Search Results (229)

Background and Objectives: The objective of this research is to make a comparative evaluation of the correlation between the volumetric examination of subcortical cerebral regions and white matter hyperintensities classified according to the Fazekas scoring system. Materials and Methods: A total of 236 cases with cranial MRI studies were retrospectively analyzed. This study included patients aged over 45 years who had white matter hyperintensities and who did not have a prior stroke diagnosis. White matter hyperintensities were evaluated in axial FLAIR images according to Fazekas’s grading scale. Patients with Fazekas 0 and 1 were grouped in group 1 and the patients with Fazekas 2 and 3 were grouped in group 2. MRI data processing and subcortical volumetric analyses were performed using the volBrain MRI brain volumetry system. Results: There were statistically significant differences between groups 1 and 2 in terms of cerebrospinal fluid total brain white and gray matter (p < 0.001), total brain white and gray matter (p = 0.009), total cerebrum (p < 0.001), accumbens (p < 0.001), thalamus (p < 0.001), frontal lobe (p < 0.001), parietal lobe (p < 0.001), and lateral ventricle (p < 0.001) volumes. Conclusions: Our study finds a strong link between white matter hyperintensity burden and brain atrophy. This includes volume reductions in total brain white and gray matter, frontal and parietal lobe atrophy, increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and atrophy in specific brain regions such as the accumbens and thalamus. Full article

Background: Congenital anosmia (CA) is a rare condition characterized by a lifelong inability to perceive odors, which significantly affects daily life and may be linked to broader neurodevelopmental alterations. This study aimed to investigate structural brain differences in patients with CA using MRI, focusing on gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) changes and their implications for neurodevelopment. Methods: This retrospective study included 28 patients with CA and 28 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Patients with CA were diagnosed at a single medical center between 1 January 2001 and 30 August 2024. Controls were randomly selected from an imaging database and had no history of olfactory dysfunction. Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)was analyzed using volumetric analysis in SPM12.GM and WM volumes were quantified across 11 anatomical brain regions based on theWFU_PickAtlas toolbox, including frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, limbic, sub-lobar, cerebellum (anterior/posterior), midbrain, the pons, and the frontal–temporal junction. Left–right hemispheric comparisons were also conducted. Results: Patients with CA exhibited significantly smaller GM volumes compared to healthy controls (560.6 ± 114.7 cc vs. 693.7 ± 96.3 cc, p < 0.001) but larger WM volumes (554.2 ± 75.4 cc vs. 491.1 ± 79.7 cc, p = 0.015). Regionally, GM reductions were observed in the frontal (131.9 ± 33.7 cc vs. 173.7 ± 27.0 cc, p < 0.001), temporal (81.1 ± 18.4 cc vs. 96.5 ± 14.1 cc, p = 0.001), parietal (52.4 ± 15.2 cc vs. 77.2 ± 12.4 cc, p < 0.001), sub-lobar (57.8 ± 9.7 cc vs. 68.2 ± 10.2 cc, p = 0.001), occipital (39.1 ± 13.0 cc vs. 57.8 ± 8.9 cc, p < 0.001), and midbrain (2.0 ± 0.5 cc vs. 2.3 ± 0.4 cc, p = 0.006) regions. Meanwhile, WM increases were notable in the frontal(152.0 ± 19.9 cc vs. 139.2 ± 24.0 cc, p = 0.027), temporal (71.5 ± 11.5 cc vs. 60.8 ± 9.5 cc, p = 0.001), parietal (75.8 ± 12.4 cc vs. 61.9 ± 11.5 cc, p < 0.001), and occipital (58.7 ± 10.3 cc vs. 41.9 ± 7.9 cc, p < 0.001) lobes. A separate analysis of the left and right hemispheres revealed similar patterns of reduced GM and increased WM volumes in patients with CA across both sides. An exception was noted in the right cerebellum-posterior, where patients with CA showed significantly greater WM volume (5.625 ± 1.667 cc vs. 4.666 ± 1.583 cc, p = 0.026). Conclusions: This study demonstrates widespread structural brain differences in individuals with CA, including reduced GM and increased WM volumes across multiple cortical and sub-lobar regions. These findings suggest that congenital olfactory deprivation may impact brain maturation beyond primary olfactory pathways, potentially reflecting altered synaptic pruning and increased myelination during early neurodevelopment. The involvement of the cerebellum further implies potential adaptations beyond motor functions. These structural differences may serve as potential neuroimaging markers for monitoring CA-associated cognitive or emotional comorbidities. Full article

