EDSON AMARO JUNIOR
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
Departamento de Radiologia, Faculdade de Medicina - Docente
LIM/44 - Laboratório de Ressonância Magnética em Neurorradiologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
LIM/44 - Laboratório de Ressonância Magnética em Neurorradiologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
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- Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Cognitive Training and Transfer Effects in Stroke Patients (vol 11, 1048, 2020)(2021) MIOTTO, Eliane C.; BAZAN, Paulo R.; BATISTA, Alana X.; CONFORTO, Adriana B.; FIGUEIREDO, Eberval G.; MARTIN, Maria da Graca M.; AVOLIO, Isabella B.; AMARO, Edson; TEIXEIRA, Manoel J.
- Bilateral dorsal fronto-parietal areas are associated with integration of visual motion information and timed motor action(2018) AZEVEDO NETO, Raymundo Machado de; AMARO JUNIOR, EdsonInteraction with the environment often involves situations requiring visuomotor integration. For instance, in fast interceptive actions, the brain must integrate visual information of motion with the appropriate motor action. In such dynamic situation, the brain may control movement based on predictions of where the object will be in the future and when it will arrive there. Although previous studies have analyzed brain regions associated with processing visual information of motion, motor control and visuomotor integration with static objects, less is known about visuomotor integration with moving objects. In the present study we used an event-related fMRI experiment to investigate brain areas integrating visual information of motion with motor action in response to moving objects. Twenty healthy volunteers performed an interceptive task where they had to press a button in synchrony with the arrival of a horizontally moving target at a predefined location. They also performed two control tasks simple reaction and attention to visual motion-in order to identify and exclude brain areas that would be involved in motor or visual motion processing components that are inherent to interceptive tasks. Through a conjunction analysis, we show greater BOLD signal in a bilateral dorsal fronto-parietal network, as well as the intraparietal sulcus, angular gyrus, and human visual motion area hV5 +. We discuss these results with respect to their previously identified functions, and suggest they play a role in visuomotor integration with moving objects.
- Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Cognitive Training and Transfer Effects in Stroke Patients(2020) MIOTTO, Eliane C.; BAZAN, Paulo R.; BATISTA, Alana X.; CONFORTO, Adriana B.; FIGUEIREDO, Eberval G.; MARTIN, Maria Graca M.; AVOLIO, Isabella B.; JR, Edson Amaro; TEIXEIRA, Manoel J.Stroke lesions are frequently followed by cognitive impairments. Cognitive training is a non-pharmacological intervention that can promote neural compensation mechanisms and strategies to remediate cognitive impairments. The aims of this study were: (1) To investigate the cognitive performance, generalization effects, and neural correlates of semantic organization strategy training (SOST) in patients with chronic left frontoparietal stroke and healthy controls (HC); and (2) to compare the behavioral effects and neural correlates of SOST with an active control psychoeducation intervention (PI). In this randomized controlled study, all participants were randomly allocated into two groups, one group received SOST, and the other received PI intervention. Participants underwent two fMRI sessions, one prior and the other, after intervention. In each fMRI session, images were obtained during memory encoding task using a list of semantically related words. We found improved post-intervention memory performance in participants that received SOST (both patients and controls), indicated by number of words recalled, word clustering scores, and performance in a generalization task. The fMRI analysis revealed negative correlation between task performance and regions of the default-mode network. These results suggest that cognitive training using semantic organization strategy can improve episodic memory performance and promote potential functional neuroplasticity in patients with ischemic stroke lesions.
