Hum Brain Mapp [JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Choice of Processing Pipelines for T1-Weighted Brain MRI Impacts Association and Prediction Analyses.
Delzant E, Colliot O, Couvy-Duchesne B
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41163627 · Full text
The growing availability of large neuroimaging datasets, such as the UK Biobank, provides new opportunities to improve robustness and reproducibility in brain imaging research. However, little is known about the extent t...
The growing availability of large neuroimaging datasets, such as the UK Biobank, provides new opportunities to improve robustness and reproducibility in brain imaging research. However, little is known about the extent to which MRI processing pipelines influence results. Using 39,655 T1-weighted MRI scans from the UK Biobank, we systematically compared five widely used gray-matter representations derived from three major software packages: FSL (volume-based), CAT12/SPM (volume- and surface-based), and FreeSurfer (cortical and subcortical surface-based). We assessed their impact on morphometricity (trait variance explained by brain features), susceptibility to imaging confounders, false positives, association findings, and prediction accuracy across 29 diverse traits, including lifestyle, metabolic, and disease-related variables. We found that all pipelines were sensitive to imaging confounders such as head motion, brain position, and signal-to-noise ratio, and many produced non-normal voxel or vertex distributions. FSL and FreeSurfer generally yielded higher morphometricity estimates, but each captured partially unique signals, leading to inconsistencies in brain regions identified across methods. Volume-based approaches tended to outperform surface-based ones, detecting more significant clusters, achieving higher replication rates, and producing stronger predictive performance. Small clusters (single voxels or vertices) were less reliable, suggesting caution in their interpretation. Among all methods, FSLVBM emerged as the most consistent all-rounder, maximizing morphometricity, replicability, and predictive accuracy. Our results highlight the strengths and limitations of commonly used processing pipelines, offering benchmarks to guide researchers in method selection. They further suggest that combining multiple pipelines may improve brain-based prediction by leveraging unique, complementary signals, and that careful treatment of imaging confounders is essential for robust large-scale neuroimaging analyses.
Phase-Specific Contributions and Interactions of the Left and Right Posterior Middle Temporal Gyri in Vocal Feedback Control: Evidence From Dual-Site TMS.
Liu Q, Li J, Zhao S … +10 more , Chen M, Huang X, Liu D, Li J, Wu X, Li Y, Chen X, Liu P, Dai G, Liu H
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41159686 · Full text
The posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) has been implicated in sensorimotor control of speech production, but the causality underlying this relationship remains largely unclear. The present event-related potential stu...
The posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) has been implicated in sensorimotor control of speech production, but the causality underlying this relationship remains largely unclear. The present event-related potential study employed dual-site continuous theta burst stimulation (c-TBS) over the left and right pMTGs concurrently to investigate their causal roles and interhemispheric interactions in vocal feedback control. Following bilateral c-TBS, unilateral c-TBS paired with contralateral sham stimulation, or bilateral sham stimulation over the left and right pMTGs, 24 healthy young adults produced sustained vocalizations while exposed to unexpected pitch perturbations (±200 cents) in auditory feedback. Compared to sham stimulation, c-TBS over the left, right, or bilateral pMTG significantly reduced the magnitudes and shortened the latencies of vocal compensations, paralleled by enhanced P2 responses that received contributions from distinct fronto-tempo-parietal networks. In contrast, reduced N1 responses were observed only following bilateral pMTG stimulation. Our findings not only provide the first causal evidence for bilateral pMTG involvement in vocal feedback control but also reveal a phase-specific interhemispheric interaction, transitioning from bilateral coordination during early error detection to unilateral sufficiency during later motor correction. These insights pave new avenues for developing novel multi-site neuromodulation protocols to optimize speech rehabilitation.
"Take the Rough With the Smooth": Modesty Modulates Neurocognitive and Emotional Processing of Social Feedback.
Wang X, Zheng C, Wu Y
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41159600 · Full text
Self-enhancement motivates individuals to prefer positive or expected social feedback over negative or unexpected feedback, thereby eliciting corresponding emotional experiences. Emotion regulation strategies that aim to...
