Disability changes throughout the 12-month observational period according to clinical and paraclinical characteristics (A: symptomatic versus asymptomatic presentation; B: absence versus presence of contrast-enhancement at PML diagnosis; C: unilobar versus other MRI patterns; D: correlation with CSF-JCV viral load).

<p>Disability changes throughout the 12-month observational period according to clinical and paraclinical characteristics (A: symptomatic versus asymptomatic presentation; B: absence versus presence of contrast-enhancement at PML diagnosis; C: unilobar versus other MRI patterns; D: correlation with CSF-JCV viral load).</p

Socio-demographic and clinical features of each individual patient (n = 40).

<p>Socio-demographic and clinical features of each individual patient (n = 40).</p

Relationships between MRI features and clinical and laboratory findings at PML onset.

<p>Relationships between MRI features and clinical and laboratory findings at PML onset.</p

Longitudinal evolution of disability throughout the 12-month observational period.

<p>Longitudinal evolution of disability throughout the 12-month observational period.</p

Regional MTr decrease surviving correction for local atrophy in ALS.

<p>Results of the between group MTI analysis adjusted for atrophy [p<0.05 FWE corrected for multiple comparisons] superimposed on volume rendering template in the right and upper views reveals clusters (in red) of reduced MTr mainly affecting premotor and frontotemporal cortex. MTI changes exist beyond volume loss in these cortical.</p

Mapping Cortical Degeneration in ALS with Magnetization Transfer Ratio and Voxel-Based Morphometry

<div><p>Pathological and imaging data indicate that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multisystem disease involving several cerebral cortical areas. Advanced quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques enable to explore in vivo the volume and microstructure of the cerebral cortex in ALS. We studied with a combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and magnetization transfer (MT) imaging approach the capability of MRI to identify the cortical areas affected by neurodegeneration in ALS patients. Eighteen ALS patients and 18 age-matched healthy controls were examined on a 1.5T scanner using a high-resolution 3D T1 weighted spoiled gradient recalled sequence with and without MT saturation pulse. A voxel-based analysis (VBA) was adopted in order to automatically compute the regional atrophy and MT ratio (MTr) changes of the entire cerebral cortex. By using a multimodal image analysis MTr was adjusted for local gray matter (GM) atrophy to investigate if MTr changes can be independent of atrophy of the cerebral cortex. VBA revealed several clusters of combined GM atrophy and MTr decrease in motor-related areas and extra-motor frontotemporal cortex. The multimodal image analysis identified areas of isolated MTr decrease in premotor and extra-motor frontotemporal areas. VBM and MTr are capable to detect the distribution of neurodegenerative alterations in the cortical GM of ALS patients, supporting the hypothesis of a multi-systemic involvement in ALS. MT imaging changes exist beyond volume loss in frontotemporal cortices.</p></div

Data_Sheet_1_Distinct limbic connectivity in left and right benign mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: Evidence from a resting state functional MRI study.pdf

BackgroundFunctional connectivity (FC) studies showed that pharmaco-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) affects not only the limbic system, but also several extra-limbic regions, including areas belonging to resting state networks. Less is known about FC in subjects with benign MTLE (i.e., sensitive to antiseizure medication, bMTLE).Aim and methodsWe evaluated FC of hippocampus and amygdala in subjects with bMTLE, distinguished based on the epileptic focus lateralization. We enrolled 19 patients (10 with left and 9 with right bMTLE) and 10 age-matched healthy subjects. Connectivity was investigated at rest by using a seed-based regression analyses approach with four regions of interest (left and right hippocampus, left and right amygdala). Patients were also tested with a neuropsychological battery and their scores were correlated with fMRI data.Results and conclusionsOur study documented an asymmetrical disruption of FC in bMTLE, in relation to the side of the focus. Right subjects only exhibited limited altered connections, while left subjects—who performed worse in verbal memory tests—showed a wide bilateral hypoconnectivity of hippocampus and amygdala with areas belonging to language and memory network. The strength of FC between left limbic areas and language and memory network correlated with better performances in verbal memory tests. Moreover, we observed an increased FC with areas of default mode network, more pronounced in left subjects, a possible attempt to compensate cognitive deficit but without effectiveness.We believe that these findings could help to better characterize bMTLE, in which a dysfunction of limbic connectivity is detectable despite well-controlled epilepsy.</p