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BACKGROUND Adolescence is a critical period for neural development and has been associated with high rates of alcohol abuse. This research examined potential long-term brain and behavioral effects of early versus late-onset adolescent binge drinking in an adult sample of post-9/11 Veterans. METHODS We compared cortical thickness measures in Veterans with a history of binge drinking that began before the age of 15 (n = 50; mean age = 32.1 years) to those with a history of binge drinking with onset after the age of 15 (n = 300; mean age = 32.1 years). Data processing was conducted with FreeSurfer. A targeted neuropsychological battery (Digit Span test, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Color-Word Interference Test, California Verbal Learning Test-II) was used to examine the relationships between cortical thickness and attention, memory, and inhibition. A reference group of social drinkers with no history of early binge drinking (n = 31) was used to provide normative data. RESULTS Early-onset adolescent binge drinkers (EBD) had greater cortical thickness in several regions than late-onset adolescent binge drinkers (LBD); both binge-drinking groups had greater cortical thickness than the reference group. There was a stronger negative association between cortical thickness and age in EBDs than LBDs in the (i) lateral orbitofrontal cortex, (ii) supramarginal gyrus, (iii) paracentral lobule, and (iv) anterior caudal cingulate. Poorer performance on the attention and inhibition tasks in the EBDs was also associated with thicker cortices. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates greater cortical thickness across frontoparietal regions in adults who began binge drinking in early versus late adolescence. A stronger negative association between cortical thickness and age in the EBDs suggests that early-onset adolescent binge drinking may be associated with accelerated cortical thinning. Thicker cortex in these regions, which are known to mediate inhibitory control, may increase impulsive behavior and contribute to the risk of alcohol addiction.

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is characterized by chronic pain in pelvic area and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that chronic pain was associated with the altered brain activity. However, the pathological mechanisms associated with altered brain control of CP/CPPS are not well-understood. Therefore, we sought to investigate the topological properties of white matter brain networks in patients with CP/CPPS and whether the topological configuration of frontal-parietal control network was disrupted. We collected 19 patients with CP/CPPS and 32 matched healthy controls (HCs). Diffusion tensor imaging data of all participates were used to map the white matter structural networks. Graph theoretical method was applied to investigate the alterations of topological properties of brain network in patients. Moreover, we also investigated whether the alerted brain regions might be correlated with any clinical features of patients by the method of Pearson correlation analysis. Both CP/CPPS patients and HCs exhibited a 'small-world' behavior or economical small-world architecture of the white matter brain networks. In addition, CP/CPPS had a lower global efficiency in the right middle frontal gyrus (orbital part) and a higher global efficiency in the left middle cingulate and paracingulate gyri. CP/CPPS also showed increased local efficiency in the left middle cingulate and paracingulate gyri and paracentral lobule. Moreover, the local efficiency of the left middle cingulate gyrus was positively correlated with the scores of the influence of symptoms on the quality of life. The local efficiency of the left precuneus and right supplementary motor area were positively correlated with the total scores of NIH-CPSI and the scores of pain and discomfort symptoms, respectively. Together, we found that patients with CP/CPPS had alterations of connections within the frontal-parietal control network, which suggested that the altered connectivity involved in the executive control processing procedures might contribute to the pathogenesis of the pelvic pain and LUTS in CP/CPPS. Thus these results provided new insights into the understanding of CP/CPPS.

Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease in which cerebral structural impairment is a consistent feature. Purpose To investigate cerebral microstructural changes in ALS using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for the first time. Study type Prospective. Subjects Eighteen ALS patients and 20 healthy controls. Field strength/sequence DKI images were obtained by a spin-echo echo-planar imaging sequence on a 3T MRI scanner, with three b-values (0, 1000, and 2000 s/mm2 ) and 64 diffusion encoding directions. Assessment The revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) was administered to assess disease severity, and the symptom duration and disease progression rate were also recorded. Voxel-based analysis was applied to examine the alteration of DKI metrics (ie, mean kurtosis metrics [MK], axial kurtosis [AK], and radial kurtosis [RK]) and the conventional diffusion metrics (ie, fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity). Statistical tests Student's t-test, chi-square test, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results ALS patients showed MK reductions in gray matter areas, including the bilateral precentral gyrus, bilateral paracentral lobule, and left anterior cingulate gyrus; they also showed decreased MK values in white matter (WM) in the bilateral precentral gyrus, bilateral corona radiata, bilateral middle corpus callosum, left occipital lobe, and right superior parietal lobule. The spatial distribution of the regions with reduced RK was similar to those with decreased MK. No significant AK difference was found between groups. The correlation analysis revealed significant associations between DKI metrics and clinical assessments such as ALSFRS-R score and disease duration. Additionally, several WM regions showed between-group differences in conventional diffusion metrics; but the spatial extent was smaller than that with reduced DKI metrics. Data conclusion The reduction in DKI metrics indicates decreased microstructural complexity in ALS, involving both motor-related areas and extramotor regions. DKI metrics can serve as potential biomarkers for assessing disease severity. Level of evidence 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:554-562.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurobehavioral disorder. Although previous TS studies revealed structural abnormalities in distinct corticobasal ganglia circuits, the topological alterations of the whole-brain white matter (WM) structural networks remain poorly understood. Here, we used diffusion MRI probabilistic tractography and graph theoretical analysis to investigate the topological organization of WM networks in 44 drug-naive TS children and 41 age- and gender-matched healthy children. The WM networks were constructed by estimating inter-regional connectivity probability and the topological properties were characterized using graph theory. We found that both TS and control groups showed an efficient small-world organization in WM networks. However, compared to controls, TS children exhibited decreased global and local efficiency, increased shortest path length and small worldness, indicating a disrupted balance between local specialization and global integration in structural networks. Although both TS and control groups showed highly similar hub distributions, TS children exhibited significant decreased nodal efficiency, mainly distributed in the default mode, language, visual, and sensorimotor systems. Furthermore, two separate networks showing significantly decreased connectivity in TS group were identified using network-based statistical (NBS) analysis, primarily composed of the parieto-occipital cortex, precuneus, and paracentral lobule. Importantly, we combined support vector machine and multiple kernel learning frameworks to fuse multiple levels of network topological features for classification of individuals, achieving high accuracy of 86.47%. Together, our study revealed the disrupted topological organization of structural networks related to pathophysiology of TS, and the discriminative topological features for classification are potential quantitative neuroimaging biomarkers for clinical TS diagnosis. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3988-4008, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln) play an important role in neuronal regulation and are of value as MRS-observable diagnostic biomarkers. In this study the relative concentrations of these metabolites have been measured in multiple regions in the normal brain using a short-TE whole-brain MRSI measurement at 3 T combined with a modified data analysis approach that used spatial averaging to obtain high-SNR spectra from atlas-registered anatomic regions or interest. By spectral fitting of high-SNR spectra this approach yielded reliable measurements across a wide volume of the brain. Spectral averaging also demonstrated increased SNR and improved fitting accuracy for the sum of Glu and Gln (Glx) compared with individual voxel fitting. Results in 26 healthy controls showed relatively constant Glu/Cr and Gln/Cr throughout the cerebrum, although with increased values in the anterior cingulum and paracentral lobule, and increased Gln/Cr in the superior motor area. The deep gray-matter regions of thalamus, putamen, and pallidum show lower Glu/Cr compared with cortical white-matter regions. Lobar measurements demonstrated reduced Glu/Cr and Gln/Cr in the cerebellum as compared with the cerebrum, where white-matter regions show significantly lower Glu/Cr and Gln/Cr as compared with gray-matter regions across multiple brain lobes. Regression analysis showed no significant effect of gender on Glu/Cr or Gln/Cr measurement; however, Glx/Cr ratio was found to be significantly negatively correlated with age in some lobar brain regions. In summary, this methodology provides the spectral quality necessary for reliable separation of Glu and Gln at 3 T from a single MRSI acquisition enabling generation of regional distributions of metabolites over a large volume of the brain, including cortical regions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The spatial relationships between brain and braincase represent a major topic in surgery and evolutionary neuroanatomy. In paleoneurology, neurocranial landmarks are often used as references for brain areas. In this study, we analyze the variation and covariation of midsagittal brain and skull coordinates in a sample of adult modern humans in order to demonstrate spatial associations between hard and soft tissues. The correlation between parietal lobe size and parietal bone size is very low, and there is a marked individual variation. The distances between lobes and bones are partially influenced by the dimensions of the parietal lobes. The main pattern of morphological variability among individuals, associated with the size of the precuneus, apparently does not influence the position of the neurocranial sutures. Therefore, variations in precuneal size modify the distance between the paracentral lobule and bregma, and between the parietal lobe and lambda. Hence, the relative position of the cranial and cerebral landmarks can change as a function of the parietal dimensions. The slight correlation and covariation among these elements suggests a limited degree of spatial integration between soft and hard tissues. Therefore, although the brain influences the cranial size and shape during morphogenesis, the specific position of the cerebral components is sensitive to multiple effects and local factors, without a strict correspondence with the bone landmarks. This absence of correspondent change between brain and skull boundaries suggests caution when making inferences about the brain areas from the position of the cranial sutures. The fact that spatial relationships between cranial and brain areas may vary according to brain proportions must be considered in paleoneurology, when brain anatomy is inferred from cranial evidence.

