures (cortical thickness: N=39, surface area: N=21, volume: N=81; 10mm smoothing, power=0.8, α=0.05). For subcortical regions this number is between 16 and 76 subjects, depending on the region. We also demonstrate the advantage of within-subject designs over between-subject designs. Furthermore, we publicly provide a tool that allows researchers to perform a priori power analysis and sensitivity analysis to help evaluate previously published studies and to design future studies with sufficient statistical power. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impaired decision-making and selective cortical frontal thinning in Cushing's syndrome.

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Crespo, Iris; Esther, Granell-Moreno; Santos, Alicia; Valassi, Elena; Yolanda, Vives-Gilabert; De Juan-Delago, Manel; Webb, Susan M; Gómez-Ansón, Beatriz; Resmini, Eugenia

2014-12-01

Cushing's syndrome (CS) is caused by a glucocorticoid excess. This hypercortisolism can damage the prefrontal cortex, known to be important in decision-making. Our aim was to evaluate decision-making in CS and to explore cortical thickness. Thirty-five patients with CS (27 cured, eight medically treated) and thirty-five matched controls were evaluated using Iowa gambling task (IGT) and 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess cortical thickness. The IGT evaluates decision-making, including strategy and learning during the test. Cortical thickness was determined on MRI using freesurfer software tools, including a whole-brain analysis. There were no differences between medically treated and cured CS patients. They presented an altered decision-making strategy compared to controls, choosing a lower number of the safer cards (P behaviour was driven by short-term reward and long-term punishment, indicating learning problems because they did not use previous experience as a feedback factor to regulate their choices. These alterations in decision-making and the decreased cortical thickness in frontal areas suggest that chronic hypercortisolism promotes brain changes which are not completely reversible after endocrine remission. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Inattention Predicts Increased Thickness of Left Occipital Cortex in Men with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

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Peter Sörös

2017-09-01

Full Text Available BackgroundAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD in adulthood is a serious and frequent psychiatric disorder with the core symptoms inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. The principal aim of this study was to investigate associations between brain morphology, i.e., cortical thickness and volumes of subcortical gray matter, and individual symptom severity in adult ADHD.MethodsSurface-based brain morphometry was performed in 35 women and 29 men with ADHD using FreeSurfer. Linear regressions were calculated between cortical thickness and the volumes of subcortical gray matter and the inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity subscales of the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS. Two separate analyses were performed. For the first analysis, age was included as additional regressor. For the second analysis, both age and severity of depression were included as additional regressors. Study participants were recruited between June 2012 and January 2014.ResultsLinear regression identified an area in the left occipital cortex of men, covering parts of the middle occipital sulcus and gyrus, in which the score on the CAARS inattention subscale predicted increased mean cortical thickness [F(1,27 = 26.27, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.4744]. No significant associations were found between cortical thickness and the scores on CAARS subscales in women. No significant associations were found between the volumes of subcortical gray matter and the scores on CAARS subscales, neither in men nor in women. These results remained stable when severity of depression was included as additional regressor, together with age.ConclusionIncreased cortical thickness in the left occipital cortex may represent a mechanism to compensate for dysfunctional attentional networks in male adult ADHD patients.

Diffuse Decreased Gray Matter in Patients with Idiopathic Craniocervical Dystonia: a Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

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Camila Callegari Piccinin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Recent studies have addressed the role of structures other than the basal ganglia in the pathophysiology of craniocervical dystonia. Neuroimaging studies have attempted to identify structural abnormalities in craniocervical dystonia but a clear pattern of alteration has not been established. We performed whole brain evaluation using voxel-based morphometry to identify patterns of gray matter changes in craniocervical dystonia.Methods: We compared 27 patients with craniocervical dystonia matched in age and gender to 54 healthy controls. Voxel-based morphometry was used to compare gray matter volumes. We created a two-sample t-test corrected for subjects’ age and we tested with a level of significance of p<0.001 and false discovery rate correction (p<0.05. Results: Voxel-based morphometry demonstrated significant reductions of gray matter using p<0.001 in the cerebellar vermis IV/V, bilaterally in the superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, anterior cingulate and paracingulate, insular cortex, lingual gyrus and calcarine fissure; in the left hemisphere in the supplemementary motor area (SMA, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus, temporal pole, supramarginal gyrus, rolandic operculum , hippocampus, middle occipital gyrus, cerebellar lobules IV/V, superior and middle temporal gyri; in the right hemisphere, the middle cingulate and precentral gyrus. Our study did not report any significant result using the false discovery rate correction. We also detected correlations between gray matter volume and age, disease duration, duration of botulinum toxin treatment and the Marsden-Fahn dystonia scale scores.Conclusions: We detected large clusters of gray matter changes chiefly in structures primarily involved in sensorimotor integration, motor planning, visuospatial function and emotional processing.

