Most recent paper

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Oct 12;76:101629. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101629. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Preterm birth is a known risk factor for neurodevelopmental disabilities, but early neurobehavioral assessments and structural imaging often fail to predict long-term outcomes. This limitation underscores the need for alternative biomarkers that reflect early brain organization. Resting-state functional connectivity offers a powerful tool to track functional brain organization by characterizing resting-state networks (RSNs), potentially offering more sensitive biomarkers. However, most fMRI studies in infant populations use group-level analyses that average subject-specific data across several weeks of development, reducing sensitivity to subtle, time-sensitive deviations from typical brain trajectories, particularly in higher-order association networks. Using a recently introduced precision mapping approach, we estimated individual resting-state networks (RSNs) in a large cohort of term and preterm neonates from the developing Human Connectome Project. RSN connectivity strength increased linearly with age at scan, with primary sensory networks maturing earlier and higher-order association networks, including the default mode network (DMN), showing more gradual but pronounced changes, evolving from an immature organization in preterm infants to a more adult-like pattern in term-born infants. Longitudinal data from a subset of preterm infants confirmed ongoing network development shortly after birth. Despite this maturation, preterm infants did not reach the connectivity levels of term-born infants by term-equivalent age. These findings demonstrate that individualized RSN mapping captures heterogeneous developmental trajectories in the neonatal brain and highlights higher-order association networks, particularly the DMN, as promising early markers for monitoring neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates.

PMID:41109198 | DOI:10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101629

Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2025 Oct 18. doi: 10.1002/mdc3.70391. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Apathy is a common early symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), often co-occurring with cognitive decline and associated with fronto-striatal and mesocortico-limbic dysfunctions. Discrepancies between self- and caregiver-reported apathy have been preliminarily associated with cognitive impairments affecting patients' awareness and self-report accuracy.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates discrepancies between PD patient- and informant-reported apathy in relation to the cognitive status (unimpaired-CU vs. impaired-CI), and explores neural correlates of apathy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

METHODS: Apathy was assessed in 23 PD participants using self-report (AES-S) and informant (AES-I) versions of the Italian Apathy Evaluation Scale. Discrepancy scores (ΔAES) were compared between groups and correlated with cognitive performance. Resting-state fMRI examined associations between AES indices and connectivity from the bilateral nucleus accumbens, while whole-brain structural analyses assessed associations with gray matter (GM) volume.

RESULTS: PD-CI participants showed higher ΔAES, underestimating their apathy compared to PD-CU. ΔAES values correlated with attentional and visuospatial functioning. Higher AES-I scores were associated with hyperconnectivity between right nucleus accumbens, paracingulate, and medial frontal cortices. Structural analyses revealed associations between both AES-I and ΔAES values and GM volume in the cingulate gyrus.

DISCUSSION: These findings highlight the impact of cognitive dysfunction on apathy evaluation in PD, emphasizing the importance of caregiver perspective. Neuroimaging results further validated caregiver ratings, showing an association between fronto-striatal network changes and apathy. Further research is needed to clarify the role of such discrepancy in apathy assessment in predicting disease progression.

PMID:41108660 | DOI:10.1002/mdc3.70391

Magn Reson Med. 2025 Oct 17. doi: 10.1002/mrm.70110. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the feasibility and performance of whole-brain blood oxygen level-dependent functional MRI (fMRI) in humans at 10.5 T by combining motion-robust three-dimensional gradient-echo echo-planar imaging, parallel transmission, and high-density radiofrequency (RF) receive coils.

METHODS: Resting-state fMRI time series were collected in healthy adults at 1.58 mm and approximately 2-s spatiotemporal resolution using a custom-built 16-channel transmit/80-channel receive RF array. Individualized parallel-transmission, spatial-spectral RF pulses were designed to achieve uniform water-selective excitation across the entire brain without the need for additional fat saturation. Images were reconstructed with navigator-guided joint motion and field correction. Reconstructed images were preprocessed using fMRIPrep and postprocessed using XCP-D pipelines. Relevant resting-state fMRI metrics were evaluated including temporal SNR (tSNR), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, and regional homogeneity. The results were compared with those obtained using uncorrected reconstruction (i.e., using same raw data but without motion or field correction).

RESULTS: Our motion-corrected reconstruction largely improved image quality for fMRI time series, reducing motion confounds when compared with uncorrected reconstruction. The reduction in motion confounds translated into an improvement in tSNR, with tSNR averaged across all volunteers being increased by about 11%. Our motion-corrected reconstruction also improved both amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and regional homogeneity in most cortical surfaces and subcortical regions.

CONCLUSION: It is feasible to perform quality three-dimensional whole-brain blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI in humans at 10.5 T using a new comprehensive motion-robust imaging method. This work paves the way for promising future applications at 10.5 T aimed at studying brain function and networks with high spatiotemporal resolution.

PMID:41108198 | DOI:10.1002/mrm.70110