@article {798, title = {Assessing the "physical cliff": detailed quantification of age-related differences in daily patterns of physical activity.}, journal = {J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci}, volume = {69}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Aug}, pages = {973-9}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: In spite of evidence that physical activity has beneficial effects on health and age-related functional decline, there is a scarcity of detailed and accurate information on objectively measured daily activity and patterns of such activity in older adults.

METHODS: Participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 611, 50\% male, mean age 67, range 32-93) wore the Actiheart portable activity monitor for 7 days in the free-living environment. The association between activity and age was modeled using a continuous log-linear regression of activity counts on age with sex, body mass index, employment status, functional performance, and comorbid conditions as covariates.

RESULTS: In the fully adjusted model, continuous analyses demonstrated that overall physical activity counts were 1.3\% lower for each year increase in age. Although there were no differences among morning levels of activity, there was significantly lower afternoon and evening activity in older individuals (p < .01). After adjusting for age, poor functional performance, nonworking status, and higher body mass index were independently associated with less physical activity (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: The use of accelerometers to characterize minute-by-minute intensity, cumulative physical activity counts, and daily activity patterns provides detailed data not gathered by traditional subjective methods, particularly at low levels of activity. The findings of a 1.3\% decrease per year in activity from mid-to-late life, and the corresponding drop in afternoon and evening activity, provide new information that may be useful when targeting future interventions. Further, this methodology addresses essential gaps in understanding activity patterns and trends in more sedentary sectors of the population.

}, keywords = {Accelerometry, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Employment, Female, Health Behavior, Humans, Linear Models, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Physical Fitness, Sedentary Lifestyle}, issn = {1758-535X}, doi = {10.1093/gerona/glt199}, author = {Schrack, Jennifer A and Zipunnikov, Vadim and Goldsmith, Jeff and Bai, Jiawei and Simonsick, Eleanor M and Crainiceanu, Ciprian and Ferrucci, Luigi} } @article {831, title = {Disruption of functional organization within the primary motor cortex in children with autism.}, journal = {Hum Brain Mapp}, volume = {35}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb}, pages = {567-80}, abstract = {

Accumulating evidence suggests that motor impairments are prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), relate to the social and communicative deficits at the core of the diagnosis and may reflect abnormal connectivity within brain networks underlying motor control and learning. Parcellation of resting-state functional connectivity data using spectral clustering approaches has been shown to be an effective means of visualizing functional organization within the brain but has most commonly been applied to explorations of normal brain function. This article presents a parcellation of a key area of the motor network, the primary motor cortex (M1), a key area of the motor control network, in adults, typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD and introduces methods for selecting the number of parcels, matching parcels across groups and testing group differences. The parcellation is based solely on patterns of connectivity between individual M1 voxels and all voxels outside of M1, and within all groups, a gross dorsomedial to ventrolateral organization emerged within M1 which was left-right symmetric. Although this gross organizational scheme was present in both groups of children, statistically significant group differences in the size and segregation of M1 parcels within regions of the motor homunculus corresponding to the upper and lower limbs were observed. Qualitative comparison of the M1 parcellation for children with ASD with that of younger and older TD children suggests that these organizational differences, with a lack of differentiation between lower limb/trunk regions and upper limb/hand regions, may be due, at least in part, to a delay in functional specialization within the motor cortex.

}, keywords = {Adult, Autistic Disorder, brain mapping, Child, Developmental Disabilities, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Cortex, Oxygen, Young Adult}, issn = {1097-0193}, doi = {10.1002/hbm.22188}, author = {Nebel, Mary Beth and Joel, Suresh E and Muschelli, John and Barber, Anita D and Caffo, Brian S and Pekar, James J and Mostofsky, Stewart H} } @article {804, title = {Normalization and extraction of interpretable metrics from raw accelerometry data.}, journal = {Biostatistics}, volume = {15}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jan}, pages = {102-16}, abstract = {

We introduce an explicit set of metrics for human activity based on high-density acceleration recordings from a hip-worn tri-axial accelerometer. These metrics are based on two concepts: (i) Time Active, a measure of the length of time when activity is distinguishable from rest and (ii) AI, a measure of the relative amplitude of activity relative to rest. All measurements are normalized (have the same interpretation across subjects and days), easy to explain and implement, and reproducible across platforms and software implementations. Metrics were validated by visual inspection of results and quantitative in-lab replication studies, and by an association study with health outcomes.