Self-enhancement motivates individuals to prefer positive or expected social feedback over negative or unexpected feedback, thereby eliciting corresponding emotional experiences. Emotion regulation strategies that aim to reduce negative experiences and enhance positive ones often face the dilemma of prioritizing one outcome at the expense of the other. Modest individuals, characterized by the low self-focus perspective, may demonstrate advantages in managing emotional experiences derived from self-relevant social feedback. In this study, participants with high and low levels of modesty were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while receiving social feedback of different valences and congruencies, with feedback indicating whether others liked participants. Results showed that highly modest individuals were less likely to use expressive suppression as an emotion regulation strategy. At the neural level, trait modesty modulated brain activity in the inferior parietal lobe and left superior temporal gyrus under unexpected conditions compared to expected conditions, as well as in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex under acceptance versus rejection conditions. Psychophysiological interaction analysis and brain-behavior correlation analyses further explored the mechanisms of modesty, helping individuals reduce negative experiences and enhance positive experiences. Our findings reveal the cognitive processing patterns and brain activity of modest individuals when dealing with social feedback and provide insights into how individuals can better cope with social feedback.
Generating MRI-Derived CSF Proxy-Markers to Predict and Visualize Alzheimer's Disease Progression.
Abrol A, Calhoun VD, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41147790 · Full text
Preclinical detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is crucial to efficiently recruit clinical trial participants for examining AD-modifying drugs and ultimately yield clinical benefits for at-risk individuals. Cerebral am...
Preclinical detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is crucial to efficiently recruit clinical trial participants for examining AD-modifying drugs and ultimately yield clinical benefits for at-risk individuals. Cerebral amyloidosis precedes synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration markers, followed by the onset of AD-related cognitive impairment. To improve early AD-biomarker detection accuracy, patient data is, however, often collected via invasive procedures such as a lumbar puncture or intravenous injection of active radiopharmaceuticals. This coupled health risk is small yet significant and can be avoided by generating equally predictive or superior AD-risk staging proxy biomarkers derived from noninvasive neuroimaging modalities. In addition, using neuroimaging can provide richer insights into regional distributions of brain biomarkers of AD. Motivated by that, here we train neural networks to optimally generate latent structural MRI (sMRI) representations as proxies for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker status on multiple classification and prediction contexts, an approach that we demonstrate has the potential to be clinically useful in screening and diagnosing AD and predicting AD progression. We found that the amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus, posterior and middle cingulate gyrus, middle and inferior temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobe regions revealed maximum attribution, thereby implying the highest prognostic value for AD risk. The proposed approach of predicting amyloid and/or tau pathology biomarkers from MRI data and subsequently transferring the MRI-derived amyloid and/or tau pathology models to predict future risk of AD progression may be useful to assist in disease screening, triage of patients for invasive testing, and efficiently determining suitability for clinical trial recruitment.
The Relationship of Prior Concussion and Contact Sport Exposure With Cortical Macro and Microstructure.
Meier TB, Muftuler LT, Goeckner BD … +6 more , Weyenberg N, Huber DL, España LY, Banerjee A, Mayer AR, Brett BL
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41147238 · Full text
Changes in cortical gray matter are a key feature of neurodegenerative diseases that have been linked with concussion and repetitive head impacts (RHIs). Prior evidence implicates prior concussion and RHI in reduced cort...
Changes in cortical gray matter are a key feature of neurodegenerative diseases that have been linked with concussion and repetitive head impacts (RHIs). Prior evidence implicates prior concussion and RHI in reduced cortical thickness or volume in temporal and frontal regions, with results largely restricted to older retired contact sport athletes. Fewer studies have investigated similar associations in younger athletes or applied approaches to capture more subtle differences in gray matter earlier in the lifespan. The current study assessed the association of concussion and RHI with cortical macrostructure (cortical thickness, cortical surface area), and cortical microstructure (cortical mean diffusivity), the latter of which has been suggested to be an earlier marker of gray matter abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases. A total of 207 otherwise healthy collegiate-aged athletes completed semistructured interviews for concussion and sport participation history, as well as a magnetic resonance imaging session including anatomical and diffusion imaging (N = 205 with available diffusion data). Cortical surface area and cortical thickness were estimated using FreeSurfer; cortical mean diffusivity was calculated with correction for partial volume. Bayesian multilevel modeling was conducted on regions of interest derived from Desikan-Killiany Atlas parcellations to determine the association of the number of prior concussions and RHI (included in the same models) with each metric, controlling for sex, age, and intracranial volume (area only). There was strong evidence for a positive association between the number of prior concussions and cortical mean diffusivity throughout most of the cortex. In addition, there was strong evidence for a positive association of the number of prior concussions with cortical surface area across several regions. For cortical thickness, there was strong evidence of inverse associations between the number of prior concussions and anterior and medial temporal cortical regions only. In contrast, only weak to no evidence of associations between years of contact sport exposure, a proxy for RHI, and any cortical surface metric was observed. These results demonstrate that cortical diffusivity may represent a more sensitive metric of subtle, early structural changes associated with repetitive neurotrauma, and highlight the importance of efforts to reduce concussion risk in sport.
