Open Neuroimaging Journal

Background: Ischemic stroke is the most common cause of complex chronic disability and the third leading cause of death worldwide. In recovering stroke patients, peak activation within the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1) during the performance of a simple motor task has been shown to exhibit an anterior shift in many studies and a posterior shift in other studies. Objective: We investigated this discrepancy in chronic stroke patients who completed a robot-assisted rehabilitation therapy program...

Background: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is brain injury caused by decreased perfusion and oxygen delivery that most commonly occurs in the context of delivery complications such as umbilical cord compression or placental abruption. Imaging is a key component for guiding treatment and prediction of prognosis, and the most sensitive clinical imaging modality for the brain injury patterns seen in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is magnetic resonance imaging. Objective: The goal of this review is to compare magnetic resonance imaging findings demonstrated in the available animal models of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy to those found in preterm (≤ 36 weeks) and term (>36 weeks) human neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, with special attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each model...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Understanding how trauma impacts the self-structure of individuals suffering from the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms is a complex matter and despite several attempts to explain the relationship between trauma and the "Self", this issue still lacks clarity. Therefore, adopting a new theoretical perspective may help understand PTSD deeper and to shed light on the underlying psychophysiological mechanisms. METHODS: In this study, we employed the "three-dimensional construct model of the experiential selfhood" where three major components of selfhood (phenomenal first-person agency, embodiment, and reflection/narration) are related to three Operational Modules (OMs) of the self-referential brain network...

Background: Previous Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) studies have demonstrated the temporal evolution of stroke injury in grey matter and white matter can be characterized by DTI indices. However, it still remains not fully understood how the DTI indices of white matter are altered progressively during the hyperacute (first 6 hours) and acute stage of stroke (≤ 1 week). In the present study, DTI was employed to characterize the temporal evolution of infarction and white matter injury after stroke insult using a macaque model with permanent ischemic occlusion...

Background: Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, is frequently impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and may result from altered activation of social brain regions. Conversely, Typically Developing (TD) individuals overextend ToM and show a strong tendency to anthropomorphize and interpret biological motion in the environment. Less is known about how the degree of anthropomorphism influences intentional attribution and engagement of the social brain in ASD...

Objective: Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is the most common form of intracranial vascular malformations in adults. Intracranial pediatric AVMs are rare. AVM located in the vicinity of the brain stem in children are even more rare. Case report: This study reports a rare case of acute obstructive hydrocephalus following aqueductal stenosis caused by an unruptured grade IV perimesencephalic arteriovenous malformation. An 11-year-old boy admitted to the hospital with progressive headache, nausea and vomiting throughout a month...

Background: Any mismatch between the production and absorption of CSF results in hydrocephalus. In most cases, the selected choice of treatment is the ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion. Although, the surgery could have complications such as infection, shunt malfunction, subdural hematoma, seizure and Shunt immigration; so, the early and proper detection of these complications could result in better prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of CT scan, CSF analysis and X-ray radiography in detection of shunt complications and problems in shunt placement and further follow-up in hospitalized children...

Background: Emerging research proposes the imbalance between microvascular supply and metabolic demand as a contributing factor in the pathophysiology of mild traumatic brain injury. Prolonged effects on the dysregulation of neurovascular coupling may explain persistent symptomatic models such as Post-Concussion Syndrome. Objective: Increased knowledge of what we refer to as neurovascular uncoupling provides a template for establishing a new concussion treatment standard in the assessment and therapeutic guidance of concussion...

BACKGROUND: There is a high comorbidity of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), with largely overlapping symptomatology, in military service members. OBJECTIVE: To examine white matter integrity associated with PTS and mTBI as assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). METHOD: Seventy-four active-duty U.S. soldiers with PTS (n = 16) and PTS with co-morbid history of mTBI (PTS/mTBI; n = 28) were compared to a military control group (n = 30)...

BACKGROUND: Although voxel based morphometry studies are still the standard for analyzing brain structure, their dependence on massive univariate inferential methods is a limiting factor. A better understanding of brain pathologies can be achieved by applying inferential multivariate methods, which allow the study of multiple dependent variables, e.g. different imaging modalities of the same subject. OBJECTIVE: Given the widespread use of SPM software in the brain imaging community, the main aim of this work is the implementation of massive multivariate inferential analysis as a toolbox in this software package...

