Diffusion MRI underpins much of modern population neuroscience, yet scanner access remains concentrated in high-income settings, excluding the genetic, developmental, and disease diversity needed for generalizable discovery. Portable low-field MRI systems (field strengths below 0.1 T) offer a cheaper, infrastructure-light alternative that could extend diffusion imaging to under-represented populations, but only if the measurements are sufficiently repeatable. Here we provide the first systematic test-retest evaluation of tract-based diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) metrics at 64 mT. Ten healthy participants were scanned at two time-points (median interval 13 days) with an 18-direction (b = 900s/mm2) diffusion protocol and a T2-weighted structural sequence on a portable 64 mT scanner. After correction for distortions and gradient imperfections, diffusion tensors were estimated and constrained spherical deconvolution was performed to enable bundle-specific tractography. Tract averaged fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were extracted from a selection of white-matter tracts spanning projection, association, and commissural fiber categories. Bland-Altman analysis and within-subject coefficients of variation indicated strong scan-rescan agreement, while intraclass correlation coefficients were variable across tracts and metrics. Compared with high-field data, coefficients of variation were 3–10 times larger and standard deviations in the means were approximately an order of magnitude higher. Despite this, statistical power calculations yielded feasible sample-size estimates for detecting group differences in a two-tailed t-test: for a 4% difference in means, approximately 25 participants per group were sufficient for the majority of tracts in MD and RD, and around 65 for FA. Although absolute DT-MRI metric values diverge from high-field references due to partial volume effects and noise-floor bias, continued advances in acquisition, reconstruction, and processing are expected to further narrow this gap. The results demonstrate that portable 64 mT MRI can deliver repeatable DT-MRI metrics, establishing a foundation for democratizing advanced neuroimaging and enabling population-scale studies in regions that have historically been excluded from brain research.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid primarily derived from hemp (cannabis sativa L.) that has been investigated for its potential anxiolytic effects. Prior functional neuroimaging studies suggest that CBD may affect brain regions associated with stress and anxiety. However, it remains unclear if there is a consistent pattern of modulation within these regions and if there is a correlation with behavioral or physiological measures. We conducted a systematic review examining adult human neuroimaging investigations comparing CBD with placebo under conditions related to stress or anxiety. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and ProQuest for studies published before June 30, 2025. The quality of the evidence was assessed with the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials (RoB 2), findings were summarized using a Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) approach, and certainty of evidence was rated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. A total of 12 studies with 146 participants in 7 cohorts met the eligibility criteria and were included in the synthesis. Results indicated a wide distribution of reported peaks across many cortical and subcortical regions with mixed directions of activation or perfusion, demonstrating substantial heterogeneity in the reported findings. Risk of bias assessments generally indicated either some concerns or high risk of bias, and the certainty of evidence was judged to be low to very low. Overall, there is a lack of consistent evidence showing the acute effects of CBD on the brain across various study designs. The current literature on the putative anxiolytic effects of CBD is constrained by methodological variability and limited statistical power. Future studies should employ standardized paradigms, improve reporting practices, and include more diverse and adequately powered samples to clarify the neural correlates of CBD-related effects on stress and anxiety.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO, CRD420251063369.
Increased racial and ethnic diversity in population neuroscience research is widely understood to facilitate better identification of subgroup effects and more generalizable findings. Consistency in reporting race and ethnicity population descriptor variables would allow the research community to better assess progress toward more representative datasets. One important lever for ensuring robust and consistent reporting of population descriptors are journal guidelines, and this review of current guidelines finds that there are opportunities for neuroscience journals to strengthen scientific rigor by more clearly delineating expectations with respect to reporting and operationalizing race and ethnicity population descriptors.
Accurate delineation of white matter tracts is critical in the pre-operative assessment of paediatric brain tumour patients, where preservation of eloquent pathways directly influences surgical planning and functional outcomes. Tractfinder is a recently introduced automated method for white matter tract segmentation in tumour patients, but its voxel-based (mask) outputs limit compatibility with streamline-based tractography tools, visualisation workflows, and downstream analytical frameworks. Here we introduce Tractfinder-constrained Tractography (TcT), a streamline-based extension that constrains probabilistic tractography to the probability maps produced by Tractfinder, generating streamline representations while preserving the speed and automation that make Tractfinder clinically appealing. We evaluated TcT in ten pre-operative paediatric patients with supratentorial tumours, targeting three clinically relevant tracts - the corticospinal tract, arcuate fasciculus, and optic radiation. Spatial agreement between TcT and conventional tractography was assessed using Bundle Adjacency (BA). Mean BA scores across all three tracts ranged from 2.1 to 2.6 mm, comparing favourably against published inter-protocol benchmarks for conventional probabilistic tractography (4.3 mm), and approaching within-protocol variability. The TcT pipeline was fully automated, required no manual region-of-interest placement, and completed in approximately 5-15 min per subject compared to 1-2 h for conventional tractography. These results demonstrate that TcT produces streamline-based tract segmentations with good spatial agreement to conventional tractography, while offering substantially reduced processing time and operator burden.