Objectives: Methamphetamine (MA) abuse during adolescence can have a significant impact on brain development. On the other hand, regular exercise is known to promote brain health and may have neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this study is to compare brain volumes in three different adolescent groups: those with active methamphetamine use disorder (MUD), adolescent athletes who regularly exercise, and healthy control adolescents. Methods: This MRI study involved three groups of adolescents: 10 with active MUD (9 males, 1 female), nine licensed runner adolescents (three males, six females), and 10 healthy adolescents (5 males, 5 females). Brain volumes were analyzed using T1-weighted images from a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner, and then segmented automatically with vol2Brain. Statistical analyses included ANCOVA with sex as a covariate and LSD post hoc tests performed using SPSS Statistics 23. Results: Adolescents with MUD showed a 10% increase in total white matter volume compared to the athlete group. Conversely, cortical gray matter volume was reduced by 4% compared to the healthy control group and by 7% compared to the athlete group. The frontal and insular cortices in the MUD group had significantly diminished volumes compared to the athlete group. Overall, individuals with MUD had decreased gray matter volumes and increased white matter volumes in their brains. The brain volumetric differences between the MUD group and the athlete group were statistically significant. Conclusions: The brains of those with MUD displayed a reduction in gray matter volume and an increase in white matter volume, indicating damage from MA on the developing adolescent brain. The volumetric disparities between the MUD and athlete groups were found to be significantly different, suggesting a possible neuroprotective factor of exercise. Further studies are required to explore the potential of exercise-based interventions in alleviating the harmful effects of MA abuse. Full article

Background: The ability of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to analyse brain structural patterns in various kinds of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), has drawn a lot of interest recently. One emerging technique in this field is brain age prediction, which estimates biological age to identify ageing patterns that may serve as biomarkers for such disorders. However, a significant problem with most of the GNNs is their depth, which can lead to issues like oversmoothing and diminishing gradients. Methods: In this study, we propose SAGEFusionNet, a GNN architecture specifically designed to enhance brain age prediction and assess PD-related brain ageing patterns using T1-weighted structural MRI (sMRI). SAGEFusionNet learns important ROIs for brain age prediction by incorporating ROI-aware pooling at every layer to overcome the above challenges. Additionally, it incorporates multi-layer feature fusion to capture multi-scale structural information across the network hierarchy and auxiliary supervision to enhance gradient flow and feature learning at multiple depths. The dataset utilised in this study was sourced from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. It included a total of 580 T1-weighted sMRI scans from healthy individuals. The brain sMRI scans were parcellated into 56 regions of interest (ROIs) using the LPBA40 brain atlas in CAT12. The anatomical graph was constructed based on grey matter (GM) volume features. This graph served as input to the GNN models, along with GM and white matter (WM) volume as node features. All models were trained using 5-fold cross-validation to predict brain age and subsequently tested for performance evaluation. Results: The proposed framework achieved a mean absolute error (MAE) of $4.24\pm 0.38$ years and a mean Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (PCC) of $0.72\pm 0.03$ during cross-validation. We also used 215 PD patient scans from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database to assess the model’s performance and validate it. The initial findings revealed that out of 215 individuals with Parkinson’s disease, 213 showed higher and 2 showed lower predicted brain ages than their actual ages, with a mean MAE of 13.36 years (95% confidence interval: 12.51–14.28). Conclusions: These results suggest that brain age prediction using the proposed method may provide important insights into neurodegenerative diseases. Full article

