Frontiers in neuroimaging最新文献

{"title":"Opposite sides of different coins: near-diametrical opposition of physiological indices of reduced accuracy of face emotion recognition in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders.","authors":"Daniel C Javitt, Antigona Martinez, Pejman Sehatpour, Pamela D Butler, Elisa Dias, Kristin Micceri, Melissa Breland, Russell H Tobe","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1771087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1771087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Schizophrenia (Sz) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with reduced accuracy offace emotion recognition (FER). Nevertheless, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms may diverge, potentially related to differential processing patterns within the early visual system. Here, we investigated physiological-level responses to emotional faces. We hypothesized that Sz and ASD would be associated with convergent behavioral performance, but divergent pathophysiological mechanisms.</p><p><strong>Study design: </strong>Simultaneous eye-tracking and continuous EEG data were obtained from 23 adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (Sz), 21 autistic adults, and 24 neurotypical controls (NC) in response to intact and chimeric emotion faces. Event-related potentials (ERP) were calculated from the ongoing EEG data using time- and time-frequency (TF) domain approaches. Symptoms were rated using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) in Sz and ASD, respectively.</p><p><strong>Study results: </strong>As predicted, Sz and ASD were associated with similar levels of reduced FER accuracy relative to NC, but differential patterns of eye tracking and EEG-related activity. Rates of eye- vs. mouth-fixations were reduced across groups but did not correlate with FER. Nevertheless, the ability to utilize eye-information diverged across groups. Thus, when viewing chimeric faces, Sz was associated with reduced tendency to utilize eye information and increased tendency to utilize mouth information even when fixation location was considered. In TF analyses, reduced FER accuracy was associated with reduced initial sensory responses in Sz, as reflected in the theta-band time-frequency response. In contrast, in ASD, reduced FER accuracy was associated with increased alpha-frequency event-related desynchronization (alpha-ERD) consistent with hyper-engagement of secondary visual regions (V2). A combination of physiological and eye-tracking measures differentiated schizophrenia and ASD with >90% accuracy. V2 hyper-engagement in ASD correlated with both reduced FER accuracy and ADOS Social Interaction domain scores.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Schizophrenia and ASD are associated with divergent physiological-level alterations within the early visual system during emotional face processing, supporting models of magnocellular visual hypoactivity in schizophrenia but retinotectal visual hyperactivity leading to hyper-engagement of non-face regions (V2) by face stimuli in ASD. These alterations, in turn, may serve as targets for future intervention studies related to social cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1771087"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147846878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neural correlates of Sudoku play: a systematic review of brain imaging studies.","authors":"Morgan J Williams, Ellie J Williamson, Samantha Jane Brooks","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1756394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1756394","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Sudoku is a popular logic-based puzzle that requires sustained attention, working memory, and rule-based reasoning. Despite its widespread use, the neural processes supporting Sudoku play have not been systematically synthesised, limiting understanding of its potential applications beyond leisure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This systematic review aimed to examine the neural correlates of Sudoku solving and to evaluate its potential relevance as a cognitive training paradigm. Six neuroimaging studies were included (five fMRI, and one fNIRS).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across haemodynamic studies, Sudoku solving consistently engaged frontoparietal networks, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and parietal regions implicated in executive control and visuospatial working memory, alongside activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), associated with performance monitoring and cognitive control.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The included fNIRS study provided converging evidence of increased prefrontal activation during Sudoku solving under more ecologically valid conditions. Together, these findings suggest that Sudoku play recruits distributed neural systems supporting cognitive control, monitoring, and memory processes. While the limited number and heterogeneity of studies preclude firm conclusions regarding efficacy, the observed neural engagement highlights Sudoku as a candidate task for probing executive function and self-regulatory processes in both healthy and clinical populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1756394"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136012/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147846903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial fatigue are differently related to cortical complexity of superior temporal and frontal brain regions in Crohn's disease.","authors":"Theresa A McIver, Charles N Bernstein, Ruth Ann Marrie, John D Fisk, Chase R Figley, Jennifer Kornelsen","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1814006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1814006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Fatigue is common in persons with Crohn's disease, negatively impacting quality of life in both active and remitted disease state. Neural correlates of fatigue in Crohn's disease are understudied, particularly relative to the separate impacts of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial fatigue. The potential moderating role of cortical complexity on the relationship between disease activity and fatigue has yet to be examined.