NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121727
Eliana Monahhova , Alexandra Morozova , Dimitri Bredikhin , Julia Gorodnicheva , Amir Bekim , Anna Shestakova , Vasily Klucharev
{"title":"ERP correlates of semantic inconsistencies in deepfakes","authors":"Eliana Monahhova , Alexandra Morozova , Dimitri Bredikhin , Julia Gorodnicheva , Amir Bekim , Anna Shestakova , Vasily Klucharev","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Advances in deepfake technology raise concerns about disinformation spread. Novel deepfake technologies make it increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake media content. The current study investigated how speakers’ credibility, the participants’ traits and attitudes may influence the brain processing of audio deepfakes arguing for and against COVID-19 vaccination. We analyzed the electroencephalograms (EEGs) of 61 participants who supported or opposed COVID-19 vaccination. The participants were exposed to audio deepfakes portraying two speakers—a prominent medical doctor (pro-vaccine advocate) or a prominent COVID-19 dissident (anti-vaccine advocate)—making statements that were congruent or incongruent with their publicly known stances. Сritical words that contradicted the medical doctor's (pro-vaccine advocate) public opinion elicited a stronger delayed N400-like response with a latency of 500–750 ms compared to the critical words that matched his public opinion. We observed no similar effect for the critical words of the popular actress (anti-vaccine advocate). The speaker's credibility was significantly predicted by the amplitude of the N400 component to critical words that contradicted speakers’ public opinion, while participants’ intentions to share deepfakes were predicted by their neural responses to critical words that matched speakers’ public opinion. Our results do not only support previous behavioral findings that information is differently processed depending on source credibility but link them to the brain mechanisms of semantic processing of deepfakes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121727"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145998564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-15DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121728
Tingting Liu , Mingyang Li , Yuqing You , Hongxi Zhang , Ying Lv , Chai Ji , Yuting Li , Dan Wu , Shenghong Ju
{"title":"Maturation and reorganization of structural connectivity in infants within half a year","authors":"Tingting Liu , Mingyang Li , Yuqing You , Hongxi Zhang , Ying Lv , Chai Ji , Yuting Li , Dan Wu , Shenghong Ju","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although brain networks have been extensively investigated, the structural network refinement in the early postnatal period remains under-researched, a period during which axons undergo overproduction, elimination, and myelination, which may lead to alterations in the topology of intercortical connections.</div><div>A total of 104 preterm infants with few complications were enrolled in the current study. The whole-brain tractography weighted by fiber density was performed for each participant using the second-order integration over the fiber orientation distribution method, which was then sifted to 1 million streamlines. The successive changes in the structural connectivity of infants were examined.</div><div>The findings indicated a notable improvement in integration and segregation, characterized by a rapid initial increase in small-worldness followed by a deceleration, which is associated with the differential maturation of short- and long-range white matter. Global clustering coefficients increased with age, while node degree exhibited variability: frontal regions showed an increase, whereas temporoparietal-occipital regions demonstrated a decrease, indicating earlier maturation of the latter. Hemispheric hub edges, through short-range white matter connections between adjacent cortices, exhibited increased regularity and symmetry, potentially attributable to the earlier maturation of short-range fibers. Age-related changes in modularity and number indicate an increase in structural module segregation, characterized by declining modularity and stable composition, which reflects a distinct phase of connectivity reorganization.</div><div>This study improves our understanding of early brain network development by identifying key topological maturation trends in the structural brain networks of early infants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121728"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121752
Dovrat Atias , Andrey Markus , Simone Shamay-Tsoory
{"title":"Short-term dynamic changes in interbrain synchrony during first social interaction between strangers","authors":"Dovrat Atias , Andrey Markus , Simone Shamay-Tsoory","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121752","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121752","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emerging evidence highlights the role of interbrain synchrony in fostering the formation of relationships. Yet a key question remains: how does interbrain synchrony dynamically evolve throughout a first meeting between strangers, and to what extent do interbrain networks exhibit dynamic changes during the interaction?