Trajectories of cortical thickness maturation in normal brain development--The importance of quality control procedures.

Several reports have described cortical thickness (CTh) developmental trajectories, with conflicting results. Some studies have reported inverted-U shape curves with peaks of CTh in late childhood to adolescence, while others suggested predominant monotonic decline after age 6. In this study, we reviewed CTh developmental trajectories in the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development, and in a second step, evaluated the impact of post-processing quality control (QC) procedures on identified trajectories. The quality-controlled sample included 384 individual subjects with repeated scanning (1-3 per subject, total scans n=753) from 4.9 to 22.3years of age. The best-fit model (cubic, quadratic, or first-order linear) was identified at each vertex using mixed-effects models. The majority of brain regions showed linear monotonic decline of CTh. There were few areas of cubic trajectories, mostly in bilateral temporo-parietal areas and the right prefrontal cortex, in which CTh peaks were at, or prior to, age 8. When controlling for total brain volume, CTh trajectories were even more uniformly linear. The only sex difference was faster thinning of occipital areas in boys compared to girls. The best-fit model for whole brain mean thickness was a monotonic decline of 0.027mm per year. QC procedures had a significant impact on identified trajectories, with a clear shift toward more complex trajectories (i.e., quadratic or cubic) when including all scans without QC (n=954). Trajectories were almost exclusively linear when using only scans that passed the most stringent QC (n=598). The impact of QC probably relates to decreasing the inclusion of scans with CTh underestimation secondary to movement artifacts, which are more common in younger subjects. In summary, our results suggest that CTh follows a simple linear decline in most cortical areas by age 5, and all areas by age 8. This study further supports the crucial importance of implementing post-processing QC in CTh studies of development, aging, and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Regional specificity of thalamic volume deficits in male adolescents with early-onset psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Thalamic volume deficits are associated with psychosis but it is unclear whether the volume reduction is uniformly distributed or whether it is more severe in particular thalamic regions. AIMS: To quantify whole and regional thalamic volume in males with early-onset psychosis and healthy male controls. METHOD: Brain scans were obtained for 80 adolescents: 46 individuals with early-onset psychosis with a duration of positive symptoms less than 6 months and 34 healthy controls. All participants were younger than 19 years. Total thalamic volumes were assessed using FreeSurfer and FSL-FIRST, group comparisons of regional thalamic volumes were studied with a surface-based approach. RESULTS: Total thalamic volume was smaller in participants with early-onset psychosis relative to controls. Regional thalamic volume reduction was most significant in the right anterior mediodorsal area and pulvinar. CONCLUSIONS: In males with minimally treated early-onset psychosis, thalamic volume deficits may be most pronounced in the anterior mediodorsal and posterior pulvinar regions, adding strength to findings from post-mortem studies in adults with psychosis.

[Studying cerebral perfusion using magnetic susceptibility techniques: technique and applications]. / Estudio de la perfusión cerebral mediante técnicas de susceptibilidad magnética: técnica y aplicaciones.

Perfusion MRI makes it possible to evaluate the cerebral microvasculature through changes in signal due to a tracer passing through blood vessels. The most commonly used technique is based on the magnetic susceptibility of gadolinium in T2*-weighted sequences, and the most commonly evaluated parameters are cerebral blood volume, cerebral blood flow, and mean transit time. Diverse technical aspects, like the sequence used, and the dose and speed of contrast material injection, must be taken into account in perfusion MRI studies. It is also essential to consider possible sources of error like contrast material leaks due to changes in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. The most widely used clinical applications of perfusion MRI include the determination of the degree of aggressiveness of gliomas, the differentiation of some histological types of tumors or pseudotumors, and the evaluation of the penumbral area in acute ischemia.

Early role of vascular dysregulation on late-onset Alzheimer's disease based on multifactorial data-driven analysis.

Multifactorial mechanisms underlying late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) are poorly characterized from an integrative perspective. Here spatiotemporal alterations in brain amyloid-ß deposition, metabolism, vascular, functional activity at rest, structural properties, cognitive integrity and peripheral proteins levels are characterized in relation to LOAD progression. We analyse over 7,700 brain images and tens of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Through a multifactorial data-driven analysis, we obtain dynamic LOAD-abnormality indices for all biomarkers, and a tentative temporal ordering of disease progression. Imaging results suggest that intra-brain vascular dysregulation is an early pathological event during disease development. Cognitive decline is noticeable from initial LOAD stages, suggesting early memory deficit associated with the primary disease factors. High abnormality levels are also observed for specific proteins associated with the vascular system's integrity. Although still subjected to the sensitivity of the algorithms and biomarkers employed, our results might contribute to the development of preventive therapeutic interventions.

Trajectories of cortical surface area and cortical volume maturation in normal brain development.

This is a report of developmental trajectories of cortical surface area and cortical volume in the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. The quality-controlled sample included 384 individual typically-developing subjects with repeated scanning (1-3 per subject, total scans n=753) from 4.9 to 22.3 years of age. The best-fit model (cubic, quadratic, or first-order linear) was identified at each vertex using mixed-effects models, with statistical correction for multiple comparisons using random field theory. Analyses were performed with and without controlling for total brain volume. These data are provided for reference and comparison with other databases. Further discussion and interpretation on cortical developmental trajectories can be found in the associated Ducharme et al.׳s article "Trajectories of cortical thickness maturation in normal brain development - the importance of quality control procedures" (Ducharme et al., 2015) [1].

Development and validation of an open source quantification tool for DSC-MRI studies.

MOTIVATION: This work presents the development of an open source tool for the quantification of dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced (DSC) perfusion studies. The development of this tool is motivated by the lack of open source tools implemented on open platforms to allow external developers to implement their own quantification methods easily and without the need of paying for a development license. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This quantification tool was developed as a plugin for the ImageJ image analysis platform using the Java programming language. A modular approach was used in the implementation of the components, in such a way that the addition of new methods can be done without breaking any of the existing functionalities. For the validation process, images from seven patients with brain tumors were acquired and quantified with the presented tool and with a widely used clinical software package. The resulting perfusion parameters were then compared. RESULTS: Perfusion parameters and the corresponding parametric images were obtained. When no gamma-fitting is used, an excellent agreement with the tool used as a gold-standard was obtained (R(2)>0.8 and values are within 95% CI limits in Bland-Altman plots). CONCLUSION: An open source tool that performs quantification of perfusion studies using magnetic resonance imaging has been developed and validated using a clinical software package. It works as an ImageJ plugin and the source code has been published with an open source license.