}, keywords = {Acceleration, Aged, Baltimore, Cohort Studies, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Motor Activity}, issn = {1468-4357}, doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxt029}, author = {Bai, Jiawei and He, Bing and Shou, Haochang and Zipunnikov, Vadim and Glass, Thomas A and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M} } @article {806, title = {Acute lesions that impair affective empathy.}, journal = {Brain}, volume = {136}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Aug}, pages = {2539-49}, abstract = {

Functional imaging studies of healthy participants and previous lesion studies have provided evidence that empathy involves dissociable cognitive functions that rely on at least partially distinct neural networks that can be individually impaired by brain damage. These studies converge in support of the proposal that affective empathy--making inferences about how another person feels--engages at least the following areas: prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal gyrus, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, temporal pole, amygdala and temporoparietal junction. We hypothesized that right-sided lesions to any one of these structures, except temporoparietal junction, would cause impaired affective empathy (whereas bilateral damage to temporoparietal junction would be required to disrupt empathy). We studied 27 patients with acute right hemisphere ischaemic stroke and 24 neurologically intact inpatients on a test of affective empathy. Acute impairment of affective empathy was associated with infarcts in the hypothesized network, particularly temporal pole and anterior insula. All patients with impaired affective empathy were also impaired in comprehension of affective prosody, but many patients with impairments in prosodic comprehension had spared affective empathy. Patients with impaired affective empathy were older, but showed no difference in performance on tests of hemispatial neglect, volume of infarct or sex distribution compared with patients with intact affective empathy.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Brain, Brain Ischemia, brain mapping, Cognition, Emotions, Empathy, Female, Functional Laterality, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Net, Social Perception, Stroke}, issn = {1460-2156}, doi = {10.1093/brain/awt177}, author = {Leigh, Richard and Oishi, Kenichi and Hsu, John and Lindquist, Martin and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Jarso, Samson and Crainiceanu, Ciprian and Mori, Susumu and Hillis, Argye E} } @article {828, title = {Axial 3D gradient-echo imaging for improved multiple sclerosis lesion detection in the cervical spinal cord at 3T.}, journal = {Neuroradiology}, volume = {55}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar}, pages = {431-9}, abstract = {

INTRODUCTION: In multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord imaging can help in diagnosis and follow-up evaluation. However, spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is technically challenging, and image quality, particularly in the axial plane, is typically poor compared to brain MRI. Because gradient-recalled echo (GRE) images might offer improved contrast resolution within the spinal cord at high magnetic field strength, both without and with a magnetization transfer prepulse, we compared them to T2-weighted fast-spin-echo (T2-FSE) images for the detection of MS lesions in the cervical cord at 3T.

METHODS: On a clinical 3T MRI scanner, we studied 62 MS cases and 19 healthy volunteers. Axial 3D GRE sequences were performed without and with off-resonance radiofrequency irradiation. To mimic clinical practice, all images were evaluated in conjunction with linked images from a sagittal short tau inversion recovery scan, which is considered the gold standard for lesion detection in MS. Two experienced observers recorded image quality, location and size of focal lesions, atrophy, swelling, and diffuse signal abnormality independently at first and then in consensus.

RESULTS: The number and volume of lesions detected with high confidence was more than three times as high on both GRE sequences compared to T2-FSE (p < 0.0001). Approximately 5 \% of GRE scans were affected by artifacts that interfered with image interpretation, not significantly different from T2W-FSE.

CONCLUSIONS: Axial 3D GRE sequences are useful for MS lesion detection when compared to 2D T2-FSE sequences in the cervical spinal cord at 3T and should be considered when examining intramedullary spinal cord lesions.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Algorithms, Cervical Vertebrae, Echo-Planar Imaging, Female, Humans, Image Enhancement, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specificity, Spinal Cord}, issn = {1432-1920}, doi = {10.1007/s00234-012-1118-5}, author = {Ozturk, Arzu and Aygun, Nafi and Smith, Seth A and Caffo, Brian and Calabresi, Peter A and Reich, Daniel S} } @article {810, title = {Combining hidden Markov models for comparing the dynamics of multiple sleep electroencephalograms.}, journal = {Stat Med}, volume = {32}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Aug 30}, pages = {3342-56}, abstract = {

In this manuscript, we consider methods for the analysis of populations of electroencephalogram signals during sleep for the study of sleep disorders using hidden Markov models (HMMs). Notably, we propose an easily implemented method for simultaneously modeling multiple time series that involve large amounts of data. We apply these methods to study sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS), a landmark study of SDB and cardiovascular consequences. We use the entire, longitudinally collected, SHHS cohort to develop HMM population parameters, which we then apply to obtain subject-specific Markovian predictions. From these predictions, we create several indices of interest, such as transition frequencies between latent states. Our HMM analysis of electroencephalogram signals uncovers interesting findings regarding differences in brain activity during sleep between those with and without SDB. These findings include stability of the percent time spent in HMM latent states across matched diseased and non-diseased groups and differences in the rate of transitioning.

