Orientador: Rickson Coelho Mesquita / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T04:25:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Forti_RodrigoMenezes_M.pdf: 12387880 bytes, checksum: 7008f6dbed4a5d63effefff5a6582b33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: Técnicas de espectroscopia baseadas em óptica de difusão são essenciais para a obtenção das propriedades ópticas e dinâmicas em meios turvos, caracterizados pela predominância dos efeitos de espalhamento sobre a absorção. Nestas condições, a luz se propaga esfericamente no meio, num regime aproximadamente difusivo. A luz espalhada pode então ser detectada no mesmo plano de incidência, e sua detecção fornece informação das propriedades ópticas e dinâmicas das moléculas que compõem o meio. Em particular, a técnica encontra uma vasta aplicação no estudo das propriedades do tecido biológico, uma vez que este se comporta como um meio turvo na região do infravermelho próximo. Por se tratar de uma técnica experimental relativamente recente, pouco é conhecido em relação à propagação da luz em meios com diferentes geometrias, principalmente em relação às propriedades dinâmicas do meio. Este projeto propôs um estudo teórico-experimental detalhado da propagação da luz em meios turvos semi-infinitos e de duas camadas, com foco na obtenção das propriedades dinâmicas do meio, através de uma técnica óptica de difusão conhecida como espectroscopia de correlação de difusão (DCS). Mais especificamente, esse projeto testou as geometrias de um meio semi-infinito e de duas camadas, com o uso de simulações de Monte Carlo e experimentos em ambientes controlados. Foi mostrado que o uso da geometria de duas camadas, ao invés da de um meio semi-infinito, como é usualmente feito na literatura, traz melhoras significativas para a recuperação das propriedades de fluxo do meio. As geometrias usadas neste trabalho representam aproximações mais precisas das estruturas muscular e cerebral, por exemplo, e retratam diferentes situações encontradas em Biologia e Medicina. Por fim, o sistema também foi testado em voluntários sadios. Os resultados obtidos neste projeto tem aplicação direta nas áreas citadas, e podem contribuir significativamente para o desenvolvimento de técnicas físicas para o monitoramento cerebral e muscular na clínica médica / Abstract: Spectroscopic techniques based on diffuse optics are essential for determination of the optical and dynamical properties of turbid media, in which scattering predominates over absorption. Under these conditions, light propagates spherically in the medium, in an approximate diffusive regimen. Scattered light can thus be detected at the same plane of incidence, and its detection can provide information both on the optical and dynamical properties of the medium. Diffuse optical techniques are particularly useful to study the properties of biological tissue, since it behaves like a turbid medium in the near infrared region. Because diffuse optics is a relatively novel experimental technique, not much is known regarding the propagation of light in media with different geometries, particularly with relation to the dynamical properties of the medium. This project proposes a combined theoretical and experimental study of light propagation in semi-infinite and two-layered turbid media, focusing on the dynamical properties of the medium with a diffuse optical technique called diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS). More specifically, this project employed the semi-infinite and the two-layer geometries, testing them using Monte Carlo simulations and controlled enviroments. It was shown that by using a two-layer geometry, instead of the semi-infinite geometry, as routinely done in the literature, it is possible to significantly improve the accuracy of the recovered dynamical properties. The geometries tested in this work represent more accurate approximations for muscle and brain structures, for example, and therefore could depict different situations encountered in problems in the fields of Biology and Medicine. Last, the system was also tested in healthy subjects. The results obtained in this project have direct application in the above-cited fields, and may significantly contribute to the development of experimental techniques for diagnosis and/or monitoring of the brain and muscle in the clinic / Mestrado / Física / Mestre em Física

Research in the last decades has shown that individuals with high degrees in the personality trait of alexithymia not only have difficulties in identifying and recognizing own feelings, but also show deficits in reading emotions from facial expressions of other people. Therefore, the current dissertation investigates the neural correlates of recognizing emotional facial expressions as a function of alexithymia. Initially, a theoretical introduction is given and existing findings from behavioral as well as structural and functional neuroimaging research are presented. Open questions are identified and addressed in one structural and two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that were compiled into three original research articles. Study 1 examined the gray matter profile of high and low alexithymic individuals in selected brain regions relevant for processing emotional faces. In Study 2, functional neuroimaging was used to investigate the neural correlates of high alexithymic individuals\'' difficulties in labeling briefly presented (≤ 100 ms) facial expressions of emotion. Study 3 investigated neural activations as a function of alexithymia during the labeling of emotional facial expressions when these are presented with little temporal constraints (≥ 1 s). The results of these studies are summarized and integrated with the existing literature. Finally, open issues are discussed and ideas for further research are outlined.

