Functional Connectivity Density, Local Brain Spontaneous Activity, and Their Coupling Strengths in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder

In this study, combining degree centrality (DC) and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) analyses of resting state (rs)-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we aimed to explore functional connectivity density, local brain spontaneous activity, and their coupling strengths in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Forty-three BPD patients and 39 demographically-matched controls underwent rs-fMRI after completing a series of psychological tests. Two-sample t-tests were performed to compare DC and fALFF between these two groups. Across-voxel correlation analysis was conducted to assess DC-fALFF coupling strengths in each group. Imaging parameters and psychological variables were correlated by Pearson correlation analysis in the BPD group. Altered DC and fALFF values in the BPD group, compared with the control group, were distributed mainly in default mode network (DMN), and DC-fALFF coupling strengths were decreased in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and right precuneus in the BPD group. Additionally, insecure attachment scores correlated positively with left precuneus DC and negatively with fALFF of the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the BPD group. These altered DC and fALFF findings indicate that the BPD patients had disturbed functional connectivity density and local spontaneous activity in the DMN compared with control subjects. Their decreased connectivity-amplitude coupling suggests that the left MTG and right precuneus may be functional impairment hubs in BPD. Disturbed rs function in the left precuneus and right PCC might underlie insecure attachment in BPD

Resting-State Default Mode Network Related Functional Connectivity Is Associated With Sustained Attention Deficits in Schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Background: Previous studies have indicated the resting-state default mode network (DMN) related connectivity serving as predictor of sustained attention performance in healthy people. Interestingly, sustained attention deficits as well as DMN-involved functional connectivity (FC) alterations are common in both patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thus, the present study was designed to investigate whether the DMN related resting-state connectivity alterations in these two psychiatric disorders were neural correlates of their sustained attention impairments.Methods: The study included 17 SCZ patients, 35 OCD patients and 36 healthy controls (HCs). Sustained attention to response task was adopted to assess the sustained attention. Resting-state scan was administrated and seed-based whole-brain FC analyses were performed with seeds located in classical DMN regions including bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).Results: Both SCZ and OCD patients had poorer sustained attention than HCs. Sustained attention deficits in OCD was negatively correlated with their impaired FC of right mPFC-left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) within DMN, and that in SCZ was significantly correlated with their altered FC of left mPFC-bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) which indicated interaction between DMN and salience network. In addition, the FC between left mPFC and right parietal lobe indicating the interaction between DMN and frontal-parietal network was correlated with sustained attention in both SCZ and OCD.Conclusion: These findings suggest the importance of DMN-involved connectivity, both within and between networks in underlying sustained attention deficits in OCD and SCZ. Results further support the potential of resting-state FC in complementing information for cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE STABILITY OF NbTi COMPOSITE CONDUCTOR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PULSED MAGNETIC FIELD

Nous avons construit un appareillage expérimental destiné à étudier l'influence d'un champ magnétique pulsé sur la stabilité d'un conducteur multifilamentaire composite, torsadé, de NbTi. Plusieurs échantillons ont été mesurés. Nous présentons nos résultats.To study the influence of pulsed magnetic field on the stability of NbTi multifilamentary twisted composite conductor, an experimental device was constructed and several samples have been studied. The corresponding results are presented

A Voxel-Based Morphometric MRI Study in Young Adults with Borderline Personality Disorder.

BACKGROUND:Increasing evidence has documented subtle changes in brain morphology and function in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, results of magnetic resonance imaging volumetry in patients with BPD are inconsistent. In addition, few researchers using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) have focused on attachment and childhood trauma in BPD. This preliminary study was performed to investigate structural brain changes and their relationships to attachment and childhood trauma in a homogenous sample of young adults with BPD. METHOD:We examined 34 young adults with BPD and 34 healthy controls (HCs) to assess regionally specific differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and gray matter concentration (GMC). Multiple regressions between brain volumes measured by VBM and attachment style questionnaire (ASQ) and childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) scores were performed. RESULTS:Compared with HCs, subjects with BPD showed significant bilateral increases in GMV in the middle cingulate cortex (MCC)/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus. GMC did not differ significantly between groups. In multiple regression models, ASQ insecure attachment scores were correlated negatively with GMV in the precuneus/MCC and middle occipital gyrus in HCs, HCs with more severe insecure attachment showed smaller volumes in precuneus/MCC and middle occipital gyrus, whereas no negative correlations between insecure attachment and GMV in any region were found in BPD group. In addition, CTQ total scores were not correlated with GMV in any region in the two groups respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings fit with those of previous reports of larger precuneus GMV in patients with BPD, and suggest that GMV in the precuneus/MCC and middle occipital gyrus is associated inversely with insecure attachment style in HCs. Our finding of increased GMV in the MCC and PCC in patients with BPD compared with HCs has not been reported in previous VBM studies