Summary Background Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to evaluate the long-term consequences of early exposure to neurotoxic agents. fMRI shows that different patterns of brain activation occur in ethanol-exposed subjects performing a go/no-go response inhibition task. Pharmacologically, ethanol and general anesthetics have similar receptor-level activity in the brain. This study utilizes fMRI to examine brain activation patterns in children exposed to general anesthesia and surgery during early brain development. Methods After obtaining Nationwide Children's Hospital IRB approval, a surgical database was utilized to identify children aged 10–17 years with a history of at least 1 h of exposure to general anesthetics and surgery when they were between 0 and 24 months of age. Age- and gender-matched children without anesthesia exposure were recruited as a control group. All subjects were scanned while being presented with a go/no-go response inhibition task. Reaction time and accuracy data were acquired, and the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI signal was measured as a biomarker for regional neuronal activity. Results There were no differences in terms of performance accuracy and response time. The analysis did not reveal any significant activation differences in the primary region of interest (prefrontal cortex and caudate nucleus); however, activation differences were seen in other structures, including the cerebellum, cingulate gyrus, and paracentral lobule. Conclusions Early anesthetic exposure and surgery did not affect accuracy, response time, or activation patterns in the primary region of interest during performance of the task. Intergroup differences in activation patterns in other areas of the brain were observed, and the significance of these findings is unknown. fMRI appears to be a useful tool in evaluating the long-term effects of early exposure to general anesthesia.

Objectives Traumatic memories such as intrusions and flashbacks play a major role in the development and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A thorough understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying traumatic memories is indispensable for precise diagnosis, for personalized treatment and prevention. In particular, the identification of early neural predictor variables for intrusion development shortly after trauma exposure requires detailed investigation. Experimental design Here, we examined the neural correlates of early experimental trauma memory retrieval in a traumatic film paradigm in 42 young healthy females, using both implicit and explicit retrieval tasks. Principal observations We show that implicit experimental trauma retrieval specifically involved the retrosplenial cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), while both retrieval tasks resulted in trauma-related activity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the precuneus. Importantly, neural activity early after experimental trauma exposure predicted later intrusion development, with independent contributions from activity in the retrosplenial cortex (implicit retrieval) and the PCC (explicit retrieval). Additional analyses revealed a stronger connectivity between the bilateral amygdala and the supplementary motor area, precentral and paracentral lobule for the control group compared to the experimental trauma group. Conclusions Our study gives new insights in the neural correlates of experimental trauma memory retrieval and their predictive value for subsequent symptom development. Our results could provide the basis for personalized early treatment and prevention of PTSD. Hum Brain Mapp, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3592-3602, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The term leuko-araiosis (LA) describes a common chronic affection of the cerebral white matter (WM) in the elderly due to small vessel disease with variable clinical correlates. To explore whether severity of LA entails some adaptive reorganization in the cerebral cortex we evaluated with functional MRI (fMRI) the cortical activation pattern during a simple motor task in 60 subjects with mild cognitive impairment and moderate or severe (moderate-to-severe LA group, n = 46) and mild (mild LA group, n = 14) LA extension on visual rating. The microstructural damage associated with LA was measured on diffusion tensor data by computation of the mean diffusivity (MD) of the cerebral WM and by applying tract based spatial statistics (TBSS). Subjects were examined with fMRI during continuous tapping of the right dominant hand with task performance measurement. Moderate-to-severe LA group showed hyperactivation of left primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) and right cerebellum. Regression analyses using the individual median of WM MD as explanatory variable revealed a posterior shift of activation within the left SM1 and hyperactivation of the left SMA and paracentral lobule and of the bilateral cerebellar crus. These data indicate that brain activation is modulated by increasing severity of LA with a local remapping within the SM1 and increased activity in ipsilateral nonprimary sensorimotor cortex and bilateral cerebellum. These potentially adaptive changes as well lack of contralateral cerebral hemisphere hyperactivation are in line with sparing of the U fibers and brainstem and cerebellar WM tracts and the emerging microstructual damage of the corpus callosum revealed by TBSS with increasing severity of LA.