On estime que 5 % de la population dans le monde souffre d’une perte auditive handicapante, dont 34 millions d’enfants. Ce déficit perceptif, lorsqu’il survient dès la naissance ou lors des premières années de vie, a de multiples répercussions sur le développement cérébral et neurocognitif. La réorganisation cérébrale ayant cours dans le cerveau des individus privés de l’audition précocement constitue un sujet d’étude très prisé par la communauté scientifique, mais pour laquelle de nombreuses questions restent en suspens. Ainsi, les articles qui composent cette thèse ont pour objectif principal d’améliorer nos connaissances portant sur les mécanismes de réorganisation cérébrale, tant au niveau fonctionnel que structurel afin de mieux comprendre leur implication comportementale chez les individus sourds. Pour ce faire, nous avons souhaité investiguer, par le biais de l’imagerie par résonance magnétique fonctionnelle, quel était le lien entre les activations cérébrales et les performances comportementales lors d’une tâche portant sur les mouvements biologiques chez des adultes sourds congénitaux, en comparaison à des pairs neurotypiques. L’article 1 révèle que les individus sourds présentent une sensibilité accrue à la reconnaissance du mouvement biologique, et notamment des emblèmes, en comparaison à des individus neurotypique. De plus, cette spécificité comportementale observée uniquement chez les individus sourds, s’accompagne d’un recrutement extensif des régions comprises dans le gyrus temporal supérieur, et tout particulièrement le cortex auditif primaire ainsi que le planum temporale. Nos résultats supportent la présence d’une réorganisation intermodale qui s’exprime par le recrutement cérébral des régions auditives lors de stimulations visuelles complexes, entraînant une amélioration de la reconnaissance des mouvements biologiques chez les adultes sourds. Par la suite, nous avons souhaité préciser les mécanismes de réorganisation cérébrale de type structurel. En raison de l’hétérogénéité des résultats rapportés précédemment dans la littérature à propos des changements de matière grise et de matière blanche chez les enfants, les adolescents et les adultes sourds privés de l’audition précocement, la réalisation d’une revue systématique a permis de répertorier l’ensemble des changements structurels obtenus par le biais de diverses techniques d’analyse en imagerie par résonance magnétique. L’article 2 de la présente thèse offre une généralisation des altérations structurelles et intègre une visée clinique à la compréhension de ces changements anatomiques et notamment leur impact sur le développement langagier et neurocognitif. Mis ensemble, ces résultats contribuent à une meilleure appréciation des changements cérébraux à la suite d’une privation précoce de l’audition. En outre, ils offrent une perspective développementale à ces changements par la description de comportements adaptatifs à la situation de handicap auditif, ainsi que du profil neurocognitif de ces individus, dans le but d’apporter de nouvelles pistes aux stratégies de restauration de l’audition et du langage. / It is estimated that 5% of the world’s population suffers from a disabling hearing loss, including 34 million children. This sensory deficit, when it occurs at birth or in the first years of life, has multiple repercussions on the brain and neurocognitive development. The brain reorganization taking place in the brain of early-deaf individuals is an area of research highly valued by the scientific community but for which many questions remain unanswered. Thus, the main objective of the articles in this thesis is to improve our knowledge of brain reorganization mechanisms, both at the functional and structural levels, in deaf individuals. This will allow a better understanding of their impact on the behavioural adaptations of deaf individuals. To do this, we investigated, through functional magnetic resonance imaging, the relationship between brain activation and behavioural performance in a task involving biological motions in early-deaf adults, compared to hearing peers. Article 1 reveals that deaf individuals are more sensitive to the recognition of biological motion, including emblems, than hearing individuals. In addition, this behavioural specificity, observed only in deaf individuals, is accompanied by extensive recruitment of the regions included in the superior temporal gyrus, such as the primary auditory cortex but more particularly, the planum temporale. Our results support the presence of intermodal reorganization, which is expressed by brain recruitment of auditory regions during complex visual stimuli, leading to improved recognition of the biological motion in early deaf adults. On the other hand, we wanted to specify the mechanisms of structural brain reorganization. Due to the heterogeneity of the results previously reported in the literature on changes in grey matter and white matter in early-deaf children, adolescents, and adults, the completion of a systematic review identified all the structural changes obtained through various magnetic resonance imaging analysis techniques. The second article of this thesis offers a generalization of structural alterations. It also integrates a clinical frame to the understanding of these anatomical changes to optimize the language and neurocognitive development of these individuals. Together, these results contribute to a better appreciation of brain changes following an early hearing loss at both the functional and structural levels. Besides, they offer a developmental perspective to these changes by describing adaptive behaviours and the neurocognitive profile of these individuals, with providing new insights into hearing and language restoration strategies.