Altered intrinsic functional network connectivity is associated with impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in drug-naïve young patients with borderline personality disorder

Abstract Background Despite impulse control and emotion regulation being altered in borderline personality disorder (BPD), the specific mechanism of these clinical features remains unclear. This study investigated the functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities within- and between- default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and central executive network (CEN) in BPD, and examined the association between aberrant FC and clinical features. We aimed to explore whether the abnormal large-scale networks underlie the pathophysiology of impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in BPD. Methods Forty-one young, drug-naïve patients with BPD (24.98 ± 3.12 years, 20 males) and 42 healthy controls (HCs; 24.74 ± 1.29 years, 17 males) were included in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses. Independent component analysis was performed to extract subnetworks of the DMN, CEN, and SN. Additionally, partial correlation was performed to explore the association between brain imaging variables and clinical features in BPD. Results Compared with HCs, BPD showed significant decreased intra-network FC of right medial prefrontal cortex in the anterior DMN and of right angular gyrus in the right CEN. Intra-network FC of right angular gyrus in the anterior DMN was significantly negatively correlated with attention impulsivity in BPD. The patients also showed decreased inter-network FC between the posterior DMN and left CEN, which was significantly negatively correlated with emotion dysregulation. Conclusion These findings suggest that impaired intra-network FC may underlie the neurophysiological mechanism of impulsivity, and abnormal inter-network FC may elucidate the neurophysiological mechanism of emotion dysregulation in BPD

EXPERIENCES IN DEVELOPING THE HIGH CURRENT DENSITY WAX-FILLED SUPERCONDUCTING SADDLE MAGNETS

La conception, la fabrication et les résultats expérimentaux de trois aimants ("saddle magnets") sont décrit(e)s. Les expériences pendant le développement sont résumées.The design, construction technology and test results of three model saddle magnets are described. The main research and development experiences are summarized

Resting-state functional connectivity between right anterior insula and right orbital frontal cortex correlate with insight level in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Few studies have explored the neurobiological basis of insight level in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), though the salience network (SN) has been implicated in insight deficits in schizophrenia. This study was then designed to investigate whether resting-state (rs) functional connectivity (FC) of SN was associated with insight level in OCD patients. We analyzed rs-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 21 OCD patients with good insight (OCD-GI), 19 OCD patients with poor insight (OCD-PI), and 24 healthy controls (HCs). Seed-based whole-brain FC and ROI (region of interest)-wise connectivity analyses were performed with seeds/ROIs in the bilateral anterior insula (AI) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The right AI-right medial orbital frontal cortex (mOFC) connectivity was found to be uniquely decreased in the OCD-PI group, and the value of this aberrant connectivity correlated with insight level in OCD patients. In addition, we found that the OCD-GI group had significantly increased right AI-left dACC connectivity within the SN, relative to HCs (overall trend for groups: OCD-GI>OCD-PI>HC). Our findings suggest that abnormal right AI-right mOFC FC may mediate insight deficits in OCD, perhaps due to impaired encoding and integration of self-evaluative information about OCD-related beliefs and behaviors. Our findings indicate a SN connectivity dissociation between OCD-GI and OCD-PI patients and support the notion of considering OCD-GI and OCD-PI as two distinct disorder subtypes. Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Insight, Salience network, Resting-state functional connectivity, Insul

Aberrant default mode network homogeneity in patients with first-episode treatment-naive melancholic depression

Background: Melancholic depression is a relatively homogenous subtype of major depressive disorders (MDD). The condition has several endogenous symptoms and represents strong biological components. However, its specific neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. Previous neuroimaging findings indicated that default mode network (DMN) is closely related to MDD. The present study examined the network homogeneity (NH) of the DMN in patients with melancholic MDD.</p

Altered connectivity within and between the default mode, central executive, and salience networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background Default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN) and salience network (SN) are the three most important intrinsic networks of the human brain. Recent studies emphasized the importance of the &quot;triple-network model&quot; which illustrated the interactions within and between DMN, CEN and SN in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. However, previous studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) just explored the altered connectivity within these networks while neglected the coupling between them. Hence, the present study was designed to fill this research gap.</p