There is a dearth of studies on neuroimaging correlates of Bipolar Disorder (BD) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We describe the clinical profile and neuroimaging findings of four cases of MS with BD. Among them, two patients had multiple mood episodes preceding the neurological symptoms, one had concurrent manic and neurological symptoms, and one had multiple depressive episodes and an isolated steroid-induced manic episode. Frontal and temporal lobes, and Periventricular White Matter were involved in all four cases, and hence may be considered biological substrates of BD in MS. Larger studies are needed to validate the utility of these findings.

During the postpartum period, the paternal brain suffers extensive and complex neurobiological alterations, through the experience of father-infant interactions. Although the impact of such experience in the mother has been increasingly studied over the past years, less is known about the neurobiological correlates of fatherhood-that is, the alterations in the brain and other physiological systems associated with the experience of fatherhood. With the present study, we aimed to perform a scoping review of the available literature on the genetic, neuroendocrine, and brain correlates of fatherhood and identify the main gaps in the current knowledge. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases were searched for eligible studies on paternal neuroplasticity during the postpartum period, over the past 15 years. Reference lists of relevant key studies and reviews were also hand-searched. The research team independently screened the identified studies based on the established inclusion criteria. Extracted data were analyzed using tables and descriptive synthesis. Among the 29 studies that met our inclusion criteria, the vast majority pertained to neuroendocrine correlates of fatherhood (n = 19), followed by brain activity or connectivity (n = 7), association studies of candidate genes (n = 2), and brain structure correlates (n = 1). Collectively, studies published during the past 15 years suggest the existence of significant endocrine (testosterone, oxytocin, prolactin, and cortisol levels) and neurofunctional alterations (changed activity in several brain networks related to empathy and approach motivation, emotional processing and mentalizing, emotion regulation, dorsal attention, and default mode networks) as a result of fatherhood, as well as preliminary evidence of genetic variability accounting for individual differences during the postpartum period in fathers. No studies were so far published evaluating epigenetic mechanisms associated with the paternal brain, something that was also the focus of the current review. We highlight the need for further research that examines neuroplasticity during the experience of fatherhood and that considers both the interplay between hormones and simultaneous assessment of the different biomarkers (e.g., associations between hormones and neural activity); data collection protocols and assessment times should also be refined.

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome including a group of neurodegenerative disorders that present with language impairment. We hypothesised that impairment in reading prosody may be present in a subgroup of patients with PPA, and particularly non-fluent PPA (nfvPPA), because of the impairment of key brain regions involved in the pathophysiology of speech dysprosody and reading observed in these patients.
Ninety-five participants were evaluated using a narrative text comprising several declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences, as well as a comprehensive language protocol. Patients were also examined with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging.
Impairment was more frequent and more severe in patients with nfvPPA, especially in the subgroup of patients with Apraxia of Speech (AOS). Patients with nfvPPA, mainly those with AOS, showed lower values in several pitch variables. Statistically significant differences were also observed in sentence duration, reading times, and types of error. A regression model including mean length of utterances, time after full stops, number of pauses, and number of pitch variables below the mean, correctly classified 70-71.3% of patients. When combined with sentence repetition task, the percentage of patients correctly classified was 96.2% and 92.4%, respectively, for each classification. The left frontal lobe was the region most strongly correlated with reading prosody parameters. Specific tasks displayed additional correlations with the left parietal and occipital lobes; right frontal lobe, thalamus, and caudate; and right cerebellum.
Reading prosody is relevant in PPA diagnosis and classification. Because reading prosody may be quantified, it is amenable to use in diagnosis and follow-up. We found neuroimaging correlation with metabolism in the left frontal lobe, as well as in other regions including the right frontal lobe, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, which suggests that these may be the main brain regions involved in prosodic control in patients with PPA.

Assessing morphological, perfusion and metabolic brain changes preceding or associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) will help in the understanding of pathophysiological underlying processes in Alzheimer\'s disease (AD). This review aimed to highlight the main findings on significant associations between neuroimaging and NPSs, the pathophysiology to elucidate possible underlying mechanisms, and methodological issues to aid future research. Research papers published from January 1990 to October 2015 were identified in the databases PsycInfo, Embase, PubMed and Medline, using key words related to NPSs and imaging techniques. In addition to a semi-systematic search in the databases, we also performed hand searches based on reported citations identified to be of interest. Delusions, apathy and depression symptoms were particularly associated with brain changes in AD. The majority of studies disclosed an association between frontal lobe structural and/or metabolic changes and NPSs, implicating, interestingly, for all 12 NPSs studied, the anterior cingulate cortex although temporal, subcortical and parietal regions, and insula were also involved. Given the high degree of connectivity of these brain areas, frontal change correlates of NPSs may help in the understanding of neural network participation. This review also highlights crucial methodological issues that may reduce the heterogeneity of results to enable progress on the pathophysiological mechanisms and aid research on NPS treatments in AD. Based on a broad review of the current literature, a global brain pattern to support the huge heterogeneity of neuroimaging correlates of NPSs in AD and methodological strategies are suggested to help direct future research.