Cortical correlates of affective syndrome in dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease

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Thaís T. Hayata

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD are prevalent, however their relationship with patterns of cortical atrophy is not fully known. Objectives To compare cortical atrophy’s patterns between AD patients and healthy controls; to verify correlations between neuropsychiatric syndromes and cortical atrophy. Method 33 AD patients were examined by Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI. Patients and 29 controls underwent a 3T MRI scanning. We considered four NPI syndromes: affective, apathy, hyperactivity and psychosis. Correlations between structural imaging and neuropsychiatric scores were performed by Freesurfer. Results were significant with a p-value < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons. Results Patients exhibited atrophy in entorhinal cortices, left inferior and middle temporal gyri, and precuneus bilaterally. There was correlation between affective syndrome and cortical thickness in right frontal structures, insula and temporal pole. Conclusion Cortical thickness measures revealed atrophy in mild AD. Depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with atrophy of right frontal, temporal and insular cortices.

Grey matter abnormalities in untreated hyperthyroidism: a voxel-based morphometry study using the DARTEL approach.

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Zhang, Wei; Song, Lingheng; Yin, Xuntao; Zhang, Jiuquan; Liu, Chen; Wang, Jian; Zhou, Daiquan; Chen, Bing; Lii, Haitao

2014-01-01

Hyperthyroidism is frequently associated with pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms such as impulsiveness, irritability, poor concentration, and memory impairments. Functional neuroimaging has revealed changes in cerebral metabolism in hyperthyroidism, but regional changes in cortical morphology associated with specific neurological deficits have not been studied so far. To investigate the pathophysiology underlying hyperthyroid-associated neural dysfunction, we compared grey matter volume (GMV) between adult hyperthyroid patients and matched healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). High resolution 3D T1-weighted images were acquired by 3T MRI from 51 hyperthyroid patients and 51 controls. VBM analysis was performed using SPM8. Correlations between regional GMV and both serum free thyroid hormone (TH) concentrations and disease duration were assessed by multiple regression analysis. Compared to controls, GM volumes in the bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, calcarine, lingual gyrus, and left temporal pole were lower and bilateral supplementary motor area GMV higher in hyperthyroid patients. Serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) concentration was negatively correlated with the normalized regional volume (NRV) of the left parahippocampal gyrus and serum free thyroxine (FT4) concentration negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus and right parahippocampal gyrus. Disease duration was negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, and left temporal pole. Hyperthyroid patients exhibited reduced GMV in regions associated with memory, attention, emotion, vision, and motor planning. Negative correlations between GMV and both free TH and disease duration suggest that chronic TH elevation induces abnormalities in the adult cortex. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Grey matter abnormalities in untreated hyperthyroidism: A voxel-based morphometry study using the DARTEL approach

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Zhang, Wei, E-mail: will.zhang.1111@gmail.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Department of Radiology, Sichuan Provincial Corps Hospital, Chinese People' s Armed Police Forces, Leshan 614000 (China); Song, Lingheng, E-mail: songlh1023@hotmail.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Department of Radiology, No. 324 Hospital of PLA, Chongqing 400020 (China); Yin, Xuntao, E-mail: xuntaoyin@gmail.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Zhang, Jiuquan, E-mail: jiuquanzhang@yahoo.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Liu, Chen, E-mail: cqliuchen@foxmail.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Wang, Jian, E-mail: wangjian_811@yahoo.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Zhou, Daiquan, E-mail: zhoudq77@sina.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Chen, Bing, E-mail: chenbing3@medmail.com.cn [Department of Endocrinology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China); Lii, Haitao, E-mail: haitaolii023@gmail.com [Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038 (China)