A Toaster in the Bathroom: Neural Correlates of Semantic Construction During Episodic Memory Recall.
Zoellner C, Heinen R, Klein N … +3 more , Herweg NA, Merz CJ, Wolf OT
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41137744 · Full text
When recalling what you ate for breakfast last Wednesday, you might not remember the exact meal, but you may confidently select the items you typically eat. Here, semantic knowledge (i.e., what you usually eat) contribut...
When recalling what you ate for breakfast last Wednesday, you might not remember the exact meal, but you may confidently select the items you typically eat. Here, semantic knowledge (i.e., what you usually eat) contributes to the reconstructive process of episodic memory retrieval (i.e., what you actually ate). In the current fMRI study, we used a highly realistic virtual environment to test this influence of semantic knowledge on episodic memory retrieval. During the task, 60 participants actively (task-relevant) or passively (task-irrelevant) encountered everyday objects that were either congruent (i.e., rubber duck in the bathroom) or incongruent (i.e., a toaster in the bathroom) with their expected location. Thereby, we created conflicting information between the episodic memory trace (toaster in the bathroom) and semantic information (toaster in the kitchen) during retrieval. Using multivariate analyses, we analyzed the neural basis of this semantic bias. Further, we administered cortisol, typically associated with impaired episodic memory retrieval, to half of the participants prior to retrieval, thereby manipulating the balance between correct episodic and incorrect semantic retrieval. In the lateral occipital cortex (LOC), incongruent task-relevant objects showed greater similarity to their congruent semantic counterparts than did task-irrelevant objects. Notably, spatial memory tended to be reflected in similarity patterns in the LOC. Strikingly, incongruent objects showed a higher pattern reorganization (i.e., pre-/post-encoding similarity) compared to congruent objects, reflecting a difference in neural representation for objects encountered in conflict with prior knowledge. In contrast to our hypotheses, cortisol prior to retrieval had no effect on semantic bias. However, cortisol influenced neural pattern similarity: we found higher pattern reorganization within the posterior hippocampus in the cortisol group. Similarly, we found higher confidence to be linked with similarity patterns in the LOC and lingual gyrus in the placebo, but not in the cortisol group. This indicates an effect of cortisol on memory trace reinstatement during retrieval. Our findings on incongruent object processing contribute to the understanding of how the human brain constructs past episodes from episodic memory traces, suggesting an influence of prior semantic knowledge, reflected in neural similarity patterns.
From Speech Semantics to Brain Activity-Timescales Are Key in Their Information Transfer.
Kumar S, Klar P, Çatal Y … +3 more , Chang HJ, Pulvermüller F, Northoff G
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Nov · PMID 41137740 · Full text
Fluctuating timescales are present in nature and are commonly observed in music, movies, brain activity, and speech. In human speech, semantic timescales span from single words to complete sentences and vary throughout c...
Fluctuating timescales are present in nature and are commonly observed in music, movies, brain activity, and speech. In human speech, semantic timescales span from single words to complete sentences and vary throughout conversation. Similarly, the brain's intrinsic neuronal timescales (INT), reflected in temporally correlated activity, carry information across time. How are these semantic and neuronal timescales related? Our combined semantic input and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study using the 7 Tesla Human Connectome Project movie-watching dataset reveals information transfer from speech's semantic timescales to the brain's INT. We extracted two semantic time-series, sentence similarity and word depth, using Sentence-BERT (SBERT) and WordNet, respectively. The timescales of both semantic signals and the brain's activity were quantified using the autocorrelation window (ACW), with a dynamic, time-varying analysis approach. This allows testing for information transfer from the simultaneously varying semantic timescales to the brain's varying timescales via Transfer Entropy (TE). We report three main findings: (1) Sentence similarity and word depth time-series exhibit high and systematic fluctuations over time. (2) Dynamic ACW analysis captures the dominant timescales in both semantic input (sentence similarity and word depth) and the brain's continuously varying INT. (3) Significant TE from the varying semantic timescales to the brain's simultaneously varying INT. We also demonstrate that the information transfer only emerges on the level of timescales, and is absent when comparing the two raw semantic input time-series with the BOLD signal, respectively. Conclusively, we demonstrate the key role of timescales in the information transfer from semantic inputs to the brain's neural activity.
Disrupted Coupling Between Cerebral Glucose Metabolism and Intrinsic Functional Connectivity: A Hybrid PET/fMRI Study on Frontotemporal Dementia.
Joshy M, Liu L, Dassanayake P … +6 more , Aiello M, Di Cecca A, Cavaliere C, Anazodo U, Finger E, St Lawrence K
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128402 · Full text
It is increasingly established that the organization of the brain into functional resting-state networks allows efficient integration and processing of information. Functional hubs anchoring such networks are characteriz...
