The incidence of language disabilities among the survivors of newborn special care ranges from 10 - 30%, and the pathophysiology of this injury remains poorly explained. Because the central processing of auditory information is critical to the synthesis of language systems in the developing brain, we tested the hypothesis that functional MRI (fMRI) could detect neonatal auditory cortical activation. We performed echo-planar functional brain imaging on 9 non-sedated newborn infants at term. Subjects were presented with a frequency-modulated pure tone for 30 second epochs interleaved with 60 seconds of rest, and the BOLD signal response was mapped in five 5 mm-thick slices running parallel to the superior temporal gyrus. The same protocol was run on 4 healthy adult subjects. Conventional MRI structural imaging revealed no abnormalities for any of the subjects. BOLD signal in response to auditory stimulus was detected in all 4 adults and 8 of 9 neonates. fMRI studies of adult subjects demonstrated increased s...

We correlated tissue pathology to various types of post-mortem MRI from 5 secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Prior to rapid autopsy protocol, the donor underwent a post-mortem in situ MRI which included T2-weighted, T1-weighted and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) images. Lesions were segmented and classified automatically in the post-mortem MRI. Following imaging, one hemisphere was fixed whole. A post-fixation MRI was performed in a custom-designed slicing box to aid in co-registration of MRI and tissue location. The fixed brain was cut into 1 cm thick coronal slices. 66 areas of interest were selected for immunohistochemical analysis using the following MRI categories: regions that were normal-appearing on all images (N=15); regions of T2 hyperintensity that were normal-appearing on T1 and MTR (T2 only,N=22); and regions of T2 hyperintensity which were hypointense on T1 and MTR (T2T1MTR,N=29). Normal-appearing regions on MRI corresponded to myelinated white matter. 73% of T2 only ...

Diabetes mellitus targets the human brain by contributing to the risk of stroke and contributing to white matter abnormalities, demonstrable using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In humans, these abnormalities have been associated with cognitive decline as well as subtle impairments in reasoning and coordination skills. We studied an in vivo model of streptozotocin-induced chronic long term (8 months) experimental diabetes in mice and littermate age- and sex-matched controls using MRI. MRI sequences obtained under general anesthesia included T1-weighted images, T2-weighted images and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) images. All MRI sequences were assessed blindly. As compared to controls, diabetic mouse brains demonstrated significant differences in T2 multi-echo image values at subcortical regions including striatum, thalamus, amygdala, substantia nigra, as well as hippocampus. Visually identified areas of T2 abnormalities were seen within regions such as the striatum, substantia nigra, and hippocam...

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) must transform 3D head velocity into commands to the extraocular muscles (EOMs) that drive appropriately directed eye velocity. It has been assumed that the left and right semicircular canals (SCCs) are geometrically al...

The right hemisphere of the brain can take over language functions when the left hemisphere is damaged early in development, according to research in four-year-old children published in eNeuro.

An imaging study of the brain and spinal cord published in JNeurosci reveals pain processing changes in healthy men after receiving a short-term application of a strong opioid.

Altered development of a part of the auditory cortex in preterm infants is associated with poorer language skills in early childhood.

In-vivo monitoring of disease processes by subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an increasing role in neurobiological research. Currently available MR-sequences and standard contrast agents such as Gadolinium(Gd)-DTPA depict only unspecific...

Read advocacy news from the week of April 15, 2016.

The new function of unused cortical regions is not necessarily determined by the function of nearby cortical regions, according to new research in adults born without one hand, published in JNeurosci.