A day in the life: Couples' everyday communication and subsequent relationship outcomes.

Understanding how communication processes contribute to well-functioning versus distressed couple relationships has relied largely on brief, laboratory-based conversations. Harnessing technological advancements, the present study extends the literature by capturing couples' naturalistic communication over one full day at Time 1 (T1). This study tested associations between data-driven categories of couple communication behaviors and relationship outcomes (i.e., relationship aggression, satisfaction, and dissolution) at Time 2 (T2), approximately 1 year later. Emerging adults in different-gender dating couples (n = 106 couples; 212 individuals; Mage = 22.57 ± 2.44; M relationship length = 30.49 months ± 24.05; 72.2% non-White) were each provided a smartphone programmed to audio record approximately 50% of a typical day. Interactions between partners were transcribed and coded for location, activity, affect, and a range of positive and negative communication behaviors for each partner. Even after controlling for T1 assessments of the relevant outcome, one's own hostility and one's partner's hostility at T1 were each positively associated with T2 relationship aggression and negatively associated with T2 relationship satisfaction. One's own withdrawal at T1 was positively associated with T2 relationship aggression perpetration, whereas one's partner's withdrawal was negatively linked to relationship satisfaction at T2. One's own playfulness, unexpectedly, was linked to lower subsequent relationship satisfaction. Withdrawal increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution, whereas warmth and playfulness decreased the likelihood of dissolution. The relevance of couples' ordinary, everyday communication for meaningful relationship outcomes is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Epidemiologic trends of patients who visited nationwide emergency departments: a report from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) of Korea, 2018-2022.

OBJECTIVE: : This study analyzed trends in emergency department (ED) visits in South Korea using the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data from 2018 to 2022. METHODS: : This was a retrospective observational study using data from the NEDIS database from 2018 to 2022. Age- and sex-standardized ED visits per 100,000 population, as well as age- and sex-standardized rates for mortality, admission, and transfer, were calculated. RESULTS: : The standardized ED visits per 100,000 population was approximately 20,000 from 2018 to 2019 and decreased to about 18,000 in 2022. The standardized mortality rate ranged from 1.4% to 1.7%. The admission rate (18.4%-19.4%) and the transfer rates (1.6%-1.8%) were similar during the study period. Approximately 5.5% of patients were triaged as Korean Triage and Acuity Scale score 1 or 2. About 91% of patients visited the ED directly and 21.7% of patients visited the ED with an ambulance. The ED length of stay was less than 6 hours in 90.3% of patients and the ED mortality rate was 0.6%. Acute gastroenteritis was the most common diagnosis. Respiratory virus symptoms, such as fever and sore throat, were also common chief complaints. CONCLUSION: : ED visits decreased during the 5-year period, while admission, transfer, and death rates remained relatively stable.

Empirical relationship between TEM-derived myelin volume fraction and MRI-R2 values in aging ex vivo rat corpus callosum.

Ex vivo ratiometric measurements of short- and long-T2 components using the multiple spin echo sequence of MRI are often employed to evaluate alterations in myelin content in the white matter (WM) of the brain. However, the relationship between absolute MRI-T2 values (long-T2 component) and myelin volumetric information in aged ex vivo rodent WM appears to be influenced by factors such as animal species, field strength, and fixation durations/washing. Here, multiple spin echo sequence-based MRI-R2 (the reciprocal of T2) values were measured in the corpus callosum (CC) region in the post-mortem rat brains (n = 9) of different age groups with common fixation techniques without washing at 7 T. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-based quantification of myelin volume fraction (MVF) and corresponding Monte-Carlo simulation to estimate relaxation rates (R2,IE) due to diffusion in the presence of inhomogeneous magnetic field perturbation in intra- and extra-cellular (IE) spaces were respectively performed. To determine whether the short-T2 components originating from myelin water were mixed with long-T2 components from IE water or were undetectable, the MVF values obtained from TEM results were respectively compared with MRI-R2 and R2,IE values. A significant correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.8763; p < 0.01) of average MRI-R2 and MVF values was observed. Estimated R2,IE values from Monte-Carlo simulations in IE water signals were also positively correlated (r = 0.8281; p < 0.01) with MVF values. However, the magnitudes of R2,IE values were much smaller than those observed for MRI-R2 values, indicating that changes in R2 related MVF are likely dominated by myelin water components. Such comparisons between independent parameters from MRI, TEM, and simulations support the suggestion that myelin water signals were indistinguishably mixed to exhibit mono-exponential T2 relaxation, and multiple spin echo sequence-based MRI-R2 values in aging ex vivo rat CC without prolonged washing still reflect the volumetric information of myelin, likely due to enhanced water exchange across the myelin.