No description available.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heterogenous psychiatric condition that affects thousands of individuals each year. Of those who experience this condition, military members including members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are particularly vulnerable, demonstrating high prevalence rates of PTSD-related symptoms. Moreover, individuals with PTSD are at increased risk for comorbid conditions and are at greater risk for suicide due to the overwhelming, debilitating nature of PTSD symptoms. In previous research, hyperarousal symptoms associated with PTSD have been linked to dysregulation in the locus coeruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) system, a vast neuromodulatory system responsible for regulating arousal, attention, autonomic and memory-related functions. Advancements in neuroimaging methods have advanced our ability to study connectivity in vivo such that small structures like the LC can be further studied in human samples. Specifically, neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI), a novel, non-invasive neuroimaging method has been shown to detect changes in neuromelanin (NM)-related signal in both the LC and substantia nigra (SN). NM is a dark pigment that accumulates over the lifespan in catecholamine-dominant centers such as the LC and SN and is the by-product of catecholamine oxidation. NM-MRI can be used to image these centers in vivo due to the paramagnetic properties offered by NM. Furthermore, when excess cytosolic catecholamine levels are present in select neurons, NM production is thought to be increased, resulting in increased NM signal from the LC. This could potentially be a marker for dysregulation as many conditions have been associated with variability of this system. Previously, NM-MRI has been used in other clinical settings such as in Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), schizophrenia and depression; however, this current investigation is the first to utilize this imaging modality in the context of PTSD. Specifically, we hypothesized that increased NM-MRI signal in the LC would correlate with increasing severity of hyperarousal symptoms in individuals with PTSD. We also predicted that the opposite would be true for comorbid depression symptom severity, as reduced LC signal has been previously correlated with clinical measures of comorbid depression using NM-MRI. As per our primary hypothesis, we observed a significant positive correlation between NM-MRI signals in the caudal elements of the LC with hyperarousal symptom severity in 22 PTSD subjects (r= 0.54, p= 0.017; partial correlation controlling for depression symptom severity, age, and sex). In contrast, we did not find any evidence to support our secondary hypothesis, because a non-significant trend correlating LC NM-MRI signal and depression symptom severity was obtained (r= -0.30, p=0.22; partial correlation controlling for hyperarousal severity, age, and sex). Based on these results, we were able to build on previously conducted work to further investigate the utility of NM-MRI in the detection of variability in LC-NE system as it pertains to psychiatric conditions known to show dysregulation of this system such as PTSD. In addition, this thesis provides further evidence to support the automation of NM-MRI analytical methods, thus supporting their potential utility for future clinical research. Our findings also provide support for the use of NM-MRI as a potential measure of NE activity; further, this work provided preliminary evidence supporting the use of NM-MRI in a clinical, psychiatric setting, where the technique may serve as a biomarker of PTSD pathology. With these findings in mind, additional validation studies can be conducted to verify the use of NM-MRI as a biomarker for NE system dysregulation. This would potentially allow for advancements in targeted treatment options for PTSD, particularly those targeting the LC-NE system, thus potentially increasing patient stratification and treatment efficacy.