Article
Neurosciences
Syed M. Adil, Evan Calabrese, Lefko T. Charalambous, James J. Cook, Shervin Rahimpour, Ahmet F. Atik, Gary P. Cofer, Beth A. Parente, G. Allan Johnson, Shivanand P. Lad, Leonard E. White
Summary: This study successfully constructed an atlas of the human brainstem using high-resolution MRI technology, which is available online for interactive use, providing a new tool for neuroanatomical education and research.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Alexis Reymbaut, Alex Valcourt Caron, Guillaume Gilbert, Filip Szczepankiewicz, Markus Nilsson, Simon K. Warfield, Maxime Descoteaux, Benoit Scherrer
Summary: Diffusion tensor imaging provides increased sensitivity to microstructural tissue changes compared to conventional anatomical imaging, but presents limited specificity. To address this issue, the DIAMOND model subdivides voxel content into diffusion compartments and estimates compartmental non-central matrix-variate Gamma distributions of diffusion tensors. Incorporating tensor-valued diffusion encoding, the Magic DIAMOND model demonstrates improved accuracy in estimating brain microstructural features, particularly in regions of fiber crossing.
MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jeong Pyo Seo, Dong Kyun Koo
Summary: This study used diffusion tensor tractography to investigate the effects of middle cerebral artery infarction on the nigrostriatal tract (NST). The results showed that infarction can lead to damage to the ipsilesional NST, impairing one's ability to control unwanted muscular contractions or voluntary movement.
Article
Orthopedics
Qi Zhao, Rees P. Ridout, Jikai Shen, Nian Wang
Summary: The study found that the direction and strength of diffusion gradients have significant influences on diffusion tensor imaging and fiber tracking in various connective tissues of the knee joint. Ligaments showed higher FA values compared to other tissues, while MD was less sensitive to angular resolution. Fiber tracking failed at low angular resolution or high b values, and measurements of fiber length and volume were highly dependent on angular resolution and b value.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jeong-Pyo Seo, Heun Jae Ryu
Summary: Using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT), this study explored the aging of the mesolibic tract (MLT) in normal human participants and found a significant negative correlation between age and the voxel number (VN) of MLT, as well as a positive correlation between age and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Aging of MLT was observed to begin in the 20s or 30s and steadily progress throughout life until significant degeneration occurred in the 60s. This may play a role in the decline of memory and social interaction with aging in normal participants.
Editorial Material
Medicine, General & Internal
Giulio Vara, Gianmarco Tuzzato, Giuseppe Bianchi, Marco Miceli, Luca Spinardi, Rita Golfieri, Raffaella Rinaldi, Giancarlo Facchini
Summary: Brachial plexus injuries are commonly diagnosed clinically, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) shows promise in studying peripheral nerves. Deterministic fiber tracking and multishell acquisition are novel advances in the field.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Fengzhao Zhu, Yulong Wang, Xiangchuang Kong, Yuan Liu, Lian Zeng, Xirui Jing, Sheng Yao, Kaifang Chen, Lian Yang, Xiaodong Guo
Summary: The combination of conventional MRI with DTI-DTT is a valid diagnostic approach for acute traumatic cervical SCI. Lower intramedullary lesion length and intramedullary hemorrhage length, and higher fractional anisotropy value and connection rates of fiber tractography are linked to better neurological outcomes.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Weronika Mazur, Malgorzata Urbanczyk-Zawadzka, Robert Banys, Rafal Obuchowicz, Mariusz Trystula, Artur T. Krzyzak
Summary: This study applied BSD-DTI method to perform diffusion tensor imaging for PAD, utilizing a new DTI technique to evaluate diffusion changes in calf muscles. By adjusting scanning parameters and calibrating using the BSD method, systematic errors were effectively reduced, allowing for high-resolution scans in a short period of time.