Correspondence between development of cytotoxic edema and cerebrospinal fluid volume and flow in the third ventricle after ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVES: The importance of monitoring cerebrospinal fluid for the development of edema in ischemic stroke has been emphasized; however, studies on the relationship between intraventricular cerebrospinal fluid behavior and edema through longitudinal observations and analysis are rare. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the development of cytotoxic edema and cerebrospinal fluid volume and flow in the third ventricle after ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ventricle and edema regions were obtained using apparent diffusion coefficients and T2 and subdivided into lateral/ventral 3rd ventricles and cytotoxic/vasogenic (or cyst) edema, respectively. In rat models of ischemic stroke, the volume and flow (via the pseudo-diffusion coefficient [D*]) of the ventricles and edema volumes were longitudinally monitored for up to 45 days after surgery. RESULTS: The volume of cytotoxic edema increased in the hyperacute and acute phases, whereas the volume (r = -0.49) and median D* values (r = -0.48 in the anterior-posterior direction) of the ventral 3rd ventricle both decreased, showing negative correlations with the volume of cytotoxic edema. In contrast, the volume of vasogenic edema/cyst was positively correlated with the volume (r = 0.73) and median D* values (r = 0.78 in the anterior-posterior direction) of the lateral ventricle in the subacute and chronic phases. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the evolution of cerebrospinal fluid volume and flow in the ventricles was associated with edema progression at different time points in the ischemic stroke brain. This provides an efficient framework for monitoring and quantifying the interplay between cerebrospinal fluid and edema.

Adaptation of family-based treatment within an inpatient medical stabilization program for children with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders are serious psychiatric conditions predominantly affecting children, adolescents, and young adults. While family-based treatment (FBT) is the gold standard outpatient treatment approach for adolescents with restrictive eating disorders, there is not a universally recognized best practice within higher levels of care. There is a particular dearth of literature detailing recommended psychological and behavioral interventions in the inpatient medical setting. METHOD: The present article provides an account of how FBT principles have been incorporated in Children's Hospital of Orange County at Mission's inpatient medical stabilization program for children and adolescents with restrictive eating disorders. Practical examples illustrate how key FBT tenets are successfully translated into the inpatient multidisciplinary setting. RESULTS: The use of FBT can encourage a unified approach among medical and psychosocial providers and serves to destigmatize patients with eating disorders and associated behaviors. The successes and challenges of FBT implementation are discussed. DISCUSSION: Though anecdotal evidence and preliminary findings support positive outcomes from the implementation of FBT within a pediatric medical stabilization program for patients, families, and staff, research is needed to understand best practices within higher levels of care. Additional research efforts will also help elucidate whether adapted FBT can become a standard of care for patients with restrictive eating disorders in inpatient settings. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: This article describes how a children's hospital has adopted family-based treatment (FBT) for youth who are hospitalized due to an eating disorder. FBT is the most efficacious treatment for youth with eating disorders. This article describes specific examples of how FBT can be implemented within a medical setting. This article will support a greater understanding of FBT principles and guide providers to translate FBT into higher level of care settings.

Relationship satisfaction, feelings of closeness and annoyance, and linkage in electrodermal activity.

