Functional relevance of the precuneus in verbal politeness.

Non-competitive and non-threatening aspects of social hierarchy, such as politeness, are universal among human cultures, and might have evolved from ritualized submission in primates; however, these behaviors have rarely been studied. Honorific language is a type of polite linguistic communication that plays an important role in human social interactions ranging from everyday conversation to international diplomacy. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed selective precuneus activation during a verbal politeness judgment task, but not other linguistic-judgment or social-status recognition tasks. The magnitude of the activation was correlated with the task performance. Functional suppression of the activation using cathodal transcranial direct-current stimulation reduced performance in the politeness task. These results suggest that the precuneus is an essential hub of the verbal politeness judgment

Changes in expression levels of ERCC1, DPYD, and VEGFA mRNA after first-line chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer: results of a multicenter study

Our previous study showed that administering oxaliplatin as first-line chemotherapy increased ERCC1 and DPD levels in liver colorectal cancers (CRCs) metastases. Second, whether the anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody bevacizumab alters tumoral VEGFA levels is unknown. We conducted this multicenter observational study to validate our previous findings on ERCC1 and DPD, and clarify the response of VEGFA expression to bavacizumab administration. 346 CRC patients with liver metastases were enrolled at 22 Japanese institutes. Resected liver metastases were available for 175 patients previously treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (chemotherapy group) and 171 receiving no previous chemotherapy (non-chemotherapy group). ERCC1, DPYD, and VEGFA mRNA levels were measured by real-time RT-PCR. ERCC1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the chemotherapy group than in the non-chemotherapy group (P = 0.033), and were significantly correlated (Spearman\u27s correlation coefficient = 0.42; P < 0.0001). VEGFA expression level was higher in patients receiving bevacizumab (n = 51) than in those who did not (n = 251) (P = 0.007). This study confirmed that first-line oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy increases ERCC1 and DPYD expression levels, potentially enhancing chemosensitivity to subsequent therapy. We also found that bevacizumab induces VEGFA expression in tumor cells, suggesting a biologic rationale for extending bevacizumab treatment beyond first progression

Insular activation during reward anticipation reflects duration of illness in abstinent pathological gamblers

Pathological gambling (PG) is a chronic mental disorder characterized by a difficulty restraining gambling behavior despite negative consequences. Although brain abnormalities in patients with substance use disorders are caused by repetitive drug use and recover partly with drug abstinence, the relationship between brain activity and duration of illness or abstinence of gambling behavior in PG patients remains unclear. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared the brain activity of 23 PG patients recruited from a treatment facility with 27 demographically-matched healthy control subjects during reward anticipation, and examined the correlations between brain activity and duration of illness or abstinence in PG patients. During reward anticipation, PG patients showed decreased activity compared to healthy controls in a broad range of the reward system regions, including the insula cortex. In PG patients, activation in the left insula showed a significant negative correlation with illness duration. Our findings suggest that insular activation during reward anticipation may serve as a marker of progression of pathological gambling

Fiber tract associated with autistic traits in healthy adults.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with impairment of social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Reduced fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter integrity, in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is related to ASD. However, there are several major fibers in pSTS, and it is unknown which of them is associated with ASD. We investigated FA in correlation with autistic traits assessed by autism spectrum quotient (AQ) in 91 healthy adults using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Then, of the fibers in pSTS, we identified the one in which FA was linked to the AQ score using tractography. TBSS revealed that AQ was correlated with FA of white matter in several regions such as the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe including pSTS. With further analysis using tractography, we confirmed that FA alteration in pSTS was located on the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). IFOF has a critical role in processing socio-emotional information. Our findings suggest that of the fibers in pSTS, IFOF is a key fiber that links to autistic traits in healthy adults

A venous mechanism of ventriculomegaly shared between traumatic brain injury and normal ageing