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Forty-nine participants with Crohn's disease and 49 healthy control participants completed the Fatigue Impact Scale (which includes physical, cognitive, and psychosocial subscales) and whole-brain T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Cortical complexity analyses were performed in CAT12, including within- and between-group analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the Crohn's disease group, greater fatigue across all domains was associated with lower cortical complexity in the right superior temporal gyrus. Physical and cognitive impacts of fatigue were differently related to cortical complexity in the superior frontal and supramarginal gyri. Cortical complexity in the healthy control group was exclusively, positively, related to the physical impact of fatigue. The relationship between disease activity and fatigue varied relative to cortical complexity in the right superior temporal gyrus (ΔR² = 0.062, <i>F</i> = 5.558, <i>p</i> = 0.023) and the right superior frontal gyrus (ΔR² = 0.058, <i>F</i> = 4.059, <i>p</i> = 0.050).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The present findings expand our understanding of the complex brain-gut interactions linking disease activity and fatigue in Crohn's disease relative to underlying differences in cortical complexity.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1814006"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13128373/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147824366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electroconvulsive therapy modulates Fronto-temporal functional connectivity in adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation.","authors":"Xiaolu Chen, Jianmei Chen, Ming Ai, Su Hong, Linxi Dai, Xiaoshan Shen, Li Kuang","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1811399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1811399","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>We aimed to investigate changes in whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) before and after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidal ideation (SI).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Forty-nine adolescents with MDD and SI were enrolled, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was performed at baseline and after ECT for each patient. Forty healthy controls (HCs) were scanned only at baseline. Region-of-interest (ROI)-based whole-brain FC analyses were used, with the left superior frontal gyrus (L-SFG) and right superior temporal gyrus (R-STG) as seed regions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared with HCs, MDD patients at baseline showed decreased FC between R-STG and left inferior occipital gyrus (L-IOG), and between L-SFG and right anterior cingulate gyrus (R-ACG). After ECT, MDD patients showed reduced FC between R-STG and right middle temporal gyrus (R-MTG), increased FC between L-SFG and right middle frontal gyrus (R-MFG), and decreased FC between L-SFG and right superior occipital gyrus (R-SOG)/right superior frontal gyrus (R-SFG). Pearson's correlation found that post-ECT Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAMD-17) scores were negatively correlated with FC between R-STG and L-IOG.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Abnormal FC in the frontal-cingulate and frontal-temporal circuits may be a potential neurobiological basis of depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents. ECT may improve these symptoms by modulating FC in these key brain regions.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1811399"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13105888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hypereosinophilic syndrome with central nervous system involvement: a case report.","authors":"Wenjuan Xu, Chao Zhang, Fan Wang, Xiaomin Liu, Xiao Zhang, Fei Mao, Xinyi Wang, Xiaoyu Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1783329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1783329","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cerebral infarction is the most common neurological complication in patients with hypereosinophilic syndromes (HES), typically occurring in border-zone regions. However, intracranial artery stenosis is rarely observed in HES, and the underlying mechanisms of cerebral infarction remain largely unknown. Here, we report a case of HES complicated by acute ischemic stroke secondary to severe stenosis of left middle cerebral artery (MCA). A diagnosis of idiopathic HES was established based on eosinophilia (14.08%) in bone marrow aspiration and negative genetic testing. Without contraindications, intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase was administered, resulting in a decrease of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score from 13 to 2. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) showed homogeneous, concentric wall thickening and enhancement in the terminal segments of the left internal carotid artery and at the origin of the MCA, indicating an inflammatory process. Follow-up HR-MRI at 17 months demonstrated a reduction in vessel wall enhancement after immunosuppressive therapy. Over the two-year follow-up period, the eosinophil count remained within the range of 0.22-1.09 × 10⁹/L, and no stroke recurrence was observed. In the literature review, only three cases of stroke associated with HES reported intracranial stenosis, all located in the M1 segment of the MCA. Their clinical outcomes improved following immunosuppressive therapy. Thus, intracranial large artery stenosis is a rare etiology of stroke in patients with HES. Homogeneous vessel wall enhancement on HR-MRI suggests an underlying vasculitis, which appears responsive to immunosuppressive therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1783329"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13099763/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of commercial 1Tx32Rx vs. 8Tx32Rx head coils for routine 7T neuroimaging.","authors":"Carina Graf, Belinda Ding, Catarina Rua, Krzysztof Klodowski, Christopher T Rodgers","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1736950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1736950","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Human 7T MRI systems are manufactured by three vendors (Siemens, Philips, and GE) who all provide equivalent head coils from the same 3rd party manufacturer. Furthermore, many 7T MRI sites have two head coils available for neuroimaging: a 1Tx32Rx head coil for conventional single-channel transmit imaging and an 8Tx32Rx head coil for parallel-transmit (pTx) imaging.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We compared the performance of these coils in six healthy volunteers. All scans were done on a 7T MRI (MAGNETOM Terra, Siemens, Germany). We tested seven sequences in wide use at our centre: B₀ and B₁ ⁺ mapping, anatomical T₁-weighted MP2RAGE, R₂*-mapping, single-voxel spectroscopy (MRS), echo-planar imaging time series, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Sequences were run unmodified and without any pTx pulses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Data quality is comparable for both coils. The 8Tx32Rx coil had improved B₁ ⁺ in inferior brain regions, enhanced spinal cord visibility in the cervical spine on anatomical MP2RAGE, higher SNR in MRS of the brainstem, and more defined fitted white matter tracts in the DTI images. All sequences showed acceptable data quality with the 8Tx32Rx coil.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>It is reasonable to substitute the 8Tx32Rx coil for the 1Tx32Rx coil for standard neuroimaging protocols. This will enable advanced parallel transmit sequences to be added to protocols with minimal disruption.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1736950"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13056848/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147647475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Retraction: Initial insights into post-contrast enhancement in ultra-low-field MRI: Case Report.","authors":"","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1816667","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1816667","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This retracts the article DOI: 10.3389/fnimg.2025.1507522.].</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1816667"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13015187/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147522633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unique presentation of superficial siderosis of the central nervous system following pituitary tumor surgery: a case report and literature review.","authors":"Tengyao Liang, Jiangqin Song, Fengzhu Zhao, Weifang Zhu, Hui Wei","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1751864","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1751864","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Superficial Siderosis of the Central Nervous System is an infrequent neurological disorder resulting from hemosiderin deposition due to chronic and recurrent subarachnoid hemorrhage, leading to significant neurological impairments including sensorineural hearing loss, cerebellar ataxia, and pyramidal signs. This case report presents a 50-year-old male patient with a history of pituitary tumor surgery, manifesting progressive neurological symptoms over 2 years, thereby highlighting the potential long-term complications associated with SSCNS. The atypical clinical presentation, coupled with a surgical background, underscores the diagnostic challenges faced by clinicians, who may misattribute symptoms to more common neurological conditions. Advanced imaging modalities, particularly susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), have proven essential in enhancing the diagnostic accuracy for SSCNS, revealing characteristic patterns of iron deposition that are often subtle and can lead to delayed recognition. This case not only contributes to the existing literature by documenting a rare presentation of SSCNS but also emphasizes the necessity for increased awareness and vigilance among healthcare providers regarding this condition's complex manifestations. The findings advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration between neurologists and radiologists to improve recognition and management strategies, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes. Despite the rarity and variability of SSCNS, which complicates the establishment of standardized treatment protocols, this case highlights the critical need for continued research into its underlying mechanisms and therapy efficacy, particularly in patients with previous neurological interventions. Enhanced educational initiatives may be pivotal in addressing the diagnostic challenges associated with this debilitating condition.