brain baseline

BACKGROUND: The fourth industrial revolution has brought about developments in information and communication technologies for interventions in older adults with dementia. Currently, most interventions focus on single interventions. However, community-dwelling older adults with dementia require comprehensive cognitive interventions, and clinical studies analyzing the effects of comprehensive interventions based on randomized controlled trials are lacking. AIM: The aim of the study was to examine the effects of an information and communication technology-based comprehensive cognitive training program, Smart Brain, on multi-domain function among community-dwelling older adults with dementia...

INTRODUCTION: We assessed a genetic risk score for Alzheimer's disease (AD-GRS) and apolipoprotein E (APOE4) in an exploratory neuroimaging substudy of the FINGER trial. METHODS: 1260 at-risk older individuals without dementia were randomized to multidomain lifestyle intervention or health advice. N = 126 participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and N = 47 positron emission tomography (PET) scans (Pittsburgh Compund B [PiB], Fluorodeoxyglucose) at baseline; N = 107 and N = 38 had repeated 2-year scans...

BACKGROUND: The evidence in the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation in children with medication-refractory non-degenerative monogenic dystonia is heterogeneous and long-term results are sparse. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to describe long-term outcomes in a single-center cohort and compare our results with a meta-analysis cohort form literature. METHODS: We performed a retrospective single-center cohort study including consecutive pediatric patients with non-degenerative genetic or idiopathic dystonia treated with globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation at our center and a systematic review and individual-patient data meta-analysis with the same inclusion criteria...

BACKGROUND: In Chinese medicine, the mental focus and emotional stability of acupuncturists are key to optimal clinical outcomes. Many renowned acupuncturists utilize Traditional Chinese Qigong practices to enhance their concentration and emotional regulation abilities. Nevertheless, the existing literature lacks comprehensive evidence addressing this matter. METHODS: This study will enroll 99 acupuncturists and randomly allocate them to one of three groups: Baduanjin, aerobic exercise, or a waiting-list control...

Background: Movement and tone disorders in children and young adults with cerebral palsy are a great source of disability. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of basal ganglia targets has a major role in the treatment of isolated dystonias, but its efficacy in dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is lower, due to structural basal ganglia and thalamic damage and lack of improvement of comorbid choreoathetosis and spasticity. The cerebellum is an attractive target for DBS in DCP since it is frequently spared from hypoxic ischemic damage, it has a significant role in dystonia network models, and small studies have shown promise of dentate stimulation in improving CP-related movement and tone disorders...

Brain endothelial cells (BECs) play an important role in maintaining central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis through blood-brain barrier (BBB) functions. BECs express low baseline levels of adhesion receptors, which limits entry of leukocytes. However, the molecular mediators governing this phenotype remain mostly unclear. Here, we explored how infiltration of immune cells across the BBB is influenced by the scaffold protein IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein 2 (IQGAP2). In mice and zebrafish, we demonstrate that loss of Iqgap2 increases infiltration of peripheral leukocytes into the CNS under homeostatic and inflammatory conditions...

Binge eating disorder, characterized by the overconsumption of food in a discrete time period, is the most common eating disorder in the United States, but its neurological basis is not fully understood. The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a limbic brain region implicated in eating, and the anorexigenic neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), is densely expressed in the PVT. This study sought to examine the possible involvement of PACAP in the PVT in binge-type eating...

AIMS: Previous studies have reported that focused ultrasound (FUS) helps modulate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These studies have generally used the paracellular pathway owing to tight junction proteins (TJPs) regulation. However, BBB transport pathways also include diffusion and transcytosis. Few studies have examined transcellular transport across endothelial cells. We supposed that increased BBB permeability caused by FUS may affect transcytosis. We investigated drug delivery through transcytosis and paracellular transport to the brain after BBB modulation using FUS...

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Post-hoc analysis to evaluate the effect of daridorexant on sleep architecture in people with insomnia, focusing on features associated with hyperarousal. METHODS: We studied sleep architecture in adults with chronic insomnia disorder from two randomized Phase 3 clinical studies (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03545191 and NCT03575104) investigating 3 months of daridorexant treatment (placebo, daridorexant 25 mg, daridorexant 50 mg). We analyzed sleep-wake transition probabilities, EEG spectra and sleep spindle properties including density, dispersion, and slow oscillation phase coupling...

BACKGROUND: In chronic heart failure (HF), exercise-induced increase in pulmonary capillary pressure may cause an increase of pulmonary congestion, or the development of pulmonary edema. We sought to assess in HF patients the exercise-induced intra-thoracic fluid movements, by measuring plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), lung comets and lung diffusion for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and nitric oxide (DLNO), as markers of hemodynamic load changes, interstitial space and alveolar-capillary membrane fluids, respectively...

Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (bAVMs) are rare but high-risk developmental anomalies of the vascular system. Microsurgery through craniotomy is believed to be the mainstay standard treatment for many grades of bAVMs. However, a significant challenge emerges in the existing body of clinical studies on open surgery for bAVMs: the lack of reproducibility and comparability. This study aims to assess the quality of studies reporting clinical and surgical outcomes for bAVMs treated by open surgery and develop a reporting guideline checklist focusing on essential elements to ensure comparability and reproducibility...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the associations of recreational screen time with risks of brain-related disorders (dementia, stroke, or Parkinson's disease) and neuroimaging features. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 407,792 participants from the UK Biobank who were free of dementia, stroke, or Parkinson's disease at enrollment (2006-2010). METHODS: TV viewing and time spent using the computer were self-reported at baseline...

BACKGROUND: Upper limb motor dysfunction is a major problem in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke. Brain-computer interface (BCI) is a kind of communication system that converts the "ideas" in the brain into instructions and has been used in stroke rehabilitation. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of BCI in rehabilitation training on upper limb motor function among patients with ischemic stroke. METHODS: This was an investigator-initiated, multicenter, randomized, open-label, blank-controlled clinical trial with blinded outcome assessment conducted at 17 centers in China...

Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy is known to increase the risk of development of schizophrenia in the offspring. Sex steroid hormone analogues have been proposed as potential antipsychotic treatments but the mechanisms of action involved remain unclear. Estrogen has been shown to alter N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor binding in the brain. We therefore studied the effect of chronic treatment with 17β-estradiol, its isomer, 17α-estradiol, and the selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, on MIA-induced psychosis-like behaviour and the effect of the NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801...

INTRODUCTION: It is unclear whether neurotoxicity due to the antiretroviral drug efavirenz (EFV) results in neurocognitive impairment in people living with HIV (PLWH). Previously, we found that discontinuing EFV was associated with improved processing speed and attention on neuropsychological assessment. In this imaging study, we investigate potential neural mechanisms underlying this cognitive improvement using a BOLD fMRI task assessing cortical and subcortical functioning. METHODS: Asymptomatic adult PLWH stable on emtricitabine/tenofovirdisoproxil/efavirenz were randomly (1:2) assigned to continue their regimen (n = 12) or to switch to emtricitabine/tenofovirdisoproxil/rilpivirine (n = 28)...

The neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia represents the disorder as an expression of an alteration during the brain development process early in life. Neurodevelopmental variables could become a trait marker, and the study of these variables in children and adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) could identify a specific cluster of patients who later developed psychosis. The aim of this study is to describe clinical and neurodevelopment predictors of transition to psychosis in child and adolescent participants at CHR...

BACKGROUND: Texture analysis extracts many quantitative image features, offering a valuable, cost-effective, and non-invasive approach for individual medicine. Furthermore, multimodal machine learning could have a large impact for precision medicine, as texture biomarkers can underlie tissue microstructure. This study aims to investigate imaging-based biomarkers of radio-induced neurotoxicity in pediatric patients with metastatic medulloblastoma, using radiomic and dosiomic analysis. METHODS: This single-center study retrospectively enrolled children diagnosed with metastatic medulloblastoma (MB) and treated with hyperfractionated craniospinal irradiation (CSI)...

BACKGROUND: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is the focus and difficulty of poststroke rehabilitation intervention with an incidence of up to 61%, which may be related to the deterioration of cerebrovascular function. Computer-aided cognitive training (CACT) can improve cognitive function through scientific training targeting activated brain regions, becoming a popular training method in recent years. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, can regulate the cerebral vascular nerve function, and has an effect on the rehabilitation of cognitive dysfunction after stroke...

BACKGROUND: A prolonged repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment course could be beneficial for some patients experiencing major depressive episodes (MDE). We identified trajectories of rTMS response in depressive patients who received an extended rTMS treatment course and sought to determine which trajectories achieved the greatest benefit with a prolonged treatment course. METHOD: We applied group-based trajectory modeling to a naturalistic dataset of depressive patients receiving a prolonged course of sequential bilateral rTMS (up to 51 treatment sessions) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex...

To investigate the response to antidepressants while controlling for sex, which has been controversial, 92 outpatient males and females with major depressive disorder were assigned to sertraline (100 mg/day) or citalopram (40 mg/day) in two strata and were assessed using Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) scores and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), interleukin (IL)-6 and cortisol serum levels in this 8-week, randomized, parallel-group, double-blind clinical trial. Data of 40 sertraline and 40 citalopram recipients with equal representation of males and females assigned to each medication were analyzed, while their baseline characteristics were not statistically different (P > 0...