Purpose—To study the differences of functional connectivity and anatomical connectivity of the cerebellum between schizophrenic patients and normal controls by combining resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method. Materials and Methods—Both fMRI during rest and DTI were performed on 10 patients and 10 healthy subjects at a GE 3.0 T Signa scanner. Resting-state functional connectivities of the bilateral cerebellum were separately analyzed by selecting seed regions in cerebellum. The integrity of white matter fiber in bilateral middle cerebellar peduncles (MCP) and superior cerebellar peduncles (SCP) was evaluated using fractional anisotropy (FA). Two sample t-test was used to detect differences between patients and normal controls, and correlation test was taken to analyze the correlation between the strength of functional connectivity and anatomical connectivity. Results—In patients with schizophrenia, the bilateral cerebellum showed reduced functional connectivities to some regions compared to controls, such as left middle temporal gyrus, bilateral middle cingulate cortex, right paracentral lobule, right thalamus, and bilateral cerebellum, and the FA of the left SCP was significantly reduced in patients. Meanwhile, There was significantly positive correlation between the connective strength of both the left cerebellum-right paracentral lobule connectivities and right cerebellum-right thalamus connectivities and the FA of the MCP within the control group. Conslusion—The multimodal imaging approaches presently used provide a new avenue to understand the role of cerebellum in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Meanwhile, the current findings of the functional disconnectivity and damaged anatomical connectivity between the cerrebullum and other regions in schizophrenia suggest that the functional–anatomical relationship need to be further investigated.

Objective: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is an endogenous GHB-/GABA-B receptor agonist and a narcolepsy treatment. However, GHB is also abused for its prohedonic effects. On a neuronal level, it was shown that GHB increases regional cerebral blood flow in limbic areas such as the right anterior insula (rAI) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We aimed to further explore the association between the subjective and neuronal signatures of GHB. Method: We assessed subjective effects and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of an rAI- and an ACC-seed in 19 healthy male subjects after GHB (35mg/kg p.o.) using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, cross-over functional magnet resonance imaging design. Results: GHB increased subjective ratings for euphoria (p&nbsp

between adiposity and brain structure has not yet been fully elucidated. We aimed to evaluate the association of body fat composition with cortical thickness in cognitively normal subjects. Methods: In total, 1,777 (887 men and 890 women) cognitively normal subjects, aged 45 years or older, were enrolled from Health Promotion Center in Korea. Normal cognition was determined by the results of an interview conducted by a qualified neurologist and scores on the Mini-Mental Status Exam that were above the 16th percentile for age-, gender-, and education-matched norms. Medical records including 3D magnetic resonance imaging, body fat percentage, waist-hip ratio (WHR), and other factors were reviewed. The WHR was categorized into six groups based on gender-specific percentile, and surface-based morphometric analysis was used to estimate cortical thickness. Multiple linear regressions and generalized additive models were used to investigate the linear and non-linear relationship of fat percentage and WHR with cortical thickness. Results: In men, the percentage of fat was positively associated with cortical thickness and the highest WHR group showed significant cortical thinning; in imaging analysis, cortical thinning was observed in the bilateral paracentral lobule, posterior cingulate gyrus, and left medial frontal areas. The WHR showed an inverted U-shaped association with total cortical thickness and frontal lobe thickness in men. Among women, there was no significant association of body fat percentage andWHRwith cortical thickness.Conclusions:Our finding suggests that in men, body fat percentagemight have a beneficial effect, while abdominal fat might have a harmful effect on cortical thickness.