Clinical experience with the E.M.I. scanner

Computerized tomography of the head using the E.M.I. scanner is a revolutionary method for diagnosing a wide spectrum of intracranial diseases. Because small differences in tissue density can be measured accurately the technique is sufficiently sensitive to demonstrate the ventricular system and major subarachnoid cisterns. The cortical grey matter, basal ganglia and thalami can be distinguished from white matter. A three-dimensional reconstruction of the brain is possible by examining a vertical sequence of transverse ‘slices’. Dilatation of the ventricular system is readily seen and since cortical sulcal enlargement is also shown, a diagnosis of cerebral atrophy can be made. This removes the need for pneumoencephalography in the majority of patients presenting with presenile dementia.

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Differences in the molecular structure of the blood-brain barrier in the cerebral cortex and white matter: an in silico, in vitro, and ex vivo study

AJP Heart and Circulatory Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpheart.00774.2015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 310 (11) ◽

pp. H1702-H1714 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ádám Nyúl-Tóth ◽

Maria Suciu ◽

Judit Molnár ◽

Csilla Fazakas ◽

János Haskó ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endothelial Cells ◽

Cerebral Cortex ◽

White Matter ◽

Blood Brain Barrier ◽

In Silico ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Cortical Grey Matter ◽

The Brain

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the main interface controlling molecular and cellular traffic between the central nervous system (CNS) and the periphery. It consists of cerebral endothelial cells (CECs) interconnected by continuous tight junctions, and closely associated pericytes and astrocytes. Different parts of the CNS have diverse functions and structures and may be subject of different pathologies, in which the BBB is actively involved. It is largely unknown, however, what are the cellular and molecular differences of the BBB in different regions of the brain. Using in silico, in vitro, and ex vivo techniques we compared the expression of BBB-associated genes and proteins (i.e., markers of CECs, brain pericytes, and astrocytes) in the cortical grey matter and white matter. In silico human database analysis (obtained from recalculated data of the Allen Brain Atlas), qPCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence studies on porcine and mouse brain tissue indicated an increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in astrocytes in the white matter compared with the grey matter. We have also found increased expression of genes of the junctional complex of CECs (occludin, claudin-5, and α-catenin) in the white matter compared with the cerebral cortex. Accordingly, occludin, claudin-5, and α-catenin proteins showed increased expression in CECs of the white matter compared with endothelial cells of the cortical grey matter. In parallel, barrier properties of white matter CECs were superior as well. These differences might be important in the pathogenesis of diseases differently affecting distinct regions of the brain.

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Cinematic rendering of a burst sagittal suture caused by an occipito-frontal gunshot wound

Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology ◽

10.1007/s12024-021-00387-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dominic Gascho ◽

Michael J. Thali ◽

Rosa M. Martinez ◽

Stephan A. Bolliger

Keyword(s):

Gunshot Wound ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

The Novel ◽

Sagittal Suture ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Cinematic Rendering ◽

Reconstruction Methods ◽

Dimensional Reconstruction ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽

The Brain

AbstractThe computed tomography (CT) scan of a 19-year-old man who died from an occipito-frontal gunshot wound presented an impressive radiating fracture line where the entire sagittal suture burst due to the high intracranial pressure that arose from a near-contact shot from a 9 mm bullet fired from a Glock 17 pistol. Photorealistic depictions of the radiating fracture lines along the cranial bones were created using three-dimensional reconstruction methods, such as the novel cinematic rendering technique that simulates the propagation and interaction of light when it passes through volumetric data. Since the brain had collapsed, depiction of soft tissue was insufficient on CT images. An additional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination was performed, which enabled the diagnostic assessment of cerebral injuries.

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Spinal cord grey matter lesions in multiple sclerosis detected by post-mortem high field MR imaging

Multiple Sclerosis Journal ◽

10.1177/1352458508096876 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 180-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