}, keywords = {Data Interpretation, Statistical, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Markov Chains, Middle Aged, Models, Statistical, Sleep Apnea Syndromes}, issn = {1097-0258}, doi = {10.1002/sim.5747}, author = {Langrock, Roland and Swihart, Bruce J and Caffo, Brian S and Punjabi, Naresh M and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M} } @article {829, title = {Developmental changes in within- and between-network connectivity between late childhood and adulthood.}, journal = {Neuropsychologia}, volume = {51}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jan}, pages = {156-67}, abstract = {

A number of behavioral changes occur between late childhood and adulthood, including maturation of social cognition, reward receptivity, impulsiveness, risk-taking and cognitive control. Although some of these abilities show linear improvements with age, some abilities may temporarily worsen, reflecting both the restructuring and/or strengthening of connections within some brain systems. The current study uses resting state functional connectivity to examine developmental differences between late childhood and adulthood in task positive (TP) regions, which play a role in cognitive control functions, and task negative (TN) regions, which play a role in social cognition, self-referential, and internally-directed thought. Within the TP network, developmental differences in connectivity were found with the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Within the TN network, developmental differences in connectivity were found with a broad area of the medial prefrontal cortex and the right parahippocampal gyrus. Connections between the two networks also showed significant developmental differences. Stronger anticorrelations were found in the TN maps of the adult group for the right anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral anterior inferior parietal lobule, bilateral superior parietal lobule and an anterior portion of the right posterior cingulate cortex. There was a significant brain-behavior relationship between the strength of anticorrelation in these regions and inhibitory control performance on two Go/No-go tasks suggesting that the development of anticorrelations between late childhood and adulthood supports mature inhibitory control. Overall, maturation of these networks occurred in specific regions which are associated with cognitive control of goal-directed behavior, including those involved in working memory, social cognition, and inhibitory control.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Analysis of Variance, Brain, brain mapping, Child, Child Development, Cognition, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Inhibition (Psychology), Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxygen, Reaction Time, Young Adult}, issn = {1873-3514}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.11.011}, author = {Barber, Anita D and Caffo, Brian S and Pekar, James J and Mostofsky, Stewart H} } @article {826, title = {Effects of working memory demand on neural mechanisms of motor response selection and control.}, journal = {J Cogn Neurosci}, volume = {25}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Aug}, pages = {1235-48}, abstract = {

Inhibitory control commonly recruits a number of frontal regions: pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), frontal eye fields (FEFs), and right-lateralized posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), dorsal anterior insula (DAI), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and inferior frontal junction (IFJ). These regions may directly implement inhibitory motor control or may be more generally involved in executive control functions. Two go/no-go tasks were used to distinguish regions specifically recruited for inhibition from those that additionally show increased activity with working memory demand. The pre-SMA and IFG were recruited for inhibition in both tasks and did not have greater activation for working memory demand on no-go trials, consistent with a role in inhibitory control. Activation in pre-SMA also responded to response selection demand and was increased with working memory on go trials specifically. The bilateral FEF and right DAI were commonly active for no-go trials. The FEF was also recruited to a greater degree with working memory demand on go trials and may bias top-down information when stimulus-response mappings change. The DAI, additionally responded to increased working memory demand on both go and no-go trials and may be involved in accessing sustained task information, alerting, or autonomic changes when cognitive demands increase. DLPFC activation was consistent with a role in working memory retrieval on both go and no-go trials. The inferior frontal junction, on the other hand, had greater activation with working memory specifically for no-go trials and may detect salient stimuli when the task requires frequent updating of working memory representations.

}, keywords = {Adult, Brain, brain mapping, Choice Behavior, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Inhibition (Psychology), Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Motor Activity, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxygen, Reaction Time, Young Adult}, issn = {1530-8898}, doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_00394}, author = {Barber, Anita D and Caffo, Brian S and Pekar, James J and Mostofsky, Stewart H} } @article {839, title = {An fMRI-based neurologic signature of physical pain.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {368}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Apr 11}, pages = {1388-97}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Persistent pain is measured by means of self-report, the sole reliance on which hampers diagnosis and treatment. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) holds promise for identifying objective measures of pain, but brain measures that are sensitive and specific to physical pain have not yet been identified.

