Abstract
The integrity of structural and functional connectivity is the basis of normal functioning of the brain and is impaired in different disease states. The role of Brain Connectivity in evaluating neuronal integrity and its relationship with pathological substrates and genetic and epigenetic influence is going to be crucial and influential in the field of neuroscience and medicine over the coming years. As impairment of structural and functional connectivity, either as a primary or secondary event, is implicated in neuronal damage in most brain disorders, Brain Connectivity plays a major role in research into normal brain function and a range of neurological disorders.
Different pathological substrates such as amyloid deposition, tau deposition, microglial activation, synuclein pathology, astrocyte activation, mitochondrial function and other changes occurring in the brain in different neurodegenerative diseases could influence the structural and functional integrity.
To highlight the recent advances in
We are specifically looking for
Original research investigating the role of amyloid, tau, neuroinflammation/microglial activation and astrocytes on structural and/or functional connectivity, along with influence on glucose metabolism, and genetic and epigenetic factors
Review articles and perspectives
As the field of neuroscience is constantly evolving, with multimodal imaging now considered as the preferable method of evaluating different diseases and interventions, we have expanded the breadth of research published in Brain Connectivity to ensure that we are able to include articles of a translational nature in the field of neuroscience.
With the intention of expanding the scope of our journal, I would also like to invite authors to submit original articles and reviews describing: Advances in neuroimaging using PET and MRI in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases Novel PET and MRI biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases and stroke Influence of genetic and epigenetic factors on structural and functional connectivity in brain disorders Multimodal imaging in brain disorders in both human subjects and animal models Artificial intelligence in neuroimaging Experimental techniques combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (connectivity), electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and other new and evolving methods
For more information about the Journal, including scope and instructions for authors, please visit our website
In this current issue, you will find several high-quality articles by experts in their fields:
Computations and Connectivity Underlying Aversive Counterfactuals
Colleen Mills-Finnerty and Stephen José Hanson and colleagues measured behavioral and neural correlates while participants made ‘‘would you rather’’ choices framed as approaching or avoiding aversive counterfactual scenarios. They found, in two independent cohorts, that participants were highly susceptible to framing effects when making these decisions, taking significantly longer to respond to approach frames compared with avoidance. Brain imaging showed that choices to approach and avoid resulted in a pattern of activation consistent with a network associated with responding to aversive stimuli, identified via a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 238 studies. Bayesian graph connectivity analysis showed that network connectivity differed by choice frame, with significantly stronger connectivity for approach choices compared with avoidance choices among primarily limbic nodes (putamen, insula, caudate, and amygdala). Computational modeling of behavior revealed that approach frames led to significantly longer nondecision times, increased evidence required to make decisions, and faster evidence accumulation than avoidance frames.
Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Spinal Morphometry and Sensorimotor Behavior in a Hemicontusion Model of Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Jyothsna Chitturi and Sridhar S. Kannurpatti along with their colleagues studied MRI-based spinal morphological changes and their relationship to neurological outcome in the rat model of cervical spinal cord injury. Young adult rats underwent a precise mechanical impact hemicontusion incomplete cervical spinal cord injury at the C4/C5 level, after which sensorimotor behavioral assessments were tracked during the reorganization period of 1–6 weeks, followed by MRI of the cervical spinal cord at 8 weeks after spinal cord injury. A significant ipsilesional forelimb motor debilitation was observed from 1 to 6 weeks after injury. Heat sensitivity testing (Hargreaves) showed ipsilesional forelimb hypersensitivity at 5 and 6 weeks after spinal cord injury. MRI of the cervical spine showed ipsilateral T1- and T2-weighted lesions across all spinal cord injury rats compared with no significant lesions in sham rats. Morphometric assessments of the lesional and nonlesional changes showed the diverse nature of their interindividual variability in the spinal cord injury receiving rats. While the various T1 and T2 MRI lesional volumes associated weakly or moderately with neurological outcome, the nonlesional spinal morphometric changes associated much more strongly.
Weaker Cerebellocortical Connectivity Within sensorimotor and Executive Networks in Schizophrenia Compared to Healthy Controls: Relationships with Processing Speed
The cognitive dysmetria theory of schizophrenia proposes that communication between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex is disrupted by structural and functional abnormalities. Sarah V. Clark and Jessica A. Turner and colleagues used data on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) calculated from 20 hemispheric cerebellar lobules as seed regions of interest to the rest of the brain. Group differences in rsFC between individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HCs) were computed, and relationships between rsFC and symptom severity and cognitive functioning were explored. HCs demonstrated stronger connectivity than SZ between several cerebellar lobules and cortical regions, most robustly between motor-related cerebellar lobules (V and VIIIa/b) and temporal and parietal cortices. Seven of the nine lobules in which reduced cerebellocortical connectivity was observed showed diagnosis x processing speed interactions; HCs showed a positive relationship between connectivity and processing speed, whereas SZ did not show this relationship.
Dynamic Resting-State Connectivity Differences in Eyes Open Versus Eyes Closed Conditions
Oktay Agcaogl and Vince D. Calhoun recently showed significant functional network connectivity (FNC) differences between eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) across a variety of networks. In the present study, they, and colleagues, aimed at further evaluating differences in dynamic FNC (dFNC) between EO and EC. They collected Rs-fMRI from adolescents aged 9–15 years old during both EO and EC conditions, and dFNC was calculated by using the independent component analysis framework. They found that, out of five states (clusters), state 1 was observed to be more dominant in the EO condition, whereas state 2 was observed to be more dominant in the EC condition. States 1 and 2 showed significant differences in the mean dwell time based on false discovery rate, and states 1, 2, 3, and 4 differed in the frequency of occurrences.
The Effect of Transcranial Pulsed Current Stimulation at 4 and 75 Hz on Electroencephalography Theta and High Gamma Band Power: A Pilot Study
Transcranial pulsed current stimulation (tPCS) is an emerging non-invasive brain stimulation technique that has shown significant effects on cortical excitability. To date, electrophysiological measures of the efficiency of monophasic tPCS have not been reported. Thusharika Dissanayaka and Shapour Jaberzadeh and colleagues aimed to explore the effects of monophasic anodal and cathodal-tPCS (a-tPCS/c-tPCS) at theta (4 Hz) and gamma (75 Hz) frequencies on theta and high gamma electroencephalography (EEG) oscillatory power. Fifteen healthy participants were randomly assigned into 5 experimental sessions in which they received monophasic anodal and cathodal tPCS(a-PCS/c-tPCS) at 4 and 75 Hz or sham stimulation over the left primary motor cortex (M1) for 15 min at an intensity of 1.5 mA. Changes in theta and high gamma oscillatory power were recorded at baseline, immediately after, and 30 min after stimulation using EEG at rest with eyes open. They demonstrated that a-tPCS at 4 Hz showed a significant increase in theta power compared with sham, whereas c-tPCS at 4 Hz had no significant effect on theta power; a-tPCS at 75 Hz produced no changes in high gamma power compared with sham.
Finally, I would like to thank all the researchers and all the staff at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, editors and reviewers of Brain Connectivity working during this extremely difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic to advance research in every corner of the world to improve our lives.
I sincerely hope that all our contributors and readers of the journal are remaining in good health.