| 1. |
- Elfgren, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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fMRI activity in the medial temporal lobe during famous face processing
- 2006
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-9572 .- 1053-8119. ; 30:2, s. 609-616
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current event-related fMRI study examined the relative involvement of different parts of the medial temporal lobe (MTL), particularly the contribution of hippocampus and perirhinal cortex, in either intentional or incidental recognition of famous faces in contrast to unfamiliar faces. Our intention was to further explore the controversial contribution of MTL in the processing of semantic memory tasks. Subjects viewed a sequence of famous and unfamiliar faces. Two tasks were used encouraging attention to either fame or gender. In the fame task, the subjects were requested to identify the person when seeing his/her face and also to try to generate the name of this person. In the gender task, the subjects were asked to conduct a judgement of a person's gender when seeing his/her face. The visual processing was hence directed to gender and thereby expected to diminish attention to semantic information leading only to a “passive” registration of famous and non-familiar faces. Recognition of famous faces, in both contrasts, produced significant activations in the MTL. First, during the intentional recognition (the person identification task) increased activity was observed in the anterolateral part of left hippocampus, in proximity to amygdala. Second, during the incidental recognition of famous faces (the gender classification task), there was increased activity in the left posterior MTL with focus in the perirhinal cortex. Our results suggest that the hippocampus may be centrally involved in the intentional retrieval of semantic memories while the perirhinal cortex is associated with the incidental recognition of semantic information.
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| 2. |
- Mannfolk, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Can resting-state functional MRI serve as a complement to task-based mapping of sensorimotor function? A test-retest reliability study in healthy volunteers.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : Wiley. - 1522-2586 .- 1053-1807. ; 34, s. 511-517
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: To investigate if resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) reliably can serve as a complement to task-based fMRI for presurgical mapping of the sensorimotor cortex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Functional data were obtained in 10 healthy volunteers using a 3 Tesla MRI system. Each subject performed five bilateral finger tapping experiments interleaved with five resting-state experiments. Following preprocessing, data from eight volunteers were further analyzed with the general linear model (finger tapping data) and independent component analysis (rest data). Test-retest reliability estimates (hit rate and false alarm rate) for resting-state fMRI activation of the sensorimotor network were compared with the reliability estimates for task-evoked activation of the sensorimotor cortex. The reliability estimates constituted a receiver operating characteristics curve from which the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Statistical testing was performed to compare the two groups with respect to reliability. RESULTS: The AUC was generally higher for the task experiments, although median AUC was not significantly different on a group level. Also, the two groups showed comparable levels of within-group variance. CONCLUSION: Test-retest reliability was comparable between resting-state measurements and task-based fMRI, suggesting that presurgical mapping of functional networks can be a supplement to task-based fMRI in cases where patient status excludes task-based fMRI. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 3. |
- Follin, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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Associations between Metabolic Risk Factors and the Hypothalamic Volume in Childhood Leukemia Survivors Treated with Cranial Radiotherapy.
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metabolic complications are prevalent in individuals treated with cranial radiotherapy (CRT) for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The hypothalamus is a master regulator of endocrine and metabolic control. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the hypothalamic volume would be associated to metabolic parameters in ALL survivors. Thirty-eight (21 women) survivors participated in this study 34 years after diagnosis and with a median age of 38 (27-46) years. All were treated with a median CRT dose of 24 Gy and 11 years (3-13) of complete hormone supplementation. Comparisons were made to 31 matched controls. We performed analyses of fat mass, fat free mass, plasma (p)-glucose, p-insulin, Homa-Index (a measure of insulin resistance), serum (s)-leptin, s-ghrelin and of the hypothalamic volume in scans obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla. Serum leptin/kg fat mass (r = -0.4, P = 0.04) and fat mass (r = -0.4, P = 0.01) were negatively correlated with the HT volume among ALL survivors, but not among controls. We also detected significantly higher BMI, waist, fat mass, p-insulin, Homa-Index, leptin/kg fat mass and s-ghrelin and significantly lower fat free mass specifically among female ALL survivors (all P<0.01). Interestingly, s-ghrelin levels increased with time since diagnosis and with low age at diagnosis for childhood ALL. Our results showed that leptin/kg fat mass and fat mass were associated with a reduced HT volume 34 years after ALL diagnosis and that women treated with CRT after ALL are at high risk of metabolic abnormalities. Taken together our data suggest that the hypothalamus is involved in the metabolic consequences after CRT in ALL survivors.
