Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

PET and MRI provide complementary information in the study of the human brain. Simultaneous PET/MRI data acquisition allows the spatial and temporal correlation of the measured signals, creating opportunities impossible to realize using stand-alone instruments. This paper reviews the methodologic improvements and potential neurologic and psychiatric applications of this novel technology. We first present methods for improving the performance and information content of each modality by using the information provided by the other technique.

Recent work suggests the existence of a specialized neural system underlying social processing that may be relatively spared with age, unlike pervasive aging-related decline occurring in many cognitive domains. We investigated how neural mechanisms underlying social evaluation are engaged with age, and how age-related changes to socioemotional goals affect recruitment of regions within this network. In a functional MRI study, 15 young and 15 older adults formed behavior-based impressions of individuals.

The standard modeling framework in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is predicated on assumptions of linearity, time invariance and stationarity. These assumptions are rarely checked because doing so requires specialized software, although failure to do so can lead to bias and mistaken inference. Identifying model violations is an essential but largely neglected step in standard fMRI data analysis.

Research in animals and humans has demonstrated that the hippocampus is critical for retrieving distinct representations of overlapping sequences of information. There is recent evidence that the caudate nucleus and orbitofrontal cortex are also involved in disambiguation of overlapping spatial representations. The hippocampus and caudate are functionally distinct regions, but both have anatomical links with the orbitofrontal cortex.

MR imaging at high magnetic fields benefits from an increased signal-to-noise ratio; however T(1)-based MR contrast agents show decreasing relaxivity (r(1)) at higher fields. High field, high relaxivity contrast agents can be designed by carefully controlling the rotational dynamics of the molecule. To this end, we investigated applications of the alanine analogue of Gd(DOTA), Gd(DOTAla). Fmoc-protected DOTAla suitable for solid phase peptide synthesis was synthesized and integrated into polypeptide structures.

Electrical stimulation is currently used to treat a wide range of cardiovascular, sensory and neurological diseases. Despite its success, there are significant limitations to its application, including incompatibility with magnetic resonance imaging, limited control of electric fields and decreased performance associated with tissue inflammation. Magnetic stimulation overcomes these limitations but existing devices (that is, transcranial magnetic stimulation) are large, reducing their translation to chronic applications.

Intracranial electrocortical recording and stimulation can provide unique knowledge about functional brain anatomy in patients undergoing brain surgery. This approach is commonly used in the treatment of medically refractory epilepsy. However, it can be very difficult to integrate the results of cortical recordings with other brain mapping modalities, particularly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

BACKGROUND: There has been increasing interest in the interaction of the basal ganglia with the cerebellum and the brainstem in motor control and movement disorders. In addition, it has been suggested that these subcortical connections with the basal ganglia may help to coordinate a network of regions involved in mediating posture and stabilization. While studies in animal models support a role for this circuitry in the pathophysiology of the movement disorder dystonia, thus far, there is only indirect evidence for this in humans with dystonia.

Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from two independent samples of healthy adults, we parsed the amygdala's intrinsic connectivity into three partially distinct large-scale networks that strongly resemble the known anatomical organization of amygdala connectivity in rodents and monkeys.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether small diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions occur beyond the acute posthemorrhage time window in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to characterize their spatial distribution in patients with lobar and deep cerebral hemorrhages.