BackgroundThe human subcortical visual system is divided into distinct magnocellular, parvocellular and koniocellular pathways, which contribute differentially to specific aspects of early visual processing. Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in early-visual processing, especially involving N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated non-linear gain within the subcortical magnocellular visual system. Nevertheless, methods for investigating the pathophysiological consequences remain limited. Flash-VEP can be obtained using either transient (tVEP) or steady-state (ssVEP) approaches. Flash stimuli also induce sustained reduction (“blocking”) of the posterior alpha rhythm. Red (vs. white) flash stimuli selectively suppress activity in magnocellular-recipient layers of primary visual cortex. Here, we investigated flash-VEP responses in schizophrenia, with emphasis on the potential utility for assessing selective pathophysiological involvement of the magnocellular and koniocellular pathways.MethodsWe obtained flash-VEP from 28 healthy control and 27 schizophrenia participants to white and red stimuli across a range of stimulation rates, and pattern-VEP from 29 control and 22 schizophrenia participants. A subset (17 control/15 schizophrenia) participated in both studies. We also obtained fMRI to 6-Hz white and red stimuli in an additional sample of 14 control and 14 schizophrenia participants. fMRI analyses focused on both visual cortex and inferior pulvinar nucleus.ResultsSchizophrenia participants showed increased flash-tVEP responses (d = 0.99, p < 0.001) despite significantly reduced pattern-tVEP (d = −0.99, p < 0.001). In addition, the ssVEP (photic driving) response was significantly reduced in schizophrenia, as reflected by reduced intertrial trial coherence (ITC) within the alpha frequency band (d = −0.78, p < 0.001). Alpha blocking was induced equivalently by white and red stimuli in HC, suggesting magnocellular involvement via the retinotectal system. The degree of blocking was significantly reduced in schizophrenia (d = −0.83, p = 0.003) and correlated significantly with neurocognitive impairment (rp = 0.65, p < 0.001). fMRI studies showed reduced pulvinar activation (d = −1.1, p = 0.008), along with aberrantly increased dorsal cortical activation (d = 0.98, p = 0.019).ConclusionThe findings reinforce the importance of subcortical visual dysfunction as a driver of impaired neurocognition in schizophrenia and provide a scalable mechanism for assessment of early-visual dysfunction within the clinical setting. Deficit patterns are consistent with concepts of impaired magnocellular and koniocellular visual function affecting both thalamocortical and retinotectal system function in schizophrenia.
We report the intraoperative ultrasound findings in a male patient with history of stage IVb mantle cell lymphoma who developed new-onset personality changes and gait instability. Brain imaging revealed an extensive right frontal white matter lesion with subtle multifocal spreading. Given the absence of contrast enhancement on MRI and considering the high-dose steroid therapy administered, an open biopsy was performed due to suspicion of cerebral lymphoma. During procedure, intraoperative ultrasound with and without microbubble contrast was carried out, demonstrating distinct echotexture features, determining the site of biopsy. The histological analysis led to a diagnosis of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). To the best of our knowledge, this may represent one of the first descriptions of intraoperative ultrasound characteristics in PML.
Identifying spatially localized neuroanatomical signals from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is central to many clinical and scientific questions, including medical diagnosis and the investigation of disease mechanisms. However, reliably detecting such subtle and spatially localized signals from high-dimensional MRI data remains challenging. In our study, we propose a performance-guided two-dimensional (2D) slice-based pipeline for identifying candidate spatial regions in brain MRI. The pipeline employs efficient 2D convolutional neural networks trained on plane-specific MRI slices, using binary classification as a modeling task to evaluate slice-level performance. The best-performing slice from each anatomical plane is then subjected to occlusion-based attribution analysis, and the resulting maps are jointly examined to localize a candidate three-dimensional brain region. We demonstrate the proposed pipeline using sex classification as a controlled testbed, identifying a spatially localized candidate region corresponding to the anterior cingulate cortex and adjacent medial structures including portions of the corpus callosum genu, consistent with prior neuroanatomical findings on sex differences in these regions.
