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In recent years, researchers have often encountered the significance of the aberrant metabolism of tumor cells in the pathogenesis of malignant neoplasms. This phenomenon, known as the Warburg effect, provides a number of advantages in the survival of neoplastic cells, and its application is considered a potential strategy in the search for antitumor agents. With the aim of developing a promising platform for designing antitumor therapeutics, we synthesized a library of conjugates of 3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidone and sesquiterpene lactones. To gain insight into the determinants of the biological activity of the prepared compounds, we showed that the conjugates of 3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidone and sesquiterpene lactones, which are cytotoxic agents, demonstrate selective activity toward a number of tumor cell lines with glycolysis-inhibiting ability. Moreover, the results of molecular and in silico screening allowed us to identify these compounds as potential inhibitors of the pyruvate kinase M2 oncoprotein, which is the rate-determining enzyme of glycolysis. Thus, the results of our work indicate that the synthesized conjugates of 3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidone and sesquiterpene lactones can be considered a promising platform for designing selective cytotoxic agents against the glycolysis process, which opens new possibilities for researchers involved in the search for antitumor therapeutics among compounds containing piperidone platforms.

Published data show that the positive effect of radiotherapy (RT) for brain tumors can be accompanied by adverse sequelae in the form of the development of neurocognitive deficit due to the side effects of radiation on critical brain structures. In addition, there are indications that hippocampal neurogenesis may be modulated, with subsequent activation of a number of cognitive functions. Executive functions (EF), including the initiation, planning, regulation, and monitoring of any purposeful activity, constitute an important component of human cognitive activity. The structural and functional support of these functions is currently associated with the prefrontal and parietal areas of the hemispheres, as well as formations in the inferior temporal cortex and hippocampus. The aim of the present work was to produce a dynamic assessment of the state of the EF network by analysis of resting fMRI connectivity before and six months after RT. Fourteen patients with lateralized tumor lesions of the mediobasal parts of the temporal lobe were followed: seven with left-sided lesions and seven with right-sided lesions. The control group consisted of nine healthy subjects. Each subject underwent fMRI in the resting state, followed by analysis of functional connectivity between specified regions of interest corresponding to the topography of the EF network. The results were compared with MRI tumor morphometry data. On the background of decreases in tumor volume or stabilization of tumor growth, functional effects at six months post-RT were found to differ and to depend on lesion lateralization: there was a tendency to normalization with right-sided lesions, while left-sided lesions produced increases in functional sequelae.

The information content of EEG recordings, which are widely used and important for assessing the functional activity of the brain, is significantly increased by the use of mathematical analysis, where an important place is occupied by the spatial synchronization characteristic, i.e., the functional connectivity of biopotentials (based on correlation and coherence analysis, phase synchronization, etc.). The success of neuroimaging methods in recent years has not only confirmed the significance of this indicator, but has also contributed to improvements in approaches to its statistical evaluation and visualization. Graph theory (GT) is a promising method for analyzing the neural network organization of the brain. Its advantages are that it provides a visual description of the entire structure of the network and its individual components, as well as defining the relationships between them. The purpose of this review is to present approaches to the application of graph theory and the potentials of this method based on the analysis of published data. We present general information on the areas of application of GT, address the most common and informative metrics, and provide recommendations for selecting software. Modifications of GT analysis of the EEG are described: without primary localization of the generation sources of EEG components and with their localization. Examples of the effective use of graph theory analysis of the electroencephalogram of the healthy and diseased brain are given.

— Electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns and the process of visual memory were studied in 27 patients with extracerebral tumors occupying mediobasal regions of the right and left hemispheres. The degree of involvement of the hippocampus (HP) in the pathological process was assessed based on neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) and morphometric data. The predominant concentration of irritative–epileptiform signs in the affected hemisphere, as well as the presence of atypical α-rhythm episodes in the area of tumor projection, were treated as the EEG markers of tumor compressive effect on the HP. Signs of nonidentical involvement of the right and left HP in the pathological process were found in the form of the predominance of irritative signs in the left hemispheres of patients from the studied group as a whole. Equivalent dipole sources (EDSs) of atypical α-rhythm were more associated with the hippocampal structures compared to irritative EEG patterns. Neuropsychological testing of visual memory did not reveal considerable disturbances in memory processes at this stage of the disease.

Recovery of consciousness in patients with post-comatose unconscious states after severe traumatic brain injury and the search for their objective markers are among the urgent medical and social problems. To clarify the information content and the degree of consistency of changes in hemodynamic and bioelectrical parameters, in this work we carried out comparative studies of fMRI networks and EEG connectivity at rest in healthy subjects, as well as in patients with post-traumatic disorders of consciousness before and after therapeutic rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). It was shown that the characteristics of the functional connectivity of fMRI and EEG at rest are among the informative markers of neuroplasticity during depression of consciousness. A certain topographic correspondence between the fMRI networks and the EEG integral connectivity pattern at rest was established, regardless of the modification of the latter assessment: in the continuous recording mode or pseudo-EP. At the same time, the method of independent fMRI components more clearly reveals the features of the state of individual neural networks, and the indicators of EEG functional connectivity (range 1–15 Hz) are more informative in assessing the integral neural network characteristics and their changes during treatment.

