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Introduction: Hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP) is an autosomal dominant skeletal muscle ion channelopathy. Sex hormones are natural ion channel regulators. Different sex hormones have different effects on ion channels. A comparison of the penetrance and phenotype between males and females with HypoPP mutations should aid in proving that sex hormones play different roles in HypoPP and also provide the basis for the development of therapies against HypoPP. Methods: We identified all mutation carriers in 4 HypoPP families using PCR sequencing techniques. All patients underwent clinical investigation. Results: There were 8 men and 7 women mutation carriers in the 4 families. Male carriers had 100% penetrance, but female penetrance was only 28.57%. The highest attack frequency was 50-150 times/year for the men, whereas it was 30-50 times/year for the women. The attacks disappeared during pregnancy. Conclusions: The penetrance and attack frequency were lower in women than in men with HypoPP mutations. Muscle Nerve, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to analyze the clinical features of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) and extend the understanding of this disease. From August, 2008 to October, 2010, 9 patients were diagnosed with PKD in the Department of Neurology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, China. The data involving clinical demographic characteristics, somatosensory evoked potentials, results of electromyography, video electroencephalography (EEG), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT) were collected. All PKD patients exhibited unilateral or bilateral recurrent episodic dyskinetic attacks triggered by sudden voluntary movements. The duration of the attacks ranged from several seconds to one minute. The attack frequency ranged from approximately once in several months to more than 10 times in a day. Patients suffered from no conscious disorders during the attack, and no neurological signs were found during the period between attacks. No abnormal somatosensory evoked potentials were found. Routine EEG, video EEG monitoring or brain imaging showed normal findings. Classical treatment for anti-epilepsy, including carbamazepine and topiramate, was administered to the patients and proved to be effective. It was concluded that PKD is characteristically triggered by sudden voluntary movement; no abnormal electroneurophysiological findings are observed in PKD, and antiepileptic drugs are effective in treating the disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the correlation between the HBeAg and the properties of HBV-specific CD8 T cells, as well as liver injury, serum HBV markers, liver histology, the frequency and phenotypic characteristics of CD4CD25 Treg and HBV-pentamer CD8 T cells were measured. No significant differences between the median serum ALT levels, the frequency and Foxp3 expression of CD4CD25 Treg, and liver fibrosis were observed. Higher HBV DNA levels in HBeAg patients were observed, while liver necroinflammation was more severe in HBeAg patients. Differences in HBV-pentamer T cell frequency were not significant, but increased PD-1 and CTLA-4 expression on HBV-specific CD8 T cells was seen in the HBeAg group. HBV-peptide stimulation with anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 significantly increased the proliferation in PBMCs from both groups, but enhanced IFN-γ production only in the HBeAg patients. Therefore, HBeAg persistency in CHB patients probably increased the expression of PD-1 and CTLA-4 on HBV-specific CD8 T cells, which may be associated with the low intensity of T cell responses and high HBV DNA load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Outcome prediction for patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) is essential yet challenging. Evidence showed that patients with DOC lasting 1 year or longer after a brain injury were less likely to recover. However, the reasons why outcomes of DOC patients differ greatly remain unclear. With a variety of analytical methods and through quantitative behavioral assessments, we aimed to track the progression of a patient with severe brain injury, in order to advance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of DOC.Case Presentation: We performed a longitudinal study for a 52-year-old male DOC patient who has remained in the state for 1.5 years with comprehensive rehabilitative therapies. The patient underwent 3 times of assessments of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) and ultra-high-field 7 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both topologic properties and brain microstructure were analyzed to track disease progression. We observed dynamic increases of fiber densities with measurements at three time points (t1:1.5 M, t2:7.5 M t3:17.5 M). Specifically, fiber densities of the superior longitudinal fasciculus and arcuate fasciculus nerve fiber bundles improved mostly in the visual, verbal, and auditory subscales, which was consistent with the CRS-R scores. Moreover, the graph-theory analyses demonstrated that network topologic properties showed an improvement although the disease