| 1. |
- Faillenot, Isabelle, et al.
(author)
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Macroanatomy and 3D probabilistic atlas of the human insula.
- 2017
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In: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-9572 .- 1053-8119. ; 150, s. 88-98
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The human insula is implicated in numerous functions. More and more neuroimaging studies focus on this region, however no atlas offers a complete subdivision of the insula in a reference space. The aims of this study were to define a protocol to subdivide insula, to create probability maps in the MNI152 stereotaxic space, and to provide normative reference volume measurements for these subdivisions. Six regions were manually delineated bilaterally on 3D T1 MR images of 30 healthy subjects: the three short gyri, the anterior inferior cortex, and the two long gyri. The volume of the insular grey matter was 7.7 ± 0.9cm(3) in native space and 9.9 ± 0.6cm(3) in MNI152 space. These volumes expressed as a percentage of the ipsilateral grey matter volume were minimally larger in women (2.7±0.2%) than in men (2.6±0.2%). After spatial normalization, a stereotactic probabilistic atlas of each subregion was produced, as well as a maximum-probability atlas taking into account surrounding structures. Automatically labelling insular subregions via a multi-atlas propagation and label fusion strategy (MAPER) in a leave-one-out experiment showed high spatial overlaps of such automatically defined insular subregions with the manually derived ones (mean Jaccard index 0.65, corresponding to a mean Dice index of 0.79), with an average mean volume error of 2.6%. Probabilistic and maximum probability atlases and the original delineations are available on the web under free academic licences.
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| 2. |
- Klein-Koerkamp, Yanica, et al.
(author)
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Amygdalar atrophy in early Alzheimer's disease
- 2014
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In: Current Alzheimer Research. - : Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.. - 1567-2050 .- 1875-5828. ; 11:3, s. 239-252
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current research suggests that amygdalar volumes in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be a relevant measure for its early diagnosis. However, findings are still inconclusive and controversial, partly because studies did not focus on the earliest stage of the disease. In this study, we measured amygdalar atrophy in 48 AD patients and 82 healthy controls (HC) by using a multi-atlas procedure, MAPER. Both hippocampal and amygdalar volumes, normalized by intracranial volume, were significantly reduced in AD compared with HC. The volume loss in the two structures was of similar magnitude (~24%). Amygdalar volume loss in AD predicted memory impairment after we controlled for age, gender, education, and, more important, hippocampal volume, indicating that memory decline correlates with amygdalar atrophy over and above hippocampal atrophy. Amygdalar volume may thus be as useful as hippocampal volume for the diagnosis of early AD. In addition, it could be an independent marker of cognitive decline. The role of the amygdala in AD should be reconsidered to guide further research and clinical practice. © 2014 Bentham Science Publishers.
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| 3. |
- McGinnity, Colm J, et al.
(author)
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Αlpha 5 subunit-containing GABAA receptors in temporal lobe epilepsy with normal MRI.
- 2021
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In: Brain communications. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2632-1297. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- GABAA receptors containing the α5 subunit mediate tonic inhibition and are widely expressed in the limbic system. In animals, activation of α5-containing receptors impairs hippocampus-dependent memory. Temporal lobe epilepsy is associated with memory impairments related to neuron loss and other changes. The less selective PET ligand [11C]flumazenil has revealed reductions in GABAA receptors. The hypothesis that α5 subunit receptor alterations are present in temporal lobe epilepsy and could contribute to impaired memory is untested. We compared α5 subunit availability between individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy and normal structural MRI ('MRI-negative') and healthy controls, and interrogated the relationship between α5 subunit availability and episodic memory performance, in a cross-sectional study. Twenty-three healthy male controls (median ± interquartile age 49 ± 13 years) and 11 individuals with MRI-negative temporal lobe epilepsy (seven males; 40 ± 8) had a 90-min PET scan after bolus injection of [11C]Ro15-4513, with arterial blood sampling and metabolite correction. All those with epilepsy and six controls completed the Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery on the scanning day. 'Bandpass' exponential spectral analyses were used to calculate volumes of distribution separately for the fast component [VF; dominated by signal from α1 (α2, α3)-containing receptors] and the slow component (VS; dominated by signal from α5-containing receptors). We made voxel-by-voxel comparisons between: the epilepsy and control groups; each individual case versus the controls. We obtained parametric maps of VF and VS measures from a single bolus injection of [11C]Ro15-4513. The epilepsy group had higher VS in anterior medial and lateral aspects of the temporal lobes, the anterior cingulate gyri, the presumed area tempestas (piriform cortex) and the insulae, in addition to increases of ∼24% and ∼26% in the ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampal areas (P < 0.004). This was associated with reduced VF:VS ratios within the same areas (P < 0.009). Comparisons of VS for each individual with epilepsy versus controls did not consistently lateralize the epileptogenic lobe. Memory scores were significantly lower in the epilepsy group than in controls (mean ± standard deviation -0.4 ± 1.0 versus 0.7 ± 0.3; P = 0.02). In individuals with epilepsy, hippocampal VS did not correlate with memory performance on the Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery. They had reduced VF in the hippocampal area, which was significant ipsilaterally (P = 0.03), as expected from [11C]flumazenil studies. We found increased tonic inhibitory neurotransmission in our cohort of MRI-negative temporal lobe epilepsy who also had co-morbid memory impairments. Our findings are consistent with a subunit shift from α1/2/3 to α5 in MRI-negative temporal lobe epilepsy.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Merino, Jordi, et al.