METHODS: In four studies involving a total of 114 participants, we developed an fMRI-based measure that predicts pain intensity at the level of the individual person. In study 1, we used machine-learning analyses to identify a pattern of fMRI activity across brain regions--a neurologic signature--that was associated with heat-induced pain. The pattern included the thalamus, the posterior and anterior insulae, the secondary somatosensory cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the periaqueductal gray matter, and other regions. In study 2, we tested the sensitivity and specificity of the signature to pain versus warmth in a new sample. In study 3, we assessed specificity relative to social pain, which activates many of the same brain regions as physical pain. In study 4, we assessed the responsiveness of the measure to the analgesic agent remifentanil.

RESULTS: In study 1, the neurologic signature showed sensitivity and specificity of 94\% or more (95\% confidence interval [CI], 89 to 98) in discriminating painful heat from nonpainful warmth, pain anticipation, and pain recall. In study 2, the signature discriminated between painful heat and nonpainful warmth with 93\% sensitivity and specificity (95\% CI, 84 to 100). In study 3, it discriminated between physical pain and social pain with 85\% sensitivity (95\% CI, 76 to 94) and 73\% specificity (95\% CI, 61 to 84) and with 95\% sensitivity and specificity in a forced-choice test of which of two conditions was more painful. In study 4, the strength of the signature response was substantially reduced when remifentanil was administered.

CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to use fMRI to assess pain elicited by noxious heat in healthy persons. Future studies are needed to assess whether the signature predicts clinical pain. (Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and others.).

}, keywords = {Adult, Analgesics, Opioid, Artificial Intelligence, Brain, brain mapping, Female, Hot Temperature, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Pain, Pain Measurement, Piperidines, ROC Curve, Sensitivity and Specificity, Young Adult}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa1204471}, author = {Wager, Tor D and Atlas, Lauren Y and Lindquist, Martin A and Roy, Mathieu and Woo, Choong-Wan and Kross, Ethan} } @article {809, title = {In vivo identification of morphologic retinal abnormalities in neuromyelitis optica.}, journal = {Neurology}, volume = {80}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Apr 9}, pages = {1406-14}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To assess eyes with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) for morphologic retinal abnormalities utilizing high-definition optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 39 patients with NMO spectrum disorders and 39 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent spectral-domain OCT and visual function testing.

RESULTS: Microcystic macular edema (MME) of the inner nuclear layer (INL) was identified in 10 of 39 patients (26\%) and was exclusively found in eyes with a history of optic neuritis (ON). MME eyes had lower high- and low-contrast letter-acuity scores (100\%: p = 0.002; 2.5\%: p = 0.002; 1.25\%: p = 0.004), lower peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness (p = 0.04), lower macular RNFL thickness (p = 0.004), lower ganglion cell layer + inner plexiform layer (GCIP) thickness (p = 0.007), higher INL thickness (p < 0.001), and a greater number of ON episodes (p = 0.008) relative to non-MME eyes with a history of ON. After adjusting for history of multiple ON episodes, these findings remained significant for macular-RNFL thickness (p = 0.03), INL thickness (p < 0.001), and 100\% and 2.5\% contrast letter-acuity scores (p = 0.008 and p = 0.03, respectively). NMO spectrum eyes without ON history had lower macular RNFL thickness (p = 0.003), GCIP thickness (p = 0.002), outer nuclear layer thickness (p = 0.02), and low-contrast letter-acuity scores (2.5\%: p = 0.03; 1.25\%: p = 0.002) compared to healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS: We have identified a pattern of retinal morphologic abnormalities in NMO that is associated with severe retinal axonal and neuronal loss and corresponding visual disability. MME may contribute to poor visual outcomes following NMO-associated ON or alternatively represent a marker of ON severity. Additionally, our results support that subclinical involvement of the anterior visual pathway may occur in NMO spectrum disorders.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aquaporin 4, Autoantibodies, Case-Control Studies, Chi-Square Distribution, Female, Humans, Macular Edema, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Fibers, Neuromyelitis Optica, Retina, Tomography, Optical Coherence, Vision Tests, Visual Acuity, Young Adult}, issn = {1526-632X}, doi = {10.1212/WNL.0b013e31828c2f7a}, author = {Sotirchos, Elias S and Saidha, Shiv and Byraiah, Gita and Mealy, Maureen A and Ibrahim, Mohamed A and Sepah, Yasir Jamal and Newsome, Scott D and Ratchford, John N and Frohman, Elliot M and Balcer, Laura J and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M and Nguyen, Quan Dong and Levy, Michael and Calabresi, Peter A} } @article {803, title = {Quantifying the reliability of image replication studies: the image intraclass correlation coefficient (I2C2).}, journal = {Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci}, volume = {13}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Dec}, pages = {714-24}, abstract = {