duration exceeded 1 year.Conclusions: DOC patients with a course longer than 1 year remain possible to improve, and including evaluation methods such as WM connectome analysis and graph theory could be potentially valuable for a more precise assessment of patients with a longer course of DOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: In‐stent restenosis (ISR) can lead to blood flow obstruction, insufficient blood supply to the brain, and may even result in serious complications such as stroke. Endothelial cell hyperproliferation and thrombosis are the primary etiologies, frequently resulting in alterations in intravascular metabolism. However, the metabolic changes related to this process are still undermined. Objective: We tried to characterize the serum metabolome of patients with ISR and those with non‐restenosis (NR) using metabolomics and lipidomics, exploring the key metabolic pathways of this pathological phenomenon. Results: We observed that the cysteine and methionine pathways, which are associated with cell growth and oxidative homeostasis, showed the greatest increase in the ISR group compared to the NR group. Within this pathway, the levels of N‐formyl‐l‐methionine and L‐methionine significantly increased in the ISR group, along with elevated levels of downstream metabolites such as 2‐ketobutyric acid, pyruvate, and taurocholate. Additionally, an increase in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine (PS), as well as a decrease in triacylglycerol in the ISR group, indicated active lipid metabolism in these patients, which could be a significant factor contributing to the recurrence of blood clots after stent placement. Importantly, phenol sulfate and PS(38:4) were identified as potential biomarkers for distinguishing ISR, with an area under the curve of more than 0.85. Conclusions: Our study revealed significant metabolic alterations in patients with ISR, particularly in the cysteine and methionine pathways, with phenol sulfate and PS(38:4) showing promise for ISR identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transition state between asymptomatic stage and dementia. Amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients who mainly present with memory deficits are highly likely to progress to Alzheimer's disease (AD). At present, no broadly effective drug therapy is available to prevent the progression from memory deficit to dementia. Cognitive control training, which has transfer effects on multiple cognitive capacities including memory function in healthy old adults, has not yet been applied to aMCI.Methods/design: In this single-center, randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, 70 aMCI patients will be recruited and randomly assigned to the training and control groups. The intervention is an Internet-based cognitive control training program performed for 30 min daily, five days per week, for 12 consecutive weeks. Neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be performed at baseline and outcome. Primary outcomes are changes of episodic memory retrieval function. Secondary outcome measures are neuroplasticity changes measured by functional and structural MRI.Discussion: In this study, an Internet-based cognitive control training program is adopted to investigate whether cognitive control training can enhance the retrieval of episodic memory in aMCI patients. The combination of multi-modal MRI and neuropsychological tests could have a good sensitivity in evaluating the effects of cognitive control training and could also uncover the underlying neural underpinning.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03133052 . Registered on 21 April 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of consciousness states, especially distinguishing minimally conscious states (MCS) from unresponsive wakefulness states (UWS), constitutes a pivotal role in clinical therapies. Despite that numerous neural signatures of consciousness have been proposed, the effectiveness and reliability of such signatures for clinical consciousness assessment still remains an intense debate. Through a comprehensive review of the literature, inconsistent findings are observed about the effectiveness of diverse neural signatures. Notably, the majority of existing studies have evaluated neural signatures on a limited number of subjects (usually below 30), which may result in uncertain conclusions due to small data bias. This study presents a systematic evaluation of neural signatures with large‐scale clinical resting‐state electroencephalography (EEG) signals containing 99 UWS, 129 MCS, 36 emergence from the minimally conscious state, and 32 healthy subjects (296 total) collected over 3 years. A total of 380 EEG‐based metrics for consciousness detection, including spectrum features, nonlinear measures, functional connectivity, and graph‐based measures, are summarized and evaluated. To further mitigate the effect of data bias, the evaluation is performed with bootstrap sampling so that reliable measures can be obtained. The results of this study suggest that relative power in alpha and delta serve as dependable indicators of consciousness. With the MCS group, there is a notable increase in the phase lag index‐related