Physiological linkage refers to moment-to-moment, time-linked coordination in physiological responses among people in close relationships. Although people in romantic relationships have been shown to evidence linkage in their physiological responses over time, it is still unclear how patterns of covariation relate to in-the-moment, as well as general levels of, relationship functioning. In the present study with data collected between 2014 and 2017, we capture linkage in electrodermal activity (EDA) in a diverse sample of young-adult couples, generally representative and generalizable to the Los Angeles community from which we sampled. We test how naturally occurring, shifting feelings of closeness with and annoyance toward one's partner relate to concurrent changes in levels of physiological linkage over the course of 1 day. Additionally, we examine how linkage relates to overall relationship satisfaction. Results showed that couples evidenced significant covariation in their levels of physiological arousal in daily life. Further, physiological linkage increased during hours that participants felt close to their romantic partners but not during hours that participants felt annoyed with their partners. Finally, those participants with overall higher levels of relationship satisfaction showed lower levels of linkage over the day of data collection. These findings highlight how individuals respond in sync with their romantic partners and how this process ebbs and flows in conjunction with the shifting emotional tone of their relationships. The discussion focuses on how linkage might enhance closeness or, alternatively, contribute to conflict escalation and the potential of linkage processes to promote positive interpersonal relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Improved laminar specificity and sensitivity by combining SE and GE BOLD signals.

The most widely used gradient-echo (GE) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast has high sensitivity, but low specificity due to draining vein contributions, while spin-echo (SE) BOLD approach at ultra-high magnetic fields is highly specific to neural active sites but has lower sensitivity. To obtain high specificity and sensitivity, we propose to utilize a vessel-size-sensitive filter to the GE-BOLD signal, which suppresses macrovascular contributions and to combine selectively retained microvascular GE-BOLD signals with the SE-BOLD signals. To investigate our proposed idea, fMRI with 0.8 mm isotropic resolution was performed on the primary motor and sensory cortices in humans at 7 T by implementing spin- and gradient-echo (SAGE) echo planar imaging (EPI) acquisition. Microvascular-passed sigmoidal filters were designed based upon the vessel-size-sensitive ΔR2*/ΔR2 value for retaining GE-BOLD signals originating from venous vessels with ≤ 45 µm and ≤ 65 µm diameter. Unlike GE-BOLD fMRI, the laminar profile of SAGE-BOLD fMRI with the vessel-size-sensitive filter peaked at ∼ 1.0 mm from the surface of the primary motor and sensory cortices, demonstrating an improvement of laminar specificity over GE-BOLD fMRI. Also, the functional sensitivity of SAGE BOLD at middle layers (0.75-1.5 mm) was improved by ∼ 80% to ∼100% when compared with SE BOLD. In summary, we showed that combined GE- and SE-BOLD fMRI with the vessel-size-sensitive filter indeed yielded improved laminar specificity and sensitivity and is therefore an excellent tool for high spatial resolution ultra-high filed (UHF)-fMRI studies for resolving mesoscopic functional units.

What happens when romantic couples discuss personal loss? Relational, emotional, and physiological impacts.

