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Accelerated Epigenetic Aging and Its Role in Brain Dynamics and Cognition in Young Adulthood

2 Jul

Accelerated Epigenetic Aging and Its Role in Brain Dynamics and Cognition in Young Adulthood

Accelerated epigenetic aging has been associated with changes in cognition. However, due to the lack of neuroimaging epigenetics studies, it is still unclear whether accelerated epigenetic. Aging in young adulthood might underlie the relationship between altered brain dynamics and cognitive functioning. We conducted neuroimaging epigenetics follow-up of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) prenatal birth cohort in young adulthood and tested the possible mediatory role of accelerated epigenetic aging in the relationship between dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) and worse cognition. A total of 240 young adults (51% men; 28-30 years, all of European ancestry) participated in the neuroimaging epigenetics follow-up. Buccal swabs were collected to assess DNA methylation and calculate epigenetic aging using Horvath's epigenetic clock. Full-scale IQ was assessed using the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was acquired using a 3T Siemens Prisma MRI scanner, and DFC was assessed using mixture factor analysis, revealing information about the coverage of different DFC states. In women (but not men), lower coverage of DFC state 4 and thus lower frequency of epochs with high connectivity within the default mode network and between default mode, fronto-parietal, and visual networks was associated with lower full-scale IQ (AdjR2 = 0.05, std. beta = 0.245, p = 0.008).

Visual Features in Stereo-Electroencephalography to Predict Surgical Outcome: A Multicenter Study

18 Jun

Visual Features in Stereo-Electroencephalography to Predict Surgical Outcome: A Multicenter Study

Objective: Epilepsy surgery needs predictive features that are easily implemented in clinical practice. Previous studies are limited by small sample sizes, lack of external validation, and complex computational approaches. We aimed to identify and validate visually stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) features with the highest predictive value for surgical outcome, and assess the reliability of their visual extraction.

Methods: We included 177 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who underwent SEEG-guided surgery at 4 epilepsy centers. We assessed the predictive performance of 10 SEEG features from various SEEG periods for surgical outcome, using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and considering resected channels and surgical outcome as the gold standard. Findings were validated externally using balanced accuracy. Six experts, blinded to outcome, evaluated the visual reliability of the optimal feature using interrater reliability, percentage agreement (standard deviation ± SD) and Gwet's kappa (κ ± SD).

Results: The derivation cohort comprised 100 consecutive patients, each with at least 1-year of postoperative follow up (40% temporal lobe epilepsy; 42% Engel Ia). Spatial co-occurrence of gamma spikes and preictal spikes emerged as the optimal predictive feature of surgical outcome (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.82). 

Assessing Laryngeal Neuromotor Activity from Phonation

4 Jun

Assessing Laryngeal Neuromotor Activity from Phonation

Neurodegenerative motor disorders affect the neuromuscular system challenging daily life and normal activity. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is among the most prevalent ones, with a large impact and rising prevalence rates. Speech is most affected by PD as far as phonatory and articulatory performance is concerned. Neuromotor activity (NMA) alterations have an impact on larynx muscles responsible for vocal fold adduction and abduction, hampering phonation stability and regularity. The main muscular articulators involved in phonation control are the cricothyroid (tensor) and thyroarytenoid (relaxer) systems, regulated by two distinct direct neuromotor pathways, activated by the precentral gyrus laryngeal control areas. These articulations control the musculus vocalis, directly responsible for regular vocal fold vibration. An indirect estimation of the muscular tension produced by inverse filtering may split into two independent channels, assumed to be the tensor and relaxer neuromotor pathways such as the differential neuromotor activity (DNMA). The amplitude distributions of both DNMA channels allow comparing phonations from PD-affected persons (PDPs) and age-matched healthy control participants (HCPs) with respect to a set of reference mid-age normative participants (RSPs). The comparisons are carried out by Jensen-Shannon distributions of PDP and HCP phonations with respect to those of RSPs. A dataset of 96 phonation samples from participants balanced by gender is used to train a set of decision tree classifiers (DTCs) to distinguish PDP from HCP phonation.

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