2014-01-15

Objective: Hyperthyroidism is frequently associated with pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms such as impulsiveness, irritability, poor concentration, and memory impairments. Functional neuroimaging has revealed changes in cerebral metabolism in hyperthyroidism, but regional changes in cortical morphology associated with specific neurological deficits have not been studied so far. To investigate the pathophysiology underlying hyperthyroid-associated neural dysfunction, we compared grey matter volume (GMV) between adult hyperthyroid patients and matched healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Materials and methods: High resolution 3D T1-weighted images were acquired by 3T MRI from 51 hyperthyroid patients and 51 controls. VBM analysis was performed using SPM8. Correlations between regional GMV and both serum free thyroid hormone (TH) concentrations and disease duration were assessed by multiple regression analysis. Results: Compared to controls, GM volumes in the bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, calcarine, lingual gyrus, and left temporal pole were lower and bilateral supplementary motor area GMV higher in hyperthyroid patients. Serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) concentration was negatively correlated with the normalized regional volume (NRV) of the left parahippocampal gyrus and serum free thyroxine (FT4) concentration negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus and right parahippocampal gyrus. Disease duration was negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, and left temporal pole. Conclusion: Hyperthyroid patients exhibited reduced GMV in regions associated with memory, attention, emotion, vision, and motor planning. Negative correlations between GMV and both free TH and disease duration suggest that chronic TH elevation induces abnormalities in the adult cortex.

Grey matter abnormalities in untreated hyperthyroidism: A voxel-based morphometry study using the DARTEL approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Wei; Song, Lingheng; Yin, Xuntao; Zhang, Jiuquan; Liu, Chen; Wang, Jian; Zhou, Daiquan; Chen, Bing; Lii, Haitao

2014-01-01

Objective: Hyperthyroidism is frequently associated with pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms such as impulsiveness, irritability, poor concentration, and memory impairments. Functional neuroimaging has revealed changes in cerebral metabolism in hyperthyroidism, but regional changes in cortical morphology associated with specific neurological deficits have not been studied so far. To investigate the pathophysiology underlying hyperthyroid-associated neural dysfunction, we compared grey matter volume (GMV) between adult hyperthyroid patients and matched healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Materials and methods: High resolution 3D T1-weighted images were acquired by 3T MRI from 51 hyperthyroid patients and 51 controls. VBM analysis was performed using SPM8. Correlations between regional GMV and both serum free thyroid hormone (TH) concentrations and disease duration were assessed by multiple regression analysis. Results: Compared to controls, GM volumes in the bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, calcarine, lingual gyrus, and left temporal pole were lower and bilateral supplementary motor area GMV higher in hyperthyroid patients. Serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) concentration was negatively correlated with the normalized regional volume (NRV) of the left parahippocampal gyrus and serum free thyroxine (FT4) concentration negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus and right parahippocampal gyrus. Disease duration was negatively correlated with the NRV of the left hippocampus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, and left temporal pole. Conclusion: Hyperthyroid patients exhibited reduced GMV in regions associated with memory, attention, emotion, vision, and motor planning. Negative correlations between GMV and both free TH and disease duration suggest that chronic TH elevation induces abnormalities in the adult cortex

The Hounsfield value for cortical bone geometry in the proximal humerus - an in vitro study

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Lim Fat, Daren; Kennedy, Jim; Galvin, Rose; O'Brien, Fergal; Mc Grath, Frank; Mullett, Hannan

2012-01-01

Fractures of the proximal humerus represent a major osteoporotic burden. Recent developments in CT imaging have emphasized the importance of cortical bone thickness distribution in the prevention and management of fragility fractures. We aimed to experimentally define the CT density of cortical bone in the proximal humerus for building cortical geometry maps. With ethical approval, we used ten fresh-frozen human proximal humeri. These were stripped of all soft tissue and high-resolution CT images were then taken. The humeral heads were then subsequently resected to allow access to the metaphyseal area. Using curettes, cancellous bone was removed down to hard cortical bone. Another set of CT images of the reamed specimen was then taken. Using CT imaging software and a CAD interface, we then compared cortical contours at different CT density thresholds to the reference inner cortical contour of our reamed specimens. Working with 3D model representations of these cortical maps, we were able to accurately make distance comparison analyses based on different CT thresholds. We could compute a single closest value at 700 HU. No difference was found in the HU-based contours generated along the 500-900 HU pixels (p = 1.000). The contours were significantly different from those generated at 300, 400, 1,000, and 1,100 HU. A Hounsfield range of 500-900 HU can accurately depict cortical bone geometry in the proximal humerus. Thresholding outside this range leads to statistically significant inaccuracies. Our results concur with a similar range reported in the literature for the proximal femur. Knowledge of regional variations in cortical bone thickness has direct implications for basic science studies on osteoporosis and its treatment, but is also important for the orthopedic surgeon since our decision for treatment options is often guided by local bone quality. (orig.)

Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping of stroke lesions underlying somatosensory deficits

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Sarah Meyer

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between stroke lesion location and the resulting somatosensory deficit. We studied exteroceptive and proprioceptive somatosensory symptoms and stroke lesions in 38 patients with first-ever acute stroke. The Erasmus modified Nottingham Sensory Assessment was used to clinically evaluate somatosensory functioning in the arm and hand within the first week after stroke onset. Additionally, more objective measures such as the perceptual threshold of touch and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded. Non-parametric voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping was performed to investigate lesion contribution to different somatosensory deficits in the upper limb. Additionally, structural connectivity of brain areas that demonstrated the strongest association with somatosensory symptoms was determined, using probabilistic fiber tracking based on diffusion tensor imaging data from a healthy age-matched sample. Voxels with a significant association to somatosensory deficits were clustered in two core brain regions: the central parietal white matter, also referred to as the sensory component of the superior thalamic radiation, and the parietal operculum close to the insular cortex, representing the secondary somatosensory cortex. Our objective recordings confirmed findings from clinical assessments. Probabilistic tracking connected the first region to thalamus, internal capsule, brain stem, postcentral gyrus, cerebellum, and frontal pathways, while the second region demonstrated structural connections to thalamus, insular and primary somatosensory cortex. This study reveals that stroke lesions in the sensory fibers of the superior thalamocortical radiation and the parietal operculum are significantly associated with multiple exteroceptive and proprioceptive deficits in the arm and hand.

Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping of stroke lesions underlying somatosensory deficits.

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Meyer, Sarah; Kessner, Simon S; Cheng, Bastian; Bönstrup, Marlene; Schulz, Robert; Hummel, Friedhelm C; De Bruyn, Nele; Peeters, Andre; Van Pesch, Vincent; Duprez, Thierry; Sunaert, Stefan; Schrooten, Maarten; Feys, Hilde; Gerloff, Christian; Thomalla, Götz; Thijs, Vincent; Verheyden, Geert

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between stroke lesion location and the resulting somatosensory deficit. We studied exteroceptive and proprioceptive somatosensory symptoms and stroke lesions in 38 patients with first-ever acute stroke. The Erasmus modified Nottingham Sensory Assessment was used to clinically evaluate somatosensory functioning in the arm and hand within the first week after stroke onset. Additionally, more objective measures such as the perceptual threshold of touch and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded. Non-parametric voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping was performed to investigate lesion contribution to different somatosensory deficits in the upper limb. Additionally, structural connectivity of brain areas that demonstrated the strongest association with somatosensory symptoms was determined, using probabilistic fiber tracking based on diffusion tensor imaging data from a healthy age-matched sample. Voxels with a significant association to somatosensory deficits were clustered in two core brain regions: the central parietal white matter, also referred to as the sensory component of the superior thalamic radiation, and the parietal operculum close to the insular cortex, representing the secondary somatosensory cortex. Our objective recordings confirmed findings from clinical assessments. Probabilistic tracking connected the first region to thalamus, internal capsule, brain stem, postcentral gyrus, cerebellum, and frontal pathways, while the second region demonstrated structural connections to thalamus, insular and primary somatosensory cortex. This study reveals that stroke lesions in the sensory fibers of the superior thalamocortical radiation and the parietal operculum are significantly associated with multiple exteroceptive and proprioceptive deficits in the arm and hand.

Right temporal cortical hypertrophy in resilience to trauma: an MRI study

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André Sevenius Nilsen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: In studies employing physiological measures such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, it is often hard to distinguish what constitutes risk-resilience factors to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD following trauma exposure and what the effects of trauma exposure and PTSD are. Objective: We aimed to investigate whether there were observable morphological differences in cortical and sub-cortical regions of the brain, 7–8 years after a single potentially traumatic event. Methods: Twenty-four participants, who all directly experienced the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and 25 controls, underwent structural MRI using a 3T scanner. We generated cortical thickness maps and parcellated sub-cortical volumes for analysis. Results: We observed greater cortical thickness for the trauma-exposed participants relative to controls, in a right lateralized temporal lobe region including anterior fusiform gyrus, and superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyrus. Conclusions: We observed greater thickness in the right temporal lobe which might indicate that the region could be implicated in resilience to the long-term effects of a traumatic event. We hypothesize this is due to altered emotional semantic memory processing. However, several methodological and confounding issues warrant caution in interpretation of the results.