Baseline white matter function predicts short-term treatment response in first-episode schizophrenia.

Background And Purpose: The detection and characterization of functional activities in the gray matter of schizophrenia (SZ) have been widely explored. However, the relationship between resting-state functional signals in the white matter of first-episode SZ and short-term treatment response remains unclear.

Methods: Thirty-six patients with first-episode SZ and 44 matched healthy controls were recruited in this study.

Abnormal dynamic functional connectivity after sleep deprivation from temporal variability perspective.

Sleep deprivation (SD) is very common in modern society and regarded as a potential causal mechanism of several clinical disorders. Previous neuroimaging studies have explored the neural mechanisms of SD using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from static (comparing two MRI sessions [one after SD and one after resting wakefulness]) and dynamic (using repeated MRI during one night of SD) perspectives. Recent SD researches have focused on the dynamic functional brain organization during the resting-state scan.

The correlation between dynamic functional architecture and response to electroconvulsive therapy combined with antipsychotics in schizophrenia.

Attempts to determine why some patients respond to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are valuable in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with aberrant dynamic functional architecture, which might impact the efficacy of ECT. We aimed to explore the relationship between pre-treatment temporal variability and ECT acute efficacy.

Differentiation of Neoplastic and Non-neoplastic Intracranial Enhancement Lesions Using Three-Dimensional Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling.

Background And Purpose: It is sometimes difficult to effectively distinguish non-neoplastic from neoplastic intracranial enhancement lesions using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of three-dimensional pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (3D-pCASL) to differentiate non-neoplastic from neoplastic enhancement lesions intracranially.

Materials And Methods: This prospective study included thirty-five patients with high-grade gliomas (HGG), twelve patients with brain metastasis, and fifteen non-neoplastic patients who underwent conventional, contrast enhancement and 3D-pCASL imaging at 3.

Neuroimaging-based brain-age prediction of first-episode schizophrenia and the alteration of brain age after early medication.

Background: Neuroimaging- and machine-learning-based brain-age prediction of schizophrenia is well established. However, the diagnostic significance and the effect of early medication on first-episode schizophrenia remains unclear.

Aims: To explore whether predicted brain age can be used as a biomarker for schizophrenia diagnosis, and the relationship between clinical characteristics and brain-predicted age difference (PAD), and the effects of early medication on predicted brain age.

Triple network hypothesis-related disrupted connections in schizophrenia: A spectral dynamic causal modeling analysis with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: The symptom-related neurobiology characteristic of schizophrenia in the brain from a network perspective is still poorly understood, leading to a lack of potential biologically-based markers and difficulty identifying therapeutic targets. We aim to test the dysregulated cross-network interactions among the Salience Network (SN), Central Executive Network (CEN) and Default Mode Network (DMN) and how they contributed to different symptoms in schizophrenia patients.

Methods: We examined network interactions among the SN, CEN and DMN in 76 patients with schizophrenia vs.

Altered functional connectivity of the dentate nuclei in patients with schizophrenia.

Dentate nuclei (DN) are vital structures in the anatomical circuits that link the cerebellum to the cerebrum. However, the characteristics of DN functional connectivity (FC) in schizophrenia remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the FC of the DN in patients with schizophrenia and examined their possible clinical correlates using resting-state functional magnetic imaging data.

Baseline structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging predicts early treatment response in schizophrenia with radiomics strategy.

Multimodal neuroimaging features provide opportunities for accurate classification and personalized treatment options in the psychiatric domain. This study aimed to investigate whether brain features predict responses to the overall treatment of schizophrenia at the end of the first or a single hospitalization. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from two independent samples (N = 85 and 63, separately) of schizophrenia patients at baseline were included.

Alteration in topological properties of brain functional network after 2-year high altitude exposure: A panel study.

Introduction: High altitude (HA) exposure leads to cognitive impairment while the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Brain functional network is crucial for advanced functions, and its alteration is implicated in cognitive decline in multiple diseases. The aim of current study was to investigate the topological changes in HA-exposed brain functional network.

Alteration of Brain Gray Matter Density After 24 h of Sleep Deprivation in Healthy Adults.

It has been reported that one night of acute sleep deprivation (SD) could induce brain structural changes at the synaptic and neuronal levels in animal studies, and could lead to white matter microstructure and cortical thickness change in human neuroimaging studies. In this study, we focused on changes of brain gray matter density (GMD) after one night of acute SD, which has not been explored previously. Twenty-three normal young participants completed the experiment.

Neuroanatomical Features That Predict Response to Electroconvulsive Therapy Combined With Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Using Radiomics Strategy.

Objective: Neuroimaging-based brain signatures may be informative in identifying patients with psychosis who will respond to antipsychotics. However, signatures that inform the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) health care professional about the response likelihood remain unclear in psychosis with radiomics strategy. This study investigated whether brain structure-based signature in the prediction of ECT response in a sample of schizophrenia patients using radiomics approach.

Learning curve of double-guidewire technique by trainees during hands-on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography training.

Background And Aims: Double-guidewire technique (DWT) has been successfully performed by experts in difficult biliary cannulation as an advanced technique. This study aimed to define the learning curve and safety of DWT by trainees during hands-on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) training.

Methods: Patients were eligible for inclusion in the study if the biliary cannulation was difficult and the pancreatic duct was inadvertently cannulated.