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| 4. |
- Follin, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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Impaired brain metabolism and neurocognitive function in childhood leukemia survivors despite complete hormone supplementation in adulthood
- 2016
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 73, s. 157-165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cranial radiotherapy is a known risk factor for neurocognitive impairment in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Understanding the nature of cognitive dysfunction during adulthood in ALL survivors is important as it has an impact on major life situations. Thirty-eight (21 women) ALL survivors were investigated 34 years after diagnosis. Median-age was 38 (27–46) years. All were treated with a CRT dose of 24 Gy and 11 years (3–13) of complete hormone supplementation. Comparisons were made to 29 matched controls. Assessments of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (white and grey matter metabolic alterations), brain volume and neuropsychological tests were performed. ALL survivors demonstrate a generally lower performance in neuropsychological tests. ALL survivors scored lower than controls in vocabulary (p < 0.001), memory (p < 0.001), learning capacity (p < 0.001), spatial ability (p < 0.001), executive functions and attention (p < 0.001) 34 years after ALL treatment. Compared to controls ALL survivors had reduced white matter (WM) (492 vs 536 cm3, p < 0.001) and grey matter (GM) volumes (525 vs 555 cm3, p = 0.001). ALL survivors had lower levels of WM N-acetyl aspartate/creatin (NAA/Cr) (1.48 vs 1.63, p = 0.004), WM NAA + NAAG (N-acetylaspartylglutamate)/Cr (1.61 vs 1.85, p < 0.001) and lower levels of GM NAA/Cr (1.18 vs 1.30, p = 0.001) and GM NAA + NAAG/Cr (1.28 vs 1.34, p = 0.01) compared to controls. ALL survivors had higher levels in WM MI (Myoinositol)/NAA (0.65 vs 0.56, p = 0.01) concentrations compared to controls. There was a significantly negative correlation of years since ALL diagnosis to WM NAA + NAAG/Cr (r = −0.4, p = 0.04) in ALL survivors. The present study shows impaired brain metabolism detected by MRS, reduced brain volumes and neurocognitive impairment in childhood ALL survivors treated with cranial radiotherapy and chemotherapy, despite complete hormone substitution. We also report an impairment of metabolites correlated to time since treatment and a progressive impairment in sustained attention, suggesting an accelerated aging in the irradiated brain. Following these survivors many decades, or throughout life, after treatment with cranial radiotherapy and chemotherapy is highly warranted for a broader understanding of long-term outcome in this patient group.
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| 5. |
- Mannfolk, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of spatial BOLD sensitivity variations in fMRI using gradient-echo field maps.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-5894 .- 0730-725X. ; 28:7, s. 947-956
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Clinical blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is becoming increasingly valuable in, e.g., presurgical planning, but the commonly used gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GE-EPI) technique is sometimes hampered by macroscopic field inhomogeneities. This can affect the degree of signal change that will occur in the GE-EPI images as a response to neural activation and the subsequent blood oxygenation changes, i.e., the BOLD sensitivity (BS). In this study, quantitative BS maps were calculated directly from gradient-echo field maps obtainable on most clinical scanners. In order to validate the accuracy of the calculated BS-maps, known shim gradients were applied and field maps and GE-EPI images of a phantom were acquired. Measured GE-EPI image intensity was then compared with the calculated (predicted) image intensity (pII) which was obtained from the field maps using theoretical expressions for image-intensity loss. The validated expressions for pII were used to calculate the corresponding predicted BOLD sensitivity (pBS) maps in healthy volunteers. Since the field map is assumed to be valid throughout an entire fMRI experiment, the influence of subject motion on the pBS maps was also assessed. To demonstrate the usefulness of such maps, pBS was investigated for clinically important functional areas including hippocampus, Broca's area and primary motor cortex. A systematic left/right pBS difference was observed in Broca's area and in the hippocampus, most likely due to magnetic field inhomogeneity of the particular MRI-system used in this study. For all subjects, the hippocampus showed pBS values above unity with a clear anterior-posterior gradient and with an abrupt drop to zero pBS in the anterior parts of hippocampus. It is concluded that GE field maps can be used to accurately predict BOLD sensitivity and that this parameter is useful to assess spatial variations which will influence fMRI experiments.