Does talking about loss with a romantic partner have salutary personal and relationship effects? Prior evidence reveals the benefits of emotional disclosure in couple relationships, yet disclosure about loss has been overlooked in research on couple communication. Using a novel communication paradigm with young-adult heterosexual romantic partners (N = 114 couples), we investigated emotions, physiological arousal (skin conductance responses [SCR]), and relationship closeness when narrating a personal loss and listening to the partner's loss, and compared these loss discussions to discussions about desired relationship changes. Based on partners' self-reports, narrating loss elicited more vulnerable and, unexpectedly, more antagonistic emotions. Both narrating and listening to loss produced higher self-reported partner closeness, compared to discussing change. In support of the physiological benefits of disclosure, women's SCRs decreased over the discussion when they narrated their own loss. However, both women and men as listeners show a general trend of increasing SCRs over the discussion, suggesting the challenges of being a responsive partner. Moreover, in line with the putative protective effects of partners' biological interdependencies, partner closeness also was higher when both partners showed synchronous decreasing SCR as women narrated their loss. Although limited to young couples in relatively short relationships, these findings reveal some potential benefits of talking about loss in the context of romantic relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of COVID-19 on the patterns of emergency department visits among pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the patterns of pediatric patients visiting emergency departments (EDs) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the interactive effect between the COVID-19 outbreak and age groups. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study using the nationwide emergency patient database in Korea from January 2019 to December 2020. Pediatric patients (≤18 years) who visited all 402 nationwide EDs were included. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rates of pediatric ED visits per 1,000,000 person-days were calculated, and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) was calculated. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of in-hospital mortality were calculated by a multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Among 2,808,756 patients, 1,835,045 (65.3%) patients visited before COVID-19, and 973,711 (34.7%) patients visited after the COVID-19 period. The standardized incidence rates of ED visits per 1,000,000 person-days were 589.3 in the before COVID-19 group and 326.9 in the after COVID-19 group (IRR (95% CI): 0.55 (0.53-0.58)). By diagnosis, the IRRs (95% CI) of mental health disorders (0.84 (0.42-1.65)) and self-harm or suicidal attempts (0.99 (0.38-2.59) were not significant, while the incidence rate of infectious disease was significantly decreased (0.48 (0.42-0.54)). The aOR (95% CI) of in-hospital mortality after COVID-19 was 1.58 (1.44-1.73) compared to that before COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of pediatric ED visits decreased, and these effects differed by age group. Age-specific policies are needed to ensure that children receive the care they need at the right time.

D* from diffusion MRI reveals a correspondence between ventricular cerebrospinal fluid volume and flow in the ischemic rodent model.

Quantitative measurement of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and volume and longitudinal monitoring of CSF dynamics provide insights into the compensatory characteristics of post-stroke CSF. In this study, we compared the MRI pseudo-diffusion index (D*) of live and sacrificed rat brains to confirm the effect of ventricular CSF flow on diffusion signals. We observed the relationship between the CSF peak velocities and D* through Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to further understand the source of D* contrast. We also determined the dominant CSF flow using D* in three directions. Finally, we investigated the dynamic evolutions of ventricular CSF flow and volume in a stroke rat model (n = 8) from preoperative to up to 45 days after surgery and determined the correlation between ventricular CSF volume and flow. MC simulations showed a strong positive correlation between the CSF peak velocity and D* (r = 0.99). The dominant CSF flow variations in the 3D ventricle could be measured using the maximum D* map. A longitudinal positive correlation between ventricular CSF volume and D* was observed in the lateral (r = 0.74) and ventral-third (r = 0.81) ventricles, respectively. The directional D* measurements provide quantitative CSF volume and flow information, which would provide useful insights into ischemic stroke with diffusion MRI.

Improvement of sensitivity and specificity for laminar BOLD fMRI with double spin-echo EPI in humans at 7 T.

Mapping mesoscopic cortical functional units such as columns or laminae is increasingly pursued by ultra-high field (UHF) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The most popular approach for high-resolution fMRI is currently gradient-echo (GE) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. However, its spatial accuracy is reduced due to its sensitivity to draining vessels, including pial veins, whereas spin-echo (SE) BOLD signal is expected to have higher spatial accuracy, albeit with lower sensitivity than the GE-BOLD signal. Here, we introduce a new double spin-echo (dSE) echo-planar imaging (EPI) method to improve the sensitivity of SE-BOLD contrast by averaging two spin-echoes using three radiofrequency pulses. Human fMRI experiments were performed with slices perpendicular to the central sulcus between motor and sensory cortices at 7 T during fist-clenching with touching. First, we evaluated the feasibility of single-shot dSE-EPI for BOLD fMRI with 1.5 mm isotropic resolution and found that dSE-BOLD fMRI has higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), temporal SNR (tSNR), and higher functional sensitivity than conventional SE-BOLD fMRI. Second, to investigate the laminar specificity of dSE-BOLD fMRI, we implemented a multi-shot approach to achieve 0.8-mm isotropic resolution with sliding-window reconstruction. Unlike GE-BOLD fMRI, the cortical profile of dSE-BOLD fMRI peaked at ~ 1.0 mm from the surface of the primary motor and sensory cortices, demonstrating an improvement of laminar specificity in humans over GE-BOLD fMRI. The proposed multi-shot dSE-EPI method is viable for high spatial resolution UHF-fMRI studies in the pursuit of resolving mesoscopic functional units.

