Objective:To investigate altered neurovascular coupling in patients with depression(DEP)using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI,as well as its association with depressive symptoms.Methods:Neuropsychological assessment and multimodal MRI scans were performed for 25 DEP patients and 35 healthy controls(HCs).Arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI was used to calculate cerebral blood flow(CBF),and functional MRI was used to calculate regional homogeneity(ReHo).The Pearson correlation coefficient between CBF and ReHo was calculated to obtain neurovascular cou-pling.Results:At the whole-brain level,CBF-ReHo coupling was reduced in DEP patients compared with HCs.At the brain region level,CBF-ReHo coupling was reduced in 26 brain regions in DEP patients,which were mainly located in the visual network,the default network,and the auditory network.The correlation analysis showed that the coupling values of the left suboccipital gyrus,the left angular gyrus,and the left thalamus were negatively correlated with Hamilton Depression Scale score.Conclusion:There is a sig-nificant reduction in neurovascular coupling in DEP patients,which is correlated with the severity of DEP.

Objective : To analyze the distribution characteristics of free water ( FW) and FW-corrected fractional anisotropy (FAt) in the white matter of the brain in patients with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor ( NMDAR) encephalitis and to explore their correlation with cognitive function． Methods : A total of 38 patients with anti- NMDAR encephalitis and 30 controls were recruited from three hospitals in Hefei．Diffusion tensor imaging data and neuropsychological assessment results were collected．Tract-Based Spatial Statistics was applied to compare group differences in FW and FAt across the whole brain white matter．Correlation analyses were further performed to ex- amine the relationships between FW/ FAt metrics and cognitive function． Results : Compared to the control group， patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis showed significantly lower scores on the montreal cognitive assessment，im- mediate recall，delayed recall，and the verbal fluency test (all P＜0. 05) ，as well as significantly longer comple- tion times for color naming and word reading tasks in the stroop color word test (all P＜0. 05) ．Diffusion tensor im- aging analysis revealed significantly elevated FW and reduced FAt in widespread white matter regions in the patient group (all P＜0. 000 1) ．Further correlation analysis showed that increased FW was positively associated with the completion time of the color-switching condition in the color digital trail making test (P = 0. 044 ) and with the difference between color-switching and number sequencing conditions ( P = 0. 016 ) ，while negatively correlated with semantic fluency scores (P = 0. 002) ．Additionally，FAt was positively associated with delayed recall perform- ance (P = 0. 012) ，and negatively correlated with the completion times for color naming (P = 0. 018 ) and word reading (P = 0. 046) tasks in the SCWT． Conclusion Patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis exhibit significantly elevated FW and significantly reduced FAt in white matter tracts，both of which are closely linked to cognitive im- pairment．

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are a group of autoimmune-mediated demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. A growing number of studies have identified asymptomatic lesions on imaging in patients with NMOSD, including asymptomatic optic neuropathy, asymptomatic spinal lesions, and asymptomatic brain lesions, even in the absence of clinical symptoms. The characteristics of asymptomatic lesions of NMOSD, influencing factors, relationship with relapse and disability progression, and management strategies were reviewed in this article.

Objective:To explore whether sleep quality suffers in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease(AD)and mild cognitive impairment(MCI), and to further investigate the correlation between sleep disorders and cognitive function in these patients.Methods:In this study, 30 mild AD patients, 39 MCI patients and 43 demographically matched healthy controls were enrolled.Sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI), and cognitive function was assessed by the mini-mental state examination(MMSE), the Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)and a set of neuropsychological scales.The correlation of sleep quality with cognitive function was analyzed for the three groups.Results:Differences were significant in sleep time score[0.0(1.0), 1.0(2.0) vs.1.0(1.0), F=8.18, P=0.02]and daytime function score[1.0(1.0), 1.0(1.0) vs.0.0(1.0), F=8.73, P=0.01]between mild AD, MCI and health control groups.Spearman correlation analysis suggested that scores of sleep disorders were negatively correlated with DSB( r=-0.43, P=0.02)and scores of daytime function were positively correlated with ADL( r=0.39, P=0.03)in patients with mild AD.In addition, scores of sleep quality were negatively correlated with the DSB score( r=-0.40, P=0.01), scores of sleep disorders were positively correlated with ADL( r=0.45, P<0.01), scores of daytime function were negatively correlated with DSF( r=-0.42, P=0.01), DSB( r=-0.62, P<0.01)and VFT-S( r=-0.33, P=0.04), and the total PSQI score was negatively correlated with DSF( r=-0.45, P=0.01)and DSB( r=-0.44, P=0.01)in the MCI group. Conclusions:Patients with mild AD and MCI have longer sleep time and impaired daytime function than healthy people, and sleep quality is correlated with memory, attention and daily living ability in patients with mild AD and MCI.

Spinal cord infarction is a rare type of central nervous system ischemic disease. Previous studies have mainly been based on a small number of clinical case reports and retrospective analyses. Its causes are diverse, mainly including vasogenic, systemic and iatrogenic diseases. Spinal cord infarction is mostly acute onset, and its clinical manifestation depends on the infarct location and infarct size, and is usually diagnosed based on combined MRI and other examinations. At present, there is no unified treatment plan for spinal cord infarction, and the mortality and disability are relatively higher. This article reviews the clinical characteristics of spinal cord infarction, and provides help for clinical decision making.