connectivity measures and enhanced functional connectivity between brain regions in comparison to the UWS group. A combination of features enables the development of an automatic detector of conscious states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The electroencephalography (EEG) microstates are indicative of fundamental information processing mechanisms, which are severely damaged in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoC). We aimed to improve the topographic analysis of EEG microstates and explore indicators available for diagnosis and prognosis prediction of patients with pDoC, which were still lacking. Methods: We conducted EEG recordings on 59 patients with pDoC and 32 healthy controls. We refined the microstate method to accurately estimate topographical differences, and then classify and forecast the prognosis of patients with pDoC. An independent dataset was used to validate the conclusion. Results: Through optimized topographic analysis, the global explained variance (GEV) of microstate E increased significantly in groups with reduced levels of consciousness. However, its ability to classify the VS/UWS group was poor. In addition, the optimized GEV of microstate E exhibited a statistically significant decrease in the good prognosis group as opposed to the group with a poor prognosis. Furthermore, the optimized GEV of microstate E strongly predicted a patient's prognosis. Conclusion: This technique harmonizes with the existing microstate analysis and exhibits precise and comprehensive differences in microstate topography between groups. Furthermore, this method has significant potential for evaluating the clinical prognosis of pDoC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Disruption of functional brain connectivity is thought to underlie disorders of consciousness (DOC) and recovery of impaired connectivity is suggested as an indicator of consciousness restoration. We recently found that rhythmic acoustic‐electric trigeminal‐nerve stimulation (i.e., musical stimulation synchronized to electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve) in the gamma band can improve consciousness in patients with DOC. Here, we investigated whether these beneficial stimulation effects are mediated by alterations in functional connectivity. Methods: Sixty‐three patients with DOC underwent 5 days of gamma, beta, or sham acoustic‐electric trigeminal‐nerve stimulation. Resting‐state electroencephalography was measured before and after the stimulation and functional connectivity was assessed using phase‐lag index (PLI). Results: We found that gamma stimulation induces an increase in gamma‐band PLI. Further characterization revealed that the enhancing effect is (i) specific to the gamma band (as we observed no comparable change in beta‐band PLI and no effect of beta‐band acoustic‐electric stimulation or sham stimulation), (ii) widely spread across the cortex, and (iii) accompanied by improvements in patients' auditory abilities. Conclusion: These findings show that gamma acoustic‐electric trigeminal‐nerve stimulation can improve resting‐state functional connectivity in the gamma band, which in turn may be linked to auditory abilities and/or consciousness restoration in DOC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia among elderly people worldwide. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the optimal fluid source for AD biomarkers, while serum biomarkers are much more achievable. To search for novel diagnostic AD biomarkers, we performed a quantitative proteomic analysis of CSF and serum samples from AD and normal cognitive controls (NC). CSF and serum proteomes were analyzed via data-independent acquisition quantitative mass spectrometry. Our bioinformatic analysis was based on Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment. In comparison to the controls, 8 proteins were more abundant in AD CSF, and 60 were less abundant in AD CSF, whereas 55 proteins were more and 10 were less abundant in the serum samples. ATPase-associated activity for CSF and mitochondrial functions for CSF and serum were the most enriched GO terms of the DEPs. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the most significant pathways for the differentially expressed proteins were the N-glycan biosynthesis pathways. The area under the curve (AUC) values for CSF sodium-/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit beta-1 (AT1B1), serglycin (SRGN), and thioredoxin-dependent peroxide reductase, mitochondrial (PRDX3) were 0.867 (p = 0.004), 0.833 (p = 0.008), and 0.783 (p = 0.025), respectively. A panel of the above three CSF proteins accurately differentiated AD (AUC = 0.933, p = 0.001) from NC. The AUC values for serum probable phospholipid-transporting ATPase IM (AT8B4) and SRGN were moderate. The AUC of the CSF SRGN + serum SRGN was 0.842 (p = 0.007). These novel AD biomarker candidates are mainly associated with inflammation, ATPase activity, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Further studies are needed to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which these potential biomarkers are involved in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There was a decreasing trend in absolute power spectral density