A Radiomic Approach to Clinical MRI Refines the Thalamus-Cognition Link in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Radiomics extracts imaging features that may not be detectable through conventional volumetric analyses. Given their role in multiple sclerosis (MS), we applied radiomics to thalamic nuclei and examined their associations with cognitive performance.

Methods: A total of 601 individuals were included (342 people with MS [PwMS] from two cohorts and 259 healthy controls [HC]).

Characterizing the Extended Language Network in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Language dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a prevalent and early affected cognitive domain in individuals with MS.

Objectives: To establish a network-level model of language dysfunction in MS.

Methods: Cognitive data and 3T functional and structural brain MRI were acquired from 54 MS patients and 54 matched healthy controls (HCs).

A Radiomic Approach to Clinical MRI Refines the Thalamus-Cognition Link in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Radiomics extracts imaging features that may not be detectable through conventional volumetric analyses. Given their role in multiple sclerosis (MS), we applied radiomics to thalamic nuclei and examined their associations with cognitive performance.

Methods: A total of 601 individuals were included (342 people with MS-PwMS from two cohorts, and 259 healthy controls-HC).

Longitudinal investigation of neuroimaging changes related to memory decline in multiple sclerosis: Testing a mechanistic model.

Background: Memory decline is common in multiple sclerosis (MS), although pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully understood.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the relationship of changes in structural and functional neuroimaging markers to memory decline over 3-year follow-up.

Methods: Participants with MS underwent cognitive evaluation and structural, diffusion, and functional 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at baseline and 3-year follow-up.

Brain volumetric correlates of remotely versus in-person administered symbol digit modalities test in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Prior studies in multiple sclerosis (MS) support reliability of telehealth-delivered cognitive batteries, although, to date, none have reported relationships of cognitive test performance to neural correlates across administration modalities. In this study we aimed to compare brain-behavior relationships, using the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the most reliable and sensitive cognitive measure in MS, measured from patients seen via telehealth versus in-person.

Methods: SDMT was administered to individuals with MS either in-person (N=60, mean age=39.

Summary metrics of memory subnetwork functional connectivity alterations in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Memory dysfunction is common in multiple sclerosis (MS); mechanistic understanding of its causes is lacking. Large-scale network resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) is sensitive to memory dysfunction.

Objective: We derived and tested summary metrics of memory network RSFC.

Machine learning to investigate superficial white matter integrity in early multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: This study aims todetermine the sensitivity of superficial white matter (SWM) integrity as a metric to distinguish early multiple sclerosis (MS) patients from healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity (MD) values from SWM bundles across the cortex and major deep white matter (DWM) tracts were extracted from 29 early MS patients and 31 age- and sex-matched HC. Thickness of 68 cortical regions and resting-state functional-connectivity (RSFC) among them were calculated.

MR spectroscopy and diffusion imaging in people with human immunodeficiency virus: Relationships to clinical and immunologic findings.

Background And Purpose: People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PWH) present a complex array of immunologic and medical disorders that impact brain structure and metabolism, complicating the interpretation of neuroimaging. This pilot study of well-characterized multi-morbid PWH examined how medical and immunologic factors predicted brain characteristics on proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

Methods: Eighteen individuals on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), with mean age of 56 years, underwent medical history review, neuroimaging, and on the day of imaging, blood draw for assay of 20 plasma cytokines and flow cytometric characterization of peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets.

Reduced Hippocampal GABA+ Is Associated With Poorer Episodic Memory in Healthy Older Women: A Pilot Study.

: The current pilot study was designed to examine the association between hippocampal γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration and episodic memory in older individuals, as well as the impact of two major risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD)-female sex and Apolipoprotein ε4 ( ε4) genotype-on this relationship. : Twenty healthy, community-dwelling individuals aged 50-71 (11 women) took part in the study. Episodic memory was evaluated using a Directed Forgetting task, and GABA+ was measured in the right hippocampus using a Mescher-Garwood point-resolved magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) sequence.

Dietary factors and MRI metrics in early Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Despite significant interest in diet by the MS community, research on this topic is limited; there are no published studies evaluating associations between diet and neuroimaging in MS.

Methods: We utilized baseline data from the RADIEMS cohort of early MS (diagnosed <5.0 years, n=180).

Associations of social network structure with cognition and amygdala volume in multiple sclerosis: An exploratory investigation.

Background: Humans are inherently social, biologically programmed to connect with others. Social connections are known to impact mental and physical health.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether social network structure is linked to cognition, mood, fatigue, and regional brain volumes in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Social support is linked to mental health, quality of life, and motor function in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate associations of social support to psychological well-being, cognition, and motor functioning in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Secondarily, we were interested in exploring sex differences in these relationships, based on a bioevolutionary theoretical justification.

