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    Brain structural and functional changes in patients with major depressive disorder: a literature review
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    Abstract:
    Depression is a mental disorder characterized by low mood and anhedonia that involves abnormalities in multiple brain regions and networks. Epidemiological studies demonstrated that depression has become one of the most important diseases affecting human health and longevity. The pathogenesis of the disease has not been fully elucidated. The clinical effect of treatment is not satisfactory in many cases. Neuroimaging studies have provided rich and valuable evidence that psychological symptoms and behavioral deficits in patients with depression are closely related to structural and functional abnormalities in specific areas of the brain. There were morphological differences in several brain regions, including the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and limbic system, in people with depression compared to healthy people. In addition, people with depression also had abnormal functional connectivity to the default mode network, the central executive network, and the salience network. These findings provide an opportunity to re-understand the biological mechanisms of depression. In the future, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may serve as an important auxiliary tool for psychiatrists in the process of early and accurate diagnosis of depression and finding the appropriate treatment target for each patient to optimize clinical response.
    Keywords:
    Anhedonia
    Salience (neuroscience)
    Depression
    Functional Imaging
    Functional Imaging
    Neurophysiology
    Functional Brain Imaging
    Human brain
    Modern optical neuroimaging approaches are expanding the ability to elucidate complex brain function. Diverse imaging contrasts enable direct observation of neural activity with functional sensors along with the induced hemodynamic responses. To date, decoupling the complex interplay of neurovascular coupling and dynamical physiological states has remained challenging when employing single-modality functional neuroimaging readings. A hybrid fluorescence optoacoustic tomography platform combined with a custom data processing pipeline based on statistical parametric mapping is devised, attaining the first noninvasive observation of simultaneous calcium and hemodynamic activation patterns using optical contrasts. Correlated changes in the oxy- and deoxygenated hemoglobin, total hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, and rapid GCaMP6f fluorescence signals are observed in response to peripheral sensory stimulation. While the concurrent epifluorescence serves to corroborate and complement the functional optoacoustic observations, the latter further aids in decoupling the rapid calcium responses from the slowly varying background in the fluorescence recordings mediated by hemodynamic changes. The hybrid imaging platform expands the capabilities of conventional neuroimaging methods to provide more comprehensive functional readings for studying neurovascular and neurometabolic coupling mechanisms and related diseases.
    Functional Imaging
    Calcium imaging
    Deoxygenated Hemoglobin
    Haemodynamic response
    Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy
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    Abstract: Conversion disorder (CD) is a syndrome of neurological symptoms arising without organic cause, arguably in response to emotional stress, but the exact neural substrates of these symptoms and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood with the hunt for a biological basis afoot for centuries. In the past 15 years, novel insights have been gained with the advent of functional neuroimaging studies in patients suffering from CDs in both motor and nonmotor domains. This review summarizes recent functional neuroimaging studies including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET) to see whether they bring us closer to understanding the etiology of CD. Convergent functional neuroimaging findings suggest alterations in brain circuits that could point to different mechanisms for manifesting functional neurological symptoms, in contrast with feigning or healthy controls. Abnormalities in emotion processing and in emotion-motor processing suggest a diathesis, while differential reactions to certain stressors implicate a specific response to trauma. No comprehensive theory emerges from these clues, and all results remain preliminary, but functional neuroimaging has at least given grounds for hope that a model for CD may soon be found. Keywords: conversion disorder, neuroimaging, functional neurology, hysteria, mechanisms A Letter to the Editor has been recieved and published for this article. Corrigendum for this paper has been published
    Functional Imaging
    Conversion disorder
    Diathesis
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    Over the last several years, a growing number of brain functional imaging studies have provided insights into mechanisms underlying migraine. This article reviews the recent migraine functional neuroimaging literature and provides recommendations for future studies that will help fill knowledge gaps.PET and functional MRI studies have identified brain regions that might be responsible for mediating the onset of a migraine attack and those associated with migraine symptoms. Enhanced activation of brain regions that facilitate processing of sensory stimuli suggests a mechanism by which migraineurs are hypersensitive to visual, olfactory, and cutaneous stimuli. Resting state functional connectivity MRI studies have identified numerous brain regions and functional networks with atypical functional connectivity in migraineurs, suggesting that migraine is associated with aberrant brain functional organization.Functional MRI and PET studies that have identified brain regions and brain networks that are atypical in migraine have helped to describe the neurofunctional basis for migraine symptoms. Future studies should compare functional imaging findings in migraine to other headache and pain disorders and should explore the utility of functional imaging data as biomarkers for diagnostic and treatment purposes.
    Functional Imaging
    Functional Brain Imaging
    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the most frequently used functional neuroimaging method and the one that accounts for most of the neuroimaging literature. It measures the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in different parts of the brain during rest and during task-induced activation of functional networks mediating basic and higher functions. A basic understanding of the various instruments and techniques of recording the hemodynamic responses of different brain regions and the manner in which we establish activation and connectivity patterns out of these responses is necessary for an appreciation of the contemporary functional neuroimaging literature. To facilitate such an understanding is the purpose of this chapter.
    Functional Imaging
    Blood-oxygen-level dependent
    Functional organization
    Functional Brain Imaging
    The coupling of brain cell function to the vascular system is the basis for a number of functional neuroimaging methods relevant for human studies. These include methods as diverse as functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, single photon emission tomography, optimal intrinsic signals, as well as near infrared spectroscopy, a method that may have imaging capabilities in the near future. These methods map a specific localized brain activation through a vascular response, such as an increase in cerebral blood flow or a change in blood oxygenation. To understand these direct maps to obtain high resolution maps of localized functional brain activity, a precise knowledge of the specific underlying physiological mechanisms and methodological properties and restrictions is essential. In this article, these fundamental physiological and methodological aspects will be discussed. After reviewing how the techniques cited obtain maps of functional activity, we will discuss our current knowledge of the physiology of coupling with particular reference to the functional imaging techniques. Specifically, we will consider the function, the mediators, and the hemodynamic mechanisms of coupling and point out potential interference by diet, and neurological disease.
    Functional Imaging
    Human brain
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