of EEG changes induced by auditory stimuli with decreasing levels of consciousness. • This cortical response was effective in distinguishing between good and bad prognoses for patients with consciousness disorders. • Cortical responses to auditory stimulation may be a significant electrophysiological indicator of prognosis in patients with disorders of consciousness. This study aimed to assess the prognosis of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) using auditory stimulation with electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. We enrolled 72 patients with DoC in the study, which involved subjecting patients to auditory stimulation while EEG responses were recorded. Coma Recovery Scale–Revised (CRS-R) scores and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) were determined for each patient and followed up for three months. A frequency spectrum analysis was performed on the EEG recordings. Finally, the power spectral density (PSD) index was used to predict the prognosis of patients with DoC based on a support vector machine (SVM) model. Power spectral analyses revealed that the cortical response to auditory stimulation showed a decreasing trend with decreasing consciousness levels. Auditory stimulation-induced changes in absolute PSD at the delta and theta bands were positively correlated with the CRS-R and GOS scores. Furthermore, these cortical responses to auditory stimulation had a good ability to discriminate between good and poor prognoses of patients with DoC. Auditory stimulation-induced changes in the PSD were highly predictive of DoC outcomes. Our findings showed that cortical responses to auditory stimulation may be an important electrophysiological indicator of prognosis in patients with DoC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia among the aging population. Cumulative studies aim to find non-invasive biomarkers in the early stages of AD. Saliva can be obtained easily, and salivary biomarkers have been proven effective in detecting neurodegenerative diseases. To find effective biomarkers in saliva and to help the diagnosis of AD, we performed a meta-analysis focusing on the salivary biomarkers (β-amyloid 1–42 (Aβ1–42), total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)) in AD. Methods: We conducted a systematic online search for eligible studies reporting data on salivary biomarkers reflecting Aβ1–42, t-tau, p-tau, and AChE in AD cohorts versus controls. Biomarkers' performance was assessed in a random-effects meta-analysis with the ratio of mean (RoM). Results: A total of thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, of them seven involved salivary Aβ1–42 (271 AD and 489 controls), five involved salivary t-tau (324 AD and 252 controls), four involved salivary p-tau (130 AD and 161 controls), and three involved salivary AChE (81 AD and 54 controls). AD showed significantly higher salivary Aβ1–42 levels than control (ROM = 1.90 (95% CI 1.28–2.81, P = 0.001), while AD and control did not differ significantly on salivary t-tau, p-tau and AChE (ROM = 0.94, 95% CI 0.67–1.31, P = 0.72; ROM = 0.91, 95% CI 0.56–1.45, P = 0.68; ROM = 0.83, 95% CI 0.24–2.88, P = 0.77; respectively). Conclusion: The pooled results provide evidence that salivary Aβ1–42 may serve as a sensitive biomarker for AD; nevertheless, larger AD cohorts are required to further confirm the sensitivity and specificity of salivary Aβ1–42 for AD diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The subclassification of prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC) based on sleep patterns is important for the evaluation and treatment of the disease. This study evaluates the correlation between polysomnographic patterns and the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in patients with prolonged DoC due to stroke. Methods: In total, 33 patients in the vegetative state (VS) with sleep cycles or without sleep cycles were randomly assigned to either active or sham tDCS groups. Polysomnography was used to monitor sleep changes before and after intervention. Additionally, clinical scale scores and electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis were performed before and after intervention to evaluate the efficacy of tDCS on the patients subclassified according to their sleep patterns. Results: The results suggest that tDCS improved the sleep structure, significantly prolonged total sleep time (TST) (95%CI: 14.387–283.527, P = 0.013) and NREM sleep stage 2 (95%CI: 3.157–246.165, P = 0.040) of the VS patients with sleep cycles. It also significantly enhanced brain function of patients with sleep cycles, which were reflected by the increased clinical scores (95%CI: 0.340–3.440, P < 0.001), the EEG powers and functional connectivity in the brain and the 6-month prognosis. Moreover, the changes in NREM sleep stage 2 had a significant positive correlation with each index of the β band. Conclusion: This study reveals the importance of sleep patterns in the prognosis and treatment of prolonged DoC and provides new evidence for the efficacy of tDCS in post-stroke patients with VS patients subclassified by sleep pattern. Trial registration URL: . Unique identifier: NCT03809936. Registered 18 January 