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Although cancer and treatment-associated cognitive dysfunction has been well-documented in the literature, much work remains to elucidate the biological mechanisms driving this effect, hampering current therapeutic efforts. To address this gap, we first reviewed studies utilizing neuroimaging to characterize cognitive dysfunction in cancer, as studies of neurodegenerative diseases point to neuroimaging as a sensitive measure of cognitive dysfunction. This review highlighted the need for longitudinal imaging studies of cancer and treatment-related changes in cerebral structure and function. Subsequently, we utilized multimodal neuroimaging techniques in a female breast cancer cohort to investigate the longitudinal impact of cancer and chemotherapy treatment on cerebral perfusion and gray matter. Our findings indicate that chemotherapy is associated with elevated perfusion, primarily in posterior brain regions, as well as depressed frontal perfusion associated with decreased frontal gray matter density. This pattern of results suggests the involvement of multiple mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction. We also investigated the relationship of cognitive dysfunction and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), another type of chemotherapy-related nervous system sequelae, again utilizing multimodal, longitudinal neuroimaging, and found that peripheral neuropathy symptoms following chemotherapy were associated with changes in cerebral perfusion and gray matter density. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that multiple biological mechanisms drive cancer and treatment-related cognitive dysfunction. Interestingly, although cancer is associated with cognitive dysfunction, epidemiological studies have shown that cancer and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are inversely correlated. To extend our imaging analysis beyond breast cancer, we leveraged the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort to investigate the inverse relationship of cancer and AD and investigate the impact of both of these diseases on gray matter density. We found that though the inverse relationship of these diseases was replicated in the ADNI cohort, cancer history was associated with lower gray matter density, similar to findings from breast cancer studies, independent of AD diagnostic group. Finally, we reviewed microRNA studies, as microRNAs are important regulators of many cell signaling pathways and have been actively investigated in relation to both diseases. This review suggests several pathways that may be driving the inverse association and may contribute to cognitive dysfunction.

Doctoral thesis assessing the effects of one-week of escitalopram administration on healthy humans during sequence motor learning training. Published in 3 research articles.

There are robust sex differences in brain anatomy, function, as well as neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease risk (1-6), with women approximately twice as likely to suffer from a depressive illness as well as Alzheimer’s Disease. Disruptions in ovarian hormones likely play a role in such disproportionate disease prevalence, given that ovarian hormones serve as key regulators of brain functional and structural plasticity and undergo major fluctuations across the female lifespan (7-9). From a clinical perspective, there is a wellreported increase in depression susceptibility and initial evidence for cognitive impairment or decline during hormonal transition states, such as the postpartum period and perimenopause (9-14). What remains unknown, however, is the underlying mechanism of how fluctuations in ovarian hormones interact with other biological factors to influence brain structure, function, and chemistry. While this line of research has translational relevance for over half the population, neuroscience is notably guilty of female participant exclusion in research studies, with the male brain implicitly treated as the default model and only a minority of basic and clinical neuroscience studies including a female sample (15-18). Female underrepresentation in neuroscience directly limits opportunities for basic scientific discovery; and without basic knowledge of the biological underpinnings of sex differences, we cannot address critical sexdriven differences in pathology. Thus, my doctoral thesis aims to deliberately investigate the influence of sex and ovarian hormones on brain states in health as well as in vulnerability to depression and cognitive impairment:Table of Contents List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... i List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................iii 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Lifespan approach: Sex, hormones, and metabolic risk factors for cognitive health .......3 1.2 Reproductive years: Healthy models of ovarian hormones, serotonin, and the brain ......4 1.2.1 Ovarian hormones and brain structure across the menstrual cycle ........................4 1.2.2 Serotonergic modulation and brain function in oral contraceptive users .................6 1.3 Neuropsychiatric risk models: Reproductive subtypes of depression ...............................8 1.3.1 Hormonal transition states and brain chemistry measured by PET imaging ...........8 1.3.2 Serotonin transporter binding across the menstrual cycle in PMDD patients .......10 2 PUBLICATIONS ....................................................................................................................12 2.1 Publication 1: Association of estradiol and visceral fat with structural brain networks and memory performance in adults .................................................................................13 