Fluctuations in pronoun use in everyday life: Understanding couple aggression in context.

Everyday language use, including the pronouns people choose when speaking to romantic partners, may reflect underlying aspects of relationship functioning and may have important implications for understanding couple conflict and dating aggression more generally. The current study measured couples' hour-to-hour "we," "I," and "you" speech in daily life and examined symmetry in pronoun use, or the extent to which partners mirror each other in the frequency of the pronouns they use. First, we examined associations between symmetry in pronoun use and overall levels of dating aggression. Second, we investigated whether aggressive couples evidence patterns of pronoun use distinct from nonaggressive couples when they become annoyed with each other. Multilevel models showed that symmetry in "we" speech and symmetry in "I" speech each were related to lower levels of dating aggression. In addition, symmetry in couples' "you" speech increased during hours of annoyance, but only among those couples reporting high levels of aggression in their relationships. These results demonstrate how everyday language use relates to couples' general tendencies toward aggression and how such patterns are linked to ongoing fluctuations in the emotional tone of the relationship. The discussion focuses on implications for intervention and the use of novel ambulatory assessment methods for capturing couple processes in real-life contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A multi-inversion multi-echo spin and gradient echo echo planar imaging sequence with low image distortion for rapid quantitative parameter mapping and synthetic image contrasts.

PURPOSE: Brain imaging exams typically take 10-20 min and involve multiple sequential acquisitions. A low-distortion whole-brain echo planar imaging (EPI)-based approach was developed to efficiently encode multiple contrasts in one acquisition, allowing for calculation of quantitative parameter maps and synthetic contrast-weighted images. METHODS: Inversion prepared spin- and gradient-echo EPI was developed with slice-order shuffling across measurements for efficient acquisition with T1 , T2 , and T2∗ weighting. A dictionary-matching approach was used to fit the images to quantitative parameter maps, which in turn were used to create synthetic weighted images with typical clinical contrasts. Dynamic slice-optimized multi-coil shimming with a B0 shim array was used to reduce B0 inhomogeneity and, therefore, image distortion by >50%. Multi-shot EPI was also implemented to minimize distortion and blurring while enabling high in-plane resolution. A low-rank reconstruction approach was used to mitigate errors from shot-to-shot phase variation. RESULTS: The slice-optimized shimming approach was combined with in-plane parallel-imaging acceleration of 4× to enable single-shot EPI with more than eight-fold distortion reduction. The proposed sequence efficiently obtained 40 contrasts across the whole-brain in just over 1 min at 1.2 × 1.2 × 3 mm resolution. The multi-shot variant of the sequence achieved higher in-plane resolution of 1 × 1 × 4 mm with good image quality in 4 min. Derived quantitative maps showed comparable values to conventional mapping methods. CONCLUSION: The approach allows fast whole-brain imaging with quantitative parameter maps and synthetic weighted contrasts. The slice-optimized multi-coil shimming and multi-shot reconstruction approaches result in minimal EPI distortion, giving the sequence the potential to be used in rapid screening applications.

Romantic partner presence and physiological responses in daily life: Attachment style as a moderator.