Background: Olfactory dysfunction (OD)—including anosmia and hyposmia—is a common and often persistent outcome of viral infections. This systematic review consolidates findings from structural and functional MRI studies to explore how COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2-induced smell loss alters the brain. Considerable heterogeneity was observed across studies, influenced by differences in methodology, population characteristics, imaging timelines, and OD classification. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science to identify MRI-based studies examining COVID-19’s SARS-CoV-2 OD. Twenty-four studies were included and categorized based on imaging focus: (1) olfactory bulb (OB), (2) olfactory sulcus (OS), (3) grey and white matter changes, (4) task-based brain activation, and (5) resting-state functional connectivity. Demographic and imaging data were extracted and analyzed accordingly. Results: Structural imaging revealed consistent reductions in olfactory bulb volume (OBV) and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD), especially among individuals with OD persisting beyond three months, suggestive of inflammation and neurodegeneration in olfactory-associated regions like the orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. Functional MRI studies showed increased connectivity in early-stage OD within regions such as the piriform and orbitofrontal cortices, possibly reflecting compensatory activity. In contrast, prolonged OD was associated with reduced activation and diminished connectivity, indicating a decline in olfactory processing capacity. Disruptions in the default mode network (DMN) and limbic areas further point to secondary cognitive and emotional effects. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings—such as decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD)—highlight white matter microstructural compromise in individuals with long-term OD. Conclusions: COVID-19’s SARS-CoV-2 olfactory dysfunction is associated with a range of cerebral alterations that evolve with the duration and severity of smell loss. Persistent dysfunction correlates with greater neural damage, underscoring the need for longitudinal neuroimaging studies to better understand recovery dynamics and guide therapeutic strategies. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study aims to investigate the influence of demographic, behavioral, anthropometric, and comorbid factors on brain atrophy in people living with HIV (PLWH). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 121 HIV-positive patients, stratified into two groups, those with and without brain atrophy (BA). For each participant, we recorded demographic data, smoking status, physical activity levels, disease and treatment duration, and comorbidities. BA was quantitatively assessed using MRI-derived volumetric measurements of 47 cerebral substructures. Results: Patients with BA exhibited significantly reduced gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes alongside increased cerebrospinal fluid volumes, both in absolute and percentage measurements. WM atrophy was most pronounced in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, with relative sparing of the occipital lobe. GM atrophy predominantly affected the basal ganglia (notably, the thalamus and putamen) and cortical regions, including the hippocampus, frontal, and parietal lobes. Significant positive correlations were observed between BA and both smoking status (pack–years) and disease duration, while physical activity demonstrated an inverse relationship (higher atrophy risk in those with less than 30 min of daily continuous walking). Non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) was also associated with BA. Among comorbidities, type 2 diabetes and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) showed the strongest associations with BA. Conclusions: Brain atrophy in PWH is correlated with smoking, physical inactivity, and the duration of HIV infection. Comorbid conditions, such as type II diabetes and HAND, amplify the risk for BA. We consider that early lifestyle interventions and optimized ART may mitigate the neurodegeneration process. Full article

Background: The arcuate fasciculus (AF) is a critical white matter (WM) tract that connects key cortical language-processing regions, including the so-called Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively assess its radiological–anatomical–morphometric modifications according to different brain tumor histotypes. Methods: A retrospective multicentric Italian study was conducted. AF reconstructions were calculated for both hemispheres for each patient diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM), low-grade glioma (LGG), brain metastasis, and meningioma using Elements Fibertracking 2.0 software (Brainlab AG, Munich, Germany). A 3D object of each fascicle was evaluated for its volume, average fractional anisotropy (FA), and length. The cerebral healthy hemisphere was compared to the pathological contralateral in different tumor histotypes. Results: In total, 1294 patients were evaluated. A total of 156 met the inclusion criteria. We found a significant difference between healthy hemisphere and the contralateral for AF mean length and volume (p = 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Considering separately the different tumor histotypes, the GBM subgroup (98, 63%) confirmed the results for mean FA and volume (p-value < 0.001); LGG patients (26, 17%) showed no significant difference between healthy and pathological hemisphere for AF mean length, mean FA, and volume (p-value 0.5, p-value 0.3, p-value <0.1, respectively). In patients affected by brain metastasis (18, 12%), Student’s t-test showed a significant difference for FA (p-value 0.003). No differences were found in patients affected by meningiomas (14, 9%) (14). Conclusions: Thorough knowledge of the microscopic anatomy and function of the arcuate fasciculus, as well as the pattern of growth of the different brain tumor histotypes, along with a careful preoperative neuroradiological assessment are mandatory to plan a tailored surgical strategy and perform a safe and effective surgical technique. The AF could be displaced and infiltrated/destructed by the solid component and peritumoral edema, respectively, of GBM. LGG shows a prevalent infiltrative pattern. Metastases account for AF dislocation due to peritumoral edema. Meningiomas do not affect WM anatomy. Full article