CP Gilmore ◽

JJG Geurts ◽

N Evangelou ◽

JCJ Bot ◽

RA van Schijndel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

White Matter ◽

Mr Imaging ◽

High Field ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Great Majority ◽

Proton Density ◽

Post Mortem ◽

Mr Images ◽

The Brain

Background Post-mortem studies demonstrate extensive grey matter demyelination in MS, both in the brain and in the spinal cord. However the clinical significance of these plaques is unclear, largely because they are grossly underestimated by MR imaging at conventional field strengths. Indeed post-mortem MR studies suggest the great majority of lesions in the cerebral cortex go undetected, even when performed at high field. Similar studies have not been performed using post-mortem spinal cord material. Aim To assess the sensitivity of high field post-mortem MRI for detecting grey matter lesions in the spinal cord in MS. Methods Autopsy material was obtained from 11 MS cases and 2 controls. Proton Density-weighted images of this formalin-fixed material were acquired at 4.7Tesla before the tissue was sectioned and stained for Myelin Basic Protein. Both the tissue sections and the MR images were scored for grey matter and white matter plaques, with the readers of the MR images being blinded to the histopathology results. Results Our results indicate that post-mortem imaging at 4.7Tesla is highly sensitive for cord lesions, detecting 87% of white matter lesions and 73% of grey matter lesions. The MR changes were highly specific for demyelination, with all lesions scored on MRI corresponding to areas of demyelination. Conclusion Our work suggests that spinal cord grey matter lesions may be detected on MRI more readily than GM lesions in the brain, making the cord a promising site to study the functional consequences of grey matter demyelination in MS.

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Exploring the laminar connectome

10.1101/2021.03.17.21253439 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ittai Shamir ◽

Omri Tomer ◽

Ronnie Krupnik ◽

Yaniv Assaf

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Structural Description ◽

Mri Imaging ◽

Healthy Human ◽

Cortical Grey Matter ◽

Cortical Laminar ◽

White Matter Connectivity ◽

Human Brains

The human connectome is the complete structural description of the network of connections and elements that form the wiring diagram of the brain. Because of the current scarcity of information regarding laminar end points of white matter tracts inside cortical grey matter, tractography remains focused on cortical partitioning into regions, while ignoring radial partitioning into laminar components. To overcome this biased representation of the cortex as a single homogenous unit, we use a recent data-derived model of cortical laminar connectivity, which has been further explored and corroborated in the macaque brain by comparison to published studies. The model integrates multimodal MRI imaging datasets regarding both white matter connectivity and grey matter laminar composition into a laminar-level connectome. In this study we model the laminar connectome of healthy human brains (N=20) and explore them via a set of neurobiologically meaningful complex network measures. Our analysis demonstrates a subdivision of network hubs that appear in the standard connectome into each individual component of the laminar connectome, giving a fresh look into the role of laminar components in cortical connectivity and offering new prospects in the fields of both structural and functional connectivity.

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A higher proportion of ermin-immunopositive oligodendrocytes in areas of remyelination

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256155 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0256155

Author(s):

Intakhar Ahmad ◽

Stig Wergeland ◽

Eystein Oveland ◽

Lars Bø

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

White Matter ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Mouse Model ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Early Stage ◽

Relative Proportion ◽

Normal Appearing White Matter ◽

The Brain

Incomplete remyelination is frequent in multiple sclerosis (MS)-lesions, but there is no established marker for recent remyelination. We investigated the role of the oligodendrocyte/myelin protein ermin in de- and remyelination in the cuprizone (CPZ) mouse model, and in MS. The density of ermin+ oligodendrocytes in the brain was significantly decreased after one week of CPZ exposure (p < 0.02). The relative proportion of ermin+ cells compared to cells positive for the late-stage oligodendrocyte marker Nogo-A increased at the onset of remyelination in the corpus callosum (p < 0.02). The density of ermin-positive cells increased in the corpus callosum during the CPZ-phase of extensive remyelination (p < 0.0001). In MS, the density of ermin+ cells was higher in remyelinated lesion areas compared to non-remyelinated areas both in white- (p < 0.0001) and grey matter (p < 0.0001) and compared to normal-appearing white matter (p < 0.001). Ermin immunopositive cells in MS-lesions were not immunopositive for the early-stage oligodendrocyte markers O4 and O1, but a subpopulation was immunopositive for Nogo-A. The data suggest a relatively higher proportion of ermin immunopositivity in oligodendrocytes compared to Nogo-A indicates recent or ongoing remyelination.

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Lissencephaly and cerebellar hypoplasia in a goat

Ciência Rural ◽

10.1590/s0103-84782013001000020 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 43 (10) ◽

pp. 1858-1861 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

José Rômulo Soares dos Santos ◽

Antônio Flavio Medeiros Dantas ◽

Clarice Ricardo Macedo Pessoa ◽

Tatiane Rodrigues Silva ◽

Sara Vilar Dantas Simões ◽

...

