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Zhang S, Jung K, Langner R, Florin E, Eickhoff SB, Popovych OV. Impact of data processing varieties on DCM estimates of effective connectivity from task-fMRI. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26751. [PMID: 38864293 PMCID: PMC11167406 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Effective connectivity (EC) refers to directional or causal influences between interacting neuronal populations or brain regions and can be estimated from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data via dynamic causal modeling (DCM). In contrast to functional connectivity, the impact of data processing varieties on DCM estimates of task-evoked EC has hardly ever been addressed. We therefore investigated how task-evoked EC is affected by choices made for data processing. In particular, we considered the impact of global signal regression (GSR), block/event-related design of the general linear model (GLM) used for the first-level task-evoked fMRI analysis, type of activation contrast, and significance thresholding approach. Using DCM, we estimated individual and group-averaged task-evoked EC within a brain network related to spatial conflict processing for all the parameters considered and compared the differences in task-evoked EC between any two data processing conditions via between-group parametric empirical Bayes (PEB) analysis and Bayesian data comparison (BDC). We observed strongly varying patterns of the group-averaged EC depending on the data processing choices. In particular, task-evoked EC and parameter certainty were strongly impacted by GLM design and type of activation contrast as revealed by PEB and BDC, respectively, whereas they were little affected by GSR and the type of significance thresholding. The event-related GLM design appears to be more sensitive to task-evoked modulations of EC, but provides model parameters with lower certainty than the block-based design, while the latter is more sensitive to the type of activation contrast than is the event-related design. Our results demonstrate that applying different reasonable data processing choices can substantially alter task-evoked EC as estimated by DCM. Such choices should be made with care and, whenever possible, varied across parallel analyses to evaluate their impact and identify potential convergence for robust outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufei Zhang
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
| | - Kyesam Jung
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
| | - Robert Langner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
| | - Esther Florin
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
| | - Simon B. Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
| | - Oleksandr V. Popovych
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich‐Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
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Heckner MK, Cieslik EC, Paas Oliveros LK, Eickhoff SB, Patil KR, Langner R. Predicting executive functioning from brain networks: modality specificity and age effects. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10997-11009. [PMID: 37782935 PMCID: PMC10646699 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Healthy aging is associated with structural and functional network changes in the brain, which have been linked to deterioration in executive functioning (EF), while their neural implementation at the individual level remains unclear. As the biomarker potential of individual resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) patterns has been questioned, we investigated to what degree individual EF abilities can be predicted from the gray-matter volume (GMV), regional homogeneity, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and RSFC within EF-related, perceptuo-motor, and whole-brain networks in young and old adults. We examined whether the differences in out-of-sample prediction accuracy were modality-specific and depended on age or task-demand levels. Both uni- and multivariate analysis frameworks revealed overall low prediction accuracies and moderate-to-weak brain-behavior associations (R2 < 0.07, r < 0.28), further challenging the idea of finding meaningful markers for individual EF performance with the metrics used. Regional GMV, well linked to overall atrophy, carried the strongest information about individual EF differences in older adults, whereas fALFF, measuring functional variability, did so for younger adults. Our study calls for future research analyzing more global properties of the brain, different task-states and applying adaptive behavioral testing to result in sensitive predictors for young and older adults, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa K Heckner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Edna C Cieslik
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lya K Paas Oliveros
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Kaustubh R Patil
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Robert Langner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40204 Düsseldorf, Germany
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3
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Boeken OJ, Cieslik EC, Langner R, Markett S. Characterizing functional modules in the human thalamus: coactivation-based parcellation and systems-level functional decoding. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1811-1834. [PMID: 36547707 PMCID: PMC10516793 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02603-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The human thalamus relays sensory signals to the cortex and facilitates brain-wide communication. The thalamus is also more directly involved in sensorimotor and various cognitive functions but a full characterization of its functional repertoire, particularly in regard to its internal anatomical structure, is still outstanding. As a putative hub in the human connectome, the thalamus might reveal its functional profile only in conjunction with interconnected brain areas. We therefore developed a novel systems-level Bayesian reverse inference decoding that complements the traditional neuroinformatics approach towards a network account of thalamic function. The systems-level decoding considers the functional repertoire (i.e., the terms associated with a brain region) of all regions showing co-activations with a predefined seed region in a brain-wide fashion. Here, we used task-constrained meta-analytic connectivity-based parcellation (MACM-CBP) to identify thalamic subregions as seed regions and applied the systems-level decoding to these subregions in conjunction with functionally connected cortical regions. Our results confirm thalamic structure-function relationships known from animal and clinical studies and revealed further associations with language, memory, and locomotion that have not been detailed in the cognitive neuroscience literature before. The systems-level decoding further uncovered large systems engaged in autobiographical memory and nociception. We propose this novel decoding approach as a useful tool to detect previously unknown structure-function relationships at the brain network level, and to build viable starting points for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ole J Boeken