It is increasingly established that the organization of the brain into functional resting-state networks allows efficient integration and processing of information. Functional hubs anchoring such networks are characterized by a high degree of communication, which relies on efficient utilization of glucose. Alzheimer's disease (AD) disrupts the balance between glucose metabolism and intrinsic functional connectivity (FC). We hypothesized that this critical coupling would also be weakened in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), particularly within the salience network, given its association with the disease. Towards this goal, behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) patients (n = 21) and healthy participants (n = 18) underwent simultaneous FDG-PET and functional MRI imaging in a hybrid PET/MR system, with an additional cohort completing the MRI component only. PET images were converted into standardized uptake value ratios (SUVr), and local FC was quantified using regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), two metrics that have been demonstrated to be related to FDG-PET uptake. The interplay between FC and glucose metabolism was investigated within the salience and default mode networks. The bvFTD group showed network-level functional breakdown and significantly weakened metabolism/FC coupling, especially in the dorsal anterior insula and posterior cingulate cortex. Importantly, reduced coupling in the posterior cingulate cortex was associated with cognitive and behavioral symptoms in patients. Though significant, the reduction in whole-brain metabolic/FC coupling in bvFTD was not as strong as reported previously for AD. These results highlight the vulnerability of functional hubs to neurodegenerative disease. Aberrant regional disruptions in the coupling between metabolism and neuronal activity may drive network-level dysfunction and contribute to functional impairments characteristic of the disease.
Progressive Changes Between Thalamic Nuclei and Cortical Networks Across Stimulus-Response Learning.
Jarrett C, Zwosta K, Wang X … +4 more , Wolfensteller U, Iglesias JE, von Kriegstein K, Ruge H
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128392 · Full text
The thalamus is connected to the cerebral cortex and subcortical regions, serving as a node within cognitive networks. It is a heterogeneous structure formed of functionally distinct nuclei with unique connectivity patte...
The thalamus is connected to the cerebral cortex and subcortical regions, serving as a node within cognitive networks. It is a heterogeneous structure formed of functionally distinct nuclei with unique connectivity patterns. However, their contributions to cognitive functioning within networks is poorly understood. Recent animal research suggests that thalamic nuclei such as the mediodorsal nucleus play critical roles in goal-directed behaviour. Our aim was to investigate how functional integration of thalamic nuclei within cortical and subcortical networks changes whilst transitioning from more controlled goal-directed behaviour towards more automatic or habitual behaviour in humans. We analysed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a stimulus-response learning study to investigate functional connectivity (FC) changes across learning between thalamic nuclei with cortical networks and subcortical structures in 52 healthy subjects. We also defined additional regions-of-interest (ROIs) individually in native space, segmenting the thalamus into 47 nuclei and segmenting 38 subregions within the basal ganglia and hippocampus. Additionally, we defined 12 cerebral cortex ROIs via maximum-probability network templates. Associative S-R learning-related connectivity changes were examined via ROI-to-ROI functional network analysis. Our results showed that learning was associated with: (1) decreasing FC between the frontoparietal network and higher order thalamic nuclei; (2) increasing FC between the cingulo-opercular network and pulvinar nuclei; (3) decreasing FC between the default mode network (DMN) and right mediodorsal nuclei; (4) increasing FC between the DMN and left mediodorsal nuclei; (5) changes in functional connectivity between thalamic nuclei and putamen subregions, and (6) increasing intrathalamic FC. Together, this suggests that several thalamic nuclei are involved in the learning-related transition from controlled to more automatic behaviour.
Dose-Dependent Effects of Catecholaminergic Modulation on Interference Control: Role of Baseline GABA and Glx in Cortico-Subcortical Networks.
Koyun AH, Werner A, Kuntke P … +3 more , Roessner V, Beste C, Stock AK
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128341 · Full text
Cognitive control, which is critical for goal-directed behavior, involves resolving conflicts between competing stimuli and is influenced by neurotransmitter interactions within cortico-subcortical areas. This study inve...
