Advances in functional and structural MR image analysis and implementation as FSL.

An automated method for segmenting magnetic resonance head images into brain and non-brain has been developed. It is very robust and accurate and has been tested on thousands of data sets from a wide variety of scanners and taken with a wide variety of MR sequences. The method, Brain Extraction Tool (BET), uses a deformable model that evolves to fit the brain's surface by the application of a set of locally adaptive model forces. The method is very fast and requires no preregistration or other pre-processing before being applied. We describe the new method and give examples of results and the results of extensive quantitative testing against "gold-standard" hand segmentations, and two other popular automated methods.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hbm.10062

Fast robust automated brain extraction

Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268

New evidence and consensus has led to further revision of the McDonald Criteria for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The use of imaging for demonstration of dissemination of central nervous system lesions in space and time has been simplified, and in some circumstances dissemination in space and time can be established by a single scan. These revisions simplify the Criteria, preserve their diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, address their applicability across populations, and may allow earlier diagnosis and more uniform and widespread use.

/pdf/diagnostic-criteria-for-multiple-sclerosis-2010-revisions-to-24iph50480.pdf

Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: 2010 Revisions to the McDonald criteria

Thirty years of brain imaging research has converged to define the brain’s default network—a novel and only recently appreciated brain system that participates in internal modes of cognition Here we synthesize past observations to provide strong evidence that the default network is a specific, anatomically defined brain system preferentially active when individuals are not focused on the external environment Analysis of connectional anatomy in the monkey supports the presence of an interconnected brain system Providing insight into function, the default network is active when individuals are engaged in internally focused tasks including autobiographical memory retrieval, envisioning the future, and conceiving the perspectives of others Probing the functional anatomy of the network in detail reveals that it is best understood as multiple interacting subsystems The medial temporal lobe subsystem provides information from prior experiences in the form of memories and associations that are the building blocks of mental simulation The medial prefrontal subsystem facilitates the flexible use of this information during the construction of self-relevant mental simulations These two subsystems converge on important nodes of integration including the posterior cingulate cortex The implications of these functional and anatomical observations are discussed in relation to possible adaptive roles of the default network for using past experiences to plan for the future, navigate social interactions, and maximize the utility of moments when we are not otherwise engaged by the external world We conclude by discussing the relevance of the default network for understanding mental disorders including autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease

/pdf/the-brain-s-default-network-anatomy-function-and-relevance-3sxu9umxjl.pdf

The Brain's Default Network Anatomy, Function, and Relevance to Disease

Quality of care provided by Multiple Sclerosis Centers during Covid-19 pandemic: Results of an Italian multicenter patient-centered survey.

Early onset of Action and Sustained Efficacy of MRI Outcomes during Cladribine Tablets Treatment in Highly Active Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: Results of the 2-Year MAGNIFY-MS Study

A case report of FAVA syndrome in a young woman carrying a mutation in the PIK3CA gene.

Exploring the Relationship Between Serum GDF-15 and Disease Stability in Patients with a First Clinical Demyelinating Event Treated with Subcutaneous Interferon Β-1a Or Placebo in the REFLEX Study

/pdf/cerebellar-cryptococcomas-3espjr1r.pdf

N. De Stefano

Papers

Quality of care provided by Multiple Sclerosis Centers during Covid-19 pandemic: Results of an Italian multicenter patient-centered survey.

Early onset of Action and Sustained Efficacy of MRI Outcomes during Cladribine Tablets Treatment in Highly Active Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: Results of the 2-Year MAGNIFY-MS Study

A case report of FAVA syndrome in a young woman carrying a mutation in the PIK3CA gene.

Exploring the Relationship Between Serum GDF-15 and Disease Stability in Patients with a First Clinical Demyelinating Event Treated with Subcutaneous Interferon Β-1a Or Placebo in the REFLEX Study

Cerebellar cryptococcomas