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Molecular Psychology, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Edna C Cieslik
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Robert Langner
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Sebastian Markett
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Molecular Psychology, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489, Berlin, Germany
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Mieling M, Meier H, Bunzeck N. Structural degeneration of the nucleus basalis of Meynert in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease - Evidence from an MRI-based meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 154:105393. [PMID: 37717861 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
Recent models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggest that neuropathological changes of the medial temporal lobe, especially entorhinal cortex, are preceded by degenerations of the cholinergic Nucleus basalis of Meynert (NbM). Evidence from imaging studies in humans, however, is limited. Therefore, we performed an activation-likelihood estimation meta-analysis on whole brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) MRI data from 54 experiments and 2581 subjects in total. It revealed, compared to healthy older controls, reduced gray matter in the bilateral NbM in AD, but only limited evidence for such an effect in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which typically precedes AD. Both patient groups showed less gray matter in the amygdala and hippocampus, with hints towards more pronounced amygdala effects in AD. We discuss our findings in the context of studies that highlight the importance of the cholinergic basal forebrain in learning and memory throughout the lifespan, and conclude that they are partly compatible with pathological staging models suggesting initial and pronounced structural degenerations within the NbM in the progression of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marthe Mieling
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Hannah Meier
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Nico Bunzeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
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Heckner MK, Cieslik EC, Oliveros LKP, Eickhoff SB, Patil KR, Langner R. Predicting Executive Functioning from Brain Networks: Modality Specificity and Age Effects. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.29.547036. [PMID: 37425780 PMCID: PMC10327061 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.29.547036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Healthy aging is associated with structural and functional network changes in the brain, which have been linked to deterioration in executive functioning (EF), while their neural implementation at the individual level remains unclear. As the biomarker potential of individual resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) patterns has been questioned, we investigated to what degree individual EF abilities can be predicted from gray-matter volume (GMV), regional homogeneity, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and RSFC within EF-related, perceptuo-motor, and whole-brain networks in young and old adults. We examined whether differences in out-of-sample prediction accuracy were modality-specific and depended on age or task-demand levels. Both uni- and multivariate analysis frameworks revealed overall low prediction accuracies and moderate to weak brain-behavior associations (R2 < .07, r < .28), further challenging the idea of finding meaningful markers for individual EF performance with the metrics used. Regional GMV, well linked to overall atrophy, carried the strongest information about individual EF differences in older adults, whereas fALFF, measuring functional variability, did so for younger adults. Our study calls for future research analyzing more global properties of the brain, different task-states and applying adaptive behavioral testing to result in sensitive predictors for young and older adults, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa K. Heckner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Edna C. Cieslik
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lya K. Paas Oliveros
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B. Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Kaustubh R. Patil
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Robert Langner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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Martínez-Vilavella G, Pujol J, Blanco-Hinojo L, Deus J, Rivas I, Persavento C, Sunyer J, Foraster M. The effects of exposure to road traffic noise at school on central auditory pathway functional connectivity. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 226:115574. [PMID: 36841520 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