Article
Neurosciences
Seo Yoon Park, Sang Seok Yeo, Sung Ho Jang, In Hee Cho
Summary: The vestibulocerebellar tract (VCT) is an important pathway in the central vestibular system. Through diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography, the anatomical characteristics of the primary and secondary VCTs were identified in a normal human brain. Results showed significant differences in fractional anisotropies (FAs) and mean diffusivity (MD) values between the primary and secondary VCTs.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Sung Ho Jang, Min Jye Cho
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between the nigrostriatal tract (NST) and the corticospinal tract (CST) with motor function in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients. The results showed a strong positive correlation between the tract volume of ipsilesional NST and fractional anisotropy and the tract volume of ipsilesional CST with the Motricity Index score. The study also found that NST indirectly influenced the motor function of affected extremities through CST.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Sung Ho Jang, Sang Seok Yeo, Min Jye Cho
Summary: This study investigated the predictability of the nigrostriatal tract and corticoreticulospinal tract in the early stage of cerebral infarction for gait function in the chronic stage. The results showed a strong positive correlation between the tract volumes of these tracts in the early stage and the functional ambulation category scores in the chronic stage. The corticoreticulospinal tract had stronger predictability than the nigrostriatal tract.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Jiyoon Yoo, Leevi Kerkela, Patrick W. Hales, Kiran K. Seunarine, Christopher A. Clark
Summary: This study successfully implemented a multidimensional diffusion-encoding protocol to image the microstructure of the healthy hippocampus at high resolution, revealing orientation dispersion in hippocampal tissue. The reproducibility of q-space trajectory imaging metrics was comparable to DTI, providing reference values for microstructural metrics in the healthy hippocampus.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
C. A. de Planque, J. M. G. Florisson, R. C. Tasker, B. F. M. Rijken, M. L. C. van Veelen, I. M. J. Mathijssen, M. H. Lequin, M. H. G. Dremmen
Summary: This study aimed to compare white matter tract diffusivity values in non-operated syndromic craniosynostosis patients aged 0-2 years with healthy controls. The results indicated that age and frontal occipital horn ratio significantly influenced radial diffusivity.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Cyril Tous, Alexandre Jodoin, Beau Pontre, Detlev Grabs, Mikael Begon, Nathalie J. Bureau, Elijah Van Houten
Summary: In this study, a repeatable method was proposed to quantify the myocyte angulation in rotator cuff (RC) muscles. By scanning the right infraspinatus muscle (ISPM) and supraspinatus muscle (SSPM), the variations of myocyte angulation were analyzed. The results showed that E1A changed helically with depth in the ISPM, while the pennation angle (PA) exhibited significant differences between the anterior and posterior insertion points in the SSPM. Furthermore, DTI was proven to be capable of achieving repeatable measurements of E1A and PA.
JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Myeounghoon Cha, Young-Ji Eum, Kyeongmin Kim, Leejeong Kim, Hyeji Bak, Jin-Hun Sohn, Chaejoon Cheong, Bae Hwan Lee
Summary: This study demonstrates the sex differences in pain sensitivity in male and female rats using pain behavior tests and brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). It also reveals gender differences in brain connections related to pain through tractography analysis. The potential of DTI for exploring circuits involved in pain sensitivity is highlighted.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Riccardo De Marco, Itamar Ronen, Francesca Branzoli, Marisa L. Amato, Iris Asllani, Alessandro Colasanti, Neil A. Harrison, Mara Cercignani
Summary: This study demonstrated that DW-MRS may be a powerful tool sensitive to glial cytomorphological changes induced by systemic inflammation. The ADC of the glial metabolite choline was found to significantly increase after LPS administration, with changes in mood ratings.
BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY
(2022)
Article
Rheumatology
Francesca Inglese, Myriam G. Jaarsma-Coes, Gerda M. Steup-Beekman, Rory Monahan, Tom Huizinga, Mark A. van Buchem, Itamar Ronen, Jeroen de Bresser
Summary: Patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) showed higher white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume and more complex WMH shape compared to non-NPSLE patients, with the inflammatory phenotype exhibiting more significant findings.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Bruno L. Giordano, Ricardo de Miranda Azevedo, Yenisel Plasencia-Calana, Elia Formisano, Michel Dumontier
Summary: This study surveyed the development of taxonomies and ontologies for everyday sounds and found a lack of comprehensive ontology that covers all semantic aspects of sound relations.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Alessandra Pizzuti, Laurentius (Renzo) Huber, Omer Faruk Gulban, Amaia Benitez-Andonegui, Judith Peters, Rainer Goebel
Summary: Researchers have used ultra-high field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the microscopic features of direction-selective neurons in the motion sensitive area of the human brain. They have found that blood volume-sensitive fMRI can be used to detect the columnar organization of this brain area at a larger scale. This study provides new insights and possibilities for understanding the mesoscopic functional organization of the human brain.
Article
Neurosciences
Bruno L. Giordano, Michele Esposito, Giancarlo Valente, Elia Formisano
Summary: The authors compare three classes of models (acoustic, semantic, and sound-to-event deep neural network) to determine which can best link specific features of auditory stimuli to predicted functional magnetic resonance imaging responses in auditory cortical regions. Sound recognition involves the transformation of input waveforms into semantic representations in the brain. They found that sound-to-event deep neural networks outperform acoustic and semantic models in predicting both auditory cortex responses and perceived sound dissimilarity. These findings suggest the presence of intermediate acoustic-to-semantic sound representations in the superior temporal gyrus that cannot be accounted for by acoustic or semantic models.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Ke Jia, Rainer Goebel, Zoe Kourtzi
Summary: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has limitations in temporal and spatial resolution. Recent advances in ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI provide a submillimeter resolution tool to study laminar and columnar circuits and map small subcortical areas. UHF fMRI offers unprecedented spatial resolution and improves our understanding of the brain's organization and visual cognition.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF VISION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Cynthia Van de Wauw, Lars Riecke, Rainer Goebel, Amanda Kaas, Bettina Sorger
Summary: In brain-based communication, modulated brain signals are used to interact with the outside world, providing an alternative option for paralyzed patients. Most communication brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigms require intact visual capabilities and impose a high cognitive load, but a better-suited, less demanding approach may use auditorily-cued selective somatosensory attention to tactile stimulation.
