Keep calm and carry on:The relations between narrative coherence, trauma, social support, psychological well-being, and cortisol responses

In order to explain trauma resilience, previous research has been investigating possible risk and protective factors, both on an individual and a contextual level. In this experimental study, we examined narrative coherence and social support in relation to trauma resilience. Participants were asked to write about a turning point memory, after which they did the Maastricht Acute Stress Test, our lab analog of a traumatic event. Following, half of the participants received social support, whereas the other half did not. Afterwards, all participants wrote a narrative on the traumatic event. Moment-to-moment fluctuations in psychological and physiological well-being throughout the experiment were investigated with state anxiety questionnaires and cortisol measures. Results showed that narratives of traumatic experiences were less coherent than narratives of turning point memories. However, contrary to our predictions, coherence, and, in particular, thematic coherence, related positively to anxiety levels. Possibly, particular types of thematic coherence are a non-adaptive form of coping, which reflect unfinished attempts at meaning-making and are more similar to continuous rumination than to arriving at a resolution. Furthermore, coherence at baseline could not buffer against the impact of trauma on anxiety levels in this study. Contrary to our hypotheses, social support did not have the intended beneficial effects on coherence, neither on well-being. Multiple explanations as to why our support manipulation remained ineffective are suggested. Remarkably, lower cortisol levels at baseline and after writing about the turning point memory predicted higher coherence in the trauma narratives. This may suggest that the ability to remain calm in difficult situations does relate to the ability to cope adaptively with future difficult experiences. Clinical and social implications of the present findings are discussed, and future research recommendations on the relations between narrative coherence, social support, and trauma resilience are addressed

Processing of structural neuroimaging data in young children:bridging the gap between current practice and state-of-the-art methods

The structure of the brain is subject to very rapid developmental changes during early childhood. Pediatric studies based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) over this age range have recently become more frequent, with the advantage of providing in vivo and non-invasive high-resolution images of the developing brain, toward understanding typical and atypical trajectories. However, it has also been demonstrated that application of currently standard MRI processing methods that have been developed with datasets from adults may not be appropriate for use with pediatric datasets. In this review, we examine the approaches currently used in MRI studies involving young children, including an overview of the rationale for new MRI processing methods that have been designed specifically for pediatric investigations. These methods are mainly related to the use of age-specific or 4D brain atlases, improved methods for quantifying and optimizing image quality, and provision for registration of developmental data obtained with longitudinal designs. The overall goal is to raise awareness of the existence of these methods and the possibilities for implementing them in developmental neuroimaging studies

Species identification skills predict in-depth knowledge about species

To raise biodiversity awareness effectively, communicators should be aware of knowledge levels in their audiences. Species identification skills have been used in the past as a measure of what people know about species, yet it is not known whether they serve as good indicators. To study the link between species identification and in-depth species knowledge, we presented an animal knowledge test to an online audience of over 7,000 Dutch adults, and used correlation and regression analyses to determine the extent to which species identification predicts in-depth knowledge about species’ origin, habitat, diet, and behavior. We found that in-depth knowledge was higher in those who correctly identified species as compared with those who did not correctly identify species, for all four types of in-depth knowledge. Moreover, as compared to alternative variables (work, age, gender, and educational level), species identification was by far the best predictor for in-depth knowledge about species. However, species identification levels were generally higher than levels of in-depth knowledge, and knowledge gaps and misconceptions were uncovered. The results confirm the value of species identification tests, but also highlight limitations and challenges that should be taken into account when establishing knowledge levels and communicating biodiversity

Neuroinflammation as potential precursor of leukoencephalopathy in early-stage breast cancer patients:A cross-sectional PET-MRI study