The present study investigated whether the presence of a romantic partner in daily life is associated with attenuated sympathetic nervous system responses. Additionally, romantic attachment style was tested as a moderator. For one day, 106 heterosexual young adult dating couples wore ambulatory sensors that monitored electrodermal activity (EDA) - an index of sympathetic arousal. Couples reported whether they were together or apart for every hour of the data collection day. Men and women exhibited lower EDA during hours in which their partner was present compared to hours in which they were absent. Additionally, romantic attachment style moderated this association; those who had low anxious attachment showed a stronger attenuating effect of partner presence compared to those with higher anxious attachment. Similarly, those who had low avoidant attachment showed heightened effects of partner presence compared to those with higher avoidant attachment. Romantic partner presence may facilitate everyday health-promoting physiological processes.

A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the parasympathetic nervous system, has recently gained attention as a physiological component of regulatory processes, social connectedness, and health. Within the context of romantic relationships, studies have operationalized and conceptualized RSA in disparate ways, obscuring a clear pattern of findings. This systematic review synthesizes the rapidly developing literature and clarifies the role of RSA in romantic relationships. We evaluate support for three conceptual hypotheses: (1) resting baseline RSA is associated with better quality relationships; (2) phasic RSA is reflective of changes in threat and connection during couple interactions; and (3) physiological linkage in RSA between romantic partners relates to positive or negative relationship functioning depending on the nature of the linkage (e.g., in-phase vs. antiphase). We identified 26 empirical studies that tested associations between RSA and an index of romantic relationships (i.e., relationship satisfaction). Our findings show that higher RSA is not uniformly "good" for relationships. Higher resting baseline RSA was contemporaneously associated with better quality relationships, yet higher baseline RSA was also unexpectedly associated with relationship violence. Short-term decreases in RSA were found during relationship conflict, though the opposite-phasic increases in RSA during positive romantic partner interactions-was not found due to mixed empirical support. As expected, evidence for RSA linkage was found, though the connection between linkage and relationship functioning depends on the context in which it was measured. We discuss methodological limitations and directions for future research.

La arritmia sinusal respiratoria (ASR), un índice del sistema nervioso parasimpático, ha sido objeto de atención recientemente como componente fisiológico de los procesos reguladores, la conexión social y la salud. Dentro del contexto de las relaciones amorosas, los estudios han operacionalizado y conceptualizado la ASR de diversas maneras, ocultando un patrón claro de signos. Este análisis sistemático sintetiza la bibliografía que se está desarrollando rápidamente y aclara el papel que desempeña la ASR en las relaciones amorosas. Evaluamos el respaldo de tres hipótesis conceptuales: (1) una ASR de reposo en el momento basal está asociada con relaciones de mejor calidad; (2) la ASR refleja cambios en la amenaza y la conexión durante las interacciones de la pareja; y (3) la asociación fisiológica en la ASR entre los integrantes de la pareja se relaciona con el funcionamiento positivo o negativo de la relación según la índole de la asociación (p. ej.: en fase frente a contrafase). Identificamos 26 estudios empíricos que evaluaron las asociaciones entre la ASR y un índice de las relaciones amorosas (p. ej.: la satisfacción con la relación). Nuestros resultados indican que una ASR más alta no es uniformemente "buena" para las relaciones. Una ASR de reposo más alta en el momento basal estuvo asociada contemporáneamente con relaciones de mejor calidad, sin embargo, una ASR más alta en el momento basal también estuvo asociada inesperadamente con la violencia de pareja. Se encontraron disminuciones de la ASR a corto plazo durante el conflicto en las relaciones, aunque no se encontró lo opuesto -aumentos fásicos en la ASR durante las interacciones positivas de los integrantes de la pareja- debido a un respaldo empírico ambivalente. Como se esperaba, se encontraron indicios de una asociación de la ASR, aunque la conexión entre la asociación y el funcionamiento de la relación depende del contexto en el cual se midió. Comentamos las limitaciones metodológicas y damos indicaciones para investigaciones futuras.

Layer-dependent functional connectivity methods.

