In adults, partial damage to V1 or optic radiations abolishes perception in the corresponding part of the visual field, causing a scotoma. However, it is widely accepted that the developing cortex ...has superior capacities to reorganize following an early lesion to endorse adaptive plasticity. Here we report a single patient case (G.S.) with near normal central field vision despite a massive unilateral lesion to the optic radiations acquired early in life. The patient underwent surgical removal of a right hemisphere parieto-temporal-occipital atypical choroid plexus papilloma of the right lateral ventricle at four months of age, which presumably altered the visual pathways during in utero development. Both the tumor and surgery severely compromised the optic radiations. Residual vision of G.S. was tested psychophysically when the patient was 7 years old. We found a close-to-normal visual acuity and contrast sensitivity within the central 25° and a great impairment in form and contrast vision in the far periphery (40–50°) of the left visual hemifield. BOLD response to full field luminance flicker was recorded from the primary visual cortex (V1) and in a region in the residual temporal-occipital region, presumably corresponding to the middle temporal complex (MT+), of the lesioned (right) hemisphere. A population receptive field analysis of the BOLD responses to contrast modulated stimuli revealed a retinotopic organization just for the MT+ region but not for the calcarine regions. Interestingly, consistent islands of ipsilateral activity were found in MT+ and in the parieto-occipital sulcus (POS) of the intact hemisphere. Probabilistic tractography revealed that optic radiations between LGN and V1 were very sparse in the lesioned hemisphere consistently with the post-surgery cerebral resection, while normal in the intact hemisphere. On the other hand, strong structural connections between MT+ and LGN were found in the lesioned hemisphere, while the equivalent tract in the spared hemisphere showed minimal structural connectivity. These results suggest that during development of the pathological brain, abnormal thalamic projections can lead to functional cortical changes, which may mediate functional recovery of vision.
•G.S. has near normal central field vision despite an early lesion to the right optic radiation.•LGN-V1 connectivity is minimal in the right hemisphere, while normal in the left.•There is enhanced LGN-MT+ connectivity in the right hemisphere, compared to the left.•During pathological brain development, abnormal thalamic projections mediate recovery of vision.
HSP are a group of genetically and clinically heterogeneous neurologic disorders. Hereby, we describe a relatively large group of patients (pts) affected by HSP studied at baseline (31 pts) and at ...follow up (mean period 28.9±8.4 months; 23 pts) with multimodal advanced MRI: high resolution T1 images for VBM analysis, MRS and DTI. An age-matched healthy control (HC) group underwent in a time schedule matched with HSP patients the same neuroimaging protocol. At the baseline VBM showed GM reduction in HSP in the right pre-frontal cortex and bilaterally in the thalami. MRS at baseline depicted in HSP patients compared to the HC group reduction of NAA/Cr ratio in the right pre-frontal region, increase of Cho/Cr ratio in the right pre-central regions, and increase of mI/Cr ratio on the left pre-central area. At cross-sectional follow up analysis and longitudinal evaluation no VBM and MRS statistical results were obtained. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis depicted widespread DTI brain white matter (WM) alterations in patients compared to HC at baseline, characterized by reduction of FA and increase of MD, AD and RD, confirmed on cross analysis of follow-up dataset. Longitudinal analysis of TBSS analysis in HSP patients didn't show significant variations, while applying region-based analysis we found increased FA, decreased MD and AD during follow-up in specific brain WM fibers complex. The changes were not correlated with the clinical presentation (pure vs complicated HSP), motor function and motility indexes (SPRS) or history of specific treatments (botulinum toxin). In conclusion, the cross-sectional analysis of the multiparametric MRI data in our HSP patients confirmed the no prominent involvement of the cortex in the primary motor regions, but rather of other more associative areas. On the contrary, DTI demonstrated a widespread involvement of the brain WM, including the primary motor regions, which was confirmed at follow up. The longitudinal analysis revealed an apparent inversion of tendency considering the expected evolution of a neurodegenerative process: we detected an increase of FA and a decrease of MD and AD. These time-related modifications may suggest a repair attempt by the residual central WM fibers.
The hereditary spastic paraplegias are a group of genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by progressive spasticity and weakness of the lower limbs. Although conventional ...brain MR imaging findings are normal in patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, microstructural alteration in the cerebral WM can be revealed with DTI. Concomitant investigation of multiple intrinsic diffusivities may shed light on the neurobiologic substrate of the WM degeneration pattern in patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia across the whole brain.
Tract-based spatial statistics analysis was performed to compare fractional anisotropy and mean, axial, and radial diffusivities of the WM skeleton in a group of 12 patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia and 12 healthy volunteers. Data were analyzed counting age and sex as nuisance covariates. The threshold-free cluster-enhancement option was applied, and the family-wise error rate was controlled by using permutation tests for nonparametric statistics.
In pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, group widespread fractional anisotropy decreases and radial diffusivity and mean diffusivity increases (P < .05, corrected) were found. No voxelwise difference was observed for the axial diffusivity map. Percentage of voxels within the WM skeleton that passed the significance threshold were 51%, 41.6%, and 11.9%, respectively, for radial diffusivity, fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity clusters. An anteroposterior pattern with preferential decrease of fractional anisotropy in the frontal circuitry was detected.
In patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, alterations in multiple DTI indices were found. Radial diffusivity seems more sensitive to hereditary spastic paraplegia-related WM pathology and, in line with the lack of axial diffusivity changes, might indicate a widespread loss of myelin integrity. A decrease of fractional anisotropy alone in the frontal circuitry may reflect subtle disruption of the frontal connections.
