@article {817,
	title = {The neural correlates of learned motor acuity.},
	journal = {J Neurophysiol},
	volume = {112},
	year = {2014},
	month = {2014 Aug 15},
	pages = {971-80},
	abstract = {<p>We recently defined a component of motor skill learning as "motor acuity," quantified as a shift in the speed-accuracy trade-off function for a task. These shifts are primarily driven by reductions in movement variability. To determine the neural correlates of improvement in motor acuity, we devised a motor task compatible with magnetic resonance brain imaging that required subjects to make finely controlled wrist movements under visual guidance. Subjects were imaged on day 1 and day 5 while they performed this task and were trained outside the scanner on intervening days 2, 3, and 4. The potential confound of performance changes between days 1 and 5 was avoided by constraining movement time to a fixed duration. After training, subjects showed a marked increase in success rate and a reduction in trial-by-trial variability for the trained task but not for an untrained control task, without changes in mean trajectory. The decrease in variability for the trained task was associated with increased activation in contralateral primary motor and premotor cortical areas and in ipsilateral cerebellum. A global nonlocalizing multivariate analysis confirmed that learning was associated with increased overall brain activation. We suggest that motor acuity is acquired through increases in the number of neurons recruited in contralateral motor cortical areas and in ipsilateral cerebellum, which could reflect increased signal-to-noise ratio in motor output and improved state estimation for feedback corrections, respectively.</p>},
	issn = {1522-1598},
	doi = {10.1152/jn.00897.2013},
	author = {Shmuelof, Lior and Yang, Juemin and Caffo, Brian and Mazzoni, Pietro and Krakauer, John W}
}
@article {815,
	title = {Neuroinflammation and brain atrophy in former NFL players: An in vivo multimodal imaging pilot study.},
	journal = {Neurobiol Dis},
	volume = {74C},
	year = {2014},
	month = {2014 Nov 7},
	pages = {58-65},
	abstract = {<p>There are growing concerns about potential delayed, neuropsychiatric consequences (e.g, cognitive decline, mood or anxiety disorders) of sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI). Autopsy studies of brains from a limited number of former athletes have described characteristic, pathologic changes of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) leading to questions about the relationship between these pathologic and the neuropsychiatric disturbances seen in former athletes. Research in this area will depend on in vivo methods that characterize molecular changes in the brain, linking CTE and other sports-related pathologies with delayed emergence of neuropsychiatric symptoms. In this pilot project we studied former National Football League (NFL) players using new neuroimaging techniques and clinical measures of cognitive functioning. We hypothesized that former NFL players would show molecular and structural changes in medial temporal and parietal lobe structures as well as specific cognitive deficits, namely those of verbal learning and memory. We observed a significant increase in binding of [(11)C]DPA-713 to the translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of brain injury and repair, in several brain regions, such as the supramarginal gyrus and right amygdala, in 9 former NFL players compared to 9 age-matched, healthy controls. We also observed significant atrophy of the right hippocampus. Finally, we report that these same former players had varied performance on a test of verbal learning and memory, suggesting that these molecular and pathologic changes may play a role in cognitive decline. These results suggest that localized brain injury and repair, indicated by increased [(11)C]DPA-713 binding to TSPO, may be linked to history of NFL play. [(11)C]DPA-713 PET is a promising new tool that can be used in future study design to examine further the relationship between TSPO expression in brain injury and repair, selective regional brain atrophy, and the potential link to deficits in verbal learning and memory after NFL play.</p>},
	issn = {1095-953X},
	doi = {10.1016/j.nbd.2014.10.019},
	author = {Coughlin, Jennifer M and Wang, Yuchuan and Munro, Cynthia A and Ma, Shuangchao and Yue, Chen and Chen, Shaojie and Airan, Raag and Kim, Pearl K and Adams, Ashley V and Garcia, Cinthya and Higgs, Cecilia and Sair, Haris I and Sawa, Akira and Smith, Gwenn and Lyketsos, Constantine G and Caffo, Brian and Kassiou, Michael and Guilarte, Tomas R and Pomper, Martin G}
}