Article
Neurosciences
Sebastian Dresbach, Laurentius (Renzo) Huber, Omer Faruk Gulban, Rainer Goebel
Summary: Layers and columns are the dominant processing units in the human cortex, and the blood oxygenation dependent (BOLD) signal is biased towards unwanted signals from large veins. This study shows that the vascular space occupancy (VASO) contrast can enhance the interpretability of layer-fMRI results by capturing complementary information of locally specific changes in cerebral blood volume (CBV) without the unwanted sensitivity amplifications of large veins. The study also develops a VASO acquisition procedure with short acquisition time and high spatial resolution, demonstrating the ability to capture layer-specific hemodynamic responses with high spatio-temporal resolution.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ruben Andreas Bressler, Sophie Raible, Michael Luehrs, Ralph Tier, Rainer Goebel, David E. Linden
Summary: The study focused on training Dutch police recruits in the Special Forces using real-time fMRI neurofeedback to regulate their emotions in high-stress situations. The training resulted in successful downregulation of brain activity, but no significant differences were found between the neurofeedback group and the control group in behavioral tasks.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Antonietta Canna, Elena Cantone, Anne Roefs, Sieske Franssen, Anna Prinster, Elia Formisano, Francesco Di Salle, Fabrizio Esposito
Summary: In this study, ultra-high field fMRI was used to investigate the neural signals in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS) in response to different taste stimuli in the human brainstem. The results demonstrated a significant blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in the predicted location of the NTS for all basic taste stimuli. This study suggests the potential of using a similar experimental strategy to explore the central nervous system involvement in eating disorders.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2023)
Review
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Dimo Ivanov, Federico De Martino, Elia Formisano, Francisco J. Fritz, Rainer Goebel, Laurentius Huber, Sriranga Kashyap, Valentin G. Kemper, Denizhan Kurban, Alard Roebroeck, Shubharthi Sengupta, Bettina Sorger, Desmond H. Y. Tse, Kamil Uludag, Christopher J. Wiggins, Benedikt A. Poser
Summary: This article reviews the 9.4 T work done in Maastricht, including functional and anatomical imaging experiments. By utilizing specific techniques and optimized coils, the researchers were able to obtain high-quality imaging results and highlight the technical challenges and practical issues associated with ultra-high field MRI.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE MATERIALS IN PHYSICS BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Steve Bates, Serge O. Dumoulin, Paul J. M. Folkers, Elia Formisano, Rainer Goebel, Aidin Haghnejad, Rick C. Helmich, Dennis Klomp, Anja G. van der Kolk, Yi Li, Aart Nederveen, David G. Norris, Natalia Petridou, Stefan Roell, Tom W. J. Scheenen, Menno M. Schoonheim, Ingmar Voogt, Andrew Webb
Summary: We propose a vision for a 14 Tesla MR system, which includes a novel whole-body magnet design using high temperature superconductor, a console and associated electronic equipment, an optimized radiofrequency coil setup for proton measurement in the brain, and a high-performance gradient set. This system has significant applications in neuroscience and medical research, allowing for fine-grained observation of neural activity and structural abnormalities.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE MATERIALS IN PHYSICS BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Rainer Goebel, Rick van Hoof, Salil Bhat, Michael Luhrs, Mario Senden
Summary: This study presents a proof-of-concept research using a 7 Tesla fMRI to decode imagined letter shapes in the first letter speller BCI. New tools were developed to enable real-time retinotopic mapping for encoding and decoding. The results showed that the classification performance of generated activity patterns during imagery reached 80% accuracy in each individual using two different letter shapes.
10TH INTERNATIONAL WINTER CONFERENCE ON BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE (BCI2022)
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jose Sanchez-Bornot, Roberto C. Sotero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Ozguer Simsek, Damien Coyle
Summary: This study proposes a multi-penalized state-space model for analyzing unobserved dynamics, using a data-driven regularization method. Novel algorithms are developed to solve the model, and a cross-validation method is introduced to evaluate regularization parameters. The effectiveness of this method is validated through simulations and real data analysis, enabling a more accurate exploration of cognitive brain functions.