Recent methodological advances in fMRI contrast and readout strategies have allowed researchers to approach the mesoscopic spatial regime of cortical layers. This has revolutionized the ability to map cortical information processing within and across brain systems. However, until recently, most layer-fMRI studies have been confined to primary cortices using basic block-design tasks and macro-vascular-contaminated sequence contrasts. To become an established method for user-friendly applicability in neuroscience practice, layer-fMRI acquisition and analysis methods need to be extended to more flexible connectivity-based experiment designs; they must be able to capture subtle changes in brain networks of higher-order cognitive areas, and they should not be spatially biased with unwanted vein signals. In this article, we review the most pressing challenges of layer-dependent fMRI for large-scale neuroscientific applicability and describe recently developed acquisition methodologies that can resolve them. In doing so, we review technical tradeoffs and capabilities of modern MR-sequence approaches to achieve measurements that are free of locally unspecific vein signal, with whole-brain coverage, sub-second sampling, high resolutions, and with a combination of those capabilities. The presented approaches provide whole-brain layer-dependent connectivity data that open a new window to investigate brain network connections. We exemplify this by reviewing a number of candidate tools for connectivity analyses that will allow future studies to address new questions in network neuroscience. The considered network analysis tools include: hierarchy mapping, directional connectomics, source-specific connectivity mapping, and network sub-compartmentalization. We conclude: Whole-brain layer-fMRI without large-vessel contamination is applicable for human neuroscience and opens the door to investigate biological mechanisms behind any number of psychological and psychiatric phenomena, such as selective attention, hallucinations and delusions, and even conscious perception.

Serial optical coherence microscopy for label-free volumetric histopathology.

The observation of histopathology using optical microscope is an essential procedure for examination of tissue biopsies or surgically excised specimens in biological and clinical laboratories. However, slide-based microscopic pathology is not suitable for visualizing the large-scale tissue and native 3D organ structure due to its sampling limitation and shallow imaging depth. Here, we demonstrate serial optical coherence microscopy (SOCM) technique that offers label-free, high-throughput, and large-volume imaging of ex vivo mouse organs. A 3D histopathology of whole mouse brain and kidney including blood vessel structure is reconstructed by deep tissue optical imaging in serial sectioning techniques. Our results demonstrate that SOCM has unique advantages as it can visualize both native 3D structures and quantitative regional volume without introduction of any contrast agents.

A Matter of the Heart: Daytime Relationship Functioning and Overnight Heart Rate in Young Dating Couples.

BACKGROUND: Although past longitudinal research demonstrates that romantic partners affect one another's health outcomes, considerably less is known about how romantic experiences "get under the skin" in everyday life. PURPOSE: The current study investigated whether young couples' naturally occurring feelings of closeness to and annoyance with each other during waking hours were associated with their overnight cardiovascular activity. METHODS: Participants were 63 heterosexual young adult dating couples (Mage = 23.07). Using ecological momentary assessments, couples reported their hourly feelings of closeness to and annoyance with their partners across 1 day; subsequent overnight heart rate was captured through wearable electrocardiogram biosensors. Actor-partner interdependence models tested whether individuals' overnight heart rate varied as a function of (a) their own daytime feelings of closeness and annoyance (actor effects) and (b) their partner's daytime feelings of closeness and annoyance (partner effects) while controlling for daytime heart rate. RESULTS: Although young adults' feelings of romantic closeness and annoyance were unrelated to their own overnight heart rate (i.e., no actor effects), gender-specific partner effects emerged. Young men's nocturnal heart rate was uniquely predicted by their female partner's daytime relationship feelings. When women felt closer to their partners during the day, men exhibited lower overnight heart rate. When women felt more annoyed with their partners during the day, men exhibited heightened overnight heart rate. CONCLUSIONS: The findings illustrate gender-specific links between couple functioning and physiological arousal in the everyday lives of young dating couples, implicating physiological sensitivity to partner experiences as one potential pathway through which relationships affect health.

Pattern recognition analysis of directional intravoxel incoherent motion MRI in ischemic rodent brains.