(author)
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Diet quality and risk and severity of COVID-19 : a prospective cohort study
- 2021
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In: Gut. - : BMJ. - 1468-3288 .- 0017-5749. ; 70:11, s. 2096-2104
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Poor metabolic health and unhealthy lifestyle factors have been associated with risk and severity of COVID-19, but data for diet are lacking. We aimed to investigate the association of diet quality with risk and severity of COVID-19 and its interaction with socioeconomic deprivation. DESIGN: We used data from 592 571 participants of the smartphone-based COVID-19 Symptom Study. Diet information was collected for the prepandemic period using a short food frequency questionnaire, and diet quality was assessed using a healthful Plant-Based Diet Score, which emphasises healthy plant foods such as fruits or vegetables. Multivariable Cox models were fitted to calculate HRs and 95% CIs for COVID-19 risk and severity defined using a validated symptom-based algorithm or hospitalisation with oxygen support, respectively. RESULTS: Over 3 886 274 person-months of follow-up, 31 815 COVID-19 cases were documented. Compared with individuals in the lowest quartile of the diet score, high diet quality was associated with lower risk of COVID-19 (HR 0.91; 95% CI 0.88 to 0.94) and severe COVID-19 (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.74). The joint association of low diet quality and increased deprivation on COVID-19 risk was higher than the sum of the risk associated with each factor alone (Pinteraction=0.005). The corresponding absolute excess rate per 10 000 person/months for lowest vs highest quartile of diet score was 22.5 (95% CI 18.8 to 26.3) among persons living in areas with low deprivation and 40.8 (95% CI 31.7 to 49.8) among persons living in areas with high deprivation. CONCLUSIONS: A diet characterised by healthy plant-based foods was associated with lower risk and severity of COVID-19. This association may be particularly evident among individuals living in areas with higher socioeconomic deprivation.
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| 6. |
- Murray, Benjamin, et al.
(author)
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Accessible data curation and analytics for international-scale citizen science datasets
- 2021
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Covid Symptom Study, a smartphone-based surveillance study on COVID-19 symptoms in the population, is an exemplar of big data citizen science. As of May 23rd, 2021, over 5 million participants have collectively logged over 360 million self-assessment reports since its introduction in March 2020. The success of the Covid Symptom Study creates significant technical challenges around effective data curation. The primary issue is scale. The size of the dataset means that it can no longer be readily processed using standard Python-based data analytics software such as Pandas on commodity hardware. Alternative technologies exist but carry a higher technical complexity and are less accessible to many researchers. We present ExeTera, a Python-based open source software package designed to provide Pandas-like data analytics on datasets that approach terabyte scales. We present its design and capabilities, and show how it is a critical component of a data curation pipeline that enables reproducible research across an international research group for the Covid Symptom Study.
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| 7. |
- Sapey-Triomphe, Laurie-Anne, et al.
(author)
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Neuroanatomical Correlates of Recognizing Face Expressions in Mild Stages of Alzheimer's Disease.
- 2015
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In: PloS one. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Early Alzheimer's disease can involve social disinvestment, possibly as a consequence of impairment of nonverbal communication skills. This study explores whether patients with Alzheimer's disease at the mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage have impaired recognition of emotions in facial expressions, and describes neuroanatomical correlates of emotion processing impairment. As part of the ongoing PACO study (personality, Alzheimer's disease and behaviour), 39 patients with Alzheimer's disease at the mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage and 39 matched controls completed tests involving discrimination of four basic emotions-happiness, fear, anger, and disgust-on photographs of faces. In patients, automatic volumetry of 83 brain regions was performed on structural magnetic resonance images using MAPER (multi-atlas propagation with enhanced registration). From the literature, we identified for each of the four basic emotions one brain region thought to be primarily associated with the function of recognizing that emotion. We hypothesized that the volume of each of these regions would be correlated with subjects' performance in recognizing the associated emotion. Patients showed deficits of basic emotion recognition, and these impairments were correlated with the volumes of the expected regions of interest. Unexpectedly, most of these correlations were negative: better emotional facial recognition was associated with lower brain volume. In particular, recognition of fear was negatively correlated with the volume of amygdala, disgust with pallidum, and happiness with fusiform gyrus. Recognition impairment in mild stages of Alzheimer's disease for a given emotion was thus associated with less visible atrophy of functionally responsible brain structures within the patient group. Possible explanations for this counterintuitive result include neuroinflammation, regional β-amyloid deposition, or transient overcompensation during early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
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| 8. |
- Sousa, João M., et al.