2019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the feasibility, success rate, and safety of endovascular revascularization of patients with vertebral artery stump syndrome (VASS).This single-center retrospective study analyzed clinical and imaging data from consecutive patients with VASS who underwent endovascular recanalization from January 2020 until June 2023.Our study enrolled 30 patients [mean age 69 (range 51-84) years; 26 men]. The rate of successful technical revascularization was 96.7% (n = 29), and the rate of complications was 3.3% (n = 1). At the 6-month follow-up, the patients with successful endovascular revascularization of VASS did not have any neurological symptoms, and computed tomography angiography showed 3/29 (10.3%) re-occlusions and 4/29 (13.8%) restenosis of the stent, which was confirmed by digital subtraction angiography.Endovascular recanalization in patients with VASS is feasible in selected patients and has a high procedural success rate and low rate of complications. A large, multicenter, randomized study is warranted to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We analyzed the outcomes of patients suffering acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with large vessel occlusion (LVO) soon after pulmonary lobectomy.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients who underwent pulmonary lobectomy to treat primary lung cancer. We retrieved clinical characteristics and the incidence of AIS with LVO. The clinical courses of patients who experienced AIS were reviewed.Results: In 10 (0.3%) of 3406 patients, AIS with LVO developed soon (within 3 days) after pulmonary lobectomy. The lung resection site was on the left in eight patients (80%). All patients underwent thrombectomy and achieved complete recanalization (Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction [TICI] 3). The average time between symptom onset and recanalization was 165.5 min. Nine (90%) patients exhibited favorable outcomes (modified Rankin scale [mRS] score ≤ 2) at the 3-month follow-up.Conclusion: Endovascular therapy effectively treats AIS with LVO that develops after lung surgery, and direct aspiration is a promising strategy. A large, multicenter study is warranted to further confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study of different BOLD profiles in PD patients with different responses towards HF-rTMS over SMA. • rTMS imposed motor improvements on PD patients. • Responders showed greater bradykinesia alleviation. • Increased cerebellar and thalamus BOLD signals indicated better response. • The cerebellum might be involved in motor improvement after rTMS in PD patients. Accumulating evidence indicates that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) ameliorates motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD); however, patients' responses to rTMS are different. Here, we aimed to explore neural activity changes in patients with PD exhibiting different responses to high-frequency rTMS treatments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We treated 24 patients with PD using 10-session rTMS (10 Hz) over the supplementary motor area (SMA) for 10 days. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III (UPDRS-III) and other neuropsychological scales were performed at the baseline and endpoint of rTMS treatment. The changes in the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) were calculated. Significant improvements were observed in motor symptoms, especially in the sub-symptoms of bradykinesia. All the participants were subsequently stratified into responders and non-responders according to the UPDRS-III reduction. We identified increased fALFF values in the left Crus II of the cerebellar hemisphere and bilateral thalamus as responsive signs to rTMS. Furthermore, the motor response to rTMS over the SMA, measured by the reduction in UPDRS-III and bradykinesia scores, was positively associated with increased fALFF values in the left Crus2 of cerebellar hemisphere, left lobule VIIB of cerebellar hemisphere, right lobule VI of the cerebellar hemisphere, and the right postcentral gyrus. These findings provide evidence for the involvement of cerebellar activity in the motor response to rTMS treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination and integration of multimodal imaging and clinical markers have introduced numerous classifiers to improve diagnostic accuracy in detecting and predicting AD; however, many studies cannot ensure the homogeneity of data sets and consistency of results. In our study, the XGBoost algorithm was used to classify mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal control (NC) populations through five rs-fMRI analysis datasets. Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) is used to analyze the interpretability of the model. The highest accuracy for diagnosing MCI was 65.14% (using the mPerAF dataset). The characteristics of the left insula, right middle frontal gyrus, and right cuneus correlated positively with the output value using DC datasets. The characteristics of left cerebellum 6, right inferior frontal gyrus, opercular part, and vermis 6 correlated positively with the output value using fALFF datasets. The characteristics of the right middle temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left temporal pole, and middle temporal gyrus correlated positively with the output value using mPerAF datasets. The characteristics of the right middle temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and left hippocampus correlated positively with the output value using PerAF datasets. The characteristics of left cerebellum 9, vermis 9, and right precentral gyrus, right amygdala, and left middle occipital gyrus correlated positively with the output value using Wavelet-ALFF datasets. We found that the XGBoost algorithm constructed from rs-fMRI data is effective for the diagnosis and classification of MCI. The accuracy rates obtained by different rs-fMRI data analysis methods are similar, but the important features are different and involve multiple brain regions, which suggests that MCI may have a negative impact on brain function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and NfL were powerful tools to screen neurodegenerative dementia. • The combination of plasma markers was more accurate to identify FTD/PSP from HC. • The combined model of Aβ42/40 + p-tau181 + NfL + GFAP best distinguish AD from FTD/PSP. Plasma amyloid-β (Aβ), phosphorylated tau-181 (p-tau181), neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) potentially aid in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative dementias. We aim to conduct a comprehensive comparison between different biomarkers and their combination, which is lacking, in a multicenter Chinese dementia cohort consisting of Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). We enrolled 92 demented patients [64 AD, 16 FTD, and 12 PSP with dementia] and 20 healthy controls (HC). Their plasma Αβ, p-tau181, NfL, and GFAP were detected by highly sensitive-single molecule immunoassays. Αβ pathology in patients was measured by cerebrospinal fluid or/and amyloid positron emission tomography. All plasma biomarkers tested were significantly altered in dementia patients compared with HC, especially Aβ42/Aβ40 and NfL showed significant performance in distinguishing AD from HC. A combination of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40, p-tau181, NfL, and GFAP could discriminate FTD or PSP well from HC and was able to distinguish AD and non-AD (FTD/PSP). Our results confirmed the diagnostic performance of individual plasma biomarkers Aβ42/Aβ40, p-tau181, NfL, and GFAP in Chinese dementia patients and noted that a combination of these biomarkers may be more accurate in identifying FTD/PSP patients and distinguishing AD from non-AD dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naming is a commonly impaired language domain in various types of aphasia. Emerging evidence supports the cortico‐subcortical circuitry subserving naming processing, although neurovascular regulation of the non‐dominant thalamic and basal ganglia subregions underlying post‐stroke naming difficulty remains unclear. Data from 25 subacute stroke patients and 26 age‐, sex‐, and education‐matched healthy volunteers were analyzed. Region‐of‐interest‐wise functional connectivity (FC) was calculated to measure the strength of cortico‐subcortical connections. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was determined to reflect perfusion levels. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed to identify the relationship between cortico‐subcortical connectivity, regional cerebral perfusion, and naming performance. We observed increased right‐hemispheric subcortical connectivity in patients. FC between the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and lateral/medial prefrontal thalamus (lPFtha/mPFtha) exhibited significantly negative correlations with total naming score. Trend‐level increased CBF in subcortical nuclei, including that in the right lPFtha, and significant negative correlations between naming and regional perfusion of the right lPFtha were observed. The relationship between CBF in the right lPFtha and naming was fully mediated by the lPFtha‐pSTS connectivity in the non‐dominant hemisphere. Our findings suggest that perfusion changes in the right thalamic subregions affect naming performance through thalamo‐cortical circuits in post‐stroke aphasia. This study highlights the neurovascular pathophysiology of the non‐dominant hemisphere and demonstrates thalamic involvement in naming after stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the P2Y2 receptor (P2Y2R) signaling pathway on neuronal regeneration and angiogenesis during spinal cord injury (SCI). The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, including the sham+dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), SCI+DMSO, and SCI+P2Y2R groups. The SCI animal models were constructed. A locomotor rating scale was used for behavioral assessments. The apoptosis of spinal cord tissues was detected by TUNEL staining. The expression levels of P2Y2R, GFAP, nestin, Tuj1, and CD34 were detected by immunofluorescence staining, and the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The locomotor score in the model group was significantly lower than the sham group. The expression of P2Y2R was increased after SCI. The expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were