As the world becomes more urbanized, more people become exposed to traffic and the risks associated with a higher exposure to road traffic noise increase. Excessive exposure to environmental noise could potentially interfere with functional maturation of the auditory brain in developing individuals. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between exposure to annual average road traffic noise (LAeq) in schools and functional connectivity of key elements of the central auditory pathway in schoolchildren. A total of 229 children from 34 representative schools in the city of Barcelona with ages between 8 and 12 years (49.2% girls) were evaluated. LAeq was obtained as the mean of 2-consecutive day measurements inside classrooms before lessons started following standard procedures to obtain an indicator of long-term road traffic noise levels. A region-of-interest functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) approach was adopted. Functional connectivity maps were generated for the inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body of the thalamus and primary auditory cortex as key levels of the central auditory pathway. Road traffic noise in schools was significantly associated with stronger connectivity between the inferior colliculus and a bilateral thalamic region adjacent to the medial geniculate body, and with stronger connectivity between the medial geniculate body and a bilateral brainstem region adjacent to the inferior colliculus. Such a functional connectivity strengthening effect did not extend to the cerebral cortex. The anatomy of the association implicating subcortical relays suggests that prolonged road traffic noise exposure in developing individuals may accelerate maturation in the basic elements of the auditory pathway. Future research is warranted to establish whether such a faster maturation in early pathway levels may ultimately reduce the developing potential in the whole auditory system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerard Martínez-Vilavella
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jesus Pujol
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Salud Mental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Laura Blanco-Hinojo
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Salud Mental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Deus
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ioar Rivas
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBEREsp), Spain
| | - Cecilia Persavento
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBEREsp), Spain
| | - Jordi Sunyer
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBEREsp), Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Foraster
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBEREsp), Spain; PHAGEX Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), Barcelona, Spain.
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Heckner MK, Cieslik EC, Patil KR, Gell M, Eickhoff SB, Hoffstädter F, Langner R. Predicting executive functioning from functional brain connectivity: network specificity and age effects. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:6495-6507. [PMID: 36635227 PMCID: PMC10233269 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Healthy aging is associated with altered executive functioning (EF). Earlier studies found age-related differences in EF performance to be partially accounted for by changes in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within brain networks associated with EF. However, it remains unclear which role RSFC in EF-associated networks plays as a marker for individual differences in EF performance. Here, we investigated to what degree individual abilities across 3 different EF tasks can be predicted from RSFC within EF-related, perceptuo-motor, whole-brain, and random networks separately in young and old adults. Specifically, we were interested if (i) young and old adults differ in predictability depending on network or EF demand level (high vs. low), (ii) an EF-related network outperforms EF-unspecific networks when predicting EF abilities, and (iii) this pattern changes with demand level. Both our uni- and multivariate analysis frameworks analyzing interactions between age × demand level × networks revealed overall low prediction accuracies and a general lack of specificity regarding neurobiological networks for predicting EF abilities. This questions the idea of finding markers for individual EF performance in RSFC patterns and calls for future research replicating the current approach in different task states, brain modalities, different, larger samples, and with more comprehensive behavioral measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa K Heckner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Edna C Cieslik
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Kaustubh R Patil
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Martin Gell
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Felix Hoffstädter
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Robert Langner
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Qi L, Xu C, Wang X, Du J, He Q, Wu D, Wang X, Jin G, Wang Q, Chen J, Wang D, Zhang H, Zhang X, Wei P, Shan Y, Cui Z, Wang Y, Shu Y, Zhao G, Yu T, Ren L. Intracranial direct electrical mapping reveals the functional architecture of the human basal ganglia. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1123. [PMID: 36274105 PMCID: PMC9588773 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04084-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The basal ganglia play a key role in integrating a variety of human behaviors through the cortico–basal ganglia–thalamo–cortical loops. Accordingly, basal ganglia disturbances are implicated in a broad range of debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite accumulating knowledge of the basal ganglia functional organization, the neural substrates and circuitry subserving functions have not been directly mapped in humans. By direct electrical stimulation of distinct basal ganglia regions in 35 refractory epilepsy patients undergoing stereoelectroencephalography recordings, we here offer currently the most complete overview of basal ganglia functional characterization, extending not only to the expected sensorimotor responses, but also to vestibular sensations, autonomic responses, cognitive and multimodal effects. Specifically, some locations identified responses weren’t predicted by the model derived from large-scale meta-analyses. Our work may mark an important step toward understanding the functional architecture of the human basal ganglia and provide mechanistic explanations of non-motor symptoms in brain circuit disorders. Direct electrical stimulation of the basal ganglia using implanted SEEG electrodes produced a variety of motor and non-motor effects in human participants, providing insight into the functional architecture of this key brain region.
