Rivka Ravid, W.Kamphorst, L. Boe, P.Van der Valk, C.Polman, F. Barkhof, J. Guerts, H. Vrenken, J. Bot The Netherlands Brain Bank, Pathological Institue , MS Centrum , Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Brain Banks for research on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are an essential repository for post-mortem specimens obtained at autopsy.The rapidly growing number of sophisticated neurobiological techniques applied on post-mortem brain tissues increases the pressure on brain banks to supply suitable autopsy material to the scientific community. The golden standard protocol of modern models for brain banks should comprise the following 7 basic entities; 1.A well established local donor system in which consent is obtained for the use of tissues for scientific research. 2. Compatibility of protocols for tissue procurement, management, preparation and storage for diagnostics and scientific research. 3. Rapid autopsies with a very short post-mortem delay and a fresh dissection; these are a prerequisite for an increasing range of ...

The FIRST (Functional Imaging Research Schizophrenia Testbed) Biomedical Informatics Research Network (fBIRN) program is the first-ever large scale, multi-center fMRI study of schizophrenia (http://www.nbirn.net). To accurately pool fMRI scan data across sites of different field strengths, scanner manufactures and pulse sequence types, a calibration protocol was implemented in which 5 normal volunteers were scanned at each of the 11 participating fBIRN sites. We present the initial results of a subset of this data and compare activation results from a sensorimotor (SM) and hypoxic challenge or breath-hold (BH) task (which putatively measures vascular responsivity devoid of cognition). Because cerbral perfusion is a filter through which neural events are interpreted in fMRI, measures of BOLD signal taken from BH scans were used to normalize activation data from cognitive SM tasks between subjects and sites. Subject dependent ROIs in visual, auditory and motor cortices were defined using activation maps from...

Non-human animal studies have shown that the structural development of the visual cortex critically depends on postnatal visual input. Brain-imaging studies in humans blind from birth have repeatedly reported a higher cortical thickness of early visual ...

Methods were developed to combine high field MRI with SPECT to localize radiolabled binding of I125 β-CIT to the dopamine transporter in awake rats. With a custom made rat restrainer and RF electronics that is both MRI and SPECT compatible (Insight Neur...

Abstract Empathy is thought to be an advanced capability in human, which allows the individual to comprehend other’s feelings by taking a stand on others. Recently, rodents have been successfully used in studying empathy-related behavior. Since the new ...

Detecting mRNAs by MRI Christina H. Liu, Young R. Kim, Jia Q. Ren, Florian Eichler, Bruce R. Rosen, and Philip K. Liu (see pages [713–722][1]) To develop strategies for measuring gene expression in vivo , Liu et al. coupled oligonucleotides to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs

A comprehensive characterization of intra-striatal ICH produced in rats by the double-injection method (15 µL fresh arterial blood over 3 min, followed 7 min later by 30 µL over 5 min). Sequential susceptibility-weighted (SWI) and T2 MR imaging was carried out on a 4.7T MRI at 0-1, 6, 24, 72h, and 7 days after induction of ICH. Neurological status before ICH and after treatment (at 4, 24, 48, 72h and 7 days) was graded as previously described1. Following the final MRI study, brains were fixed and re-imaged on an 11.7T MRI and studied by histopathology and immunochemistry. SWI MRI revealed a consistent hematoma involving the striatum and overlying corpus callosum, with significant volume changes over time. Histological hematoma volume at 7d was 5.1±0.1 mm3 (SEM). Other findings included peripheral microglial activation and macrophage infiltration (ED-1), peripheral extracellular iron deposition and hemoxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression; and bilateral astrocytic activation (GFAP). The area of neuronal loss by Neu...

Visual-vestibular integration is a key feature of human self-motion perception. The parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC) and the posterior insular cortex (PIC) are relevant brain areas of the visual-vestibular network. Here, we examined the white ma...

D-serine is essential for the induction of NMDA-receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity and cognitive processes such as attention. Cerebral D-serine levels are diminished in aged rats which could account for the deterioration of these functions with agin...

The study of cognitive impairment associated with hearing loss has recently garnered considerable interest. However, the relationship between them has not been directly investigated. We used positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imag...