conferenceObject Increased Insula Activity Is Associated with Improved Mood in Healthy Subjects on Clomipramine(2015) BUSATTO, Geraldo; PHILLIPS, Mary L.; CERQUEIRA, Carlos T.; ZILBERMAN, Monica; LOBO, Daniela; HENNA, Elaine; TAVARES, Hermano; AMARO, Edson; LEITE, Claudia C.; GORENSTEIN, Clarice; GENTIL, Valentim; ALMEIDA, Jorge R. C.- Brain regions supporting verbal memory improvement in healthy older subjects(2014) MIOTTO, Eliane C.; BALARDIN, Joana B.; SAVAGE, Cary R.; MARTIN, Maria da Graca M.; BATISTUZZO, Marcelo C.; AMARO JUNIOR, Edson; NITRINI, RicardoDespite growing interest in developing cognitive training interventions to minimize the aging cognitive decline process, no studies have attempted to explore which brain regions support the application of semantic strategies during verbal memory encoding. Our aim was to investigate the behavioral performance and brain correlates of these strategies in elderly individuals using fMRI in healthy older subjects. Method: Subjects were scanned twice on the same day, before and after, directed instructions to apply semantic strategies during the encoding of word lists. Results: Improved memory performance associated to increased semantic strategy application and brain activity in the left inferior and middle and right medial superior prefrontal cortex were found after the directed instructions. There was also reduced activation in areas related to strategy mobilization. Conclusion: Improved memory performance in older subjects after the application of semantic strategies was associated with functional brain reorganization involving regions inside and outside the typical memory network.
- Motor Readiness Increases Brain Connectivity Between Default-Mode Network and Motor Cortex: Impact on Sampling Resting Periods from fMRI Event-Related Studies(2015) BAZAN, Paulo Rodrigo; BIAZOLI JR., Claudinei Eduardo; SATO, Joao Ricardo; AMARO JR., EdsonThe default-mode network (DMN) has been implicated in many conditions. One particular function relates to its role in motor preparation. However, the possibly complex relationship between DMN activity and motor preparation has not been fully explored. Dynamic interactions between default mode and motor networks may compromise the ability to evaluate intrinsic connectivity using resting period data extracted from task-based experiments. In this study, we investigated alterations in connectivity between the DMN and the motor network that are associated with motor readiness during the intervals between motor task trials. fMRI data from 20 normal subjects were acquired under three conditions: pure resting state; resting state interleaved with brief, cued right-hand movements at constant intervals (lower readiness); and resting state interleaved with the same movements at unpredictable intervals (higher readiness). The functional connectivity between regions of motor and DMNs was assessed separately for movement periods and intertask intervals. We found a negative relationship between the DMN and the left sensorimotor cortex during the task periods for both motor conditions. Furthermore, during the intertask intervals of the unpredictable condition, the DMN showed a positive relationship with right sensorimotor cortex and a negative relation with the left sensorimotor cortex. These findings indicate a specific modulation on motor processing according to the state of motor readiness. Therefore, connectivity studies using task-based fMRI to probe DMN should consider the influence of motor system modulation when interpreting the results.
- Modulation of cerebral haemodynamic response to olfactory stimuli by emotional valence detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging(2015) CAOUS, Cristofer André; TOBO, Patrícia Renovato; TALARICO, Vânia Hercília; LOPES, Luciana Ribeiro; YOSHIMINE, Elise; CRUZ JR, Antonio Cesário da; ALBUQUERQUE, Cristóvão; AMARO JR, EdsonABSTRACT Olfactory perception, although restricted to just a few contexts in everyday life, is key in medicine. Several dementia conditions have been associated with early loss of olfactory discrimination. Despite the fact that several brain areas have been associated with olfaction in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the mechanisms by which emotional valence is conveyed to the brain are not fully understood. Methods In this study, we compared cerebral activations by olfactory stimuli using different emotional valence stimuli on event-related fMRI. We used three standard olfactory odorants with different valence (positive, neutral and negative). Forty-three healthy subjects (22 males) were scanned on a 3.0T MR system. Olfactory stimulation was attained through a delivery system synchronized with image acquisition and subjects´ breathing instructions. fMRI data analysis was performed by the FSL package (Oxford University) including head movement correction, GLM modeling of the neurovascular (BOLD) response and group activation maps produced at p<0.05 and corrected for multiple comparison. Results Increased cerebral responses within the anterior cingulate, amygdaloid nuclei, as well as the dorsolateral prefrontal, occipital and orbitofrontal cortices were observed in positive and negative valence conditions, while response to neutral valence arousal was less intense and not observed in the amygdaloid complex. The most significant statistical response aroused from the stimuli clusters was observed in the negative condition. Conclusion The results of the present study support the hypothesis that neutral stimuli may be more sensitive to early losses in pathological conditions, particularly dementia.