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1751864"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12979144/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147464496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diffusion MRI sampling schemes bias diffusion metrics and tractography.","authors":"Ivanei Bramati, Diego Szczupak, Marina Carneiro Monteiro, Fernanda Meireles, Daniel Menezes Guimarães, Ryan J Dean, Lynn K Paul, Fernanda Tovar-Moll","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2026.1670604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1670604","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Diffusion MRI is increasingly used to study white-matter architecture, but tractography and diffusion metrics can be biased by different sampling schemes. We assessed systematic differences across four common protocols-single-shell high-angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), Siemens clinical multi-shell (Sms), diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI), and Human Connectome Project multi-shell (HCPms)-in healthy adults and individuals with corpus callosum dysgenesis (CCD).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All data were acquired on a single 3 T scanner and processed uniformly to extract fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), effective contrast-to-noise ratio (eCNR), and orientation dispersion within the corpus callosum (CC), corona radiata (CR), and centrum semiovale (CSO). In controls, we measured tract volumes for CC, bilateral CR, anterior commissure (AC) and posterior commissure (PC), and streamline counts for AC and PC; in CCD, we quantified volumes of the Probst and sigmoid bundles.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across participants, FA and MD showed moderate cross-scheme correlations for most ROIs, but matched means were rare (only Sms-HARDI in CC). eCNR and dispersion exhibited few cross-scheme correlations; however, means were similar for eCNR between Sms and HCPms and for dispersion among HARDI, DSI, and HCPms. Tract-based volumes correlated across Sms, DSI, and HCPms for CC in controls and for the right sigmoid and both Probst bundles in CCD. DSI and HCPms yielded similar volumes in all ROIs (controls and CCD). In controls, Sms volumes agreed with DSI/HCPms in CR, but were lower in CC and in all CCD ROIs. HARDI produced higher volumes in CC and bilateral CR in controls and in all CCD ROIs. For AC and PC in controls, tract-based means (volumes, streamlines, streamlines/volume) were consistent across schemes; nonetheless, correlations were limited-streamlines and streamlines/volume correlated for Sms, DSI, and HARDI in AC, and for DSI and HCPms in PC.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings demonstrate systematic differences in voxel-wise metrics and tractography outcomes from four diffusion-sampling schemes. In addition to qualitatively informing attempts to consolidate or contrast data across schemes, future work could explore regression-based harmonization-and other methods-to reduce residual bias and enable pooled analyses across diverse protocols.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"5 ","pages":"1670604"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12975589/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147446308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post COVID-19 condition is associated with altered regional cerebral blood volume as revealed by dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI.","authors":"Bradley J MacIntosh, S Shirley Lin, Finn O'Hara, Nathan W Churchill, Fred Tam, Alexandra Pavel, Eugenie Roudaia, Allison B Sekuler, Ivy Cheng, Fuqiang Gao, Benjamin Lam, Chris Heyn, Mario Masellis, J Jean Chen, Tom A Schweizer, Sandra E Black, Simon J Graham","doi":"10.3389/fnimg.2025.1688973","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2025.1688973","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with central nervous system dysfunction implicating cerebrovascular and neurovascular units, as reflected in lower regional cerebral blood flow among non-hospitalized individuals that experienced post COVID-19 condition (PCC). This study investigates whether PCC is associated with altered regional cerebral blood volume assessed using Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast (DSC) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The comparison control group are individuals without PCC who previously experienced cold or flu-like symptoms, or COVID-19.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty-seven participants were recruited: 36 with PCC (mean age: 42.7, standard deviation: 10.4, 26 females) and 21 controls (mean age: 41.6, standard deviation: 14.7, 13 females). T2*-weighted DSC MRI was performed at 3 Tesla to image the first passage of the bolus. A total of 22 regions of interest (ROIs) were considered. Group differences in DSC-derived cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were evaluated using Bayesian regression, providing median group differences, highest density interval (HDI), and the probability of direction (PD) estimates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The two groups (PCC and controls) were matched for age, sex, days from symptom onset, and number of previous vaccines, but had different degrees of self-report illness severity. The rCBV analysis showed median group differences (range: -0.05 to -0.13), with PD > 0.90, indicating a high probability of decreased rCBV in the PCC group, involving the superior frontal gyrus, thalamus, paracentral lobule, cingulate gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus ROIs. By comparison, group differences in rCBF were muted and did not reach PD > 0.90.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>We found group-level differences that were reflected by lower regional rCBV in PCC relative to controls. The imaging findings are suggestive of cerebrovascular alterations several months after the initial illness.</p>","PeriodicalId":73094,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in neuroimaging","volume":"4 ","pages":"1688973"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12956688/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147367398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}