Cognitive control, which is critical for goal-directed behavior, involves resolving conflicts between competing stimuli and is influenced by neurotransmitter interactions within cortico-subcortical areas. This study investigated the relationship between baseline amino acid transmitter levels and interference control, focusing on the effects of experimentally enhancing catecholaminergic signaling. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design with two dosage groups, n = 71 healthy human adults underwent proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy once to assess baseline GABA+ and Glx levels in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), striatum, and supplementary motor area (SMA). Participants then performed a subliminally primed flanker task inducing different scales of conflict twice while EEG was recorded: once after receiving a placebo (lactase) and once more under either low (0.25 mg/kg) or medium (0.50 mg/kg) doses of methylphenidate (MPH), which modulates the catecholaminergic and amino acid transmitter systems driving cognitive and interference control. Medium MPH doses were more effective than low doses at reducing subliminal interference effects, highlighting dose-specific behavioral improvements. Higher striatal GABA+ levels led to better interference control at low doses, while lower ACC GABA+ and GABA+/Glx levels were associated with better interference control at medium doses, suggesting a dose-dependent shift from striatal to ACC dominance in conflict resolution. Neurophysiological (EEG data) analyses revealed increased theta-band (TBA) and alpha-band activity (ABA) overlapping in the mid-superior-frontal and inferior-frontal clusters under conditions of heightened cognitive control demands. The findings highlight that whether and how amino acid transmitter levels in cognitive control-relevant regions modulate interference conflicts depends on the degree of catecholaminergic signaling.
How the New Interacts With the Old? Hippocampal Processing During Memory Encoding of Creative Associations With Remote or Close Inherent Semantic Relatedness.
Yang J, Zhang Z, Li Z … +2 more , Zhang Z, Luo J
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128334 · Full text
Creativity means the formation of novel and useful associations. Meanwhile, the role of the hippocampus in episodic memory and some forms of creative thinking has been identified, but it remains unclear how the hippocamp...
Creativity means the formation of novel and useful associations. Meanwhile, the role of the hippocampus in episodic memory and some forms of creative thinking has been identified, but it remains unclear how the hippocampus participates in the formation of memory for creative associations. In particular, considering creative associations are often formed on the basis of old ones, it is important to identify how the hippocampus and its associated neural network represent the interactions between the new and old associations during the encoding of creative associations. Thus, using the subsequent memory effect (SME) paradigm, the present study asked participants to learn a set of creative combinations (a common object paired with a creative alternate use, for example, basketball-buoy, which means a basketball is used as a buoy) during fMRI scanning. Moreover, we also quantified the degree of pre-existing semantic connections individually according to subjective ratings of inherent semantic relatedness between the objects and their alternate uses in the relatedness judgment task, resulting in a 2 (memory: remembered vs. forgotten) by 2 (semantic relatedness: remote vs. close) factorial design. Multivariate analysis revealed higher inter-item hippocampal pattern similarity for remembered relative to forgotten trials in both close relatedness and remote relatedness conditions, indicating that hippocampal representations become less separable supporting successful memory for creative associations. However, univariate analyses of the hippocampus and its neural network showed that enhanced hippocampal activation was associated with successful encoding in the remote relatedness but not close relatedness condition, whereas increased hippocampal functional connectivity with prefrontal and parietal cortices contributed to successful memory in the close relatedness but not remote relatedness condition. These observations suggest that hippocampal-dependent processes and distributed hippocampal network patterns selectively support successful memory for creative associations with either remote or close inherent semantic relatedness, which implies the interactions between pre-existing semantic connections and newly formed creative associations.
Interaction of Functional Brain Networks Is Associated With k-Clique Percolation in the Human Structural Connectome.
Tiselko V, Dogonasheva O, Myshkin A … +2 more , Zakharov D, Valba O
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128275 · Full text
The human structural connectome has a complex internal community organization, characterized by a high degree of overlap and related to functional and cognitive phenomena. We explored connectivity properties in connectom...
The human structural connectome has a complex internal community organization, characterized by a high degree of overlap and related to functional and cognitive phenomena. We explored connectivity properties in connectome networks and showed that -clique percolation of an anomalously high order is characteristic of the human structural connectome. The resulting structural organization maintains a high local density of connectivity distributed throughout the connectome while preserving the overall sparsity of the network. To analyze these findings, we proposed a novel model for the emergence of high-order clique percolation during network formation with a phase transition dynamic under constraints on connection length. Investigating the structural basis of functional brain subnetworks, we identified a direct relationship between their interaction and the formation of clique clusters within their structural connections. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the percolating clique cluster serves as a distributed bridge between interacting functional subnetworks, showing the complex, complementary nature of their structural connections. We also examined the difference between individual-specific and common structural connections and found that the latter plays a sustaining role in the connectivity of structural communities. At the same time, the superiority of individual connections, in contrast to common ones, creates variability in the interaction of functional brain subnetworks.
Automated Segmentation of the Pituitary and Pineal Glands.
Larson KE, Augustinack JC, Mora J … +4 more , Shahzade D, Rapalino O, Fischl B, Greve DN
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41128105 · Full text
The pituitary and pineal glands are two small yet critical brain structures that help to modulate the human endocrine system. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted to segmenting the pineal gland, and exist...