An 83 year-old-man with left atrial appendage occluder (LAAO) developed Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PA) infective endocarditis. MRI at day 3 of onset showed distal small infarcts in both middle cerebral arteries and left postero-inferior cerebellar artery territories. MRI at day 6 revealed two sites of convexity subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH). MRA and CTA failed to reveal a Mycotic aneurysm. The radiologic findings favor the assumption of necrosis of distal branches of mca or of pial arteries wall. This case present three unusual features: the presence of localized cSAH after initiation of antibiotherapy without mycotic aneurysm being individualized; the late occurrence of infective endocarditis after LAAO implantation; the very rare occurrence of PA in prosthetic infections...

TITLE: A functional (f) MRI-based model for individual memory assessment in patients eligible for temporal lobe resection. AIM: To investigate if pre-operative fMRI memory paradigms, add predictive information with regard to post-surgical memory deficits. METHODS: Fourteen pharmacoresistant Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) patients accepted for Anterior Temporal Lobe Resection (ATLR) were included. A clinical risk assessment score (RAS 0-3) was constructed from structural MRI, neuropsychological testing and hemisphere dominance...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess differences in brain activation in a large sample of Vegetative State (VS) and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) patients, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHODS: We studied 50 patients four to seven months after brain injury. By using international clinical criteria and validated behavioural scales such as the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Clinical Unawareness Assessment Scale, the patients were grouped into VS (n=23) and MCS (n=27)...

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are clinically challenging, because neural regeneration after cord damage is unknown. In SCI animal models, regeneration is evaluated histologically, requiring animal sacrifice. Noninvasive techniques are needed to detect longitudinal SCI changes. OBJECTIVE: To compare manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI [MEMRI]) in hemisection and transection of SCI rat models with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and histology...

We investigated fMRI responses to visual search targets appearing at locations that were predicted by the search context. Based on previous work in visual category learning we expected an intrinsic reward prediction error signal in the putamen whenever the target appeared at a location that was predicted with some degree of uncertainty. Comparing target appearance at locations predicted with 50% probability to either locations predicted with 100% probability or unpredicted locations, increased activation was observed in left posterior putamen and adjacent left posterior insula...

BACKGROUND: Prior work examining emotional dysregulation observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has primarily been limited to fear-learning processes specific to anticipation, habituation, and extinction of threat. In contrast, the response to threat itself has not been systematically evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To explore potential disruption in fear conditioning neurocircuitry in service members with PTSD, specifically in response to predictable versus unpredictable threats...

BACKGROUND: Attentional deficits in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often noted, but their specific nature remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The present study used the child Attentional Network Task (Child ANT) in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine if the consistently cited deficits of orienting attention are truly due to dysfunctions of orienting-based networks. We hypothesized that these observations are, in fact, a reflection of executive dysfunctions...

We studied sex-related differences in gamma oscillation during an auditory oddball task, using magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography assessment of imaginary coherence (IC). We obtained a statistical source map of event-related desynchronization (ERD) / event-related synchronization (ERS), and compared females and males regarding ERD / ERS. Based on the results, we chose respectively seed regions for IC determinations in low (30-50 Hz), mid (50-100 Hz) and high gamma (100-150 Hz) bands. In males, ERD was increased in the left posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) at 500 ms in the low gamma band, and in the right caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC) at 125 ms in the mid-gamma band...

A 10 year old girl was admitted to our hospital due to headache, nausea, and weight loss for about half a year. She also had visual field disorders. Suprasellar tumor was found by X-ray computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging showed a ring-like lobulated enhanced mass with hemorrhage and necrosis. Biopsy of this lesion showed primary intracranial choriocarcinoma on histopathological examination. The serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level was measured after the biopsy and was elevated at 71,298...

Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings are increasingly used to evaluate patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) or assess their prognosis outcome in the short-term perspective. However, there is a lack of information concerning the effectiveness of EEG in classifying long-term (many years) outcome in chronic DOC patients. Here we tested whether EEG operational architectonics parameters (geared towards consciousness phenomenon detection rather than neurophysiological processes) could be useful for distinguishing a very long-term (6 years) clinical outcome of DOC patients whose EEGs were registered within 3 months post-injury...