BACKGROUND: Although chemotherapy-induced leukoencephalopathy has been described in case and cohort studies, literature remains inconclusive about its prevalence and mechanisms. Therefore, we investigated the presence of leukoencephalopathy after multiagent chemotherapy in women treated for breast cancer and potential underlying neuroinflammatory processes. METHODS: In this exploratory study, 15 chemotherapy-treated and 15 age-matched chemotherapy-naïve patients with early-stage breast cancer, as well as 15 healthy controls underwent simultaneous PET-MR neuroimaging, including T1-weighted MPRAGE, T2-weighted FLAIR and dynamic PET with the 18-kDA translocator protein (TSPO) radioligand [(18)F]DPA-714. Total and regional (juxtacortical, periventricular, deep white matter and infratentorial) lesion burden were compared between the groups with one-way ANOVA. With paired t-tests, [(18)F]DPA-714 volume of distribution [V(T), including partial volume correction (PVC)] in lesioned and normal appearing white matter (NAWM) were compared within subjects, to investigate inflammation. Finally, two general linear models were used to examine the predictive values of neurofilament light-chain (NfL) serum levels on (1) total lesion burden or (2) PVC [(18)F]DPA-714 V(T) of lesions showing elevated inflammation. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in total or localized lesion burden. However, significantly higher (20–45%) TSPO uptake was observed in juxtacortical lesions (p ≤ 0.008, t ≥ 3.90) compared to NAWM in both cancer groups, but only persisted for chemotherapy-treated patients after PVC (p = 0.005, t = 4.30). NfL serum levels were not associated with total lesion volume or tracer uptake in juxtacortical lesions. CONCLUSION: This multimodal neuroimaging study suggests that neuroinflammatory processes could be involved in the development of juxtacortical, but not periventricular or deep white matter, leukoencephalopathy shortly after chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer

Two Time Point MS Lesion Segmentation in Brain MRI:An Expectation-Maximization Framework

Purpose: Lesion volume is a meaningful measure in multiple sclerosis (MS) prognosis. Manual lesion segmentation for computing volume in a single or multiple time points is time consuming and suffers from intra and inter-observer variability. Methods: In this paper, we present MSmetrix-long: a joint expectation-maximization (EM) framework for two time point white matter (WM) lesion segmentation. MSmetrix-long takes as input a 3D T1-weighted and a 3D FLAIR MR image and segments lesions in three steps: (1) cross-sectional lesion segmentation of the two time points; (2) creation of difference image, which is used to model the lesion evolution; (3) a joint EM lesion segmentation framework that uses output of step (1) and step (2) to provide the final lesion segmentation. The accuracy (Dice score) and reproducibility (absolute lesion volume difference) of MSmetrix-long is evaluated using two datasets. Results: On the first dataset, the median Dice score between MSmetrix-long and expert lesion segmentation was 0.63 and the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) was equal to 0.96. On the second dataset, the median absolute volume difference was 0.11 ml. Conclusions: MSmetrix-long is accurate and consistent in segmenting MS lesions. Also, MSmetrix-long compares favorably with the publicly available longitudinal MS lesion segmentation algorithm of Lesion Segmentation Toolbox

Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multi-scale drivers of K-transect events

One consequence of recent Arctic warming is an increased occurrence and longer seasonality of above-freezing air temperature episodes.There is significant disagreement in the literature concerning potential physical connectivity between high-latitude open water duration proximate to the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and unseasonal (i.e. late summer and autumn) GrIS melt events. Here, a new date of sea ice advance (DOA) product is used to determine the occurrence of Baffin Bay sea ice growth along Greenland’s west coast for the 2011–2015 period. For the unseasonal melt period preceding the DOA, northwest Atlantic Ocean and atmospheric conditions are analyzed and linked to unseasonal melt events observed at a series of on-ice automatic weather stations (AWS) along the K-transect in southwest Greenland. Mesoscale and synoptic influences on the above and below freezing surface air temperature events are assessed through analyses of AWS wind, pressure, and humidity observations. These surface observations are further compared against Modèle Atmosphérique Régional (MAR), Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO2), and ERA-Interim reanalysis fields to understand the airmass origins and (thermo)dynamic drivers of the melt events. Results suggest that the K-transect late season, ablation zone melt events are strongly affected by ridging atmospheric circulation patterns that transport warm, moist air from the sub-polar North Atlantic toward west Greenland. While thermal conduction and advection off south Baffin Bayopen waters impact coastal air temperatures, consistent with previous studies, marine air incursions from Baffin Bay onto the ice sheet are obstructed by barrier flows and the pressure gradient-driven katabatic regime along the western GrIS margin