This article proposes the image intraclass correlation (I2C2) coefficient as a global measure of reliability for imaging studies. The I2C2 generalizes the classic intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficient to the case when the data of interest are images, thereby providing a measure that is both intuitive and convenient. Drawing a connection with classical measurement error models for replication experiments, the I2C2 can be computed quickly, even in high-dimensional imaging studies. A nonparametric bootstrap procedure is introduced to quantify the variability of the I2C2 estimator. Furthermore, a Monte Carlo permutation is utilized to test reproducibility versus a zero I2C2, representing complete lack of reproducibility. Methodologies are applied to three replication studies arising from different brain imaging modalities and settings: regional analysis of volumes in normalized space imaging for characterizing brain morphology, seed-voxel brain activation maps based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and fractional anisotropy in an area surrounding the corpus callosum via diffusion tensor imaging. Notably, resting-state fMRI brain activation maps are found to have low reliability, ranging from .2 to .4. Software and data are available to provide easy access to the proposed methods.

}, keywords = {Adult, Brain, brain mapping, Computer Simulation, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Biological, Neuroimaging, Reproducibility of Results, Statistics as Topic}, issn = {1531-135X}, doi = {10.3758/s13415-013-0196-0}, author = {Shou, H and Eloyan, A and Lee, S and Zipunnikov, V and Crainiceanu, A N and Nebel, N B and Caffo, B and Lindquist, M A and Crainiceanu, C M} } @article {811, title = {Relationships between retinal axonal and neuronal measures and global central nervous system pathology in multiple sclerosis.}, journal = {JAMA Neurol}, volume = {70}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jan}, pages = {34-43}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationships between conventional and segmentation-derived optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal layer thickness measures with intracranial volume (a surrogate of head size) and brain substructure volumes in multiple sclerosis (MS).

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 84 patients with MS and 24 healthy control subjects.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: High-definition spectral-domain OCT conventional and automated segmentation-derived discrete retinal layer thicknesses and 3-T magnetic resonance imaging brain substructure volumes.

RESULTS: Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer as well as composite ganglion cell layer+inner plexiform layer thicknesses in the eyes of patients with MS without a history of optic neuritis were associated with cortical gray matter (P=.01 and P=.04, respectively) and caudate (P=.04 and P=.03, respectively) volumes. Inner nuclear layer thickness, also in eyes without a history of optic neuritis, was associated with fluid-attenuated inversion recovery lesion volume (P=.007) and inversely associated with normal-appearing white matter volume (P=.005) in relapsing-remitting MS. As intracranial volume was found to be related with several of the OCT measures in patients with MS and healthy control subjects and is already known to be associated with brain substructure volumes, all OCT-brain substructure relationships were adjusted for intracranial volume. CONCLUSIONS Retinal measures reflect global central nervous system pathology in multiple sclerosis, with thicknesses of discrete retinal layers each appearing to be associated with distinct central nervous system processes. Moreover, OCT measures appear to correlate with intracranial volume in patients with MS and healthy control subjects, an important unexpected factor unaccounted for in prior studies examining the relationships between peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and brain substructure volumes.

}, keywords = {Adult, Axons, Caudate Nucleus, Central Nervous System, Cerebral Cortex, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis, Retina, Retinal Neurons, Tomography, Optical Coherence}, issn = {2168-6157}, doi = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.573}, author = {Saidha, Shiv and Sotirchos, Elias S and Oh, Jiwon and Syc, Stephanie B and Seigo, Michaela A and Shiee, Navid and Eckstein, Chistopher and Durbin, Mary K and Oakley, Jonathan D and Meyer, Scott A and Frohman, Teresa C and Newsome, Scott and Ratchford, John N and Balcer, Laura J and Pham, Dzung L and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M and Frohman, Elliot M and Reich, Daniel S and Calabresi, Peter A} } @article {827, title = {Analysis of group ICA-based connectivity measures from fMRI: application to Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {7}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {e49340}, abstract = {

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful tool for the in vivo study of the pathophysiology of brain disorders and disease. In this manuscript, we propose an analysis stream for fMRI functional connectivity data and apply it to a novel study of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease. In the first stage, spatial independent component analysis is applied to group fMRI data to obtain common brain networks (spatial maps) and subject-specific mixing matrices (time courses). In the second stage, functional principal component analysis is utilized to decompose the mixing matrices into population-level eigenvectors and subject-specific loadings. Inference is performed using permutation-based exact logistic regression for matched pairs data. The method is applied to a novel fMRI study of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease risk under a verbal paired associates task. We found empirical evidence of alternative ICA-based metrics of connectivity when comparing subjects evidencing mild cognitive impairment relative to carefully matched controls.

