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LUCA NOCETTI

Docente a contratto
Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche Materno-Infantili e dell'Adulto

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Pubblicazioni

2022 - Association between selenium species and hippocampal volume in subjects with mild cognitive impairment [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Vinceti, Marco; Balboni, Erica; Filippini, Tommaso; Wise, Lauren A.; Nocetti, Luca; Eichmüller, Marcel; Tondelli, Manuela; Vinceti, Giulia; Zamboni, Giovanna; Chiari, Annalisa; Michalke, Bernhard
abstract

Background Selenium is a trace element with nutritional and toxicological properties. Its influence on human health is thought to depend on exposure dose and chemical form. The effects of selenium exposure on medical conditions that involve the central nervous system have been insufficiently studied. In a cohort of individuals with mild cognitive impairment, we have previously documented a positive relation between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of inorganic hexavalent selenium (selenate) and risk of dementia. Methods/Approach We assessed the relation between CSF levels of selenium species and volume of the hippocampus among the 33 cohort members aged 43-82 years who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging at baseline (2008-2014) using both linear and spline regression analyses. We also performed a surface-based analysis using SPHARM-PDM to evaluate differences in shape of the hippocampus in addition to its volume in relation to CSF levels of selenium species. Results We found an inverse association between selenate and total hippocampal volume (β regression coefficient in multivariable linear regression analysis -3.05, 95% confidence interval -5.74 to -0.37), which was similar for the right and left hippocampus and emerged mainly at the highest exposure levels. We found little association between the other selenium forms and hippocampal volume. In the surface-based analysis, the left hippocampus showed considerably more pronounced shape differences in the ventro-medial region of the head. Conclusions This is the first study to analyze selenium species in relation to hippocampal volume and structure, suggesting that a selenium form with high toxicological potential may adversely affect a key structure involved in dementia onset and progression as the hippocampus, possibly the left one in particular. However, we cannot entirely rule out the influence of reverse causation or unmeasured confounding on these results.

2022 - Selenium Species in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Hippocampal Volume among Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment [Articolo su rivista]
Vinceti, Marco; Balboni, Erica; Filippini, Tommaso; Wise, Lauren A; Nocetti, Luca; Eichmüller, Marcel; Zamboni, Giovanna; Chiari, Annalisa; Michalke, Bernhard
abstract

2021 - Uncover the Offensive Side of Disparagement Humor: An fMRI Study [Articolo su rivista]
Bartolo, A.; Ballotta, D.; Nocetti, L.; Baraldi, P.; Nichelli, P. F.; Benuzzi, F.
abstract

Disparagement humor is a kind of humor that denigrates, belittles an individual or a social group. In the aim to unveil the offensive side of these kinds of jokes, we have run an event-related fMRI study asking 30 healthy volunteers to judge the level of fun of a series of verbal stimuli that ended with a sentence that was socially inappropriate but funny (disparagement joke -DJ), socially inappropriate but not funny (SI) or neutral (N). Behavioral results showed disparagement jokes are perceived as funny and at the same time offensive. However, the level of offense in DJ is lower than that registered in SI stimuli. Functional data showed that DJ activated the insula, the SMA, the precuneus, the ACC, the dorsal striatum (the caudate nucleus), and the thalamus. These activations suggest that in DJ a feeling of mirth (and/or a desire to laugh) derived from the joke (e.g., SMA and precuneus) and the perception of the jokes’ social inappropriateness (e.g., ACC and insula) coexist. Furthermore, DJ and SI share a common network related to mentalizing and to the processing of negative feelings, namely the medial prefrontal cortex, the putamen and the right thalamus.

2016 - Brain Activation Patterns Characterizing Different Phases of Motor Action: Execution, Choice and Ideation [Articolo su rivista]
Gardini, Simona; Venneri, Annalena; Mcgeown, William Jonathan; Toraci, Cristian; Nocetti, Luca; Porro, Carlo Adolfo; Caffarra, Paolo
abstract

Motor behaviour is controlled by a large set of interacting neural structures, subserving the different components involved in hierarchical motor processes. Few studies have investigated the neural substrate of higher-order motor ideation, i.e. the mental operation of conceiving a movement. The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to segregate the neural structures involved in motor ideation from those involved in movement choice and execution. An index finger movement paradigm was adopted, including three different conditions: performing a pre-specified movement, choosing and executing a movement and ideating a movement of choice. The tasks involved either the right or left hand, in separate runs. Neuroimaging results were obtained by comparing the different experimental conditions and computing conjunction maps of the right and left hands for each contrast. Pre-specified movement execution was supported by bilateral fronto-parietal motor regions, the cerebellum and putamen. Choosing and executing finger movement involved mainly left fronto-temporal areas and the anterior cingulate. Motor ideation activated almost exclusively left hemisphere regions, including the inferior, middle and superior frontal regions, middle temporal and middle occipital gyri. These findings show that motor ideation is controlled by a cortical network mainly involved in abstract thinking, cognitive and motor control, semantic and visual imagery processes.

2015 - Transvaginal ultrasound assessment of uterine scar after previous caesarean section: comparison with 3T-magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging [Articolo su rivista]
Fiocchi, Federica; Petrella, Elisabetta; Nocetti, Luca; Currà, Serena; Ligabue, Guido; Costi, Tiziana; Torricelli, Pietro; Facchinetti, Fabio
abstract

This study aimed to evaluate 3-T magnetic resonance imaging in the analysis of caesarean scars in women with prior caesarean section (pCS) and investigate the potential added value of diffusion tensor imaging (3T-MR-DTI) with fibre tracking reconstruction, compared with transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS). Thirty women who had previously undergone elective CS in a singleton pregnancy at term were examined (19 women with one pCS formed group 1 and 11 women with two pCS formed group 2). Patients underwent TVUS and 3T-MR-DTI within 2 days. Twelve women with prior vaginal delivery served as controls and underwent only 3T-MR. Uterine fibre architecture was depicted by MR-DTI with 3D tractography reconstruction providing quali-quantitative analysis of fibre, described as the reduction of number of longitudinal fibres that run through the uterine scar. Six subjects were excluded. According to 3T-MR morphology, scars were described as linear (n = 12) and retracting (n = 12); disagreement with TVUS was 54 %. The thickness of myometrium at the scar level was found to be significantly greater with 3T-MR compared to TVUS in linear scars (p = 0.01). No difference was found among retracting scars. In controls, according to 3T-MR-DTI, longitudinal myometrial fibres running in the anterior wall were similar to those in the posterior wall at same level -2 %; -27 % + 22 %). In groups 1 and 2 there was significant reduction in anterior fibres compared to posterior ones (-53 %; -77 % - 34 %; p = 0.0001). Among retracting scars, fibre reduction was significantly higher compared to linear scars, p < 0.016. The added value of 3T-MR with DTI lies in the prompt evaluation of muscle fibre remaining at scar level.

2013 - An algorithm to estimate anatomical connectivity between brain regions using diffusion MRI [Articolo su rivista]
M., Campanella; E., Molinari; Baraldi, Patrizia; Nocetti, Luca; Porro, Carlo Adolfo; D. C., Alexander
abstract

The study of anatomical connectivity is essential for interpreting functional MRI data, and establishing how brain areas are linked together into networks to support higher order functions. Diffusion weighted MR images (DWI) and tractography provide a unique noninvasive tool to explore the connectional architecture of the brain. The identification of anatomical circuits associated with a specific function can be better accomplished by the joint application of diffusion and functional MRI. In this paper, we propose a simple algorithm to identify the set of pathways between two regions of interest. The method is based upon running deterministic tractography from all possible starting positions in the brain, and selecting trajectories that intersect both regions. We compare results from single fibre tractography using diffusion tensor imaging, and multifibre tractography using reduced encoding Persistent Angular Structure (PAS) MRI, on standard DWI datasets from healthy human volunteers. Our results show that, in comparison with single fibre tractography, the multifibre technique reveal additional putative routes of connection. We demonstrate highly consistent results of the proposed technique over a cohort of 16 healthy subjects.

2008 - Simultaneous acquisition of time-domain fNIRS and fMRI during brain cortex activity [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Contini, D.; Torricelli, A.; Pifferi, A.; Spinelli, L.; Cubeddu, R.; Nocetti, L.; Porro, C. A.; Baraldi, P.
abstract

A time-domain fNIRS system was developed for simultaneous acquisition with fMRI. Preliminary results indicate the potentiality of the system. To our knowledge this is the first timedomain fNIRS and fMRI study on human brain. ©2008 Optical Society of America.