Animal physiological and human psychophysical studies suggest that an early step in visual processing involves the detection and identification of features such as lines and edges, by neural ...mechanisms with even‐ and odd‐symmetric receptive fields. Functional imaging studies also demonstrate mechanisms with even‐ and odd‐receptive fields in early visual areas, in response to luminance‐modulated stimuli. In this study we measured fMRI BOLD responses to 2‐D stimuli composed of only even or only odd symmetric features, and to an amplitude‐matched random noise control, modulated in red–green equiluminant colour contrast. All these stimuli had identical power but different phase spectra, either highly congruent (even or odd symmetry stimuli) or random (noise). At equiluminance, V1 BOLD activity showed no preference between congruent‐ and random‐phase stimuli, as well as no preference between even and odd symmetric stimuli. Areas higher in the visual hierarchy, both along the dorsal pathway (caudal part of the intraparietal sulcus, dorsal LO and V3A) and the ventral pathway (V4), responded preferentially to odd symmetry over even symmetry stimuli, and to congruent over random phase stimuli. Interestingly, V1 showed an equal increase in BOLD activity at each alternation between stimuli of different symmetry, suggesting the existence of specialised mechanisms for the detection of edges and lines such as even‐ and odd‐chromatic receptive fields. Overall the results indicate a high selectivity of colour‐selective neurons to spatial phase along both the dorsal and the ventral pathways in humans.
To study the selectivity of the human visual system to spatial phase, we measured the BOLD response to modulation of luminance and chromatic stimuli differing only in phase spectra: highly congruent or random. Strong phase selectivity was observed for both luminance and color stimuli, along both dorsal and ventral pathways. V1 showed a balanced response to all stimuli, suggesting the existence of equal number of even‐ and odd‐ chromatic receptive fields.
We have constructed and tested a custom-made magnetic-imaging-compatible visual projection system designed to project on a very wide visual field (~80°). A standard projector was modified with a ...coupling lens, projecting images into the termination of an image fiber. The other termination of the fiber was placed in the 3-T scanner room with a projection lens, which projected the images relayed by the fiber onto a screen over the head coil, viewed by a participant wearing magnifying goggles. To validate the system, wide-field stimuli were presented in order to identify retinotopic visual areas. The results showed that this low-cost and versatile optical system may be a valuable tool to map visual areas in the brain that process peripheral receptive fields.
Radio-frequency receiver phased-array coils in magnetic resonance imaging systems are used to pick up the signals emitted by the nuclei with high signal-to-noise ratio and a large region of ...sensitivity. Since the quality of obtained images strongly depends upon the correct choice of the coil geometry and position, array coils have to be designed by minimizing the mutual interaction among nearby coil elements and this is generally achieved by overlapping such adjacent elements. In this paper, we describe the use of a numerical solver based on finite-difference time-domain method to determine the optimal overlap distance, which guarantees the maximum decoupling level between the coil loops, for array coils constituted by various geometry elements. A novel array coil was designed, constituted by a couple of elliptical geometry elements in “folding” version around the animals’ spine curvature, for small animals’ imaging applications.
Upper motor neuron (UMN) dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is not easy to identify clinically: Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and single-voxel Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (H-MRS) ...can identify markers of UMN involvement. The aim of this study was to correlate brain DTI and MRS data with clinical parameters in ALS patients (PALS). We studied 32 PALS using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The subjects were subdivided into definite/probable (D/P) and possible/suspected (P/S). DTI indices included Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and averaged Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (avADC). Anatomical areas were sampled by positioning regions of interest along corticospinal tracts, from the precentral cortex to the bulb. H-MRS voxels were localized bilaterally in precentral regions. D/P-PALS showed significantly lower FA values than healthy controls in almost all regions, whereas P/S-PALS FA values were significantly lower only in the left precentral gray matter (GM), right precentral white matter (WM), cerebral peduncles (CP), left hemipons, and left bulbar pyramid (BP). Significantly higher avADC values were observed in the D/P-PALS right precentral GM, precentral WM, right semioval center-posterior limb of the internal capsule (SC-PLIC), and left CP; and in the precentral WM, right SC-PLIC, left CP, and right hemipons of P/S-PALS. With increasing disability, only D/P-PALS showed significantly reduced FA values in the left precentral WM and hemipons, and increased avADC values in the precentral WM. Significantly lower N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine-phosphocreatine complex (Cr) and higher choline (Cho)/Cr and myoinositol (mI)/Cr ratios were found in D/P-PALS, while only higher Cho/Cr and mI/Cr ratios were found in P/S-PALS. Our data highlight the usefulness of DTI and H-MRS in assessing UMN involvement. Given FA sensitivity and specificity, despite the small number of PALS, our findings support its use as a diagnostic marker in D/P-PALS.
Hyperpolarized
13
C magnetic resonance spectroscopy in pig models enables metabolic activity mapping, providing a powerful tool for the study of the heart physiology, but requires the development of ...dedicated radiofrequency coils, capable of providing large field of view with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data. This work describes the simulations and the tests of a transmit-only (TX) volume coil/receive-only (RX) surface coil both designed for hyperpolarized studies of pig heart with a clinical 3T scanner. The coil characterization is performed by developing an SNR model for coil performance in terms of coil resistance, sample-induced resistance and magnetic field pattern. In particular, coil resistances were calculated from Ohm’s law, while magnetic field patterns and sample-induced resistances were calculated using a numerical finite-difference time-domain algorithm. Experimental phantom chemical shift image, showed good agreement with the theoretical SNR-vs-depth profiles and highlighted the advantage of the novel configuration over the single transmit–receive coils throughout the volume of interest for cardiac imaging in pig. Finally, the TX-birdcage/RX-circular configuration was tested by acquiring metabolic maps with hyperpolarized 1-13C pyruvate injected i.v. in a pig. The results of the phantom and pig experiments show the ability of the coil configuration to image well the metabolites distribution.
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