Structural and functional support of executive functions, currently under active investigation, is largely associated with the prefrontal and parietal parts of the hemispheres. The aim of the present work was to clarify the involvement of the medial parts of the temporal lobe in forming executive functions. The study involved14 patients with extracerebral tumors (meningiomas) with compressive actions on the mediobasal parts of the temporal lobe of the corresponding hemisphere. Tumors were located on the right side in seven cases and on the left in the other seven. The control group consisted of nine healthy subjects. Resting fMRI was performed in the patients and healthy volunteers, with further analysis of functional connectivity between regions of interest (ROI) corresponding to the topography of the executive functions (EF) network. This was followed on the same day by recording of the multichannel EEG at rest with the eyes closed, with spectral coherence analysis of all possible combinations of lead pairs in the frequency bands of the main physiological rhythms. Additionally, neuropsychological testing was carried out using the method of visual memorization in the Eyetracker–Attention–Memory (EAM) method and the Stream of Consciousness Questionnaire during resting fMRI [ReSQ]. Analysis of fMRI and EEG connectivity at rest in patients as compared with healthy people revealed patterns of disturbances in functional connections which were similar for the two methods, with topography corresponding to that of the executive functions network, confirming the concept that the inferior temporal cortex is part of this system. The specific features of changes in connectivity in groups of patients with different lesion lateralization were established and were found to be consistent with neuropsychological test data and predominant in tumors located on the left side.

The goal of this work is the application of graph analysis for the research of brain network organization during motor tasks (clenching/unclenching the fingers of the right hand). In this approach the brain is considered as a single network (graph), where the nodes are individual leads, and the edges are coherence indicators. The approach allows one to study the processes of segregation (network division into clusters) and integration (network unification) as well as to identify the most highly active nodes in the networks through which the greatest volumes of information transfers. The work revealed that the movement of the right hand is associated with global and local neural network rearrangements, an increase of global network efficiency of the entire brain and left hemisphere separately and the formation of local clusters for processing information in areas, connected with hand movement and in some non-specific ways for the hand movement areas, probably connected with executive functions.

Motor fMRI responses analyzed in 10 patients with mild posttraumatic hemiparesis displayed high variability in deviations from normal on movement not only of the afflicted but also the intact hand. Changes in fMRI rearrangements, most marked on use of the afflicted hand, were apparent as weakening of the main components of the response and increases in activation of cortical and subcortical brain structures not specific for the movement. Comparison of fMRI responses on motor loading of the afflicted and intact hands showed that the clearest marker of mild hemiparesis was weakening of the cerebellar component of the response. Comparison with normative data (15 healthy subjects) showed more marked features in the reorganization of the sensorimotor motor fMRI response in patients with right-sided hemiparesis.

fMRI data indicate that backward mental counting is accompanied by activation of structures in the left hemisphere: the supplementary motor area, the precentral gyrus, and the triangular part of the inferior frontal and inferior parietal gyrus, as well as the middle frontal gyrus on both sides. The literature indicates that each of these cortical activation zones is a component of the executive functions. The EEG response is highly diffuse. Its asymmetry and zonal concentration are apparent in the behavior of quantitative indicators of the individual frequency ranges. The greatest level of correspondence with the topography of fMRI responses is seen for increases in coherence in the EEG α2 and α3 ranges (9–12.5 Hz), especially in the prefrontal and anterotemporal areas of the left hemisphere. The aim of the present work was to analyze the cerebral structural-functional support of the “silent backward counting” task in healthy humans in the context of evaluating the state of executive functions. Complex EEG and fMRI investigations were conducted in eight healthy subjects aged 24 ± 3 years.

Analysis of fMRI in the resting state (RS) is a suitable methodological approach to studying basal levels of functional brain activity in humans in health and disease. The inadequate development of this direction in Russia is partly due to the small number of Russian publications describing approaches to data processing. This study uses an algorithm for analysis of fMRI signals in the RS based on independent components analysis (ICA) run in the FSL environment and used for studies of typical functional resting state networks (RSN) in health. Averaging observation data by group, which is applicable for studies of healthy people, is often not appropriate for studies of different forms of cerebral pathology, which are characterized by significantly greater levels of variation in hemodynamics. Thus, studies of 17 healthy subjects included comparative evaluation of the topography and a number of quantitative measures of typical RSN identified by group and individual analysis of fMRI signals. These networks were comparable with RSN described in the literature as main and were also reproducible in group and individual analysis, which confirms the suitability, reliability, and effectiveness of using this algorithm. Individual analysis of RSN identified variability linked with a number of psychophysiological characteristics of healthy subjects (sex, motor asymmetry profile, EEG pattern), partly explaining the different levels of compliance with the patterns of the group networks. Results obtained from individual fMRI and EEG comparisons showed the potential of analysis of the topography of the sources of individual rhythms as EEG markers for RSN. The lowest levels of variability of fMRI characteristics of resting networks in health (such as maximum network activation intensity, mean frequency of the active zone of the spectrum, frequency of dominant peak) may have diagnostic value for studies of RSN in pathology.