}, keywords = {Aged, Algorithms, Alzheimer Disease, Brain, brain mapping, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Nerve Net, Principal Component Analysis, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0049340}, author = {Li, Shanshan and Eloyan, Ani and Joel, Suresh and Mostofsky, Stewart and Pekar, James and Bassett, Susan Spear and Caffo, Brian} } @article {708, title = {Arsenic exposure, diabetes prevalence, and diabetes control in the Strong Heart Study.}, journal = {Am J Epidemiol}, volume = {176}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Nov 15}, pages = {865-74}, abstract = {

This study evaluated the association of arsenic exposure, as measured in urine, with diabetes prevalence, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance in American Indian adults from Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota (1989-1991). We studied 3,925 men and women 45-74 years of age with available urine arsenic measures. Diabetes was defined as a fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher, a 2-hour glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher, a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of 6.5\% or higher, or diabetes treatment. Median urine arsenic concentration was 14.1 {\textmu}g/L (interquartile range, 7.9-24.2). Diabetes prevalence was 49.4\%. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, diabetes risk factors, and urine creatinine, the prevalence ratio of diabetes comparing the 75th versus 25th percentiles of total arsenic concentrations was 1.14 (95\% confidence interval: 1.08, 1.21). The association between arsenic and diabetes was restricted to participants with poor diabetes control (HbA1c >=8\%). Arsenic was positively associated with HbA1c levels in participants with diabetes. Arsenic was not associated with HbA1c or with insulin resistance (assessed by homeostatic model assessment to quantify insulin resistance) in participants without diabetes. Urine arsenic was associated with diabetes control in a population from rural communities in the United States with a high burden of diabetes. Prospective studies that evaluate the direction of the relation between poor diabetes control and arsenic exposure are needed.

}, keywords = {Aged, Arizona, Arsenicals, Blood Glucose, Creatinine, Diabetes Mellitus, Environmental Exposure, Female, Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated, Humans, Indians, North American, Male, Middle Aged, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Poisson Distribution, Prevalence, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, South Dakota}, issn = {1476-6256}, doi = {10.1093/aje/kws153}, author = {Gribble, Matthew O and Howard, Barbara V and Umans, Jason G and Shara, Nawar M and Francesconi, Kevin A and Goessler, Walter and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M and Silbergeld, Ellen K and Guallar, Eliseo and Navas-Acien, Ana} } @article {841, title = {Dissociable influences of opiates and expectations on pain.}, journal = {J Neurosci}, volume = {32}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Jun 6}, pages = {8053-64}, abstract = {

Placebo treatments and opiate drugs are thought to have common effects on the opioid system and pain-related brain processes. This has created excitement about the potential for expectations to modulate drug effects themselves. If drug effects differ as a function of belief, this would challenge the assumptions underlying the standard clinical trial. We conducted two studies to directly examine the relationship between expectations and opioid analgesia. We administered the opioid agonist remifentanil to human subjects during experimental thermal pain and manipulated participants{\textquoteright} knowledge of drug delivery using an open-hidden design. This allowed us to test drug effects, expectancy (knowledge) effects, and their interactions on pain reports and pain-related responses in the brain. Remifentanil and expectancy both reduced pain, but drug effects on pain reports and fMRI activity did not interact with expectancy. Regions associated with pain processing showed drug-induced modulation during both Open and Hidden conditions, with no differences in drug effects as a function of expectation. Instead, expectancy modulated activity in frontal cortex, with a separable time course from drug effects. These findings reveal that opiates and placebo treatments both influence clinically relevant outcomes and operate without mutual interference.

}, keywords = {Analgesics, Opioid, Anticipation, Psychological, Behavior, brain mapping, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Hemodynamics, Hot Temperature, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Injections, Intravenous, Linear Models, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Pain, Pain Measurement, Piperidines, Young Adult}, issn = {1529-2401}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0383-12.2012}, author = {Atlas, Lauren Y and Whittington, Robert A and Lindquist, Martin A and Wielgosz, Joe and Sonty, Nomita and Wager, Tor D} } @article {709, title = {Microcystic macular oedema, thickness of the inner nuclear layer of the retina, and disease characteristics in multiple sclerosis: a retrospective study.}, journal = {Lancet Neurol}, volume = {11}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Nov}, pages = {963-72}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Microcystic macular oedema (MMO) of the retinal inner nuclear layer (INL) has been identified in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by use of optical coherence tomography (OCT). We aimed to determine whether MMO of the INL, and increased thickness of the INL are associated with disease activity or disability progression.