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| 6. |
- Mannfolk, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Dimensionality reduction of fMRI time series data using locally linear embedding.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Magma. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1352-8661. ; 23:5-6, s. 327-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Data-driven methods for fMRI analysis are useful, for example, when an a priori model of signal variations is unavailable. However, activation sources are typically assumed to be linearly mixed, although non-linear properties of fMRI data, including resting-state data, have been observed. In this work, the non-linear locally linear embedding (LLE) algorithm is introduced for dimensionality reduction of fMRI time series data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: LLE performance was optimised and tested using simulated and volunteer data for task-evoked responses. LLE was compared with principal component analysis (PCA) as a preprocessing step to independent component analysis (ICA). Using an example data set with known non-linear properties, LLE-ICA was compared with PCA-ICA and non-linear PCA-ICA. A resting-state data set was analysed to compare LLE-ICA and PCA-ICA with respect to identifying resting-state networks. RESULTS: LLE consistently found task-related components as well as known resting-state networks, and the algorithm compared well to PCA. The non-linear example data set demonstrated that LLE, unlike PCA, can separate non-linearly modulated sources in a low-dimensional subspace. Given the same target dimensionality, LLE also performed better than non-linear PCA. CONCLUSION: LLE is promising for fMRI data analysis and has potential advantages compared with PCA in terms of its ability to find non-linear relationships.
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| 7. |
- Mannfolk, Peter
(författare)
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Methodological Aspects of Clinical fMRI - Reliability Assessment and Development of Data Analysis Strategies
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique used for the investigation of brain function, which has found numerous applications within basic neuroscience. The introduction of fMRI as a clinical tool for presurgical mapping of pertinent cortical regions in patients with tumour or epilepsy has facilitated neurosurgical planning, and most likely reduced the risk of severe postoperative deficits. However, there is a fundamental difference between the application of fMRI in experimental research and in the clinical setting. While inference is often drawn from data on group level in neuroscientific applications of fMRI, the clinical use of the method demands that reliable results be obtained in individual patients. The aims of the methodological studies presented in this thesis were to increase the reliability and extend the usefulness of clinical fMRI. In one study, gradient-echo field maps were utilized to assess the sensitivity of echo-planar imaging to the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast. Theoretical expressions for the calculation of the BOLD sensitivity were verified and improved. The BOLD sensitivity was investigated in a group of healthy volunteers using a clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, and it was concluded that the field map method accurately predicts BOLD sensitivity. In another study, a flexible model was introduced in order to increase the confidence of clinical fMRI examinations of patients unable to fully comply with a typical clinical fMRI experiment. The method was applied to experimental and simulated data, and then used to retrospectively analyse patient data. The conclusion drawn from this study was that the proposed flexible model improves the detection of activation in partially non-compliant subjects. In the third study included in this thesis, the model-free algorithm locally linear embedding was applied to fMRI data analysis. The proposed data-driven algorithm was optimized and investigated with respect to reliability and possible benefits in a clinical setting. The algorithm was found to compare well to the traditionally used method of principal component analysis, and showed benefits when applied to simulated fMRI data exhibiting non-linear characteristics. Finally, the test-retest reliability of resting-state fMRI was compared with the reliability of traditional task-based fMRI. Resting-state fMRI compared well with task-based fMRI experiments, thus possibly extending the use of fMRI to patient groups that have hitherto not been able to benefit from fMRI examinations.
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| 8. |
- Maripuu, Amanda, et al.
