Magnetic susceptibility source separation for assessing motor and cognitive functions in Parkinson disease.

Background: Iron and myelin alterations contribute to the progression of Parkinson disease (PD). This study aimed to evaluate the associations of iron-related positive susceptibility and myelin-related negative susceptibility with motor and cognitive functions, and assess their utility in classifying PD with normal cognition (PD-CN) and with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 59 patients with PD-MCI and 58 with PD-CN.

Change points for dynamic biomarkers in the Alzheimer's disease pathological cascade: A 30-year cohort study.

Introduction: This study aimed to delineate trajectories of biomarkers-amyloid beta (Aβ), phosphorylated tau, neurodegeneration, and inflammation-and to identify change points along these trajectories.

Methods: Longitudinal data were collected over 30 years from 349 cognitively unimpaired individuals enrolled in the Biomarkers for Older Controls at Risk for Dementia study. Piecewise regression models were used to identify change points in cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, brain magnetic resonance imaging volumes, and a composite measure of global cognition.

Elucidating White Matter Contributions to the Cognitive Architecture of Affective Prosody Recognition: Evidence from Right Hemisphere Stroke.

: Successful discourse relies not only on linguistic but also on prosodic information. Difficulty recognizing emotion conveyed through prosody (receptive affective aprosodia) following right hemisphere stroke (RHS) significantly disrupts communication participation and personal relationships. Growing evidence suggests that damage to white matter in addition to gray matter structures impairs affective prosody recognition.

Serine clamp of Clostridium perfringens binary toxin BECb (CPILEb)-pore confers cytotoxicity and enterotoxicity.

BEC (CPILE) is a virulence factor of the pathogen, Clostridium perfringens, which has caused foodborne outbreaks in Japan. BEC is a binary toxin that comprises the enzymatic A-component (BECa) and the B-component (BECb); the latter forms a membrane pore to translocate the A-component into target cells. Although BEC differs from other binary toxins in that the B-component alone shows enterotoxic activity, the reason for this remains unclear.

Longitudinal Changes in Brain Diffusion Characteristics Associated With Cognition and Vascular Risk Factors: The ARIC-NCS Study.

Background And Objectives: It remains unclear whether longitudinal changes in brain microstructural integrity, measured by diffusion MRI, relate to cognition and vascular risks. We investigated whether annualized changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) are associated with changes in cognitive domains among nondemented older adults, and how these patterns differ by vascular risk factors.

Methods: Data were longitudinally collected from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study, conducted across 4 US sites with 6,471 participants attending the baseline assessment.

Brain morphological characteristics predicting clinical response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or cholinesterase inhibitors: A study of electronic medical records in patients with cognitive disorders.

Objectives: Current treatments for cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), such as cholinesterase inhibitors (CEIs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), show inconsistent effectiveness, necessitating a personalized therapy approach. We aimed to develop predictive models using MRI-derived brain neuroanatomical features and clinical data to forecast responses to CEIs and SSRIs in ADRD patients.

Design And Setting: This was a retrospective observational analysis of electronic health records (EHRs) and MRI data conducted within Johns Hopkins Medical Systems.

Ultrasonographic Prevalence of Ring-Down Artifact in the Medial Elbow Joint Gap at the Valgus Position in Asymptomatic High School Baseball Players.

Objectives: Repetitive valgus stress during pitching in baseball can lead to medial elbow instability. Although ring-down artifact (RDA) has been considered an indicator of valgus instability, its pathological significance remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify RDA-positive rates and differences in valgus conditions in the medial elbow joint gap distance of asymptomatic high school baseball players.

Evaluation of the Alterations in Central Cholinergic Neurotransmission in Aging and Amyloid Precursor Protein Knock-In Mice.

A progressive decline in cognitive function occurs as a result of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is primarily associated with diminished cholinergic neurotransmission. However, the precise mechanisms contributing to cholinergic dysfunction are not fully elucidated. Herein, we evaluated the cholinergic system in wild type (WT) mice and AD-model (App) mice exhibiting overproduction of amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ).

Quantification of perforant path fibers for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: The entorhinal cortex (ERC) and perforant path (PP) fibers are critical structures in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aims to explore these regions using high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with the goal of identifying reliable biomarkers based on histopathological observations.

Methods: Twenty post mortem brain specimens were scanned with 11.

Severity-dependent recovery time in acute lateral ankle sprains: An ultrasonographic assessment of talofibular displacement.

Purpose: There is no consensus on treatment protocols based on severity and timing for acute lateral ankle sprain (LAS). Appropriate decision-making is necessary to prevent reinjury or chronic ankle instability. In this retrospective observational study, we clarified the duration of recovery from anterior ankle joint displacement in patients with initial acute LAS of several severities.

Characterizing long-term neurocognitive outcomes through diffusion tensor imaging in childhood brain tumor survivors.

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can probe the longitudinal microstructural integrity and development of the brain. This study characterizes the relationship between long-term neurocognition and changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of the corpus callosum and hippocampus in childhood brain tumor survivors.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with a brain tumor at < 18 years of age with ≥ 2 neurocognitive assessments retrospectively paired with DTI were eligible.

The Effects of Rhythm Jump Training on the Rhythmic Reproduction Ability in Jumping and Agility in Elementary School Soccer Players.

