Robert J. Jirsaraie

University of California, Irvine

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Aristeidis Sotiras

Washington University in St. Louis

Deanna M. Barch

Washington University in St. Louis

David R. Roalf

University of Pennsylvania

Russell T. Shinohara

California University of Pennsylvania

Sage Rush

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Mark A. Elliott

University of Pennsylvania

Theodore D. Satterthwaite

University of Pennsylvania

Danielle S. Bassett

University of Pennsylvania

Adon F.G. Rosen

University of Oklahoma

Adam Pines

University of Pennsylvania

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University of Pennsylvania

California University of Pennsylvania

University of California, Irvine

Lifespan

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

University of Pennsylvania Health System

Washington University in St. Louis

Penn Center for AIDS Research

Philadelphia University

Harvard University

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S139. Accelerated Cortical Thinning Within Structural Brain Networks is Associated With Irritability in Youth

Biological Psychiatry (2018)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Sage Rush Antonia N. Kaczkurkin Adon F.G. Rosen Aristeidis Sotiras

Irritability

Brain Development

10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.02.1031

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Citations (1)

Mapping the neurodevelopmental predictors of psychopathology

Molecular Psychiatry (2024)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Mārtiņš M. Gataviņš Adam Pines Sridhar Kandala Janine Bijsterbosch

10.1038/s41380-024-02682-7

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Divergence of Functional Brain Network Configurations in Same and Other Race Face Recognition

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2025)

Jessica Yaros Bethany Houalla Liv McMillan Myra S. Larson Gang Yu

The "Other-Race Effect" (ORE) refers to the enhanced memory individuals have for faces within their own racial group compared to other races. This effect is attributed to limited exposure to different races and social-motivational factors affecting face processing. While past research has explored this effect through neuroimaging methods, the precise neural mechanisms that underlie the ORE remain a subject of ongoing investigation. Previous studies have largely adopted a modular perspective, concentrating on the differential activation of face-processing regions when comparing same-race and other-race facial recognition behaviors. However, given the multifaceted nature of the ORE, an exclusive focus on specialized regions may miss the pivotal role played by non-face-preferential brain areas in modulating this phenomenon. In the present study, we take a broader data-driven perspective using graph-theoretical techniques to investigate whole-brain network disparities in same- and other-race facial recognition. Our findings reveal a substantial impact of race on functional connectivity during face memorization. While other-race face recognition benefitted from higher local efficiency during encoding, reduced local efficiency was advantageous for memorization of same-race faces. Notably, successful other-race recognition was disproportionately supported by locally efficient processing in regions among the ventral and dorsal attention networks.

Memorization

10.1101/2025.02.06.636962

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A systematic review of multimodal brain age studies: Uncovering a divergence between model accuracy and utility

Patterns (2023)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Aaron J. Gorelik Mārtiņš M. Gataviņš Denis A. Engemann Ryan Bogdan

Brain aging is a complex, multifaceted process that can be challenging to model in ways that are accurate and clinically useful. One of the most common approaches has been to apply machine learning to neuroimaging data with the goal of predicting age in a data-driven manner. Building on initial brain age studies that were derived solely from T1-weighted scans (i.e., unimodal), recent studies have incorporated features across multiple imaging modalities (i.e., "multimodal"). In this systematic review, we show that unimodal and multimodal models have distinct advantages. Multimodal models are the most accurate and sensitive to differences in chronic brain disorders. In contrast, unimodal models from functional magnetic resonance imaging were most sensitive to differences across a broad array of phenotypes. Altogether, multimodal imaging has provided us valuable insight for improving the accuracy of brain age models, but there is still much untapped potential with regard to achieving widespread clinical utility.

Divergence (linguistics)

10.1016/j.patter.2023.100712

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Citations (35)

Accelerated Cortical Thinning within Structural Brain Networks is Associated with Irritability in Youth

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2019)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Antonia N. Kaczkurkin Sage Rush Kayla Piiwia Azeez Adebimpe

ABSTRACT Background Irritability is an important dimension of psychopathology that spans multiple clinical diagnostic categories, yet its relationship to patterns of brain development remains sparsely explored. Here, we examined how trans-diagnostic symptoms of irritability relate to the development of structural brain networks. Methods All participants (n=144, 87 females) completed structural brain imaging with 3 Tesla MRI at two timepoints (mean age at follow-up: 20.9 years, mean inter-scan interval: 5.1 years). Irritability at follow-up was assessed using the Affective Reactivity Index, and cortical thickness was quantified using Advanced Normalization Tools software. Structural covariance networks were delineated using non-negative matrix factorization, a multivariate analysis technique. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with irritability at follow-up were evaluated using generalized additive models with penalized splines. The False Discovery Rate ( q <0.05) was used to correct for multiple comparisons. Results Cross-sectional analysis of follow-up data revealed that 11 of the 24 covariance networks were associated with irritability, with higher levels of irritability being associated with thinner cortex. Longitudinal analyses further revealed that accelerated cortical thinning within 9 networks was related to irritability at follow-up. Effects were particularly prominent in brain regions implicated in emotion regulation, including the orbitofrontal, lateral temporal, and medial temporal cortex. Conclusions Collectively, these findings suggest that irritability is associated with widespread cortical thickness reductions and accelerated cortical thinning, particularly within frontal and temporal cortex. Aberrant structural maturation of regions important for emotional regulation may in part underlie symptoms of irritability.