Methods: Social support was assessed in 185 recently diagnosed patients (RADIEMS cohort), and in an independent validation sample (MEMCONNECT cohort, n = 62).

Hippocampal volume is more related to patient-reported memory than objective memory performance in early multiple sclerosis.

Background: When persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) report memory decline but objective memory performance is normal, there is a bias toward believing objective test results.

Objective: Investigate whether subjective memory decline or objective memory performance is more related to hippocampal and hippocampal subfield volumes in early MS.

Methods: Persons with early MS ( = 185; ⩽5.

Detection of subtle gait disturbance and future fall risk in early multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that higher-challenge gait and balance tasks are more sensitive than traditional metrics to subtle patient-reported gait dysfunction and future fall risk in early multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Persons with early MS (n = 185; ≤5 years diagnosed) reported gait function (MS Walking Scale) and underwent traditional disability metrics (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS], Timed 25 Foot Walk). Patients and healthy controls (n = 50) completed clinically feasible challenge tasks of gait endurance (2-Minute Walk Test), standing balance (NIH Toolbox), and dynamic balance (balance boards; tandem walk on 2 ten-foot boards of different widths, 4.

Dissociable cognitive patterns related to depression and anxiety in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently present with depression and anxiety, as well as cognitive impairment, challenging clinicians to disentangle interrelationships among these symptoms.

Objective: To identify cognitive functions associated with anxiety and depression in MS.

Methods: Mood and cognition were measured in 185 recently diagnosed patients (Reserve Against Disability in Early Multiple Sclerosis (RADIEMS) cohort), and an independent validation sample (MEM CONNECT cohort,  = 70).

The Impact of MRI T1 Hypointense Brain Lesions on Cerebral Deep Gray Matter Volume Measures in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Deep gray matter (DGM) atrophy has been shown at early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) and reported as an informative marker of cognitive dysfunction and clinical progression. Therefore, accurate measurement of DGM structure volume is a key priority in MS research. Findings from prior studies have shown that hypointense T1 lesions may impact the accuracy of global brain volume measures; however, literature on the effects of hypointense T1 lesions on DGM structure volumes is sparse.

Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging Shows Similar Cerebral Axonal Damage in Patients with HIV Infection and Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: In this pilot study, we sought to investigate the pathological changes in the white matter (WM) of medically complex, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)-treated patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), comparing them to patients with long-standing, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

Methods: Using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI)-derived WM tract integrity (WMTI) metrics, 15 HIV and 15 age- and sex-matched SPMS patients with similar disease duration underwent magnetic resonance imaging analysis. Maps of WMTI metrics were created.

Cerebellar lobule atrophy and disability in progressive MS.

Objective: To investigate global and lobular cerebellar volumetries in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), testing the contribution of cerebellar lobular atrophy to both motor and cognitive performances.

Methods: Eighty-two patients with progressive MS and 46 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Clinical evaluation included motor and cognitive testing: Expanded Disability Status Scale, cerebellar Functional System score, Timed 25-Foot Walk Test, 9-Hole Peg Test (9-HPT), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT) and California Verbal Learning Test II (CVLT).

Mesial temporal lobe and subcortical grey matter volumes differentially predict memory across stages of multiple sclerosis.

Background/objective: Memory deficits due to multiple sclerosis (MS) have been variably linked to lower subcortical grey matter (SCGM) and mesial temporal lobe (MTL) volumes. We investigated which is the better predictor and whether this changes across disease stages.

Methods/results: Memory was assessed in 315 patients.

Simple index of functional connectivity at rest in Multiple Sclerosis fatigue.

Objective: To investigate the EEG-derived functional connectivity at rest (FCR) patterns of fatigued Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients in order to find good parameters for a future EEG-Neurofeedback intervention to reduce their fatigue symptoms.

Methods: We evaluated FCR between hemispheric homologous areas, via spectral coherence between pairs of corresponding left and right bipolar derivations, in the Theta, Alpha and Beta bands. We estimated FCR in 18MS patients with different levels of fatigue and minimal clinical severity and in 11 age and gender matched healthy controls.

Protective personality traits: High openness and low neuroticism linked to better memory in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Memory impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common, although few risk/protective factors are known.

Objective: To examine relationships of personality to memory/non-memory cognition in MS.

Method: 80 patients completed a cognitive battery and a personality scale measuring the "Big 5" traits: openness, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness.

A subject-independent pattern-based Brain-Computer Interface.

While earlier Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) studies have mostly focused on modulating specific brain regions or signals, new developments in pattern classification of brain states are enabling real-time decoding and modulation of an entire functional network. The present study proposes a new method for real-time pattern classification and neurofeedback of brain states from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. It involves the creation of a fused classification model based on the method of Common Spatial Patterns (CSPs) from data of several healthy individuals.