Olfactory fMRI Connectivity Analysis Based on Granger Causality with Application in Anosmia Assessment

In this work, we describe hubs organization within the olfactory network with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Granger causality analyses were applied in the supposed regions of interest (ROIs) involved in olfactory tasks, as described in [1]. We aim to get deeper knowledge about the hierarchy of the regions within the olfactory network and to describe which of these regions, in terms of strength of the connectivity, impair in different types of anosmia

Disparate connectivity for structural and functional networks is revealed when physical location of the connected nodes is considered

Macroscopic brain networks have been widely described with the manifold of metrics available using graph theory. However, most analyses do not incorporate information about the physical position of network nodes. Here, we provide a multimodal macroscopic network characterization while considering the physical positions of nodes. To do so, we examined anatomical and functional macroscopic brain networks in a sample of twenty healthy subjects. Anatomical networks are obtained with a graph based tractography algorithm from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images (DW-MRI). Anatomical con- nections identified via DW-MRI provided probabilistic constraints for determining the connectedness of 90 dif- ferent brain areas. Functional networks are derived from temporal linear correlations between blood-oxygenation level-dependent signals derived from the same brain areas. Rentian Scaling analysis, a technique adapted from very- large-scale integration circuits analyses, shows that func- tional networks are more random and less optimized than the anatomical networks. We also provide a new metric that allows quantifying the global connectivity arrange- ments for both structural and functional networks. While the functional networks show a higher contribution of inter-hemispheric connections, the anatomical networks highest connections are identified in a dorsal?ventral arrangement. These results indicate that anatomical and functional networks present different connectivity organi- zations that can only be identified when the physical locations of the nodes are included in the analysis

Anatomo-functional organization in brain networks

There are several studies focused on comparing rsFC networks with their structural substrate \cite{hagmann2008, honey2010}. However an accurate description of how anatomo-­functional connections are organized, both at physical and topological levels, is still to be defined. Here we present an approach to quantify the anatomo-functional organization and discuss its consistency

Changes in resting-state functionally connected parieto-frontal networks after videogame practice

Neuroimaging studies provide evidence for organized intrinsic activity under task-free conditions. This activity serves functionally relevant brain systems supporting cognition. Here, we analyze changes in resting-state functional connectivity after videogame practice applying a test–retest design. Twenty young females were selected from a group of 100 participants tested on four standardized cognitive ability tests. The practice and control groups were carefully matched on their ability scores. The practice group played during two sessions per week across 4 weeks (16 h total) under strict supervision in the laboratory, showing systematic performance improvements in the game. A group independent component analysis (GICA) applying multisession temporal concatenation on test–retest resting-state fMRI, jointly with a dual-regression approach, was computed. Supporting the main hypothesis, the key finding reveals an increased correlated activity during rest in certain predefined resting state networks (albeit using uncorrected statistics) attributable to practice with the cognitively demanding tasks of the videogame. Observed changes were mainly concentrated on parietofrontal networks involved in heterogeneous cognitive functions

Structural changes after videogame practice related to a brain network associated with intelligence

Here gray and white matter changes after four weeks of videogame practice were analyzed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM), cortical surface and cortical thickness indices, and white matter integrity computed from several projection, commissural, and association tracts relevant to cognition. Beginning with a sample of one hundred young females, twenty right handed participants were recruited for the study and assigned to a practice or a control group carefully matched by their general cognitive ability scores. After the first scan, the practice group played ‘Professor Layton and The Pandora's Box’ 4 h per week during four weeks. A second scan was obtained at the end of practice and intelligence was measured again. Image analyses revealed gray and white matter changes in the practice group. Gray matter changes theoretically relevant for intelligence were observed for the practice group mainly in frontal clusters (Brodmann areas 9 and 10) and also in smaller parietal and temporal regions. White matter findings were focused in the hippocampal cingulum and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. These gray and white matter changes presumably induced by practice did not interact with intelligence tests' scores

Altered brain rhythms and functional network disruptions involved in patients with generalized fixation-off epilepsy

Fixation-off sensitivity (FOS) denotes the forms of epilepsy elicited by elimination of fixation. FOS-IGE patients are rare cases [1]. In a previous work [2] we showed that two FOS-IGE patients had different altered EEG rhythms when closing eyes; only beta band was altered in patient 1 while theta, alpha and beta were altered in patient 2. In the present work, we explain the relationship between the altered brain rhythms in these patients and the disruption in functional brain networks

News and updates in the treatment of localized stage triple-negative breast cancer

Compared to other breast cancer subtypes, triple-negative breast cancer presents a worse prognosis and higher mortality. Even in localized stages, the risk of relapse is high, especially in patients with ≥ cT2 and/or ≥ cN1. We know that those patients who achieve a complete pathologic response after neoadjuvant treatment have better disease-free survival. Therefore, many research efforts have been made to try to optimize neoadjuvant chemo/immunotherapy to increase pathologic complete response rates. The available evidence related to that subject matter is summarized in this article. In the field of adjuvant therapy, the challenge of improving disease-free survival in those patients who do not achieve pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant therapy stands out. The second part of this article will deal with the challenges inherent to this issue

Two-center experience comparing the use of the FLOT4 and CROSS schemes for patients with gastric, esophageal, and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

Introduction. Gastric (GAD), gastroesophageal junction (GEJA), and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAD) share pathophysiological features. At localized stages, FLOT is used perioperatively for the treatment of GAD and GEJA and CROSS for EAD and some GEJA. Although both therapies have been compared with MAGIC, comparative randomized data on FLOT and CROSS are not yet available. Material andmethods. We retrospectively analyzed and compared 40 patients treated with FLOT and 16 patients treated with CROSS in terms of clinical features and neoadjuvant, surgical, adjuvant, and survival outcomes. Results. At the time of analysis, 65% of patients treated with FLOT4 and 56.3% with CROSS remained in complete remission. Those who progressed after FLOT4 did so mainly at the peritoneal level (25%) and after CROSS at the bone, lymph node, and peritoneal levels (12.5% respectively). Six patients (37.5%) died after CROSS (median OS of 17.5 months; 95% CI 2–41) and 10 (25%) after FLOT4 (median OS 16.5 months; 95% CI 11–22). For the living patients, the median numbers of months from diagnosis to the follow-up cutoff date were 47.5 (95% CI 11–67) and 27 (95% CI 14–44) for CROSS and FLOT4, respectively. There were no significant differences in median OS estimated by Kaplan Meier analysis [FLOT4: 50 ± 4.6 months (95% CI 40.9–59.2); CROSS: 51.2 ± 7 months (95% CI 37.4–65.0; p = 0.79)].  Conclusions. Although we obtained lower pCR rates; TNM downstaging after neoadjuvant therapy, R0 rates, tolerance, PFS, and OS were similar in both groups and comparable with trial results. The adjuvant compliance rate was high with FLOT4. CROSS allows sequencing with nivolumab in PD-L1+ tumors

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The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs