Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Differentiating The Substantia Nigra And Ventral Tegmental Area In Early-Stage Parkinson's Disease Using Iron Imaging, Erind Alushaj

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Excessive midbrain iron accumulation in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) contributes to degeneration of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Despite this understanding, there are no validated PD biomarkers. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can localize and quantify brain iron for diagnosis of PD. Seventeen early-stage PD patients and twenty-one controls were scanned at 3T and 7T MRI. Using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and R2* relaxometry, we analyzed the average iron content in the SNc, substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), and VTA. QSM detected significantly higher SNc iron content in PD patients compared to controls at both …

Neoadjuvant Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy To Treat Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients: The Role Of Dce-Mri, Matthew Mouawad

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current standard of breast conserving therapy is lumpectomy followed by whole breast radiotherapy which is prohibitively long for many patients (4-6 weeks). In addition, the need for treating the whole breast has been questioned. The London Regional Cancer Program is enrolling early stage breast cancer patients in a prospective Phase I/II clinical trial (SIGNAL) to assess the safety/efficacy of neoadjuvant stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) to the tumour alone to reduce treatment times. This provides a unique opportunity to assess tumour response to SABR using non-invasive imaging. Patients received a pre-SABR dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI to guide target volume delineation. A …

Identifying Neuroimaging And Genetic Correlates Of Delusions And Hallucinations In Alzheimer’S Disease, Juweiriya Ahmed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The co-occurrence of psychotic symptoms and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating phenotype that affects around 50% of individuals with AD. We hypothesized that distinct interactions between brain structures and genetic variants in dopaminergic, cholinergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems may be associated with the presence of hallucinations and delusions in AD. Using the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, we identified participants that presented with symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, or both symptoms. PLS-CA was used to identify differences in patterns of interactions between 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms and 82 neuroanatomical regions of interest between AD patients endorsing symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, and …

Predicting Alzheimer’S Disease Progression Using Multi-Modal Deep Learning Approach, Garam Lee, Kwangsik Nho, Byungkon Kang, Kyung-Ah Sohn, Dokyoon Kim, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition marked by a decline in cognitive functions with no validated disease modifying treatment. It is critical for timely treatment to detect AD in its earlier stage before clinical manifestation. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage between cognitively normal older adults and AD. To predict conversion from MCI to probable AD, we applied a deep learning approach, multimodal recurrent neural network. We developed an integrative framework that combines not only cross-sectional neuroimaging biomarkers at baseline but also longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and cognitive performance biomarkers obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging …

The Risk Of New-Onset Epilepsy And Refractory Epilepsy In Older Adult Stroke Survivors, Jorge G. Burneo, Tresah C. Antaya, Britney N. Allen, Andrea Belisle, Salimah Z. Shariff, Gustavo Saposnik

Neuroepidemiology Research Unit Project Summaries

Research Summary: Key Findings

• Stroke is a common cause of epilepsy in older adults, but little is known about stroke-related epilepsy or its outcomes in this population.
• 1.1% of older adult stroke survivors developed epilepsy in this study, of whom 12.9% developed refractory epilepsy, indicating that this population is particularly responsive to treatment.
• Over 85% of deaths in this population are not due to stroke or epilepsy.