- Association between abnormal brain functional connectivity in children and psychopathology: A study based on graph theory and machine learning(2018) SATO, Joao Ricardo; BIAZOLI JR., Claudinei Eduardo; SALUM, Giovanni Abrahao; GADELHA, Ary; CROSSLEY, Nicolas; VIEIRA, Gilson; ZUGMAN, Andre; PICON, Felipe Almeida; PAN, Pedro Mario; HOEXTER, Marcelo Queiroz; AMARO JR., Edson; ANES, Mauricio; MOURA, Luciana Monteiro; DEL'AQUILLA, Marco Antonio Gomes; MCGUIRE, Philip; ROHDE, Luis Augusto; MIGUEL, Euripedes Constantino; JACKOWSKI, Andrea Parolin; BRESSAN, Rodrigo AffonsecaObjectives: One of the major challenges facing psychiatry is how to incorporate biological measures in the classification of mental health disorders. Many of these disorders affect brain development and its connectivity.In this study, we propose a novel method for assessing brain networks based on the combination of a graph theory measure (eigenvector centrality) and a one-class support vector machine (OC-SVM).Methods: We applied this approach to resting-state fMRI data from 622 children and adolescents. Eigenvector centrality (EVC) of nodes from positive- and negative-task networks were extracted from each subject and used as input to an OC-SVM to label individual brain networks as typical or atypical. We hypothesised that classification of these subjects regarding the pattern of brain connectivity would predict the level of psychopathology.Results: Subjects with atypical brain network organisation had higher levels of psychopathology (p<0.001). There was a greater EVC in the typical group at the bilateral posterior cingulate and bilateral posterior temporal cortices; and significant decreases in EVC at left temporal pole.Conclusions: The combination of graph theory methods and an OC-SVM is a promising method to characterise neurodevelopment, and may be useful to understand the deviations leading to mental disorders.
- Long term effects of red wine consumption in brain: an MRI, fMRI and neuropsychological evaluation study(2023) CAMPANE, Lucas Zoppi; NUCCI, Mariana Penteado; NISHIYAMA, Marcelo; ZUBEN, Marina Von; JR, Edson Amaro; LUZ, Protasio Lemos daRed wine (RW) consumption has been proposed to have a potential health benefit. However, the effect of RW consumption on the brain is not entirely known, mainly when associated with aging. Regular red wine consumers (n = 30) and abstainers (ABST; n = 27) without cognitive impairment were evaluated for brain structural characteristics (Fazekas score and voxel-based morphometry) and for functional adaptations assessed by fMRI (using the Word Tasks Color Stroop (WCST) and Two-Back (TBT)), as well as by neuropsychological tests in different domains. There were no significant differences regarding brain morphological features. RW consumers showed greater activation in the thalamus during WCST and in paracingulate/anterior cingulate cortices, left superior frontal gyrus and frontal pole during TBT. ABST required higher activation of different cortical areas in the left parietal lobe during WCST. Age and intelligence quotient influenced those activations. In Stroop and trail-making neuropsychological tests, RW consumers performed slightly better than ABST. This study should be viewed as hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive.
- fMRI and fNIRS Methods for Social Brain Studies: Hyperscanning Possibilities(2022) BAZáN, P. R.; AMARO, E. Jr.Recently, the “social brain” (i.e., how the brain works in social context and the mechanisms for our social behavior) has gained focus in neuroscience literature - largely due to the fact that recently developed techniques allow studying different aspects of human social cognition and its brain correlates. In this context, hyperscanning techniques (Montague et al., Neuroimage 16(4):1159-1164, 2002) open the horizon for human interaction studies, allowing for the evaluation of interbrain connectivity. These techniques represent methods for simultaneously recording signals from different brains when subjects are interacting. In this chapter, we will explore the potentials of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which are techniques based on blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal. We will start with a brief explanation of the BOLD response basic principles and the mechanisms involved in fMRI and fNIRS measurements related to brain function. We will then discuss the foundation of the social brain, based on the first studies, with one subject per data acquisition, to allow for understanding the new possibilities that hyperscanning techniques offer. Finally, we will focus on the scientific literature reporting fMRI and fNIRS hyperscanning contribution to understand the social brain. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2023.