Background/Objective: The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a widely used neuropsychological tool to assess processing speed (Part A) and executive function (Part B). However, the neuroanatomical substrates underlying its Black & White variant (TMT-B&W) and the influence of demographic factors remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify gray matter (GM) correlates of TMT-B&W performance across unadjusted and covariate-adjusted models in cognitively healthy adults. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 87 participants (40–80 years) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and completed TMT-B&W. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was conducted using FreeSurfer for preprocessing and Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12)/Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12) for analysis. Two voxel-wise regression models (unadjusted and adjusted for age, education, gender, and total intracranial volume (TICV)) assessed GM associations with TMT-B&W-A-B performance. Statistical thresholds were voxel-level p < 0.001 (uncorrected) and cluster-level Family-Wise Error (FWE) correction (p < 0.001). Results: In unadjusted models, TMT-B&W-A performance correlated with GM reductions in the right orbitofrontal cortex (T = 42.64, equivk = 515.60, representing peak voxel level T-statistic and cluster size in voxels), while TMT-B&W-B linked to the right insular cortex (T = 50.65, equivk = 515.50). After adjustment, both tasks converged on the left thalamus (TMT-A: T = 8.05, equivk = 594; TMT-B: T = 8.11, equivk = 621), with TMT-B&W-B showing a denser thalamic cluster. Demographic covariates attenuated cortical associations, revealing thalamic integration as a shared mechanism. Conclusions: The thalamus emerges as a critical hub for TMT-B&W performance when accounting for demographic variation, while distinct cortical regions mediate task-specific demands in unadjusted models. These findings support the TMT-B&W as a practical, low-cost neurobehavioral marker of brain integrity in older populations. Full article

Background: Inflammatory arthritides (IAs) are systemic inflammatory syndromes that can affect diverse body tissues. Central nervous system involvement has been reported, but is considered rare. We investigated the relationship between cardiac and subclinical brain involvement in patients with IAs. Methods: We consecutively enrolled 25 patients with IAs and 31 as disease controls with non-autoimmune cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) reporting cardiac symptoms. Each participant underwent combined brain/heart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We also recruited 25 consecutive asymptomatic healthy controls without CVDs who underwent brain MRI. MRI scans were performed on a 1.5 T system. We investigated cardiac function/tissue characterization and the presence/localization of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs). Results: All groups had similar ages (p = 0.267), and 16 (64%) patients with IAs vs. 7 (23%) disease controls vs. 16 (64%) healthy controls were women (p = 0.001). WMHs were detected in ≥1 brain area in 15 (60%) patients with IAs and 16 (53%) disease controls (p = 0.620). WMHs were significantly less prevalent amongst healthy controls [two (8%)] compared to patients with IAs (p < 0.001). Amongst patients with IAs, an increased cardiac T2 ratio was associated with an increased probability of WMH occurrence [OR per 0.1 unit change (95% CI): 1.29 (1.05–1.59), p = 0.016], while a higher cardiac T2 ratio (per 0.1 unit change) and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) were associated with higher WMH lesion burdens [β (95% CI): 0.12 (0.03–0.20), p = 0.008 and 0.25 (0.00–0.49), p = 0.049, respectively]. Conclusions: Patients with IAs and cardiac symptoms had significantly higher subclinical WMH burdens compared to age/sex-matched healthy controls. Myocardial edema was associated with a greater WMH burden, potentially suggesting shared pathophysiologic substrates. Full article