(författare)
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Reconstruction of sciatic nerve after traumatic injury in humans - factors influencing outcome as related to neurobiological knowledge from animal research
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury. - : Georg Thieme Verlag KG. - 1749-7221. ; 7:1, s. 40-52
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The aim was to evaluate what can be learned from rat models when treating patients suffering from a sciatic nerve injury.Methods: Two patients with traumatic sciatic nerve injury are presented with examination of motor and sensory function with a five-year follow-up. Reconstruction of the nerve injury was performed on the second and third day, respectively, after injury using sural nerve grafts taken from the injured leg. The patients were examined during follow-up by electromyography (EMG), MRI and functionalMRI (fMRI) to evaluate nerve reinnervation, cell death in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and cortical activation; factors that were related to clinical history in the patients.Results: One patient regained good motor function of the lower leg and foot, confirmed by EMG showing good activation in the leg muscles and some reinnervation in the foot muscles, as well as some sensory function of the sole of the foot. The other patient regained no motor (confirmed by EMG) or sensory function in the leg or foot. Factors most influential on outcome in two cases were type of injury, nerve gap length and particularly type of reconstruction. A difference in follow-up and rehabilitation likely also influence outcome. MRI did not show any differences in DRG size of injured side compared to the uninjured side. fMRI showed normal activation in the primary somatosensory cortex as a response to cutaneous stimulation of the normal foot. However, none of the two patients showed any activation in the primary somatosensory cortex following cutaneous stimulation of the injured foot.Conclusions: In decision making of nerve repair and reconstruction data from animal experiments can be translated to clinical practice and to predict outcome in patients, although such data should be interpreted with caution and linked to clinical experience. Rat models may be useful to identify and study factors that influence outcome after peripheral nerve repair and reconstruction; procedures that should be done correctly and with a competent team. However, some factors, such as cognitive capacity and coping, known to influence outcome following nerve repair, are difficult to study in animal models. Future research has to find and develop new paths and techniques to study changes in the central nervous system after nerve injury and develop strategies to utilize brain plasticity during the rehabilitation.
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| 9. |
- Nystedt, Jessika, et al.
(författare)
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Altered white matter microstructure in lupus patients : A diffusion tensor imaging study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Arthritis Research and Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1478-6354 .- 1478-6362. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether white matter microstructure is altered in patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and if so, whether such alterations differed between patients with and without neuropsychiatric symptoms. Methods: Structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed in 64 female SLE patients (mean age 36.9 years, range 18.2-52.2 years) and 21 healthy controls (mean age 36.7 years, range 23.3-51.2 years) in conjunction with clinical examination, laboratory tests, cognitive evaluation, and self-assessment questionnaires. The patients were subgrouped according to the American College of Rheumatology Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus case definitions into non-neuropsychiatric SLE (nonNPSLE) and neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE). Results: Comparisons between the SLE group and healthy controls showed that the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) was significantly reduced in the right rostral cingulum (p=0.038), the mid-sagittal corpus callosum (CC) (p=0.050), and the forceps minor of the CC (p=0.015). The mean diffusivity (MD) was significantly increased in the left hippocampal cingulum (p=0.017). No significant differences in MD or FA values were identified between NPSLE and nonNPSLE patients. Disease duration among all SLE patients correlated significantly with reduced FA in the CC (p<0.05). No correlations were found between DTI parameters and white matter hyperintensities, SLE Disease Activity Index-2000, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinical/ACR Organ Damage Index, or Montgomery Asberg Depression Rate Score Self-report. Conclusions: We found alterations of white matter microstructure in SLE patients that were related to disease duration and fatigue. Our results indicate that cerebral involvement in SLE is not isolated to the NPSLE subgroup.
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| 10. |
- Nystedt, Jessika, et al.
(författare)
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Functional connectivity changes in core resting state networks are associated with cognitive performance in systemic lupus erythematosus
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Comparative Neurology. - : Wiley. - 0021-9967 .- 1096-9861. ; 527:11, s. 1837-1856
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To investigate core resting state networks in SLE patients with and without neuropsychiatric symptoms by examining functional connectivity changes correlating with results of cognitive testing. Structural MRI and resting state-fMRI (rs-fMRI) were performed in 61 female SLE patients (mean age: 36.8 years, range 18.2–52.0 years) and 20 healthy controls (HC) (mean age 36.2 years, range 23.3–52.2 years) in conjunction with clinical examination and cognitive testing. Alterations in core resting state networks, not found in our healthy controls sample, correlated with cognitive performance gauged by neuropsychological tests in non-neuropsychiatric SLE (nNP) as well as in neuropsychiatric SLE patients (NP). The observed pattern of increased functional connectivity in core resting state networks correlated with reduced cognitive performance on all cognitive domains tested and with a heavy focus on DM, CE, and DM–CE in the NP subgroup. Furthermore, we found that the observed alterations in memory and psychomotor speed correlated with disease duration. In SLE patients both with and without clinically overt neuropsychiatric manifestations, we found changes in the functional connectivity of core resting state networks essential to cognitive functions. These findings may represent a rewiring of functional architecture in response to neuronal damage and could indicate suboptimal compensatory mechanisms at play.
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