Brain Sciences最新文献

Background: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been proposed as an adjunctive treatment for spinal cord injuries (SCIs) to mitigate a secondary injury and enhance neurological recovery. While the preclinical evidence is consistently supportive, clinical data remain heterogeneous across traumatic (TSCI) and non-traumatic (NTSCI) etiologies. Methods: A hybrid systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and included an illustrative single-center clinical case. PubMed, OVID Medline, and Google Scholar were searched for studies published between 1978 and 2024. Due to methodological heterogeneity, qualitative synthesis was performed. Results: Fifty studies comprising 1102 patients were included. Neurological improvement was more frequently observed in incomplete injuries and when HBOT was initiated early. Conclusions: HBOT may represent a useful adjunct in selected SCI patients, although standardized protocols and controlled trials are required to better define its role.

Background/Objectives: Accurate sleep stage classification is essential for evaluating sleep quality and diagnosing sleep disorders. Despite recent advances in deep learning, existing models inadequately represent complex brain dynamics, particularly the time-lag effects inherent in neural signal propagation and regional variations in cortical activation patterns. Methods: We propose the MFST-GCN, a graph-based deep learning framework that models these neurobiological phenomena through three complementary modules. The Dynamic Dual-Scale Functional Connectivity Modeling (DDFCM) module constructs time-varying adjacency matrices using Pearson correlation across 1 s and 5 s windows, capturing both transient signal transmission and sustained connectivity states. This dual-scale approach reflects the biological reality that neural information propagates with measurable delays across brain regions. The Multi-Scale Morphological Feature Extraction Network (MMFEN) employs parallel convolutional branches with varying kernel sizes to extract frequency-specific features corresponding to different EEG rhythms, addressing regional heterogeneity in neural activation. The Adaptive Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolutional Network (ASTGCN) integrates spatial and temporal features through Chebyshev graph convolutions with attention mechanisms, encoding evolving functional dependencies across sleep stages. Results: Evaluation on ISRUC-S1 and ISRUC-S3 datasets demonstrates F1-scores of 0.823 and 0.835, respectively, outperforming state-of-the-art methods. Conclusions: Ablation studies confirm that explicit time-lag modeling contributes substantially to performance gains, particularly in discriminating transitional sleep stages.

Background: Prior research has provided evidence supporting the claim that actigaming may offer benefits for individuals' emotions. However, the impact of actigaming on emotional attentional biases remains uncertain. Objective: To address this gap in the literature, this study aims to examine whether actigaming affects emotional attentional biases. Methods: We conducted a randomized crossover experiment in this study. A total of 18 college students completed a single session of actigaming and aerobic bicycle exercise for 40 min. Before and after the exercises, each participant completed the Profile of Mood States Questionnaire (POMS), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and emotional attentional biases task. The heart rates of study participants were measured during the intervention to determine their maximum and average rates. Results: The following two findings were identified in this study: (1) There are no significant differences in maximum heart rate and average heart rate between participants of the aerobic bicycle intervention and the actigaming intervention (p = 0.352; p = 0.643, respectively). (2) Cores of POMS under the baseline condition present no significant difference between the two interventions (p = 0.872). However, the POMS post-test scores of participants in the actigaming intervention are significantly lower than those of participants in the aerobic bicycle intervention (p = 0.002). The main finding of the study is that, under baseline conditions, there are no significant differences in emotional attentional bias scores between the two interventions (p = 0.352). However, post-test scores show that participants in the actigaming intervention exhibit significantly lower attentional bias toward negative emotions compared to those in the aerobic bicycle intervention (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Actigaming more favorably post-exercise mood and significantly attenuates attentional bias toward negative stimuli compared with aerobic cycling. Therefore, the results of this study need to be confirmed by higher-quality studies in the future.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Delta Neutrophil Index (DNI) and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) in distinguishing malignant from benign primary brain tumors during the preoperative period. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary university hospital. A total of 140 participants were included 60 patients with malignant glial tumors, 50 patients with benign brain tumors, and 30 healthy controls without inflammatory, infectious, or hematologic disease. Preoperative complete blood count results obtained within seven days before surgery were analyzed. Results: Patients with malignant tumors were significantly older than those in the benign and control groups (p < 0.001). DNI, NLR, PLR, MLR, and SII values were all significantly elevated in the malignant group (p < 0.001, for all comparisons). ROC analysis revealed high diagnostic accuracy for DNI (AUC = 0.847) and NLR (AUC = 0.850), with optimal cut-off values of 3.50 and 3.95, respectively. In multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age, DNI > 3.5 (OR = 20.67; 95% CI: 3.35-127.64; p = 0.001), NLR > 3.95 (OR = 21.17; 95% CI: 3.28-136.50; p = 0.001), and CRP (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.20-1.93; p = 0.001) remained independent predictors of malignancy. The combined model including DNI and NLR achieved the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.937; age-adjusted AUC = 0.943), with a sensitivity of 88.3% and a specificity of 86.0% after age adjustment. Conclusions: Both DNI and NLR demonstrated significant value in differentiating malignant from benign primary brain tumors prior to surgery, with DNI emerging as the most powerful independent predictor. The combined use of DNI and NLR substantially improved diagnostic accuracy, suggesting that simple hematologic indices may serve as practical, noninvasive adjunctive tools in the preoperative assessment of brain tumor malignancy. These markers may assist in surgical prioritization, patient counseling, and clinical decision-making, particularly in resource-limited settings.