Irritability

10.1101/596346

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Citations (2)

Benchmarking the generalizability of brain age models: Challenges posed by scanner variance and prediction bias

Human Brain Mapping (2022)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Tobias Kaufmann Vishnu Bashyam Güray Erus Joan L. Luby

Abstract Machine learning has been increasingly applied to neuroimaging data to predict age, deriving a personalized biomarker with potential clinical applications. The scientific and clinical value of these models depends on their applicability to independently acquired scans from diverse sources. Accordingly, we evaluated the generalizability of two brain age models that were trained across the lifespan by applying them to three distinct early‐life samples with participants aged 8–22 years. These models were chosen based on the size and diversity of their training data, but they also differed greatly in their processing methods and predictive algorithms. Specifically, one brain age model was built by applying gradient tree boosting (GTB) to extracted features of cortical thickness, surface area, and brain volume. The other model applied a 2D convolutional neural network (DBN) to minimally preprocessed slices of T1‐weighted scans. Additional model variants were created to understand how generalizability changed when each model was trained with data that became more similar to the test samples in terms of age and acquisition protocols. Our results illustrated numerous trade‐offs. The GTB predictions were relatively more accurate overall and yielded more reliable predictions when applied to lower quality scans. In contrast, the DBN displayed the most utility in detecting associations between brain age gaps and cognitive functioning. Broadly speaking, the largest limitations affecting generalizability were acquisition protocol differences and biased brain age estimates. If such confounds could eventually be removed without post‐hoc corrections, brain age predictions may have greater utility as personalized biomarkers of healthy aging.

Brain Aging

Overfitting

Benchmarking

10.1002/hbm.26144

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Citations (35)

Sex-specific effects of early life unpredictability on hippocampal and amygdala responses to novelty in adolescents

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2024)

Elysia Poggi Davis Bianca T. Leonard Robert J. Jirsaraie David B. Keator Steven L. Small

Abstract Background Unpredictable childhood experiences are an understudied form of early life adversity that impacts neurodevelopment in a sex-specific manner. The neurobiological processes by which exposure to early-life unpredictability impacts development and vulnerability to psychopathology remain poorly understood. The present study investigates the sex-specific consequences of early-life unpredictability on the limbic network, focusing on the hippocampus and the amygdala. Methods Participants included 150 youth (54% female). Early life unpredictability was assessed using the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC). Participants engaged in a task-fMRI scan between the ages of 8 and 17 (223 total observations) measuring BOLD responses to novel and familiar scenes. Results Exposure to early-life unpredictability associated with BOLD contrast (novel vs. familiar) in a sex-specific manner. For males, but not females, higher QUIC scores were associated with lower BOLD activation in response to novel vs. familiar stimuli in the hippocampal head and amygdala. Secondary psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses revealed complementary sex-specific associations between QUIC and condition-specific functional connectivity between the right and left amygdala, as well as between the right amygdala and hippocampus bilaterally. Conclusion Exposure to unpredictability in early life has persistent implications for the functional operations of limbic circuits. Importantly, consistent with emerging experimental animal and human studies, the consequences of early life unpredictability differ for males and females. Further, impacts of early-life unpredictability were independent of other risk factors including lower household income and negative life events, indicating distinct consequences of early-life unpredictability over and above more commonly studied types of early life adversity.

10.1101/2024.09.20.614130

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Timing and Type of Early Psychopathology Symptoms Predict Longitudinal Change in Cortical Thickness From Middle Childhood Into Early Adolescence

Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2021)

Katherine R. Luking Robert J. Jirsaraie Rebecca Tillman Joan L. Luby Deanna M. Barch

Early-life experiences have profound effects on functioning in adulthood. Altered cortical development may be one mechanism through which early-life experiences, including poverty and psychopathology symptoms, affect outcomes. However, there is little prospective research beginning early in development that combines clinician-rated psychopathology symptoms and multiwave magnetic resonance imaging to examine when these relationships emerge.

Depression

10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.06.013

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Citations (11)

Advantages of Multi-shell Diffusion for Studies of Brain Development in Youth

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2019)

Adam Pines Matthew Cieslak Graham L. Baum Philip A. Cook Azeez Adebimpe

ABSTRACT Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has advanced our understanding of how brain microstructure evolves over development. However, the proliferation of multi-shell diffusion imaging sequences has coincided with notable advances in the modeling of neuronal diffusion patterns, such as Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) and Laplacian-regularized Mean Apparent Propagator MRI (MAPL). The relative utility of these newer diffusion models for understanding brain maturation remains sparsely investigated. Additionally, despite evidence that motion artifact is a major confound for studies of development, the relative vulnerability of these models to in-scanner motion has not been described. Accordingly, in a sample of 123 youth (ages 12-30) we evaluated DTI, NODDI, and MAPL for associations with age and in-scanner head motion at multiple scales, including mean white matter values, voxelwise analyses, and tractography-based structural brain networks. Our results reveal that multi-shell diffusion imaging sequences can be leveraged to robustly characterize neurodevelopment, even within the framework of DTI. However, these metrics of diffusion are variably impacted by motion, highlighting the importance of modeling choices for studies of movement-prone populations. Our findings suggest that while traditional DTI is sensitive to neurodevelopmental trends, contemporary modeling techniques confer key advantages for neurodevelopmental inquiries.

Artifact (error)

Brain Development

Connectomics

10.1101/611590

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Citations (4)

212. Mapping the Neurobiological Markers of Psychopathology

Biological Psychiatry (2024)

Robert J. Jirsaraie Mārtiņš M. Gataviņš Adam Pines Sridhar Kandala Janine Bijsterbosch

10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.447

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Citations (0)