Background/Objectives: Little is known about the impact of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) on brain atrophy. This multicenter longitudinal study compares brain MRI volumes and T2 lesion volume between MOGAD patients, relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients and a healthy control (HC) group with brain MRI scans available from an online repository. Methods: In total, 16 adult MOGAD patients (9 F) were age- and sex-matched with 44 RRMS patients (17 F) recruited in Verona MS Center and 14 HC subjects. The availability of two brain MRI scans performed 18 ± 6 months apart was mandatory for each patient. Annual percentage brain volume change (PBVC/y), baseline global brain, white matter (WM), gray matter (GM) regional brain volumes and T2 lesion volume were compared between groups. Results: PBVC/y was lower in MOGAD than in RRMS patients (p = 0.014) and lower in HC subjects than in MS patients (p = 0.005). Overall, MOGAD showed higher mean global brain (p = 0.012) and WM volume (p = 0.024) but lower median T2 lesion volume at timepoint 1 (p < 0.001); T2 lesion volume increased over time in the RRMS (p < 0.001) but not in the MOGAD cohort (p = 0.262). Conclusions: The structural brain MRI features of MOGAD show higher global brain and WM volumes and lower brain volume loss over time compared to RRMS, suggesting different underlining pathogenetic mechanisms. Full article

Background: Volumetric analysis and segmentation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data is an important tool for evaluating neurological disease progression and neurodevelopment. Fully automated segmentation pipelines offer faster and more reproducible results. However, since these analysis pipelines were trained on or run based on atlases consisting of neurotypical controls, it is important to evaluate how accurate these methods are for neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we compared five fully automated segmentation pipelines, including FSL, Freesurfer, volBrain, SPM12, and SimNIBS, with a manual segmentation process in GM1 gangliosidosis patients and neurotypical controls. Methods: We analyzed 45 MRI scans from 16 juvenile GM1 gangliosidosis patients, 11 MRI scans from 8 late-infantile GM1 gangliosidosis patients, and 19 MRI scans from 11 neurotypical controls. We compared the results for seven brain structures, including volumes of the total brain, bilateral thalamus, ventricles, bilateral caudate nucleus, bilateral lentiform nucleus, corpus callosum, and cerebellum. Results: We found volBrain’s vol2Brain pipeline to have the strongest correlations with the manual segmentation process for the whole brain, ventricles, and thalamus. We also found Freesurfer’s recon-all pipeline to have the strongest correlations with the manual segmentation process for the caudate nucleus. For the cerebellum, we found a combination of volBrain’s vol2Brain and SimNIBS’ headreco to have the strongest correlations, depending on the cohort. For the lentiform nucleus, we found a combination of recon-all and FSL’s FIRST to give the strongest correlations, depending on the cohort. Lastly, we found segmentation of the corpus callosum to be highly variable. Conclusions: Previous studies have considered automated segmentation techniques to be unreliable, particularly in neurodegenerative diseases. However, in our study, we produced results comparable to those obtained with a manual segmentation process. While manual segmentation processes conducted by neuroradiologists remain the gold standard, we present evidence to the capabilities and advantages of using an automated process that includes the ability to segment white matter throughout the brain or analyze large datasets, which pose feasibility issues to fully manual processes. Future investigations should consider the use of artificial intelligence-based segmentation pipelines to determine their accuracy in GM1 gangliosidosis, lysosomal storage disorders, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Full article

Objective: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) constitutes the most common drug-refractory epilepsy syndrome. Tailored approaches are required, as TLE originates from extrahippocampal lesions in about one-quarter of surgical candidates. Despite high success rates in seizure control, concern persists regarding postoperative memory decline after lesionectomy. We investigated the associations between structural connectivity and postoperative memory performance in extrahippocampal TLE surgery. Methods: In total, 55 patients (25 females, 30 males; mean age 29.8 ± 14.5 years; epilepsy duration 7.9 ± 10.5 years, 31 left, 24 right TLE) with extrahippocampal TLE undergoing hippocampal-sparing surgery were evaluated with standardized pre- and postoperative neuropsychological testing. Lesion volumes intersected with Human Connectome Project-derived tractography data were employed to assess the structural connectivity integrity via voxel-based and connectome-informed lesion–symptom mapping to identify cortical and white matter structures associated with cognitive outcomes. Results: Post-surgery, the widespread structural disconnection of several major white matter pathways was found, correlating with verbal memory and delayed recall. Additionally, the structural disconnection of the ipsilateral temporal lobe white matter was further associated with hippocampal atrophy. Conclusions: Our study highlights the role of structural connectivity alterations in postoperative memory decline in extrahippocampal TLE surgery. These findings expand the traditional understanding of hippocampal integrity in memory function towards the importance of broader structural networks. Individualized, connectome-informed surgical approaches might protect neurocognitive function. Full article