IntroductionThe pulvinar is thought to regulate cortico-cortical communication through transthalamic pathways, yet the computational consequences of such modulation remain unclear.MethodsA minimal pulvinar-inspired long-range skip pathway in a hierarchical convolutional vision model was tested, implemented as a learned projection from early to late feature maps coupled with a gain-controlled gating mechanism. The architecture was evaluated in two complementary experiments: CIFAR-10 categorization and a near-threshold contrast-detection task with noisy backgrounds.ResultsIn CIFAR-10 categorization, the pulvinar-augmented model did not primarily act as a uniform accuracy booster; instead, it reshaped contrast-dependent response scaling and stabilized internal representations, consistent with gain control. These effects persisted under matched representational regimes, indicating that performance differences cannot be explained by changes in representational geometry alone. In the near-threshold detection task, pulvinar-like modulation systematically redistributed detection outcomes, consistent with shifts in decision criterion under uncertainty, and in specific regimes supported improved discriminability.DiscussionTogether, these findings indicate that pulvinar-inspired connectivity contributes primarily to gain and decision-criterion control. We propose that the pulvinar regulates how sensory evidence is weighted and converted into decisions, rather than directly enhancing task accuracy.
Voxel-based meta-analyses—also known as coordinate-based meta-analyses (CBMAs)—are powerful tools for synthesizing evidence from neuroimaging studies in human neuroscience, including investigations of psychological functions and differences in brain disorders. To achieve their full potential in accurately assessing the evidence, CBMAs should adhere to established best-practicmpe guidelines, such as the “Ten Simple Rules” published in 2018. Yet, even when studies report following these recommendations, the degree to which individual items are applicable or fully addressed is often unclear. To better support the evaluation of methodological rigor—which the 10 rules already promote but are not always consistently applied—, the developers of the most used CBMA methods followed a Delphi-style iterative process to create a reporting checklist focused on the methodological quality of CBMAs (Qual-CBMA). Qual-CBMA comprises criteria (e.g., preregistration, systematic search, homogeneous study characteristics, etc.) that authors should verify and comment on explicitly in the checklist (and, when unmet, also in the manuscript). The checklist encourages rigor and transparency by prompting authors to identify potential methodological limitations and to discuss their relevance—or irrelevance—in the context of their specific study. The checklist is designed as an aid to make reporting clearer and more transparent, not as a tool for evaluating whether authors have done something incorrectly. In this context, a high-quality CBMA is not defined by meeting every criterion, but by clearly commenting on the criteria—and explaining when unmet criteria are appropriately not applicable given the study’s objectives. We encourage authors to submit the Qual-CBMA checklist, together with their accompanying comments, when publishing new CBMAs, thereby reinforcing transparency and rigorous methodology and advancing understanding in cognitive neuroscience and clinical conditions.
Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) has garnered widespread attention due to its high incidence and its association with increased risk of stroke recurrence and mortality. Growing evidence indicates that early prediction of PSCI and the implementation of effective interventions can help delay disease progression and improve long-term patient outcomes. With advances in imaging technology, the role of neuroimaging has evolved from traditional anatomical localization to a multimodal assessment system that integrates macrostructural, microstructural connectivity, and molecular metabolic information. Imaging features can serve as objective and reproducible quantitative indicators, sensitively capturing subtle pathological changes in brain tissue, thereby providing a reliable basis for clinical diagnosis, treatment strategy formulation, and prevention. This review systematically summarizes recent research progress in the clinical diagnosis and imaging characteristics of PSCI. It focuses on analyzing the impact and underlying mechanisms of specific biomarkers, gene expression, cerebral small vessel disease, and cerebral perfusion abnormalities on cognitive function, and further explores the application prospects of advanced imaging technologies in the assessment of PSCI.