increased remarkably in the SCI model group compared with the sham group. The P2Y2R inhibitor relieved neuronal inflammation after SCI. Compared with the sham group, the apoptotic rate of spinal cord tissue cells in the model group was significantly increased. The P2Y2R inhibitor reduced the apoptosis of the spinal cord tissue. The expressions of CD34, Tuj1, and nestin in the model group were decreased, while the expressions of GFAP and P2Y2R were increased. The P2Y2R inhibitor reversed their expression levels. The P2Y2R inhibitor could alleviate SCI by relieving the neuronal inflammation, inhibiting the spinal cord tissue apoptosis, and promoting neuronal differentiation and vascular proliferation after SCI. P2Y2R may serve as a target for the treatment of SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While converging evidence suggests linguistic roles of white matter tracts, detailed associations between white matter alterations of dual pathways and language abilities remain unknown in aphasic patients. We aimed to verify language functions of dual-pathway tracts from specific domains and investigate the influence of moderators. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and CENTRAL were searched for studies published between January 1, 1985 and March 17, 2019. A meta-analysis of 46 studies including 1353 aphasic patients was performed by pooling correlation coefficients between linguistic domains and diffusion metrics of dual-pathway tracts. Among these tracts, the fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus predominated across most linguistic aspects, showing the strongest correlations with global severity, comprehension, naming and reading ability. The left uncinate fasciculus and inferior longitudinal fasciculus also showed significant FA − comprehension correlations. For syntactic processing, FA values of the left superior longitudinal fasciculus and arcuate fasciculus showed significant positive correlations. Meta-regression revealed no influence of etiology on FA − language correlations, while sex had a moderating effect on the FA − comprehension correlation of the arcuate fasciculus, and age influenced the FA − naming correlation in the superior longitudinal fasciculus. In conclusion, multifunctional characteristics of tracts were revealed in aphasic patients, including broad linguistic associations of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and repetition and syntactic involvement of the arcuate fasciculus. Language associations of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus were clarified regarding comprehension subdomains. The insignificant moderating effect of the etiology indicates damage of dual pathways is the common neural mechanism, while sex and age influence the correlation with comprehension and naming ability, respectively, in specific tracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Both static and dynamic analyses of local neural activity were investigated in patients of disorder of consciousness (DOC). • The dynamic analysis could unravel more pathological regions than the static analysis. • Sub-frequency analysis of fALFF indicated a potential frequency dependent alteration of the default mode network in DOC patients. • The DOC classifier established on fALFF achieved the highest classification accuracy. Although the resting-state networks of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) have been widely investigated, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here we aimed to explore the static and dynamic alterations in the regional brain activity in patients with DOC and detect the diagnostic ability of each index. Nineteen patients in the vegetative state, 19 in the minimally conscious state (MCS), and 41 healthy controls were recruited for this study. The fractional amplitudes of the low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and dynamic fALFF (dfALFF) values were computed, and intergroup differences were detected by analysis of variance. Sub-frequency analysis (slow-4 band and slow-5 band) of fALFF was also performed. Machine learning classifiers were established based on these measures to explore the classification accuracies between patients and controls. The fALFF and dfALFF analyses showed significant intergroup differences in the medial prefrontal gyrus, precuneus, left angular gyrus, and right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), whereas only the dfALFF analysis revealed aberrations in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right angular gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and left middle occipital gyrus (MOG). Sub-frequency analysis suggested a potential frequency dependent alteration in the default mode network (DMN). The fALFF model exhibited a higher classification accuracy (ACC) (90.50%) than the dfALFF model (86.29%). The combination of fALFF and dfALFF did not improve classification performance. The strength and stability of regional brain activities were disrupted in patients with DOC. Our findings demonstrate that dynamic analysis may reveal more pathological regions and provide a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of DOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]