</div><div>In this study, we investigate short-term changes in behavioral and interbrain synchrony during initial face-to-face encounters between strangers. To assess experience-dependent changes in interbrain synchrony, we tracked these dynamics with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) over a five-minute interaction period, and examined whether these changes predict changes in movement synchronization. A total of 106 previously unacquainted participants were randomly paired into dyads and instructed to engage in a five-minute acquaintance conversation. Results indicate that movement synchronization increased throughout the interaction and predicted dyadic connectedness. The neuroimaging findings revealed heightened interbrain synchrony in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and premotor cortex (PMC). Critically, we observed a gradual increase in interbrain synchrony in the l.dlPFC- l.IFG and the r.PMC-r.IFG. Finally, we showed that interbrain synchrony in the r.PMC-r.IFG predicted movement synchronization only at the end of the meeting. These findings position interbrain synchrony as a rapidly plastic, experience-dependent coupling mechanism that emerges during first-time natural conversation, rather than a static correlate of shared state. It shows that minute-by-minute increases in behavioral and neural alignment play a foundational role in the formation of social bonds, potentially through motor pathways.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121752"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146044039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121711
Andrea Zaccaro , Francesca della Penna , Francesco Bubbico , Başak Bayram , Eleonora Parrotta , Mauro Gianni Perrucci , Marcello Costantini , Francesca Ferri
{"title":"Cardio-respiratory interactions in interoceptive perception: The role of heartbeat-modulated cortical oscillations","authors":"Andrea Zaccaro , Francesca della Penna , Francesco Bubbico , Başak Bayram , Eleonora Parrotta , Mauro Gianni Perrucci , Marcello Costantini , Francesca Ferri","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The cardiovascular and respiratory systems are anatomically and functionally integrated, suggesting that breathing continuously influences cardiac interoception. Previously, we demonstrated that the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), a neural marker of cardiac signal processing, is modulated by respiration, with enhanced late HEP positivity and increased interoceptive accuracy during exhalation. Here, we reanalysed our previous dataset in the time–frequency domain to investigate heartbeat-modulated cortical oscillations across respiratory phases during rest, cardiac interoception (heartbeat counting), and an exteroceptive control task. During heartbeat counting, exhalation was associated with increased late heartbeat-modulated alpha- and theta-band power and inter-trial coherence over fronto-parietal electrodes, compared with inhalation. Heartbeat-modulated alpha activity was related to HEP amplitude and predicted interoceptive accuracy. Exploratory analyses also indicated enhanced heartbeat-modulated functional connectivity during exhalation. These effects could not be accounted for by cardiac physiology alone and were absent during exteroception. We propose a mechanistic account of cardio-respiratory interactions grounded in interoceptive predictive coding, suggesting that exhalation enhances precision-weighting of cardiac signals by facilitating attentional allocation to interoceptive signals and suppressing task-irrelevant distractions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121711"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145959805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121715
Evan G. Center , Matti Pouke , Alessandro Nardi , Lukas Gehrke , Klaus Gramann , Timo Ojala , Steven M. LaValle
{"title":"Virtual body ownership affects the processing of sensorimotor contingencies and goal-oriented information extraction, but not semantics","authors":"Evan G. Center , Matti Pouke , Alessandro Nardi , Lukas Gehrke , Klaus Gramann , Timo Ojala , Steven M. LaValle","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121715","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous research has attempted to quantify presence in virtual environments using event-related potentials (ERPs). We contend, however, that previous efforts have fallen short of fully realizing this goal, failing to either (A) independently manipulate presence, (B) validate their measure of presence against traditional techniques, (C) adequately separate the constructs of presence and attention, and/or (D) implement a realistic and immersive environment and task. We address these shortcomings in an ERP experiment in which participants play an engaging target shooting game in virtual reality (VR). ERPs are time-locked to the release of a ball from a sling. We induce breaks in presence (BIPs) by freezing the ball’s release on a minority of trials. Embodiment is manipulated by allowing manual manipulation of the sling with a realistic avatar in one condition (embodied condition) and passive manipulation with only controllers in another (non-embodied condition). We find, in line with our preregistered predictions, that the N2, the P3b, and the N400 are selectively sensitive towards embodied BIPs, information extraction, and BIPs regardless of embodiment, respectively. The pattern of findings carries significant implications for theories of presence, which have been seldom addressed in previous ERP investigations on this topic.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121715"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146019087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-25DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121754