Background/Objectives: This pilot study employed a quasi-experimental, single-group, pre-post design to examine the acute effects of single music lessons on executive function and to explore whether affective changes are associated with cognitive improvement in trained musicians. Drawing on Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory and Eysenck's processing efficiency theory, we hypothesized that changes in positive affect and state anxiety would be statistically associated with cognitive outcomes. Methods: Using purposive sampling, 60 musicians (34 female, 26 male; Mage = 26.0, SD = 9.8; range: 16-58 years) completed assessments before and after a 45-60 min instrumental lesson (guitar, n = 20; violin, n = 20; piano, n = 20). Executive function was measured using the Stroop Color-Word Test (Golden version, Greek-validated). Affective states were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; 20 items) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S; 20 items). Data were analyzed using paired t-tests, Pearson correlations, path analysis, and bootstrap mediation analysis (5000 resamples). Results: Music lessons were associated with improved executive function (Stroop interference: d = 0.59, p < 0.001), increased positive affect (d = 1.87, p < 0.001), and reduced negative affect (d = -2.34, p < 0.001) and state anxiety (d = -2.64, p < 0.001). Path analysis demonstrated excellent model fit (CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = 0.00), with affective changes associated with 61.3% of the total effect on cognitive improvement. Conclusions: Single music lessons were associated with both cognitive and affective benefits, with affective changes statistically linked to cognitive outcomes. As a pilot study, these exploratory findings require replication using controlled designs before generalization. Future research should incorporate neuroimaging methods and cross-cultural validation.

Background/Objectives:SLC13A5 encodes a sodium-citrate cotransporter implicated in early-onset epileptic encephalopathy and metabolic brain dysfunction, yet its developmental regulation and molecular context in the human brain remain incompletely defined. Methods: Leveraging human developmental transcriptomes from the Evo-Devo resource, we delineated tissue trajectories and network context for SLC13A5 across the fetal-postnatal life. Results: In the cerebrum, SLC13A5 expression rises from late fetal stages to peak in the first postnatal year and then declines into adulthood, while cerebellar levels increase across the lifespan; liver shows a fetal decrease followed by sustained postnatal upregulation. A transcriptome-wide scan identified extensive positive and negative associations with SLC13A5, and a signed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) built on biweight midcorrelation placed SLC13A5 in a large module. The module eigengene tracked brain maturation (Spearman rho = 0.802, p = 8.62 × 10^-6) and closely matched SLC13A5 abundance (rho = 0.884, p = 2.73 × 10^-6), with a significant partial association after adjusting for developmental rank (rho = 0.672, p = 6.17 × 10^-4). Functional enrichment converged on oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondria. A force-directed subnetwork of the top intramodular members (|bicor| > 0.6) positioned SLC13A5 adjacent to a densely connected nucleus including CYP46A1, ITM2B, NRGN, GABRD, FBXO2, CHCHD10, CYSTM1, and MFSD4A. Conclusions: Together, these results define a developmentally tuned, mitochondria-centered program that co-varies with SLC13A5 in the human brain across the lifespan. It may provide insights to interrogate age-dependent phenotypes and therapeutic avenues for disorders involving citrate metabolism.

Background/objectives: This pilot study explored the applicability and preliminary clinical outcomes of cognitive stimulation therapy (CST), an evidence-based cognitive intervention for people with mild and moderate dementia, in elderly individuals with concurrent dementia and visual impairment.

Methods: Seven participants received 14 group CST sessions. Their cognitive and language functions were measured and compared pre-/post-therapy.

Results: The treatment adherence was satisfactory. Significant improvements in various cognitive domains and language measures were observed after therapy.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that CST can be applied to visually impaired individuals with dementia with seemingly positive outcomes in various cognitive domains. Further studies with a larger sample with an emphasis on multisensory stimulation to facilitate therapy delivery are warranted.