METHODS: This retrospective study was done at the Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD, USA), between September, 2008, and March, 2012. Patients with MS and healthy controls underwent serial OCT scans and clinical assessments including visual function. OCT scanning, including automated intraretinal layer segmentation, yielded thicknesses of the retinal nerve fibre layer, the ganglion cell layer plus inner plexiform layer, the INL plus outer plexiform layer (the combined thickness of these layers was used as a surrogate measure of INL thickness), and the outer nuclear layer. Patients with MS also underwent annual brain MRI scans. Disability scores were compared with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to compare OCT measures and letter-acuity scores. Logistic regression was used to examine the relations of baseline OCT thicknesses with clinical and radiological parameters.

FINDINGS: 164 patients with MS and 60 healthy controls were assessed. Mean follow-up was 25{\textperiodcentered}8 months (SD 9{\textperiodcentered}1) for patients with MS and 22{\textperiodcentered}4 months (11{\textperiodcentered}4) for healthy controls. Ten (6\%) patients with MS had MMO during at least one study visit; MMO was visible at baseline in four of these patients. Healthy controls did not have MMO. Patients with MS and MMO had higher baseline MS severity scores (median 5{\textperiodcentered}93 [range 2{\textperiodcentered}44-8{\textperiodcentered}91]) than those who did not have MMO at any time during the study (151 patients; 3{\textperiodcentered}81 [0{\textperiodcentered}13-9{\textperiodcentered}47]; p=0{\textperiodcentered}032), although expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores were not significantly different (5{\textperiodcentered}2 [1{\textperiodcentered}0-6{\textperiodcentered}5] for patients with MS and MMO vs 2{\textperiodcentered}5 [0{\textperiodcentered}0-8{\textperiodcentered}0] for those without MMO; p=0{\textperiodcentered}097). The eyes of patients with MS and MMO (12 eyes) versus those without MMO (302 eyes) had lower letter-acuity scores (100\% contrast, p=0{\textperiodcentered}017; 2{\textperiodcentered}5\% contrast, p=0{\textperiodcentered}031; 1{\textperiodcentered}25\% contrast, p=0{\textperiodcentered}014), and increased INL thicknesses (p=0{\textperiodcentered}003) at baseline. Increased baseline INL thickness in patients with MS was associated with the development of contrast-enhancing lesions (p=0{\textperiodcentered}007), new T2 lesions (p=0{\textperiodcentered}015), EDSS progression (p=0{\textperiodcentered}034), and relapses in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (p=0{\textperiodcentered}008) during the study. MMO was not associated with disease activity during follow-up.

INTERPRETATION: Increased INL thickness on OCT is associated with disease activity in MS. If this finding is confirmed, INL thickness could be a useful predictor of disease progression in patients with MS.

FUNDING: National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Eye Institute, Braxton Debbie Angela Dillon and Skip Donor Advisor Fund.

}, keywords = {Adult, Cohort Studies, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Macular Edema, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis, Retina, Retinal Ganglion Cells, Retrospective Studies, Tomography, Optical Coherence}, issn = {1474-4465}, doi = {10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70213-2}, author = {Saidha, Shiv and Sotirchos, Elias S and Ibrahim, Mohamed A and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M and Gelfand, Jeffrey M and Sepah, Yasir J and Ratchford, John N and Oh, Jiwon and Seigo, Michaela A and Newsome, Scott D and Balcer, Laura J and Frohman, Elliot M and Green, Ari J and Nguyen, Quan D and Calabresi, Peter A} } @article {830, title = {Total white matter hyperintensity volume in bipolar disorder patients and their healthy relatives.}, journal = {Bipolar Disord}, volume = {14}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {888-93}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are more common in subjects with bipolar disorder (BP) than in healthy subjects (HS). Few studies have examined the effect of the diagnostic type of bipolar illness on WMH burden, and none have approached this question through a direct measurement of the volume of affected white matter in relationship to familiality. In this pilot study, we utilized a volumetric measurement of WMH to investigate the relationship between the total volume of WMH and the familiality and type of BP.

METHODS: Forty-five individuals with bipolar I disorder (BP-I) with psychotic features, BP-I without psychotic features, or bipolar II disorder (BP-II), seven of their unaffected relatives, and 32 HS were recruited for participation. T-2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained on all subjects, and the total volume of all WMH for each subject was measured in cubic centimeters. The significance of difference between groups was tested using ANOVA with post-hoc adjustment for multiple comparisons. Further, we used logistic regression to test for trends between symptom load and total WMH volume.