The pituitary and pineal glands are two small yet critical brain structures that help to modulate the human endocrine system. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted to segmenting the pineal gland, and existing methods for pituitary segmentation focus only on the entire gland without distinguishing between its two lobes. To fill this gap, this work presents the first deep-learning-based tool for segmentation of both the pineal and pituitary glands in T1-weighted MRI. A five-fold cross-validation study was conducted on a manually labeled training dataset and produced segmentations with accuracy comparable to similar methods for segmenting other small brain structures. Model performance was then tested in three publicly available datasets using a total of n = 816 subjects, the results of which were both highly reproducible and robust to differences in MRI scanners and acquisition protocols. Finally, an analysis was performed to identify group differences related to sex and the diagnosis of schizophrenia and showed that volumes measured from the output segmentations were effective at discerning sex- and disease case-related differences in the pituitary and pineal glands.
Mapping Human Proprioceptive Projections of Upper Limb Muscles Through Spinal Cord fMRI.
Schlienger R, Landelle C, Hernandez-Charpak SD … +9 more , Pinzon-Corredor DM, Caron-Guyon J, Sein J, Nazarian B, Bloch J, Felician O, Anton JL, Courtine G, Kavounoudias A
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41123284 · Full text
The functional organization of the human spinal cord has primarily been derived from clinical observations and invasive electrophysiological studies. Recent methodological advances opened the possibility of studying the...
The functional organization of the human spinal cord has primarily been derived from clinical observations and invasive electrophysiological studies. Recent methodological advances opened the possibility of studying the neuronal activity of the spinal cord in humans using noninvasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Here, we took advantage of fMRI to map the patterns of activity elicited by muscle-specific proprioceptive information along the whole cervical cord. We quantified the fMRI signals of the cervical spinal cord in 24 healthy participants who received mechanical muscle tendon vibration to stimulate proprioceptive afferents. The wrist flexor, biceps, and anterior deltoid muscles were independently stimulated while the upper limbs were stationary to avoid movement artifacts. To account for anatomical variability among participants, we optimized activity pattern localization by identifying individual rootlets and determining corresponding spinal levels using a trained deep-learning model. Distinct activation patterns emerged based on the stimulated muscle and body side, which coincided with well-established myotome maps. Concretely, the vibration-induced proprioceptive stimuli activity circumscribed to the ipsilateral ventral horn with a rostrocaudal distribution that reflected the proximo-distal location of the stimulated muscles. This spatial organization supported the proprioceptive origin of the response. This study demonstrates that muscle tendon vibration combined with spinal cord fMRI enables the noninvasive identification of upper-limb myotomes within the cervical spinal cord, offering new possibilities for studying the functional organization of the spinal cord and for clinical applications.
Review of Dynamic Resting-State Methods in Neuroimaging: Applications to Depression and Rumination.
Peterson EC, Smolker HR, Moser AD … +1 more , Kaiser RH
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41104784 · Full text
Large-scale functional brain networks have most commonly been evaluated using static methods that assess patterns of activation or functional connectivity over an extended period. However, this approach does not capture...
Large-scale functional brain networks have most commonly been evaluated using static methods that assess patterns of activation or functional connectivity over an extended period. However, this approach does not capture time-varying features of functional networks, such as variability in functional connectivity or transient network states that form and dissolve over time. Addressing this gap, dynamic methods for analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data estimate time-varying properties of brain functioning. In the context of resting-state neuroimaging, dynamic methods can reveal spontaneously occurring network configurations and temporal properties of such networks. Patterns of network functioning over time during the resting state may be indicative of individual differences in cognitive-affective processes such as rumination, or the tendency to engage in a pattern of repetitive negative thinking. We first introduce the current landscape of dynamic methods and then review an emerging body of literature applying these methods to the study of rumination and depression to illustrate how dynamic methods may be used to study clinical and cognitive phenomena. An emerging body of research suggests that rumination is related to altered functional flexibility of brain networks that overlap with the canonical default mode network. An important future direction for dynamic fMRI analyses is to explore associations with more specific features of cognition.
Preoperative Brain Mapping Predicts Language Outcomes After Eloquent Tumor Resection.
Muir MT, Noll K, Prinsloo S … +11 more , Michener H, Traylor JI, Kumar VA, Ene CI, Ferguson S, Liu HL, Weinberg JS, Lang F, Taylor BA, Forkel SJ, Prabhu SS
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41099461 · Full text
When operating on gliomas near critical language regions, surgeons risk either leaving residual tumor or inducing permanent postoperative language deficits (PLDs). Despite the advent of intraoperative mapping techniques,...