2.2 Publication 2: Longitudinal 7T MRI reveals volumetric changes in subregions of human medial temporal lobe to sex hormone fluctuations ..............................................28 2.3 Publication 3: One-week escitalopram intake alters the excitation-inhibition balance in the healthy female brain ...............................................................................................51 2.4 Publication 4: Using positron emission tomography to investigate hormone-mediated neurochemical changes across the female lifespan: implications for depression ..........65 2.5 Publication 5: Increase in serotonin transporter binding across the menstrual cycle in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a case-control longitudinal neuro- receptor ligand PET imaging study ..................................................................................82 3 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................100 References ..............................................................................................................................107 Supplementary Publications ...................................................................................................114 Author Contributions to Publication 1 .....................................................................................184 Author Contributions to Publication 2 .....................................................................................186 Author Contributions to Publication 3 .....................................................................................188 Author Contributions to Publication 4 .....................................................................................190 Author Contributions to Publication 5 .....................................................................................191 Declaration of Authenticity ......................................................................................................193 Curriculum Vitae ......................................................................................................................194 List of Publications ................................................................................................................195 List of Talks and Posters ......................................................................................................196

Introduction : La narcolepsie et l'hypersomnie idiopathique sont des troubles d'hypersomnie centrale peu compris, caractérisés par une somnolence diurne excessive causant des perturbations majeures au niveau du fonctionnement diurne et de la qualité de vie. Bien que certains aspects cliniques soient propres à chaque condition, plusieurs caractéristiques se chevauchent et ces dernières demeurent très difficile à diagnostiquer adéquatement. Le manque de distinction entre les troubles d'hypersomnolence centrale est extrêmement problématique, limitant la compréhension des mécanismes physiopathologiques sous- jacents. Objectif : À l'aide de la morphométrie cérébrale, l'objectif de l'étude est d'établir des différences anatomiques (c.-à-d., épaisseur corticale, volume sous-cortical) entre la narcolepsie avec cataplexie (NT1), la narcolepsie sans cataplexie (NT2), l'hypersomnie idiopathique (HI) et des participants en santé contrôles dans diverses régions du cerveau qui sont fonctionnellement liées au sommeil et au maintien de l'éveil. Méthodes : Une séquence d’acquisition d’images IRM anatomiques pondérées en T1 fut acquise sur 15 patients NT1, 15 NT2, 15 HI et 15 participants contrôles en santé (n = 60). Les images anatomiques furent traitées avec la suite logicielle FreeSurfer (FreeSurfer version 6.0.1) afin d'obtenir des mesures d'épaisseur corticale et de volume sous-cortical. Les mesures morphométriques obtenus pour différentes régions furent comparées entre les groupes par ANOVAs, ajustées pour l'âge. Résultats : Les résultats ont démontré une réduction volumétrique de la matière grise dans plusieurs structures sous-corticales associées au sommeil et au maintien de l'éveil dont l'hypothalamus et l'amygdale pour les patients NT1 et les patients NT2, comparés aux participants contrôles en santé. Les patients HI quant à eux n'ont pas démontré de différence volumétrique au niveau de l'hypothalamus comparativement aux participants contrôles, mais plutôt une diminution du volume de l'amygdale et du noyau accumbens, des structures associées à un réseau fonctionnel modulant la vigilance. Aucune différence significative d'épaisseur corticale n'a été retrouvée entre les groupes. Conclusion : Les résultats montrent des changements neuroanatomiques distincts entre les patients NT1 et HI, suggérant des mécanismes physiopathologiques différents et soulignent le phénotype hétérogène des patients NT2. / Introduction : Narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia are poorly understood central disorders of hypersomnolence characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness leading to severe daytime disturbances and poor quality of life. Although some clinical features are specific to each condition, many characteristics overlap, and a reliable diagnosis remains difficult to