Background Presbycusis is characterized by progressive age-related hearing loss and is often associated with cognitive decline and mental health disorders. Objective This study aimed to investigate gray matter volume (GMV) alterations and structural covariance network (SCN) reorganization in presbycusis patients via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and graph theory analysis. Methods A total of 129 presbycusis patients and 121 age-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent neuropsychological assessments and high-resolution T1-weighted MRI. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method at the region of interest (ROI) level and the graph theory analysis method of the SCN based on GMV were used to study the impact of presbycusis on brain structure. Results Patients presented altered nodal topological properties in multiple brain regions, including the right insula, left hippocampus, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, and occipital cortices. Significant differences were observed in the characteristic path length (Lp) and normalized characteristic path length (λ) between the groups (p < 0.05). Cognitive assessments revealed impairments in executive function, memory, and visual-spatial abilities (p < 0.05). Conclusion Presbycusis is associated with GMV reduction and SCN reorganization across sensory, cognitive, and emotional brain networks. Compensatory neural mechanisms, such as enhanced visual processing, may alleviate the adverse impacts of auditory deprivation. These findings elucidate the neuroanatomical basis of cognitive decline in presbycusis and highlight the necessity of early clinical intervention.
Qi Yan, Ying Wang, Li Xu et al.· Frontiers in Aging Neuroscie...· 0 citations
BACKGROUND
Chest CT requires breath-holding and ionizing radiation. 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI allows radiation-free imaging, but the image quality is suboptimal.
PURPOSE
To develop RadiolGAN and evaluate synthetic CT (sCT) from 3D UTE MRI for enhanced pulmonary visualization.
STUDY TYPE
Prospective multicenter study.
POPULATION
Three hundred and fifty-nine subjects (167 women, 192 men; 52 ± 19 years) from four centers: 244 training, 61 internal test, and 54 external test.
FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE
3 T, 3D UTE gradient-echo sequence.
ASSESSMENT
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), noise, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), mean structural similarity index (MS-SSIM), universal quality index (UQI), and learned perceptual image patch similarity (LPIPS). Three radiologists rated pulmonary structures (bronchi, vessels, fissures, artifacts, diagnostic confidence) and radiologic signs (nodules/masses, ground-glass opacities, patchy shadows/consolidation, emphysema/bullae, bronchiectasis) on a 5-point Likert scale.
STATISTICAL TESTING
Repeated-measures ANOVA, paired t-tests, and Friedman tests; p < 0.05 significant.
RESULTS
In the external test set, RadiolGAN-CT showed higher SNR (32.63 ± 1.21 vs. 26.07 ± 1.53) and CNR (25.36 ± 1.06 vs. 21.64 ± 1.32), and lower noise (15.74 ± 0.85 vs. 19.66 ± 1.01) than 3D UTE. Versus CycleGAN-CT, RadiolGAN-CT achieved higher PSNR (65.32 ± 0.19 vs. 64.68 ± 0.21), MS-SSIM (0.912 ± 0.004 vs. 0.892 ± 0.004), FSIM (0.808 ± 0.007 vs. 0.783 ± 0.006), and UQI (0.854 ± 0.007 vs. 0.843 ± 0.007), and lower LPIPS (0.221 ± 0.010 vs. 0.236 ± 0.009). No differences were found between RadiolGAN-CT and CycleGAN-CT in SNR (p = 0.612), CNR (p = 0.547), or noise (p = 0.595). Diagnostic confidence was higher for RadiolGAN-CT (3.98 ± 1.09) than CycleGAN-CT (3.59 ± 1.06) and 3D UTE (2.84 ± 1.30). Ground-glass opacity depiction did not differ between RadiolGAN-CT and CycleGAN-CT (p = 0.903).
DATA CONCLUSION
RadiolGAN enables high-fidelity sCT from 3D UTE, improving structural depiction and perceptual similarity.
EVIDENCE LEVEL
1.
TECHNICAL EFFICACY
2.
Xi Zhu, Wei Xia, X. Xie et al.· Journal of Magnetic Resonanc...· 1 citation
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