When operating on gliomas near critical language regions, surgeons risk either leaving residual tumor or inducing permanent postoperative language deficits (PLDs). Despite the advent of intraoperative mapping techniques, subjective judgments frequently determine important surgical decisions. We aim to inform data-driven surgery by constructing a non-invasive mapping approach that quantitatively predicts the impact of individual surgical decisions on long-term language function. This study included 79 consecutive patients undergoing resection of language-eloquent gliomas. Patients underwent preoperative navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) language mapping to identify language-positive sites ("TMS points") and their associated white matter tracts ("TMS tracts") as well as formal language evaluations pre-and postoperatively. The resection of regions identified by preoperative mapping was correlated with permanent postoperative language deficits (PLDs). Resected tract segments (RTS) were normalized to MNI space for comparison with normative data. The resection of TMS points did not predict PLDs. However, a TMS point subgroup defined by white matter connectivity significantly predicted PLDs (OR = 8.74, p < 0.01) and demonstrated a canonical distribution of cortical language sites at a group level. TMS tracts recapitulated normative patterns of white matter connectivity defined by the Human Connectome Project. Subcortical resection of TMS tracts predicted PLDs independently of cortical resection (OR = 60, p < 0.001). In patients with PLDs, RTS showed significantly stronger co-localization with normative language-associated tracts compared to RTS in patients without PLDs (p < 0.05). Resecting patient-specific co-localizations between TMS tracts and normative tracts in native space predicted PLDs with an accuracy of 94% (OR = 134, p < 0.001). Prospective application of this data in a patient with glioblastoma precisely predicted the results of intraoperative language mapping with direct subcortical stimulation. Long-term postoperative language deficits result from resecting patient-specific white matter segments. We integrate these findings into a personalized tool that uses TMS language mappings, diffusion tractography, and population-level connectivity to preoperatively predict the long-term linguistic impact of individual surgical decisions.
Neural Correlates of Goal-Directed Preparation to Switching Across External and Internal Domains.
Calzolari S, Ingram BT, Bagshaw AP … +1 more , Fernández-Espejo D
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41090961 · Full text
While it is well accepted that the human brain shifts between internal and external monitoring both during tasks and at rest, no task-switching studies have focused on brain changes when switching from and to self-refere...
While it is well accepted that the human brain shifts between internal and external monitoring both during tasks and at rest, no task-switching studies have focused on brain changes when switching from and to self-referential processing. Using a cued task-switching design, we explored the preparatory fMRI activation associated with switching not only within externally oriented tasks, but also within self-referential tasks, as well as between these two domains. We found that preparing to perform internal tasks activated the default mode network, while preparing for external tasks activated regions of the dorsal attention network (DAN). Switch preparation activated left-lateralised DAN regions with ventrolateral peaks as well as dorsal precuneus, posterior cingulate and supplementary motor area. These results show a dynamic pattern of communication across networks associated with external and internal domain processing and common preparatory activation in working memory and executive control regions. In particular, the dorsal precuneus was consistently engaged in task-switch preparation, suggesting a key role of this region in cognitive control, in the context of switching across external and internal domains.
Physical Activity and BrainAGE: Exploring the Impact on Brain Health and Plasticity in Older Adults.
Saraei T, Schrenk S, Puta C … +6 more , Herbsleb M, Witte OW, Frahm C, Brodoehl S, Finke K, Gaser C
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41085956 · Full text
With an aging global population, cognitive decline in older adults presents significant healthcare challenges. Emerging evidence suggests that physical activity can support cognitive health by promoting plasticity, funct...
With an aging global population, cognitive decline in older adults presents significant healthcare challenges. Emerging evidence suggests that physical activity can support cognitive health by promoting plasticity, functional reorganization, and structural adaptation of the brain. In the FIT4BRAIN study, we examined the effects of multi-component physical activity on cognitive and brain health. Here, we report the results on one of the secondary outcomes, namely changes in brain age (BrainAGE), which estimates the difference between chronological and predicted brain age based on structural MRI data, and changes in brain structure, assessed through voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Ninety-two healthy older adults were randomized into a multi-component physical activity group, performing aerobic, coordination, and balance exercises, or an active control group engaging in non-aerobic relaxation exercises and educational content (physical activity group (PAG): 36 participants; active control group (CON): 33 participants). Of these, 69 participants underwent MRI assessment and were included in the present analyses. BrainAGE analyses revealed a greater decrease in the physical activity group compared to the control group, indicating a beneficial effect of physical activity on brain aging. Subgroup analyses based on baseline cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) further revealed that participants with lower CRF showed greater benefits, consistent with VBM findings of structural changes in the same subgroup. These results underscore BrainAGE as a sensitive biomarker for intervention outcomes and suggest that stratification by baseline fitness level may help identify differences in the benefits of physical activity on brain health.
