scholarly journals Narcolepsy type 1 patients have abnormal brain activation to neutral-rated movies in humor-paradigm

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilde T. Juvodden ◽  
Dag Alnæs ◽  
Martina J. Lund ◽  
Espen Dietrichs ◽  
Per M. Thorsby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Permutation Testing ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus

AbstractNarcolepsy type 1 is a neurological sleep disorder mainly characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, fragmented night sleep, and cataplexy (muscle atonia triggered by emotions). To characterize brain activation patterns in response to neutral-rated and fun-rated movies in narcolepsy type 1 we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging during a paradigm consisting of 30 short movies (25/30 with a humorous punchline; 5/30 without a humorous punchline (but with similar build-up/anticipation)) that the participants rated based on their humor experience. We included 41 narcolepsy type 1 patients (31 females, mean age 23.6 years, 38/41 H1N1-vaccinated, 41/41 HLA-DQB1*06:02-positive, 40/40 hypocretin-deficient) and 44 first-degree relatives (24 females, mean age 19.6 years, 30/44 H1N1-vaccinated, 27/44 HLA-DQB1*06:02-positive) as controls. Group-level inferences were made using permutation testing.Permutation testing revealed no significant differences in the average ratings of patients and controls. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis revealed that both groups showed higher activations in response to fun-rated movies in several brain regions associated with humor processing, with no significant group differences. In contrast, patients showed significantly higher activation compared to controls during neutral-rated movies; including bilaterally in the thalamus, pallidum, putamen, amygdala, hippocampus, middle temporal gyrus, cerebellum, brainstem and in the left precuneus, supramarginal gyrus and caudate.The presence of a humorous punchline in a neutral-rated movie is important since we found no brain overactivation for narcolepsy type 1 patients for movies without a humorous punchline (89.0% neutral-rated) compared with controls.Further, a comparison between fun-rated and neutral-rated movies revealed a pattern of higher activation during fun-rated movies in controls, patients showed no significant differentiation between these states. Group analyses revealed significantly stronger differentiation between fun-rated and neutral-rated movies in controls compared with patients, including bilaterally in the inferior frontal gyrus, thalamus, putamen, precentral gyrus, lingual gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, occipital areas, temporal areas, cerebellum and in the right hippocampus, postcentral gyrus, pallidum and insula.In conclusion, during neutral-rated movies, narcolepsy type 1 patients showed significantly higher activation in several cortical and subcortical regions previously implicated in humor and REM sleep, including the thalamus and basal ganglia. The relative lack of differentiation between neutral-rated and fun-rated movies in narcolepsy type 1 patients might represent insight into the mechanisms associated with cataplexy, in which a long-lasting hypervigilant state could represent risk (hypersensitivity to potential humorous stimuli) for the narcolepsy type 1 patients, which seem to have a lower threshold for activating the humor response, even during neutral-rated movies.

Examination of processing speed deficits in multiple sclerosis using functional magnetic resonance imaging

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
HELEN M. GENOVA ◽  
FRANK G. HILLARY ◽  
GLENN WYLIE ◽  
BART RYPMA ◽  
JOHN DELUCA
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Group Processing

AbstractAlthough it is known that processing speed deficits are one of the primary cognitive impairments in multiple sclerosis (MS), the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for impaired processing speed remain undetermined. Using BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging, the current study compared the brain activity of 16 individuals with MS to 17 healthy controls (HCs) during performance of a processing speed task, a modified version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Task. Although there were no differences in performance accuracy, the MS group was significantly slower than HCs. Although both groups showed similar activation involving the precentral gyrus and occipital cortex, the MS showed significantly less cerebral activity than HCs in bilateral frontal and parietal regions, similar to what has been reported in aging samples during speeded tasks. In the HC group, processing speed was mediated by frontal and parietal regions, as well as the cerebellum and thalamus. In the MS group, processing speed was mediated by insula, thalamus and anterior cingulate. It therefore appears that neural networks involved in processing speed differ between MS and HCs, and our findings are similar to what has been reported in aging, where damage to both white and gray matter is linked to processing speed impairments (JINS, 2009, 15, 383–393).

Heartburn Perception and Brain Activation in Non-Erosive Reflux Disease Patients Evaluated by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. S-154-S-155
Author(s):  
Cassiano M. Forcelini ◽  
José Carlos Tomiozzo ◽  
Ricard Farré ◽  
Sidia M. Callegari-Jacques ◽  
Marcelo Ribeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Reflux Disease ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging

scholarly journals A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique Based on Nulling Extravascular Gray Matter Signal

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Shen ◽  
Risto A Kauppinen ◽  
Rishma Vidyasagar ◽  
Xavier Golay
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Blood Oxygenation ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fmri Signal

A new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique is proposed based on nulling the extravascular gray matter (GM) signal, using a spatially nonselective inversion pulse. The remaining MR signal provides cerebral blood volume (CBV) information from brain activation. A theoretical framework is provided to characterize the sources of GM-nulled (GMN) fMRI signal, effects of partial voluming of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and white matter, and behaviors of GMN fMRI signal during brain activation. Visual stimulation paradigm was used to explore the GMN fMRI signal behavior in the human brain at 3T. It is shown that the GMN fMRI signal increases by 7.2% ± 1.5%, which is two to three times more than that obtained with vascular space occupancy (VASO)-dependent fMRI (−3.2% ± 0.2%) or blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI (2.9% ± 0.7%), using a TR of 3,000 ms and a resolution of 2 × 2 × 5 mm3. Under these conditions the fMRI signal-to-noise ratio (SNRfMRI) for BOLD, GMN, and VASO images was 4.97 ± 0.76, 4.56 ± 0.86, and 2.43 ± 1.06, respectively. Our study shows that both signal intensity and activation volume in GMN fMRI depend on spatial resolution because of partial voluming from CSF. It is shown that GMN fMRI is a convenient tool to assess CBV changes associated with brain activation.

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