This study aimed to demonstrate a reliable automatic segmentation method for independently separating reduced diffusion and decreased perfusion areas in ischemic stroke brains using constrained nonnegative matrix factorization (cNMF) pattern recognition in directional intravoxel incoherent motion MRI (IVIM-MRI). First, the feasibility of cNMF-based segmentation of IVIM signals was investigated in both simulations and in vivo experiments. The cNMF analysis was independently performed for S0 -normalized and scaled (by the difference between the maximum and minimum) IVIM signals, respectively. Segmentations of reduced diffusion (from S0 -normalized IVIM signals) and decreased perfusion (from scaled IVIM signals) areas were performed using the corresponding cNMF pattern weight maps. Second, Monte Carlo simulations were performed for directional IVIM signals to investigate the relationship between the degree of vessel alignment and the direction of the diffusion gradient. Third, directional IVIM-MRI experiments (x, y and z diffusion-gradient directions, 20 b values at 7 T) were performed for normal (n = 4), sacrificed (n = 1, no flow) and ischemic stroke models (n = 4, locally reduced flow). The results showed that automatic segmentation of the hypoperfused lesion using cNMF analysis was more accurate than segmentation using the conventional double-exponential fitting. Consistent with the simulation, the double-exponential pattern of the IVIM signals was particularly strong in white matter and ventricle regions when the directional flows were aligned with the applied diffusion-gradient directions. cNMF analysis of directional IVIM signals allowed robust automated segmentation of white matter, ventricle, vascular and hypoperfused regions in the ischemic brain. In conclusion, directional IVIM signals were simultaneously sensitive to diffusion and aligned flow and were particularly useful for automatically segmenting ischemic lesions via cNMF-based pattern recognition.

Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent MRI of the Myocardium with Multiecho Gradient-Echo Spin-Echo Imaging.

Background Myocardial oxygenation imaging could help determine the presence of microvascular dysfunction associated with increased cardiovascular risk. However, it is challenging to depict the potentially small oxygenation alterations with current noninvasive cardiac MRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) techniques. Purpose To demonstrate the cardiac application of a gradient-echo spin-echo (GESE) echo-planar imaging sequence for dynamic and quantitative heartbeat-to-heartbeat BOLD MRI and evaluate the sequence in populations both healthy and with hypertension in combination with a breath hold-induced CO2 intervention. Materials and Methods GESE echo-planar imaging sequence was performed in 18 healthy participants and in eight prospectively recruited participants with hypertension on a 3.0-T MRI system. T2 and T2* maps were calculated per heartbeat with a four-parameter fitting technique. Septal regions of interests were used to determine T2 and T2* values per heartbeat and examined over the course of a breath hold to determine BOLD changes. T2 and T2* changes of healthy participants and participants with hypertension were compared by using a nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. Results GESE echo-planar imaging approach gave spatially stable T2 and T2* maps per heartbeat for healthy participants and participants with hypertension, with mean T2 values of 43 msec ± 5 (standard deviation) and 46 msec ± 9, respectively, and mean T2* values of 28 msec ± 5 and 22 msec ± 5, respectively. The healthy participants exhibited increasing T2 and T2* values over the course of a breath hold with a mean positive slope of 0.2 msec per heartbeat ± 0.1 for T2 and 0.2 msec per heartbeat ± 0.1 for T2*, whereas for participants with hypertension these dynamic T2 and T2* values had a mean negative slope of -0.2 msec per heartbeat ± 0.2 for T2 and -0.1 msec per heartbeat ± 0.2 for T2*. The difference in these mean slopes between healthy participants and participants with hypertension was significant for both T2 (P < .001) and T2* (P < .001). Conclusion Gradient-echo spin-echo echo-planar imaging sequence provided quantitative T2 and T2* maps per heartbeat and enabled dynamic heartbeat-to-heartbeat blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD)-response imaging by analyzing changes in T2 and T2* over the time of a breath-hold intervention. This approach could identify differences in the BOLD response between healthy participants and participants with hypertension. © RSNA, 2020 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Friedrich in this issue.