(author)
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Accuracy and precision of zero-echo-time, single- and multi-atlas attenuation correction for dynamic [11C]PE2I PET-MR brain imaging
- 2020
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In: EJNMMI Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2197-7364. ; 7:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: A valid photon attenuation correction (AC) method is instrumental for obtaining quantitatively correct PET images. Integrated PET/MR systems provide no direct information on attenuation, and novel methods for MR-based AC (MRAC) are still under investigation. Evaluations of various AC methods have mainly focused on static brain PET acquisitions. In this study, we determined the validity of three MRAC methods in a dynamic PET/MR study of the brain.METHODS: Nine participants underwent dynamic brain PET/MR scanning using the dopamine transporter radioligand [11C]PE2I. Three MRAC methods were evaluated: single-atlas (Atlas), multi-atlas (MaxProb) and zero-echo-time (ZTE). The 68Ge-transmission data from a previous stand-alone PET scan was used as reference method. Parametric relative delivery (R1) images and binding potential (BPND) maps were generated using cerebellar grey matter as reference region. Evaluation was based on bias in MRAC maps, accuracy and precision of [11C]PE2I BPND and R1 estimates, and [11C]PE2I time-activity curves. BPND was examined for striatal regions and R1 in clusters of regions across the brain.RESULTS: For BPND, ZTE-MRAC showed the highest accuracy (bias < 2%) in striatal regions. Atlas-MRAC exhibited a significant bias in caudate nucleus (- 12%) while MaxProb-MRAC revealed a substantial, non-significant bias in the putamen (9%). R1 estimates had a marginal bias for all MRAC methods (- 1.0-3.2%). MaxProb-MRAC showed the largest intersubject variability for both R1 and BPND. Standardized uptake values (SUV) of striatal regions displayed the strongest average bias for ZTE-MRAC (~ 10%), although constant over time and with the smallest intersubject variability. Atlas-MRAC had highest variation in bias over time (+10 to - 10%), followed by MaxProb-MRAC (+5 to - 5%), but MaxProb showed the lowest mean bias. For the cerebellum, MaxProb-MRAC showed the highest variability while bias was constant over time for Atlas- and ZTE-MRAC.CONCLUSIONS: Both Maxprob- and ZTE-MRAC performed better than Atlas-MRAC when using a 68Ge transmission scan as reference method. Overall, ZTE-MRAC showed the highest precision and accuracy in outcome parameters of dynamic [11C]PE2I PET analysis with use of kinetic modelling.
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| 9. |
- Steinbart, David, et al.
(author)
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Automatic and manual segmentation of the piriform cortex: Method development and validation in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.
- 2023
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In: Human brain mapping. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 44:8, s. 3196-3209
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The piriform cortex (PC) is located at the junction of the temporal and frontal lobes. It is involved physiologically in olfaction as well as memory and plays an important role in epilepsy. Its study at scale is held back by the absence of automatic segmentation methods on MRI. We devised a manual segmentation protocol for PC volumes, integrated those manually derived images into the Hammers Atlas Database (n = 30) and used an extensively validated method (multi-atlas propagation with enhanced registration, MAPER) for automatic PC segmentation. We applied automated PC volumetry to patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE; n = 174 including n = 58 controls) and to the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative cohort (ADNI; n = 151, of whom with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), n = 71; Alzheimer's disease (AD), n = 33; controls, n = 47). In controls, mean PC volume was 485 mm3 on the right and 461 mm3 on the left. Automatic and manual segmentations overlapped with a Jaccard coefficient (intersection/union) of ~0.5 and a mean absolute volume difference of ~22 mm3 in healthy controls, ~0.40/ ~28 mm3 in patients with TLE, and ~ 0.34/~29 mm3 in patients with AD. In patients with TLE, PC atrophy lateralised to the side of hippocampal sclerosis (p < .001). In patients with MCI and AD, PC volumes were lower than those of controls bilaterally (p < .001). Overall, we have validated automatic PC volumetry in healthy controls and two types of pathology. The novel finding of early atrophy of PC at the stage of MCI possibly adds a novel biomarker. PC volumetry can now be applied at scale.
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| 10. |
- Turner, Martin R, et al.
(author)
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Cortical involvement in four cases of primary lateral sclerosis using [(11)C]-flumazenil PET.
- 2007
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In: Journal of Neurology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5354 .- 1432-1459. ; 254:8, s. 1033-6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Four PLS patients underwent cerebral [(11)C]-flumazenil PET. They were compared firstly with a group of controls, then later directly with a group of sporadic ALS patients and a familial ALS group homozygous for the 'D90A' SOD1 gene mutation. There was a similar pattern of decreased binding in PLS patients when compared to controls as that seen in a previous study of sporadic ALS patients, supporting the concept that PLS is part of the same overall spectrum of MND. However, in direct group comparisons, both sporadic and homD90A ALS patients demonstrated relative decreases in anterior and orbito-frontal binding compared to PLS patients, suggesting that there may be differences in cortical vulnerability between phenotypic groups.
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