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Ngo GH, Nguyen M, Chen NF, Sabuncu MR. A transformer-Based neural language model that synthesizes brain activation maps from free-form text queries. Med Image Anal 2022; 81:102540. [PMID: 35914394 DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2022.102540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies are often limited by the number of subjects and cognitive processes that can be feasibly interrogated. However, a rapidly growing number of neuroscientific studies have collectively accumulated an extensive wealth of results. Digesting this growing literature and obtaining novel insights remains to be a major challenge, since existing meta-analytic tools are constrained to keyword queries. In this paper, we present Text2Brain, an easy to use tool for synthesizing brain activation maps from open-ended text queries. Text2Brain was built on a transformer-based neural network language model and a coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Text2Brain combines a transformer-based text encoder and a 3D image generator, and was trained on variable-length text snippets and their corresponding activation maps sampled from 13,000 published studies. In our experiments, we demonstrate that Text2Brain can synthesize meaningful neural activation patterns from various free-form textual descriptions. Text2Brain is available at https://braininterpreter.com as a web-based tool for efficiently searching through the vast neuroimaging literature and generating new hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gia H Ngo
- School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Cornell University, USA.
| | - Minh Nguyen
- School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Cornell University, USA
| | - Nancy F Chen
- Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR, Singapore
| | - Mert R Sabuncu
- School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Cornell University, USA; Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA
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Carson RG, Holton E. Deficits in rate of force production during multifinger tasks are associated with cognitive status. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2022; 37:10.1002/gps.5732. [PMID: 35586946 PMCID: PMC9321751 DOI: 10.1002/gps.5732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The multifinger force deficit (MFFD) is the decline in force generated by an individual finger as the number of fingers contributing to the action is increased. It has been proposed that as a measure of neural sufficiency rather than muscle status, it provides a means of detecting individuals at risk of cognitive decline. Age-related deficits in central neural drive exert a disproportionate impact on the rate at which force can be generated. We examined whether a MFFD derived from the maximum rate at which force is generated, is more sensitive to individual differences in cognitive status, than one calculated using the maximum level of force. METHODS Monotonic associations between each of two variants of the MFFD, and cognition (measured with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment), were estimated cross sectionally using generalized partial rank correlations, in which age, level of education and degree of handedness were included as covariates. The participants (n=26) were community dwelling adults aged 66-87. RESULTS The MFFD derived using the maximum rate of force development was negatively associated with cognitive status. The association for the MFFD based on the maximum level of force, was not statistically reliable. The associations with cognitive status obtained for both variants of the MFFD were of greater magnitude than those reported previously for standard grip strength dynamometry. CONCLUSION The sensitivity with which the MFFD detects risk of cognitive decline may be enhanced by using the maximum rate of force developed by each finger, rather than the maximum force generated by each finger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard G. Carson
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of PsychologyTrinity College DublinDublin 2Ireland,School of PsychologyQueen's University BelfastBelfastNorthern IrelandUK
| | - Eimíle Holton
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of PsychologyTrinity College DublinDublin 2Ireland
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