IntroductionSmoothing fMRI data prior to analysis is a fundamental and widely used technique to increase sensitivity. Unconstrained smoothing can also reduce the spatial specificity of the analysis by introducing artifacts in the data. This study tested the effects of smoothing on the reliability and accuracy of both task fMRI and resting state data. The effects of unconstrained smoothing were compared to those of an anatomically constrained smoothing method, which prevents smoothing across the white and gray matter surfaces of the cortex.MethodsUnconstrained Gaussian smoothing and anatomically constrained smoothing were applied to simulated data, a sensory task fMRI dataset, a precision fMRI motor task mapping dataset, and a resting state fMRI dataset. Smoothing-related artifacts were tested for and compared between the smoothing methods, and the effects of the smoothing methods on the reliability and accuracy were measured.ResultsIn the experiments with simulated data, unconstrained Gaussian smoothing demonstrated decreased accuracy and increased white matter activation compared to constrained smoothing. In the sensory task activation analysis, both Gaussian and constrained smoothing increased the reliability of the sensory task fMRI activations, but Gaussian smoothing increased the percentage of active voxels in the white matter relative to constrained smoothing (p < 0.001). Relative to constrained smoothing, Gaussian smoothing with FWHM > 3 mm also decreased the accuracy of motor mapping results from individual sessions to the precision maps (p < 0.001). With cluster significance thresholding, mean false positive voxel percentages remained below 5% for both methods across the tested kernel widths. Both Gaussian and constrained smoothing demonstrated a biasing effect on the resting state connectivity of nearby regions and on the graph theory metrics of the functional connectomes.ConclusionThis study showed that unconstrained Gaussian smoothing spreads activation across cortical boundaries, increases white matter activation, and biases graph theory connectivity metrics. Anatomically constrained smoothing reduced some of these smoothing artifacts while still increasing reliability and may be a reasonable alternative to unconstrained Gaussian smoothing.
Understanding how large-scale functional networks mature across development is essential for linking brain organization to cognition and behavior. Thus, the population-level organization of functional networks in children and how it compares to adult network architecture deserves further study. Using resting-state fMRI data from 7,316 children aged 9–10 years in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, we mapped functional networks in matched discovery (n = 3,624) and replication (n = 3,692) cohorts in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum. Functional connectivity and network topography were highly reproducible across child cohorts, demonstrating that large-scale network organization can be reliably estimated in childhood at the population scale. Comparisons with the adult Human Connectome Project (HCP; n = 1,000) dataset revealed reduced cross-age similarity compared to the within-age similarity. Our findings indicate that by late childhood, the global scaffold of brain networks approximates adult architecture with continued refinement, particularly in higher-order association systems. This large-scale, discovery–replication framework establishes a reproducible benchmark for cross-age functional network mapping, providing a foundation for longitudinal analyses of maturation across adolescence.
BackgroundGBCA-enhanced MRI is considered the gold standard for diagnosing intracranial tumors. However, concerns regarding gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) and workflow limitations have led to increasing interest in GBCA-free MRI techniques.ObjectiveTo compare the diagnostic performance of GBCA-free MRI with GBCA-enhanced MRI for detecting intracranial tumors within a neurological diagnostic pathway.MethodsIn this retrospective cohort study, 191 patients with 195 tumors (124 intra-axial and 71 extra-axial) and 410 controls were included from a regional brain tumor diagnostic pathway between 2013 and 2022. Three senior neuroradiologists independently assessed anonymized MRI scans. Each scan was first evaluated using GBCA-free sequences and subsequently reassessed using the full GBCA-enhanced protocol. Sensitivity, specificity, and inter-method agreement were calculated.ResultsGBCA-free MRI demonstrated a sensitivity of 79.6% and a specificity of 96.1%, whereas GBCA-enhanced MRI showed a sensitivity of 73.3% and a specificity of 92.9% (p = 0.15). Agreement between the two imaging approaches was substantial (κ = 0.699). Subgroup analyses showed comparable performance for intra-axial tumors, while both imaging approaches demonstrated modest sensitivity for extra-axial tumors.ConclusionGBCA-free MRI demonstrated diagnostic performance comparable to that of GBCA-enhanced MRI for detecting intracranial tumors. These findings suggest that GBCA-free MRI may serve as a reliable first-line screening tool within the neurological diagnostic pathway, reserving GBCA administration for cases requiring further lesion characterization.
BackgroundSchizophrenia (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.Study designSimultaneous 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.Study resultsAs 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.ConclusionSchizophrenia 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.
IntroductionFatigue 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.MethodsForty-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.ResultsIn 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, F = 5.558, p = 0.023) and the right superior frontal gyrus (ΔR2 = 0.058, F = 4.059, p = 0.050).DiscussionThe 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.
ObjectiveWe 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).MethodsForty-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.ResultsCompared 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.ConclusionAbnormal 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.
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.
IntroductionHuman 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsData 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.ConclusionIt 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.
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.