Background: Vascular disease is a known risk factor for the development of leukoaraiosis. Assessment of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was performed at baseline and after acetazolamide (AZM) challenge to evaluate for vascular reserve and steal within the brain. Little has been reported on the physiological reserve in the non-flow-limited hemispheres. This study attempts to evaluate for vascular steal in areas commonly involved in leukoaraiosis, in the setting of pharmaceutically induced states of increased CBF. Methods: Patients who underwent AZM challenge MRI from 2014 to 2021 and a cerebral angiogram within one year were included. Patients with bilateral disease or non-diagnostic imaging artifacts were excluded. MRIs were obtained after 1 g of AZM was administered 5 and 10 min prior to acquisition. Augmentation and steal maps were generated. Regression analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, two-sample t-test, Spearman and Mann-Whitney U analyses were utilized for statistical evaluation. Results: A total of 38 patients with unilateral cerebral vaso-occlusive disease underwent the AZM challenge. Vascular steal and T2 hyperintensities were assessed in non-flow-limited hemispheres (NFLH) and flow-limited hemispheres (FLH). A moderate correlation was demonstrated between NFLH steal and NFLH T2 hyperintensities (rs = 0.48, p = 0.0020). A weak correlation without statistical significance was demonstrated between ipsilateral T2 and contralateral T2 hyperintensities (rs = 0.27, p = 0.10). Conclusions: The vascular steal phenomenon was demonstrated in the distal cerebral vasculature of cerebral white matter even in the absence of upstream flow-limiting stenosis, suggesting an inherent vulnerability of these structures to hemodynamic fluctuations and possiblly contributing etiology to leukoaraiosis.

Background: The efficacy of real-time fMRI neurofeedback (NFB) depends critically on how feedback is presented and perceived by the participant. Although various visual feedback designs are used in practice, there is limited evidence on the impact of modality on learning and performance. We conducted a feasibility study to compare the effectiveness of different feedback modalities, and to evaluate the technical performance of NFB across two scanner field strengths. Methods: In a single-session study, nine healthy adults (6 men, 3 women) voluntarily adapted the activation level of the primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC) to reach three predefined activation levels. We contrasted a continuous, signal-proportional feedback (cFB; a thermometer-style bar) with an affect-based, categorical feedback (aFB; a smiling face). A no-feedback transfer condition (noFB) was included to probe regulation based on internal representations alone. To assess technical feasibility, three participants were scanned at 7T and six at 3T. Results: Participants achieved successful regulation in 44.4% of trials overall (cFB 46.9%, aFB 43.8%, noFB 42.6%). Overall success rates did not differ significantly between modalities and field strengths when averaged across the session; given the small feasibility sample, this null result is inconclusive and does not establish equivalence. Learning effects were modality-specific. Only cFB showed a significant within-session improvement (+14.8 percentage points from RUN1 to RUN2; p = 0.031; d_z = 0.94), whereas aFB and noFB showed no evidence of learning. Exploratory whole-brain contrasts (uncorrected) suggested increased recruitment of ipsilateral motor regions during noFB. The real-time pipeline demonstrated robust technical performance: transfer/reconstruction latency averaged 497.8 ms and workstation processing averaged 296.8 ms (≈795 ms end-to-end), with rare stochastic outliers occurring predominantly during 7T sessions. Conclusions: In this single-session motor rt-fMRI NFB paradigm, continuous signal-proportional feedback supported rapid within-session learning, whereas affect-based categorical cues did not yield comparable learning benefits. Stable low-latency operation was achievable at both 3T and 7T. Larger, balanced studies are warranted to confirm modality-by-learning effects and to better characterize transfer to feedback-free self-regulation.

Background: Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a patterned form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), has gained increasing attention as a time-efficient neuromodulation protocol for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, its clinical effectiveness in individuals with co-occurring depression and anxiety remains insufficiently characterized. This systematic review aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes, including depressive and anxiety symptom severity, response, and remission, following rTMS in individuals with major depressive disorder and elevated anxiety symptoms. The primary outcome was the reduction of depressive and anxiety symptoms, while secondary outcomes included response and remission rates, adverse events, and potential predictors of treatment response. Methods: A systematic search was performed following the PRISMA guidelines in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Elsevier, Google Scholar. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251117784). Six studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected as eligible; these included one randomized controlled trial, one controlled clinical trial, three open-label studies, and one retrospective study on iTBS alone or compared to conventional 10 Hz rTMS or pharmacotherapy. iTBS has demonstrated safety and efficacy in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms. The response rate ranged between 30 and 60%, and the remission rate between 10 and 40%. Regarding comparative findings, the results are mixed, with some studies showing superior or comparable improvements to 10 Hz rTMS and others reporting no significant differences. Reported treatment outcomes were largely influenced by age, baseline severity, medication status, and comorbid anxiety. Antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines were associated with attenuated clinical benefit, and bupropion use was associated with increased response. Conclusions: Current evidence supports iTBS as an effective, well-tolerated, and time-efficient intervention for adults with depression and comorbid anxiety. However, variability in treatment outcomes and limited mechanistic data highlight the need for larger, harmonized, and mechanistically informed randomized trials to refine stimulation parameters, improve patient stratification, and clarify the neurobiological substrates of treatment response.