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Functional MRI and NMR spectroscopy of an operating gas-liquid-solid catalytic reactor.

A dynamic in situ study of alpha-methylstyrene catalytic hydrogenation on a single catalyst pellet or in a granular bed is performed using 1H MRI and spatially resolved 1H NMR spectroscopy. Owing to reaction exothermicity, a reciprocating motion of the liquid front within the pellet accompanied by pellet temperature oscillations has been observed. Spatially resolved information on the reactant to product conversion within the catalyst bed has been obtained for a steady-state regime. Two-dimensional 27Al NMR images of alumina catalyst supports and other alumina-containing materials have been detected using moderate magnetic field gradients (80 G/cm) and a two-pulse spin-echo sequence. Temperature dependence of signal intensity and 27Al T1 time of alumina are considered as possible temperature sensors for NMR thermometry applications.

Aluminum↗

Neural correlates of serial abacus mental calculation in children: a functional MRI study.

Abacus experts have demonstrated extraordinary potential of mental calculation by using an imaginary abacus. But the neural correlates of abacus mental calculation and the imaginary abacus still remain unclear. Here, we report, respectively, the analysis of fMRI images of abacus experts and non-experts in response to the performance of simple and complex serial calculation by visual stimuli as well as the images of the abacus experts with performance of the same tasks by auditory stimuli. We found that activated areas were quite different between two groups. In experts, enhanced activations were mainly observed in fronto-temporal circuit (lateral premotor cortex (LPMC) and posterior temporal areas) in simple addition, but in fronto-parietal circuit (lateral premotor cortex (LPMC) and posterior superior parietal lobe (PSPL)) in complex one. By contrast, in controls, the activated areas were almost similar in both simple and complex tasks, including bilateral inferior parietal lobule, prefrontal and premotor cortices. Furthermore, visual and auditory stimuli generated almost similar activations in experts. These observations reveal that (1) abacus mental calculation induces special patterns of brain response, and simple and complex tasks are sustained by dissociated brain circuits between the temporal and parietal cortices, respectively; (2) the abacus mental calculation may rely on neural resources of visuospatial representations with a super-modal form of abacus beads; (3) the posterior temporal areas and PSPL may be recruited for imaginary abacus.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Changes in brain activation associated with use of a memory strategy: a functional MRI study.

It has been confirmed that some kinds of what are called memory strategies dramatically improve the performance of memory recall. However, there has been no direct research to examine changes in brain activity associated with the use of the method of loci within individuals. In the present study, using fMRI, we compared brain activations before and after instruction in the method of loci during both the encoding and recall phases. The resulting behavioral data showed that the use of the method of loci significantly increased scores for memory recall. The imaging data showed that encoding after instruction in the method of loci, relative to encoding before it, was associated with signal increases in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, and bilateral lingual gyrus/posterior cingulate gyrus. Comparison of recall after instruction in the method of loci with that before it showed significant activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus/retrosplenial cortex/cingulate gyrus/lingual gyrus, left precuneus, left fusiform gyrus, and right lingual gyrus/cingulate gyrus. The present study demonstrated the changes in brain activation pattern associated with the use of the method of loci; left fusiform and lingual activity was associated with both the encoding and recall phases, bilateral prefrontal activity with the encoding phase, and activity of the posterior part of the parahippocampal gyrus, retrosplenial cortex, and precuneus with the recall phase. These findings suggest that brain networks mediating episodic encoding and retrieval vary with how individuals encode the same stimuli.

Adult↗

Functional MRI reveals the existence of modality and coordination-dependent timing networks.

Growing evidence suggests that interval timing in humans is supported by distributed brain networks. Recently, we demonstrated that the specific network recruited for the performance of rhythmic timing is not static but is influenced by the coordination pattern employed during interval acquisition. Here we expand on this previous work to investigate the role of stimulus modality and coordination pattern in determining the brain areas recruited for performance of a self-paced rhythmic timing task. Subjects were paced with either a visual or an auditory metronome in either a synchronized (on the beat) or syncopated (off the beat) coordination pattern. The pacing stimulus was then removed and subjects continued to move based on the required interval. When compared with networks recruited for auditory pacing and continuation, the visual-specific activity was observed in the classic dorsal visual stream that included bilateral MT/V5, bilateral superior parietal lobe, and right ventral premotor cortex. Activity in these regions was present not only during pacing, when visual information is used to guide motor behavior, but also during continuation, when visual information specifying the temporal interval was no longer present. These results suggest a role for modality-specific areas in processing and representing temporal information. The cognitive demands imposed by syncopated coordination resulted in increased activity in a broad network that included supplementary motor area, lateral pre-motor cortex, bilateral insula, and cerebellum. This coordination-dependent activity persisted during the subsequent continuation period, when stimuli were removed and no coordination constraints were imposed. Taken together, the present results provide additional evidence that time and timing are served by a context-dependent distributed network rooted in basic sensorimotor processes.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Emotional memory in depersonalization disorder: a functional MRI study.