Yujing Huang (黄玉晶) , Hao Zhang (张灏) , Buqing Ma (马步青) , Zhe Yu (俞哲) , Shenyi Dai (戴珅懿) , Lu Cheng (程璐) , Li Su (苏里) , Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Gaoyi Yang (杨高怡) , Qingguo Ma (马庆国)
{"title":"Converse or reverse? Machine-learning modeling for disease progression: A study based on Alzheimer’s disease continuum cohort","authors":"Yujing Huang (黄玉晶) , Hao Zhang (张灏) , Buqing Ma (马步青) , Zhe Yu (俞哲) , Shenyi Dai (戴珅懿) , Lu Cheng (程璐) , Li Su (苏里) , Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Gaoyi Yang (杨高怡) , Qingguo Ma (马庆国)","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121754","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121754","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Longitudinal trajectories from healthy aging to Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease involve complex mechanisms.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We evaluated five machine learning approaches (Random Forest, Support Vector Machines, Radial Basis Function Networks, Backpropagation Networks, Convolutional Neural Network) to assess the importance of potential predictive markers across the health-to-dementia continuum. Using the ADNI cohort across four phases (ADNI1, ADNIGO, ADNI2, ADNI3), we analyzed participants with distinct trajectories: stable, convertible, and reverse progression.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Random Forest outperformed other models across key effectiveness metrics and achieved a macro-averaged sensitivity of 70.8 % and specificity of 96.8 % across all participant groups. Random Forest identified visuospatial and memory-related cognitive dysfunction as key predictive clinical features and several amyloid-related neuroimaging biomarkers — including temporal variations of amyloid uptake within inferior lateral ventricles, para-hippocampus—for classifying participant groups. Additionally, plasma APOE4 and long neurofilament light chain levels emerged as promising predictors for tracking progression.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These findings highlight the potential of machine learning in classifying disease trajectories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121754"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146065352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In vivo quantitative assessments with [11C]T-278, a PET imaging agent for diacylglycerol kinase gamma, in nonhuman primate brain","authors":"Yasushi Hattori , Tomoteru Yamasaki , Yuji Nagai , Takashi Okauchi , Masayuki Fujinaga , Wakana Mori , Takafumi Minamimoto , Makoto Higuchi , Tatsuki Koike , Ming-Rong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is an enzyme catalyzing ATP-dependent conversion of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid. Among DGK subtypes, DGKγ is localized in the brain and plays important roles in the central nervous system, although its detailed functions remain unknown. Recently, [<sup>11</sup>C]T-278 was developed as a selective positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent for DGKγ. This study aimed to conduct the first quantitative analysis using PET with [<sup>11</sup>C]T-278 in nonhuman primate brains. In rhesus monkeys, compartmental analyses showed superior goodness-of-fit in two-tissue compartment model than one-tissue compartment model. Full kinetic analysis of [<sup>11</sup>C]T-278 yielded reliable estimates of the total distribution volume (<em>V</em><sub>T</sub>) values across various brain regions, showing a strong correlation (slope = 1.07, <em>r</em> > 0.995) with <em>V</em><sub>T</sub> value derived from Logan GA. Furthermore, time-stability analysis for <em>V</em><sub>T</sub> estimations showed small variations (< 5 %) between 70 and 90 min of scan duration<del>s</del> across most regions of interest. This study provides the first <em>in vivo</em> visualization of DGKγ in monkey brain using quantitative PET analysis with [<sup>11</sup>C]T-278.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121731"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145994544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121751
Yihao Sheng , Woxin Pan , Haibing Huang , Shenghao Geng , Fangyan Jia , Liyv Lu , Ke Chen , Chunyan Zhu , Dandan Li
{"title":"Personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces frontal eeg complexity in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder","authors":"Yihao Sheng , Woxin Pan , Haibing Huang , Shenghao Geng , Fangyan Jia , Liyv Lu , Ke Chen , Chunyan Zhu , Dandan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121751","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121751","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) shows therapeutic potential for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Brain entropy has recently emerged as a candidate biomarker in neuropsychiatry, yet its modulation by rTMS in OCD remains unclear. Given EEG's superior temporal resolution for capturing rapid fluctuations in neural complexity, it was used to evaluate the effects of fMRI-neuronavigated rTMS on frontal entropy and its potential as an objective treatment marker.