achieve. The lack of clinical distinction between central disorders of hypersomnolence is extremely problematic and hinders the understanding of their underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Objective : Using brain morphometry, the objective of this study is to establish anatomical differences (i.e., cortical thickness and subcortical volume) between narcolepsy with cataplexy (NT1), narcolepsy without cataplexy (NT2), idiopathic hypersomnia (HI) and healthy controls in brain regions involved in the modulation of sleep and wakefulness. Methods : T1-weighted MRI sequences were acquired in 15 NT1 patients, 15 NT2, 15 HI and 15 healthy controls (n = 60). Anatomical images were preprocessed using the FreeSurfer software package (FreeSurfer version 6.0.1) to obtain measures of cortical thickness and subcortical volume. Group differences in brain morphometric measurements acquired for different brain regions were analyzed using ANOVAs, adjusted for age. Results : Results displayed reduced gray matter volume in subcortical structures associated with the modulation of sleep and wakefulness, including the hypothalamus and the amygdala in NT1 and NT2 patients, compared to healthy controls. On the other hand, HI patients did not show volume changes in the hypothalamus compared to healthy controls, but instead showed a volume reduction of the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, both structures associated with a functional network involved in the modulation of alertness. No significant group difference in cortical thickness was found. Conclusion : These results show distinct neuroanatomical changes between NT1 patients and HI patients, suggesting separate pathophysiological mechanisms and underline the heterogeneous phenotype of NT2 patients.

In the brain, neuronal cells located in different functional regions communicate through a dense structural network of axons known as the white matter (WM) tissue. Bundles of axons that share similar pathways characterize the WM anatomy, which can be investigated in-vivo thanks to the recent advances of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques. Diffusion MR imaging combined with tractography pipelines allows for a virtual reconstruction of the whole WM anatomy of in-vivo brains, namely the tractogram. It consists of millions of WM fibers as 3D polylines, each approximating thousands of axons. From the analysis of a tractogram, neuroanatomists can characterize well-known white matter structures and detect anatomically non-plausible fibers, which are artifacts of the tractography and often constitute a large portion of it. The accurate characterization of tractograms is pivotal for several clinical and neuroscientific applications. However, such characterization is a complex and time-consuming process that is difficult to be automatized as it requires properly encoding well-known anatomical priors. In this thesis, we propose to investigate the encoding of anatomical priors with a supervised deep learning framework. The ultimate goal is to reduce the presence of artifactual fibers to enable a more accurate automatic process of WM characterization. We devise the problem by distinguishing between volumetric and non-volumetric representations of white matter structures. In the first case, we learn the segmentation of the WM regions that represent relevant anatomical waypoints not yet classified by WM atlases. We investigate using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to exploit the volumetric representation of such priors. In the second case, the goal is to learn from the 3D polyline representation of fibers where the typical CNN models are not suitable. We introduce the novelty of using Geometric Deep Learning (GDL) models designed to process data having an irregular representation. The working assumption is that the geometrical properties of fibers are informative for the detection of tractogram artifacts. As a first contribution, we present StemSeg that extends the use of CNNs to detect the WM portion representing the waypoints of all the fibers for a specific bundle. This anatomical landmark, called stem, can be critical for extracting that bundle. We provide the results of an empirical analysis focused on the Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus (IFOF). The effective segmentation of the stem improves the final segmentation of the IFOF, outperforming with a significant gap the reference state of the art. As a second and major contribution, we present Verifyber, a supervised tractogram filtering approach based on GDL, distinguishing between anatomically plausible and non-plausible fibers. The proposed model is designed to learn anatomical features directly from the fiber represented as a 3D points sequence. The extended empirical analysis on healthy and clinical subjects reveals multiple benefits of Verifyber: high filtering accuracy, low inference time, flexibility to different plausibility definitions, and good generalization. Overall, this thesis constitutes a step toward characterizing white matter using deep learning. It provides effective ways of encoding anatomical priors and an original deep learning model designed for fiber.