Hess, Christopher W.

AbstractDBS is an effective neuromodulatory therapy that has been applied in various conditions, including PD, essential tremor, dystonia, Tourette syndrome, and other movement disorders. There have also been recent examples of applications in epilepsy, chronic pain, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Innovations in neuroimaging technology have been driving connectomics, an emerging whole‐brain network approach to neuroscience. Two rising techniques are functional connectivity profiling and structural connectivity profiling. Functional connectivity profiling explores the operational relationships between multiple regions of the brain with respect to time and stimuli. Structural connectivity profiling approximates physical connections between different brain regions through reconstruction of axonal fibers. Through these techniques, complex relationships can be described in various disease states, such as PD, as well as in response to therapy, such as DBS. These advances have expanded our understanding of human brain function and have provided a partial in vivo glimpse into the underlying brain circuits underpinning movement and other disorders. This comprehensive review will highlight the contemporary concepts in brain connectivity as applied to DBS, as well as introduce emerging considerations in movement disorders. © 2020 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

AbstractPremature birth globally affects about 11.1% of all newborns and is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disability in surviving infants. Histology has suggested that hindbrain subdivisions grow differentially, especially in the third trimester. Prematurity‐related brain injuries occurring in this period may selectively affect more rapidly developing areas of hindbrain, thus accompanying region‐specific impairments in growth and ultimately neurodevelopmental deficits. The current study aimed to quantify regional growth of the cerebellum and the brainstem in preterm neonates (n =65 with individually multiple scans). We probed associations of the regional volumes with severity of brain injury. In neonates with no imaging evidence of injury, our analysis using a mixed‐effect linear model showed faster growth in the pons and the lateral convexity of anterior/posterior cerebellar lobes. Different patterns of growth impairment were found in relation to early cerebral intraventricular hemorrhage and cerebellar hemorrhage (P <0.05), likely explaining different mechanisms through which neurogenesis is disrupted. The pattern of cerebellar growth identified in our study agreed excellently with details of cerebellar morphogenesis in perinatal development, which has only been observed in histological data. Our proposed analytic framework may provide predictive imaging biomarkers for neurodevelopmental outcome, enabling early identification and treatment of high‐risk patients.Hum Brain Mapp 37:678–688, 2016. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.