Background: Differentiating brain radionecrosis (RN) from tumor progression (TP) is a persistent clinical difficulty. Here, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of leakage-corrected relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and fluid-suppressed amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging in distinguishing between RN and TP in metastases. Methods: Subjects with enlarging lesions after stereotactic radiosurgery were prospectively examined at 3T. APTw data were acquired with a 3D snapshot-gradient echo sequence. B0 and B1 inhomogeneities were corrected using the WASAB1 protocol. rCBV was calculated according to established guidelines. Image analysis was performed using Olea Sphere 3.0 software. ΔAPTw and ΔrCBV were calculated as the average signal within the lesion normalized against the average signal in the contralateral white matter. A diagnosis of TP or RN was assessed by histology or imaging at follow-up. Independent samples t-tests of ΔAPTw and ΔrCBV and the areas under the curve (AUCs) were computed. Results: Twenty-one metastases (10 RN, 11 TP) were evaluated. APTw differentiated between RN and TP (U = 120, p < 0.001), in contrast to rCBV (U = 71, p = 0.174). The AUC was 0.991 (95% CI = 0.962–1.020) for ΔAPTw, and 0.636 (95% CI = 0.352–0.921) for ΔrCBV. The optimal cutoff points were 0.4 and 2.1 for ΔAPTw and ΔrCBV, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for RN-TP were 100% and 90% for ΔAPTw and 63.6% and 36.4% for ΔrCBV. Conclusions: Fluid-suppressed APTw metrics enabled more accurate diagnostic performances than leakage-corrected rCBV metrics in distinguishing between RN and TP. These promising results suggest that APTw imaging could valuably complement current multiparametric MRI protocols in brain metastases follow-ups. Full article

Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment termed «chemobrain» is a prevalent complication in breast cancer survivors that requires early detection for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. Magnetic resonance voxel morphometry (MR morphometry), due to its high sensitivity, might be employed for the evaluation of the early changes in the volumes of brain structures in order to explore the «chemobrain» condition. Methods: The open, prospective, single-center study enrolled 86 breast cancer survivors (43.3 ± 4.4 years) and age-matched 28 healthy female volunteers (44.0 ± 5.68). Conventional MR sequences (T1- and T2-weighted, TIRM, DWI, MPRAGE) were obtained in three mutually perpendicular planes to exclude an organ pathology of the brain. Additionally, the MPRAGE sequence was performed for subsequent MR morphometry of the volume of brain structures using the open VolBrain program. The evaluation was performed at two follow-up visits 6 months and 3 years after the completion of BC treatment. Results: According to the MR morphometry, breast cancer survivors presented with significantly decreased volumes of brain structures (including total brain volume, cerebellum volume, subcortical gray matter, etc.) as compared to healthy volunteers. Evaluation over the follow-up period of 3 years did not show the restoration of brain volume structures. Conclusions: The data obtained employing MR morphometry revealed significant reductions (that were not detected on the conventional MR sequences) in both gray and white matter in breast cancer survivors following chemotherapy. This comprehensive analysis indicated the utility of MR morphometry in detecting subtle yet statistically significant neuroanatomical changes associated with cognitive and motor impairments in patients, which can in turn provide valuable insights into the extent of structural brain alterations, helping to identify specific regions that are most affected by treatment. Full article

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent, heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder. Methods: This study presents, for the first time, a comprehensive investigation of white matter microstructural differences between familial ADHD (ADHD-F) and non-familial ADHD (ADHD-NF) using advanced diffusion tensor imaging analyses in a large community-based sample. Results: Children with ADHD-F exhibited significantly greater volume in the right anterior thalamic radiations and the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus compared to controls, and greater volume in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus relative to ADHD-NF. The ADHD-NF group showed reduced fractional anisotropy in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus compared to the controls. In both the ADHD-F and ADHD-NF groups, a greater volume of anterior thalamic radiation significantly contributed to reduced ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that white matter microstructural alterations along the frontal-thalamic pathways may play a critical role in hereditary factors among children with ADHD-F and significantly contribute to elevated inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors in the affected children. Full article