RESULTS: The mean total volume of WMH in BP-I patients with psychotic features was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of HS. Further, we observed a positive linear trend by familiality and type of affectedness when comparing mean total WMH volume of HS, unaffected family members, subjects with BP-II, and BP-I with and without a history of psychosis (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Based on a quantitative technique, WMH burden appears to be associated with familiality and type of BP. The significance of these findings remains to be fully elucidated.

}, keywords = {Adult, Analysis of Variance, Bipolar Disorder, Brain, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Leukoencephalopathies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated}, issn = {1399-5618}, doi = {10.1111/bdi.12019}, author = {Tighe, Sarah K and Reading, Sarah A and Rivkin, Paul and Caffo, Brian and Schweizer, Barbara and Pearlson, Godfrey and Potash, James B and Depaulo, J Raymond and Bassett, Susan S} } @article {622, title = {Dynamics of large-scale cortical interactions at high gamma frequencies during word production: event related causality (ERC) analysis of human electrocorticography (ECoG).}, journal = {Neuroimage}, volume = {56}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jun 15}, pages = {2218-37}, abstract = {

Intracranial EEG studies in humans have shown that functional brain activation in a variety of functional-anatomic domains of human cortex is associated with an increase in power at a broad range of high gamma (\>60Hz) frequencies. Although these electrophysiological responses are highly specific for the location and timing of cortical processing and in animal recordings are highly correlated with increased population firing rates, there has been little direct empirical evidence for causal interactions between different recording sites at high gamma frequencies. Such causal interactions are hypothesized to occur during cognitive tasks that activate multiple brain regions. To determine whether such causal interactions occur at high gamma frequencies and to investigate their functional significance, we used event-related causality (ERC) analysis to estimate the dynamics, directionality, and magnitude of event-related causal interactions using subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) recorded during two word production tasks: picture naming and auditory word repetition. A clinical subject who had normal hearing but was skilled in American Signed Language (ASL) provided a unique opportunity to test our hypothesis with reference to a predictable pattern of causal interactions, i.e. that language cortex interacts with different areas of sensorimotor cortex during spoken vs. signed responses. Our ERC analyses confirmed this prediction. During word production with spoken responses, perisylvian language sites had prominent causal interactions with mouth/tongue areas of motor cortex, and when responses were gestured in sign language, the most prominent interactions involved hand and arm areas of motor cortex. Furthermore, we found that the sites from which the most numerous and prominent causal interactions originated, i.e. sites with a pattern of ERC "divergence", were also sites where high gamma power increases were most prominent and where electrocortical stimulation mapping interfered with word production. These findings suggest that the number, strength and directionality of event-related causal interactions may help identify network nodes that are not only activated by a task but are critical to its performance.

}, keywords = {brain mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Seizures, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Speech}, issn = {1095-9572}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.03.030}, author = {Korzeniewska, A. and Franaszczuk, Piotr J. and Crainiceanu, C and Ku{\'s}, Rafa{\l} and Crone, Nathan E.} } @article {846, title = {Brain mediators of predictive cue effects on perceived pain.}, journal = {J Neurosci}, volume = {30}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Sep 29}, pages = {12964-77}, abstract = {

Information about upcoming pain strongly influences pain experience in experimental and clinical settings, but little is known about the brain mechanisms that link expectation and experience. To identify the pathways by which informational cues influence perception, analyses must jointly consider both the effects of cues on brain responses and the relationship between brain responses and changes in reported experience. Our task and analysis strategy were designed to test these relationships. Auditory cues elicited expectations for barely painful or highly painful thermal stimulation, and we assessed how cues influenced human subjects{\textquoteright} pain reports and brain responses to matched levels of noxious heat using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We used multilevel mediation analysis to identify brain regions that (1) are modulated by predictive cues, (2) predict trial-to-trial variations in pain reports, and (3) formally mediate the relationship between cues and reported pain. Cues influenced heat-evoked responses in most canonical pain-processing regions, including both medial and lateral pain pathways. Effects on several regions correlated with pretask expectations, suggesting that expectancy plays a prominent role. A subset of pain-processing regions, including anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, and thalamus, formally mediated cue effects on pain. Effects on these regions were in turn mediated by cue-evoked anticipatory activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventral striatum, areas not previously directly implicated in nociception. These results suggest that activity in pain-processing regions reflects a combination of nociceptive input and top-down information related to expectations, and that anticipatory processes in OFC and striatum may play a key role in modulating pain processing.

}, keywords = {Adult, Brain, Cognition, Cues, Female, Hot Temperature, Humans, Male, Pain, Pain Threshold, Perception, Physical Stimulation}, issn = {1529-2401}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0057-10.2010}, author = {Atlas, Lauren Y and Bolger, Niall and Lindquist, Martin A and Wager, Tor D} }