Objective To investigate the abnormality of cerebral laterality of the three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, executive control) in patients with bipolar depression disorder. Methods Patients with bipolar depression disorder (n=28) and healthy controls (n=40) were selected. Lateralized Attention Network Test (LANT) was used to explore the efficiency of the networks in bilateral cerebral hemisphere. Results In the response time (RT), there was a significant interaction between groups and hemispheres in orienting network (F=4.67, P=0.03). The result of post hoc test indicated that the RT in the orienting function was significantly longer in the left hemisphere than in the right in control group (t=-4.47, P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the orienting network between the left and right hemisphere in patients with the depressive bipolar disorder. Conclusion Attention is impaired in patients with depressive bipolar disorder in which the disappearance of left hemisphere advantage of orienting network is the main manifestation of attention impairments.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the neuroprotective effects of Ginkgolide B (GB) against ischemic stroke-induced injury in vivo and in vitro, and further explore the possible mechanisms concerned. METHODS: Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mice and oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-treated N2a cells were used to explore the neuroprotective effects of GB. The expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was detected via Western blot and qRT-PCR. RESULTS: GB treatment (4 mg/kg, i. p., bid) significantly reduced neurological deficits, water content, and cerebral infarct volume in tMCAO mice. GB also significantly increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio, reduced the expression of caspase-3, and protected against OGD/R-induced neuronal apoptosis. Meanwhile, GB caused the up-regulation of BDNF protein in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that GB might protect the brain against ischemic insult partly via modulating BDNF expression.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor* ; Caspase 3 ; In Vitro Techniques ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Mice ; Neurons ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Stroke* ; Up-Regulation ; Water

Objective To observe microstructural changes of white matter in Alzheimer's disease (AD),and to find out the relationship between white matters lesion and declined cognition.Methods Twenty-four AD patients and 24 controls with normal cognition performed diffusion tensor imaging MR scan.Tract-based spatial statistical analysis (TBSS) was used to investigate microstructural change of white matter,and then its correlation with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores was analyzed.Results Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were decreased in corpus callosum,fornix,left corticospinal tract,bilateral cerebral peduncle,superior cerebellar peduncle,internal capsule,corona radiata,posterior thalamic radiation,sagittal stratum including inferior longitidinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus,external capsule,cingulate gyrns,hippocampus,superior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus,while mean diffusivity (MD) values were increased in fornix,left hippocampus,bilateral internal capsule,corona radiata,posterior thalamic radiation,sagittal stratum including inferior longitidinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus,external capsule,cingulate gyrus,superior longitudinal fasciculus,superior fronto-occipital fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus (all P ＜ 0.05,threshold-free cluster enhancement corrected).MMSE scores had a positive correlation with decreased FA values of left sagittal stratum (r =0.535,P =0.007) and negative correlations with increased MD values of left sagittal stratum (r =-0.427,P =0.037),left superior longitudinal fasciculus (r =-0.424,P =0.039) and left uncinate fasciculus (r =-0.505,P =0.012).Conclusions There exist widespread white matter lesions in AD with impairment of white matter connections of intra-and inter-hemispheres.Impaired white matters in left hemisphere may have close relationships with cognition decline.

Objective To explore the biological motion perception in Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods 45 individuals with idiopathic PD were compared with 45 matched healthy controls (HCs) using a duration discrimination task.Results The point of subjective equality(PSE) was negative value (-0.27±0.17) for health controls (HCs),and there was significant difference compared with PSE =0 by one sample t test (t=10.96,P＜ 0.01).Compared with HCs,the PSE for PD patients (-0.14±0.30) significantly decreased (t=2.63,P=0.01).When further dividing PD into early stages (stage 1-2) and late stages (stage 3-4),significant difference was found between late-stage PD patients(0.02±0.39)and HCs (t=4.07,P=0.008),but not between early-stage PD patients (-0.24±0.14) and HCs (t=0.84,P=0.405).Conclusion There is biological motion perception disorder in PD patients and it is related to the severity of PD.

Objective To explore neglect dyslexia in unilateral spatial neglect patients,the error type and whether there exists word length and semantic effect.Methods Ten left spatial neglect patients were investigated by Chinese characters reading material.Results Unilateral spatial patients showed neglect dyslexia (202 neglect errors,94.0％ of the total 215 errors) when reading.The most common errors were omissions (148 errors,73.3％ of the total 202 neglect errors),followed by substitutions and additions.The error rate of two words was 9.9％ ± 8.4％,while the rate of three words was 18.8％ ± 16.2％.Performance was worse with the increase of word length (T =-55,P ＜ 0.05).The error rate of words was 8.3％ ± 7.5％,while the rate of non-words was 18.9％ ± 16.6％,and the rate of non-words was worse than that of words (T =-55,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Our study has shown that omissions are the most common error type of neglect dyslexia in Chinese unilateral spatial neglect patients,and the impairment include word length effect.The patients with unilateral spatial neglect show preserved semantic processing in the neglect side.