Subcortical Hubs of Brain Networks Sustaining Human Consciousness.
Cambareri MK, Horn A, Lewis LD … +2 more , Li J, Edlow BL
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41074653 · Full text
Neuromodulation of subcortical network hubs by pharmacologic, electrical, or ultrasonic stimulation is a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC). However, optimal subcortical tar...
Neuromodulation of subcortical network hubs by pharmacologic, electrical, or ultrasonic stimulation is a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC). However, optimal subcortical targets for therapeutic stimulation are not well established. Here, we leveraged 7 Tesla resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from 168 healthy subjects from the Human Connectome Project to map the subcortical connectivity of six canonical cortical networks that modulate higher-order cognition and function: the default mode, executive control, salience, dorsal attention, visual, and somatomotor networks. Based on spatiotemporally overlapped networks generated by the Nadam-Accelerated SCAlable and Robust (NASCAR) tensor decomposition method, our goal was to identify subcortical hubs that are functionally connected to multiple cortical networks. We found that the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the midbrain and the central lateral and parafascicular nuclei of the thalamus-regions that have historically been targeted by neuromodulatory therapies to restore consciousness-are subcortical hubs widely connected to multiple cortical networks. Further, we identified a subcortical hub in the pontomesencephalic tegmentum that overlapped with multiple reticular and extrareticular arousal nuclei and that encompassed a well-established "hot spot" for coma-causing brainstem lesions. Multiple hubs within the brainstem arousal nuclei and thalamic intralaminar nuclei were functionally connected to both the default mode and salience networks, emphasizing the importance of these cortical networks in integrative subcortico-cortical signaling. Additional subcortical connectivity hubs were observed within the caudate head, putamen, amygdala, hippocampus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, regions classically associated with modulation of cognition, behavior, and sensorimotor function. Collectively, these results suggest that multiple subcortical hubs in the brainstem tegmentum, thalamus, basal ganglia, and medial temporal lobe modulate cortical function in the human brain. Our findings strengthen the evidence for targeting subcortical hubs in the VTA, thalamic intralaminar nuclei, and pontomesencephalic tegmentum to restore consciousness in patients with DoC. We release the subcortical connectivity maps to support ongoing efforts at therapeutic neuromodulation of consciousness.
Automated MRI Segmentation of Brainstem Nuclei Critical to Consciousness.
Olchanyi MD, Augustinack J, Haynes RL … +10 more , Lewis LD, Cicero N, Li J, Destrieux C, Folkerth RD, Kinney HC, Fischl B, Brown EN, Iglesias JE, Edlow BL
Hum Brain Mapp · 2025 Oct · PMID 41074651 · Full text
Although substantial progress has been made in mapping the connectivity of cortical networks responsible for conscious awareness, neuroimaging analysis of subcortical networks that modulate arousal (i.e., wakefulness) ha...
Although substantial progress has been made in mapping the connectivity of cortical networks responsible for conscious awareness, neuroimaging analysis of subcortical networks that modulate arousal (i.e., wakefulness) has been limited by a lack of robust segmentation procedures for ascending arousal network (AAN) nuclei in the brainstem. Automated segmentation of brainstem AAN nuclei is an essential step toward elucidating the physiology of human consciousness and the pathophysiology of disorders of consciousness. We created a probabilistic atlas of 10 AAN nuclei built on diffusion MRI scans of 5 ex vivo human brain specimens imaged at 750 μm isotropic resolution. The neuroanatomic boundaries of AAN nuclei were manually annotated with reference to 200 μm 7 Tesla MRI scans in all five specimens and nucleus-specific immunostains in two of the scanned specimens. We then developed a Bayesian segmentation algorithm that utilizes the probabilistic atlas as a generative model and automatically identifies AAN nuclei in a resolution- and contrast-adaptive manner. The segmentation method displayed high accuracy when applied to in vivo T1 MRI scans of healthy individuals and patients with traumatic brain injury, as well as high test-retest reliability across T1 and T2 MRI contrasts. Finally, we show through classification and correlation assessments that the algorithm can detect volumetric changes and differences in magnetic susceptibility within AAN nuclei in patients with Alzheimer's disease and traumatic coma, respectively. We release the probabilistic atlas and Bayesian segmentation tool to advance the study of human consciousness and its disorders. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03504709.
About
- Frequency
- Sun
- Papers found
- 200
- RSS feed
- Subscribe