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Cerebellar Hypoplasia ◽

Infectious Origin ◽

Gross Lesions ◽

The Brain

A case of lissencephaly and cerebellar hypoplasia was observed in a 30-day-old goat. The goat presented with sternal recumbence, absence of a menace response, intention tremors, ataxia, and nystagmus. The goat was euthanized and necropsied after having been hospitalised for eleven days. At necropsy, the surface of the brain was found to be smooth, the cerebral sulci and gyri were absent, and the cerebellum was reduced in size. Histologically, the grey matter and white matter were thicker and thinner than normal in cortices, respectively. The neurons were randomly arranged in the grey matter. In the cerebellum, the layers were disorganised, and cells were heterotopics. The histologic and gross lesions observed in this animal are characteristic of lissencephaly associated with cerebellar hypoplasia. The presence of a single goat affected suggests that the malformation was not of infectious origin and because lissencephaly is a malformation not previously described in goats, it is unlikely this case was inherited.

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On the microstructural origin of brain white matter hydraulic permeability

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2105328118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (36) ◽

pp. e2105328118

Author(s):

Marco Vidotto ◽

Andrea Bernardini ◽

Marco Trovatelli ◽

Elena De Momi ◽

Daniele Dini

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Drug Transport ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Principal Component ◽

Hydraulic Permeability ◽

Convection Enhanced Delivery ◽

Brain White Matter ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Brain

Brain microstructure plays a key role in driving the transport of drug molecules directly administered to the brain tissue, as in Convection-Enhanced Delivery procedures. The proposed research analyzes the hydraulic permeability of two white matter (WM) areas (corpus callosum and fornix) whose three-dimensional microstructure was reconstructed starting from the acquisition of electron microscopy images. We cut the two volumes with 20 equally spaced planes distributed along two perpendicular directions, and, on each plane, we computed the corresponding permeability vector. Then, we considered that the WM structure is mainly composed of elongated and parallel axons, and, using a principal component analysis, we defined two principal directions, parallel and perpendicular, with respect to the axons’ main direction. The latter were used to define a reference frame onto which the permeability vectors were projected to finally obtain the permeability along the parallel and perpendicular directions. The results show a statistically significant difference between parallel and perpendicular permeability, with a ratio of about two in both the WM structures analyzed, thus demonstrating their anisotropic behavior. Moreover, we find a significant difference between permeability in corpus callosum and fornix, which suggests that the WM heterogeneity should also be considered when modeling drug transport in the brain. Our findings, which demonstrate and quantify the anisotropic and heterogeneous character of the WM, represent a fundamental contribution not only for drug-delivery modeling, but also for shedding light on the interstitial transport mechanisms in the extracellular space.

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Regional brain volumes, microstructure and neurodevelopment in moderate–late preterm children

Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition ◽

10.1136/archdischild-2019-317941 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 105 (6) ◽

pp. 593-599 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Claire E Kelly ◽

Deanne K Thompson ◽

Alicia J Spittle ◽

Jian Chen ◽

Marc L Seal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Brain Mri ◽

Developmental Outcomes ◽

Late Preterm ◽

Brain Volumes ◽

Regional Brain ◽

White Matter Microstructure ◽

Cortical Grey Matter

ObjectiveTo explore whether regional brain volume and white matter microstructure at term-equivalent age (TEA) are associated with development at 2 years of age in children born moderate–late preterm (MLPT).Study designA cohort of MLPT infants had brain MRI at approximately TEA (38–44 weeks’ postmenstrual age) and had a developmental assessment (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment) at 2 years’ corrected age. Relationships between cortical grey matter and white matter volumes and 2-year developmental outcomes were explored using voxel-based morphometry. Relationships between diffusion tensor measures of white matter microstructure (fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial (AD), radial (RD) and mean (MD) diffusivities) and 2-year developmental outcomes were explored using tract-based spatial statistics.Results189 MLPT children had data from at least one MRI modality (volumetric or diffusion) and data for at least one developmental domain. Larger cortical grey and white matter volumes in many brain regions, and higher FA and lower AD, RD and MD in several major white matter regions, were associated with better cognitive and language scores. There was little evidence that cortical grey matter and white matter volumes and white matter microstructure were associated with motor and behavioural outcomes.ConclusionsRegional cortical grey matter and white matter volumes and white matter microstructure are associated with cognitive and language development at 2 years of age in MLPT children. Thus, early alterations to brain volumes and microstructure may contribute to some of the developmental deficits described in MLPT children.

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