: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of rhythm jump training on the rhythm and motor abilities of elementary school students to provide insights into its potential benefits for their physical performance and coordination. : A non-randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 101 elementary school students (grades 1-6) attending a soccer school. Participants were divided into a rhythm jump group (n = 51, age: 7.

High-Fidelity MRI Assessment of Cerebral Perfusion in Healthy Neonates Less Than 1 Week of Age.

Background: Perfusion imaging of the brain has important clinical applications in detecting neurological abnormalities in neonates. However, such tools have not been available to date. Although arterial-spin-labeling (ASL) MRI is a powerful noninvasive tool to measure perfusion, its application in neonates has encountered obstacles related to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), large-vessel contaminations, and lack of technical development studies.

Evaluating the optimal height for hamstring activity in the maximum-speed single-leg bridge test.

Hamstring strain injuries often occur during high-speed movements; yet, no functional test reliably induces rapid hamstring contractions. This study aimed to determine the optimal platform height in the maximum-speed single-leg bridge test to maximize hamstring activation. This cross-sectional study included 26 healthy male recreational athletes.

Immediate Effects of Calf Tissue Flossing on Ankle Joint Torque and Dorsiflexion Range of Motion in Healthy Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.

Tissue flossing involves wrapping a rubber band around a muscle group for a few minutes while performing joint motion, enhancing ankle joint torque and range of motion. As limited ankle dorsiflexion range of motion and plantar flexion muscle weakness are risk factors for sports injury, assessing the therapeutic effects of tissue flossing is important. This study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of calf tissue flossing on enhancing ankle joint torque and dorsiflexion range of motion.

Medial temporal atrophy predicts the limbic comorbidities in lewy body disease.

Purpose: Although neuropathological comorbidities, including Alzheimer's disease neuropathological change (AD-NC) and limbic-predominant age-related TAR DNA-binding protein 43encephalopathy neuropathological change (LATE-NC), are associated with medial temporal atrophy in patients with Lewy body disease (LBD), the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived indices remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of MRI-derived indices representing medial temporal atrophy in differentiating between LBD with AD-NC and/or LATE-NC (mixed LBD [mLBD]) and without these comorbidities (pure LBD [pLBD]).

Methods: This study included 24 and 16 patients with pathologically confirmed mLBD and pLBD, respectively.

OpenMAP-T1: A Rapid Deep-Learning Approach to Parcellate 280 Anatomical Regions to Cover the Whole Brain.

This study introduces OpenMAP-T1, a deep-learning-based method for rapid and accurate whole-brain parcellation in T1- weighted brain MRI, which aims to overcome the limitations of conventional normalization-to-atlas-based approaches and multi-atlas label-fusion (MALF) techniques. Brain image parcellation is a fundamental process in neuroscientific and clinical research, enabling a detailed analysis of specific cerebral regions. Normalization-to-atlas-based methods have been employed for this task, but they face limitations due to variations in brain morphology, especially in pathological conditions.

Acceleration of Brain Atrophy and Progression From Normal Cognition to Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Importance: It remains unclear which risk factors accelerate brain atrophy along with a progression from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: To examine risk factors associated with the acceleration of brain atrophy and progression from normal cognition to MCI based on long-term longitudinal data for middle-aged and older adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Data for this cohort study were extracted from the Biomarkers for Older Controls at Risk for Dementia (BIOCARD) cohort, initiated at the National Institutes of Health from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2005, and continued at Johns Hopkins University from January 1, 2015, to October 31, 2023.

Quantitative susceptibility mapping analyses of white matter in Parkinson's disease using susceptibility separation technique.

Introduction: To apply susceptibility separation on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) images of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients to obtain more accurate images and gain pathophysiological insights.

Methods: This retrospective study included subjects who underwent head MRI, including QSM between March 2016 and March 2018. Patients with PD were categorized as having mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), or normal cognition (PD-CN); healthy controls (HC) were also enrolled.

Voxel-Based Morphometry of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Using a 3D Fast Low-angle Shot Localizer Image: A Comparison with Magnetization-Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo.

Purpose: Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is widely used to investigate white matter (WM) atrophy in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). In contrast to high-resolution 3D T1-weighted imaging such as magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition with gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequences, the utility of other 3D sequences has not been sufficiently evaluated. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using a 3D fast low-angle shot sequence captured as a localizer image (L3DFLASH) for VBM analysis of WM atrophy patterns in patients with PSP.

Autoimmune Encephalitis in a Patient with a Solitary Intracranial Plasmacytoma.

A 65-year-old woman presented with fever and abnormal behavior. Magnetic resonance imaging showed swelling of the left medial temporal lobe and an intracranial extra-axial occipital tumor. While her neurological symptoms improved after the administration of corticosteroid therapy under the suspicion of autoimmune encephalitis, the occipital tumor unexpectedly shrank, and the diagnosis of a solitary plasmacytoma was confirmed by biopsy.

Anisotropy of the R1/T2* value dependent on white matter fiber orientation with respect to the B0 field.

The R1 (1/T1) map divided by the T2* map (R1/T2* map) draws attention as a high-resolution myelin-related map. However, both R1 and R2* (1/T2*) values demonstrate anisotropy dependent on the white matter (WM) fiber orientation with respect to the static magnetic (B0) field. Therefore, this study primarily aimed to investigate the comprehensive impact of these angular-dependent anisotropies on the R1/T2* value.