Objective: Essential development of the frontal lobe occurs during childhood and adolescence, affecting various executive function (EF) domains. Of the frontal areas, the supplementary motor area (SMA) located in the medial frontal cortex, is involved in various high-order EFs which include inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.However, it remains unclear how the functional network of the SMA is associated with EF development. Methods: We assessed Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) score and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 6- to 17-year-old children and adolescents to identify age differences in SMA functional connectivity (FC) associated with EF. Results: A total of 112 children and adolescents (62 males; mean [standard deviation] age, 12.21 [2.98] years) were included. After adjusting for sex, we discovered significant evidence in the older group that 300 FCs between the SMA and numerous regions of the brain, including the frontal, occipital, parietal, temporal, limbic, and cerebellar areas, were negatively correlated with the WCST subcategories (false discovery rate ＜ 0.05). Conclusion This finding underscores the SMA’s pivotal role in executive dysfunction during developmental stages.Interestingly, this significant connectivity was absent in younger participants, highlighting the age range of 11−12 as a critical turning point for brain functional alterations involved in EF development. Since the crucial role of SMA in refining EF development has been underappreciated, this work has the potential to provide insight into both the nature of the functional alteration of SMA and the differences in individuals’ EF development trajectories.

A 35-year-old male presented with atypical aphasia following left anterior choroidal artery infarction associated with distal internal carotid artery dissection. He presented with 1) lexical-semantic deficit without semantic impairment, 2) frequent surface errors (both surface dyslexia and dysgraphia), and 3) intact non-word reading/repetition (preserved sub-lexical route), suggesting deficit in the phonological output lexicon. Diffusion-tensor tractography analysis revealed disruption in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and inferior longitudinal fasciculus, which might serve as potential subcortical neural correlates for phonological output lexicon.

Cases of simultaneously occurring medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and lymphoma are extremely rare. An 84-year-old woman visited the hospital due to dyspnea, resulting from rapidly aggravated enlarged neck mass. Ultrasonography revealed two lesions in the thyroid and they were diagnosed as concurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma after total thyroidectomy. A few cases simultaneously diagnosed with MTC and systemic lymphoma have been reported. However, the coexistence of MTC and primary thyroid lymphoma is extremely rare.
Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Medullary ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Neck ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Ultrasonography