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Resting-state EEG was recorded from 44 OCD patients and 24 healthy controls (HCs) to compute frontal entropy- and complexity-based measures, including approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SampEn), and Lempel–Ziv complexity (LZC). Patients were randomized to an active (n = 22) or sham (n = 22) rTMS group, with the active group receiving individualized 1 Hz stimulation over the right pre-supplementary motor area for 14 consecutive days. EEG was repeated post-intervention.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>At baseline, OCD patients exhibited higher frontal complexity than healthy controls across all three measures. Linear mixed-effects models consistently revealed significant main effects of time and stimulation, as well as their interaction. Bayesian and FDR-corrected analyses confirmed significant reductions in all three measures following active stimulation. Post-treatment, frontal complexity remained elevated in the sham group relative to healthy controls, whereas no such difference was observed in the active stimulation group.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>OCD is characterized by increased frontal neural complexity as indexed by multiple entropy- and complexity-based EEG measures. Individualized rTMS modulated these abnormalities, supporting frontal EEG complexity as a promising objective biomarker of neuromodulatory effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121751"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146046675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121716
Jiaying Zhang , Junying Liang , Yiguang Liu , Cheng Luo
{"title":"Cortical encoding of acoustic and linguistic rhythms reflects L2 narrative comprehension","authors":"Jiaying Zhang , Junying Liang , Yiguang Liu , Cheng Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121716","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121716","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Speech comprehension is a multistage process involving both acoustic encoding and linguistic processing. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that low-frequency cortical activity can track perceived linguistic units (e.g., words) on top of basic acoustic features (e.g., speech envelope). However, it remains unclear how the neural tracking of acoustic and linguistic information relates to second language (L2) speech comprehension in narrative contexts. Here, we investigate neural tracking of narrative speech for L2 listeners using electroencephalography (EEG). Notably, we introduce amplitude modulation (AM) cues aligned with word rhythm onto the basic envelope of speech and employ a frequency-tagging paradigm to measure neural responses to word and AM rhythm separately. When narrative speech was presented to L2 listeners during a speech comprehension task, reliable neural tracking of word and AM rhythm was observed in low-frequency cortical activity. While the introduction of AM cues enhances both comprehension performance and word-tracking responses, listeners with high versus low comprehension performance exhibit differences in their word-tracking responses rather than AM-tracking responses. Furthermore, the power and phase associated with word-tracking responses jointly reflect individual comprehension performance of L2 listeners. Our results indicate that bottom-up acoustic cues and top-down linguistic knowledge predominantly modulate the low-frequency neural tracking of linguistic units, which contributes to speech comprehension in a nonnative language.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121716"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145990031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuroImagePub Date : 2026-02-15Epub Date: 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121743
Zi-Jian Feng , Ziyu Wei , Liquan Hong , Hongli Fang , Yu Han , Peifeng Yang , Dongsheng Lv , Yu-Feng Zang
{"title":"A watershed algorithm GUI for personalized fMRI-guided rTMS target","authors":"Zi-Jian Feng , Ziyu Wei , Liquan Hong , Hongli Fang , Yu Han , Peifeng Yang , Dongsheng Lv , Yu-Feng Zang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) increasingly relies on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to select stimulation sites, yet most pipelines depend on user-defined thresholds and atlas masks, which can shift individualized targets. We propose a watershed-based approach, implemented in a graphical user interface, that performs threshold-independent segmentation of functional images to support rTMS target localization. As a proof-of-concept, we focused on Alzheimer’s disease–related circuits within the default mode network, designating the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) as the deep effective region and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) as the superficial stimulation target. In a cohort of 21 healthy participants, quantitative comparison with a conventional threshold-based, mask-constrained peak strategy revealed high concordance for PCC peaks but a median spatial displacement of 6.0 mm (95 % CI: 0.0–12.7 mm) for IPL targets. Qualitative examples further illustrate that watershed segmentation reduces bias from neighboring functional clusters, truncation by atlas boundaries, and ambiguity among multiple local peaks. By decoupling target definition from user-chosen thresholds and packaging the method in an accessible toolbox, this framework offers a generalizable tool for individualized fMRI-guided rTMS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19299,"journal":{"name":"NeuroImage","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 121743"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}