Grading of Glioma: combined diagnostic value of amide proton transfer weighted, arterial spin labeling and diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: To investigate the ability of amide proton transfer (APT) weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), arterial spin labeling (ASL), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and the combination for differentiating high-grade gliomas (HGGs) from low-grade gliomas (LGGs).

Methods: Twenty-seven patients including nine LGGs and eighteen HGGs underwent conventional, APT, ASL and DWI MRI with a 3.0-T MR scanner.

Predicting responses to electroconvulsive therapy in schizophrenia patients undergoing antipsychotic treatment: Baseline functional connectivity among regions with strong electric field distributions.

This study explored imaging predictors of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) outcome in schizophrenia patients based on pre-treatment functional connectivity (FC) within regions with strong ECT electric fields distribution. Forty-seven patients received standard antipsychotic drugs combined with ECT as well as two brain imaging sessions. Regions of interest (ROI) with strong electric field distribution were determined by ECT simulation.

Altered resting-state networks may explain the executive impairment in young health immigrants into high-altitude area.

Executive function is a complex involving multiple advanced brain functions like planning, working memory, mental flexibility and psychomotor. Previous researches indicated that executive function may be impaired after acute or chronic high-altitude exposure, while the underlying neurobiological mechanism has not been totally clarified. In the present study, based on 69 young healthy volunteers immigrating to high-altitude, Stroop test was utilized to identify the potential impairment of executive function after two-year high-altitude exposure while resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) technology was employed to observe the alteration of resting-state networks.

Predicting response to electroconvulsive therapy combined with antipsychotics in schizophrenia using multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown to be effective in schizophrenia, particularly when rapid symptom reduction is needed or in cases of resistance to drug treatment. However, there are no markers available to predict response to ECT. Here, we examine whether multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomic features can predict response to ECT for individual patients.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma: Machine learning-based computed tomography radiomics analysis for the prediction of WHO/ISUP grade.

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of machine learning (ML)-based computed tomography (CT) radiomics analysis for discriminating between low grade (WHO/ISUP I-II) and high grade (WHO/ISUP III-IV) clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs).

Methods: A total of 164 low grade and 107 high grade ccRCCs were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Radiomic features were extracted from corticomedullary phase (CMP) and nephrographic phase (NP) CT images.

Distinct hemispheric specialization of functional connectivity in schizophrenia with and without auditory verbal hallucinations.

As a basic organizing principle of the human brain, hemispheric specialization is an important perspective to explore the pathology of schizophrenia. However, it remains unclearly whether the hemispheric specialization of functional connectivity plays a role in mediating auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia. In this study, 18 schizophrenic patients with auditory verbal hallucinations, 18 patients without auditory verbal hallucinations, and 18 matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional MRI scans, and seed-based voxel-wise functional connectivity was calculated to quantify the degree of hemispheric specialization.

Primary central nervous system small lymphocytic lymphoma in the bilateral ventricles: two case reports.

Background: Primary central nervous system (CNS) small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), as a type of low-grade lymphoma, is extremely rare. The diagnosis of CNS SLL is challenging due to its variable clinical and radiological features, which may overlap with those of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Primary CNS SLL differs from DLBCL in that it has an indolent clinical course and a good prognosis.

Voxel-based morphometry results in first-episode schizophrenia: a comparison of publicly available software packages.

Investigations of brain structure in schizophrenia using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have identified variations in regional grey matter (GM) volume throughout the brain but the results are mixed. This study aims to investigate whether the inconsistent voxel-based morphometry (VBM) findings in schizophrenia are due to the use of different software packages. T1 MRI images were obtained from 86 first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ) patients and 86 age- and gender-matched Healthy controls (HCs).

MRI-based radiomics nomogram may predict the response to induction chemotherapy and survival in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objectives: To establish and validate a radiomics nomogram for prediction of induction chemotherapy (IC) response and survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.

Methods: One hundred twenty-three NPC patients (100 in training and 23 in validation cohort) with multi-MR images were enrolled. A radiomics nomogram was established by integrating the clinical data and radiomics signature generated by support vector machine.

The Prevalence of Cavum Septum Pellucidum in Mental Disorders Revealed by MRI: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The prevalence of cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) in mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia spectrum disorders and mood disorders, remains uncertain. The authors used a meta-analytical approach to determine the prevalence of CSP in mental disorders and to compare these with the prevalence of CSP in psychiatrically healthy comparison subjects.

Methods: PubMed and Embase were systematically searched for relevant articles published as of January 9, 2018.

Gray matter volume changes following antipsychotic therapy in first-episode schizophrenia patients: A longitudinal voxel-based morphometric study.

Despite evidence of structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, the current study aimed to explore the effects of antipsychotic treatment on gray matter (GM) volume using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and investigate the relationship between brain structure and treatment response. The GM volumes of 33 patients with first-episode schizophrenia were calculated with voxel-based morphometry (VBM), with 33 matched healthy controls. Longitudinal volume changes within subjects after 4-month antipsychotic treatment were also evaluated.

Association Between Connectivity of Hippocampal Sub-Regions and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia.

Hippocampal dysconnectivity has been detected in schizophrenia patients with auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Neuroanatomical evidence has indicated distinct sub-regions in the hippocampus, but which sub-regions within the hippocampus may emerge dysfunction in the brain network, and the relationship between connection strength and the severity of this debilitating disorder have yet to be revealed. Masked independent component analysis (mICA), i.