ヒト脳の新しい加齢バイオマーカーを発見 --脳萎縮のメカニズム解明へ向けて--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-05-21.Recently, age-related timing dissociation between the superficial and deep venous systems has been observed; this was particularly pronounced in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus, suggesting a common mechanism of ventriculomegaly. Establishing the relationship between venous drainage and ventricular enlargement would be clinically relevant and could provide insight into the mechanisms underlying brain ageing. To investigate a possible link between venous drainage and ventriculomegaly in both normal ageing and pathological conditions, we compared 225 healthy subjects (137 males and 88 females) and 71 traumatic brain injury patients of varying ages (53 males and 18 females) using MRI-based volumetry and a novel perfusion-timing analysis. Volumetry, focusing on the CSF space, revealed that the sulcal space and ventricular size presented different lifespan profiles with age; the latter presented a quadratic, rather than linear, pattern of increase. The venous timing shift slightly preceded this change, supporting a role for venous drainage in ventriculomegaly. In traumatic brain injury, a small but significant disease effect, similar to idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, was found in venous timing, but it tended to decrease with age at injury, suggesting an overlapping mechanism with normal ageing. Structural bias due to, or a direct causative role of ventriculomegaly was unlikely to play a dominant role, because of the low correlation between venous timing and ventricular size after adjustment for age in both patients and controls. Since post-traumatic hydrocephalus can be asymptomatic and occasionally overlooked, the observation suggested a link between venous drainage and CSF accumulation. Thus, hydrocephalus, involving venous insufficiency, may be a part of normal ageing, can be detected non-invasively, and is potentially treatable. Further investigation into the clinical application of this new marker of venous function is therefore warranted

Insular gray matter volume and objective quality of life in schizophrenia

Improving quality of life has been recognized as an important outcome for schizophrenia treatment, although the fundamental determinants are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the association between brain structural abnormalities and objective quality of life in schizophrenia patients. Thirty-three schizophrenia patients and 42 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging. The Quality of Life Scale was used to measure objective quality of life in schizophrenia patients. Voxel-based morphometry was performed to identify regional brain alterations that correlate with Quality of Life Scale score in the patient group. Schizophrenia patients showed gray matter reductions in the frontal, temporal, limbic, and subcortical regions. We then performed voxel-based multiple regression analysis in these regions to identify any correlations between regional gray matter volume and Quality of Life Scale scores. We found that among four subcategories of the scale, the Instrumental Role category score correlated with gray matter volume in the right anterior insula in schizophrenia patients. In addition, this correlation was shown to be mediated by negative symptoms. Our findings suggest that the neural basis of objective quality of life might differ topographically from that of subjective QOL in schizophrenia

Efficacy of Touch Imprint Cytology in Intraoperative Diagnosis of Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Lung: A Case Report and Literature Review

A preoperative diagnosis of the peripheral small lung nodule is often difficult, and an intraoperative frozen section diagnosis (FSD) is performed to guide treatment strategy. However, invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is prone to be overlooked because of the low sample quality and weak atypia. We herein report a case of IMA, in which touch imprint cytology (TIC) revealed diagnostic efficacy. A 74-year-old male with a small, subsolid nodule in the right upper lobe underwent a thoracoscopic wedge resection. A grayish brown, 10 × 7 mm-sized nodule was observed on the cut surface. Intraoperative FSD revealed lung tissue with mild alveolar septal thickening and stromal fibrosis but without overt atypia. Meanwhile, TIC revealed mucus and a few epithelial cells with intranuclear inclusions, which pathologists evaluated as reactive. Finally, focal organizing pneumonia was tentatively diagnosed, and surgery was finished without any additional resection. However, permanent section diagnosis revealed a microinvasive mucinous adenocarcinoma. Nuclear inclusions were confirmed in tumor cells. In the intraoperative setting, TIC may be more advantageous than FSD in observing nuclear inclusions and mucus. Mucinous background and nuclear inclusion on TIC may suggest IMA even if FSD does not suggest malignancy in an intraoperative diagnosis of the peripheral small lung nodule