This study examines emotional memory effects in primary depersonalization disorder (DPD). A core complaint of DPD sufferers is the dulling of emotional responses, and previous work has shown that, in response to aversive stimuli, DPD patients do not show activation of brain regions involved in normal emotional processing. We hypothesized that DPD sufferers would not show the normal emotional enhancement of memory, and that they would not show activation of brain regions concerned with emotional processing during encoding and recognition of emotional verbal material. Using fMRI, 10 DPD patients were compared with an age-matched healthy control group while performing a test of emotional verbal memory, comprising one encoding and two recognition memory tasks. DPD patients showed significantly enhanced recognition for overtly emotive words, but did not show enhancement of memory for neutral words encoded in an emotive context. In addition, patients did not show activation of emotional processing areas during encoding, and exhibited no substantial difference in their neural responses to emotional and neutral material in the encoding and emotional word recognition tasks. This study provides further evidence that patients with DPD do not process emotionally salient material in the same way as healthy controls, in accordance with their subjective descriptions of reduced or absent emotional responses.

Adult↗

Novelty indices: identifiers of potentially interesting time-courses in functional MRI data.

In a systematic study of hybrid MR time-series with simulated "activation" (contrast-to-noise range 1-10) we investigated the power and compared the ability of the "novelty indices" (NI) kurtosis, negentropy, and 1-lag autocorrelation, to discriminate between potentially interesting ("structured") and uninteresting ("noisy") time-courses (TCs). NIs may be employed as preprocessing tools to focus only on the interesting TCs prior to any further exploratory or confirmatory approach.

Humans↗

Functional MRI of motor and sensory activation in the human spinal cord.

MR imaging of the cervical spinal cord was carried out on volunteers during alternated rest and either motor or sensory stimulation of one hand, in order to detect image intensity changes arising concomitant to neuronal activity. We employed both spin-echo and gradient-echo echo-planar imaging, on the right and left hands, with both symmetric and asymmetric temporal patterns of rest and stimulation. Intensity changes correlated with the time course of stimulation were consistently detected, and the magnitude of the intensity changes depended on the duration of stimulation. The activated regions in the spinal cord extended along a column on the side of the body being stimulated and included localized regions on the contralateral side, in agreement with the neural anatomy.

Cervical Vertebrae↗

Complex denoising of MR data via wavelet analysis: application for functional MRI.

A fast post-processing method for noise reduction of MR images, termed complex-denoising, is presented. The method is based on shrinking noisy discrete wavelet transform coefficients via thresholding, and it can be used for any MRI data-set with no need for high power computers. Unlike previous wavelet application to MR images, the denoising algorithm is applied, separately, to the two orthogonal sets of the complex MR image. The norm of the combined data are used to construct the image. With this method, signal-noise decoupling and Gaussian white noise assumptions used in the wavelet noise suppression scheme, are better fulfilled. The performance of the method is tested by carrying out a qualitative and quantitative comparison of a single-average image, complex-denoised image, multiple-average images, and a magnitude-denoised image, of a standard phantom. The comparison shows that the complex-denoising scheme improves the signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios more than the magnitude-denoising scheme, particularly in low SNR regions. To demonstrate the method strength, it is applied to fMRI data of somatosensory rat stimulation. It is shown that the activation area in a cross-correlation analysis is approximately 63% larger in the complex-denoised versus original data sets when equal threshold value is used. Application of the method of Principal Component Analysis to the complex-denoised, magnitude-denoised, and original data sets results in a similar but higher variance of the first few principal components obtained from the former data set as compared to those obtained from the later two sets.

Algorithms↗

Sleep deprivation, EEG, and functional MRI in depression: preliminary results.

One night of total or partial sleep deprivation (SD) produces temporary remissions in 40-60% of patients with major depression. Two unmedicated patients with major depression and a matched control received quantitative perfusion MR images at baseline and after one night of partial SD (PSD). A reduction > or =30% in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (omitting sleep and weight loss items) defined antidepressant response. Theory, techniques, strengths and weaknesses of quantitative perfusion MRI are described in detail. At baseline, the responder exhibited elevated perfusion covering ventral anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortex; the control's maximal perfusion area was markedly smaller. The nonresponder's perfusion was lowest of all, particularly ventrally. PSD decreased perfusion over much of the responder's hyperperfused area but did not change the nonresponder's scan. These preliminary findings are consistent with previous SD studies using PET and SPECT.

Depressive Disorder↗

Functional MRI of brain activation evoked by intentional eye blinking.

Eye blinking is not only a reflexive action to protect the ocular surface from injury and desiccation; it can also be done intentionally. However, only a few studies have investigated the brain mechanism controlling intentional blinking, and there are still inconsistencies among the reported activation patterns in the human brain evoked by intentional blinking. In monkeys, some areas where blinking is evoked by electrical microstimulation have been found in the premotor areas and in the posterior parietal cortex. But there have been no reports about neuronal activity related to blinking in the cerebral cortex. In the present study, the brain activation evoked by intentional blinking was examined in humans by using fMRI, and the activations were found in the middle precentral gyrus, but not in the posterior parietal cortex, suggesting that the premotor areas, rather than the posterior parietal cortex, are important for controlling intentional blinking.

Adult↗