Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although evidence suggests that depression in PD is related to the degenerative process that underlies the disease, further studies are necessary to better understand the neural basis of depression in this population of patients. In order to investigate neuronal alterations underlying the depression in PD, we studied thirty-six patients with idiopathic PD. Twenty of these patients had the diagnosis of major depression disorder and sixteen did not. The two groups were matched for PD motor severity according to Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). First we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using an event-related parametric emotional perception paradigm with test retest design. Our results showed decreased activation in the left mediodorsal (MD) thalamus and in medial prefrontal cortex in PD patients with depression compared to those without depression. Based upon these results and the increased neuron count in MD thalamus found in previous studies, we conducted a region of interest (ROI) guided voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study comparing the thalamic volume. Our results showed an increased volume in mediodorsal thalamic nuclei bilaterally. Converging morphological changes and functional emotional processing in mediodorsal thalamus highlight the importance of limbic thalamus in PD depression. In addition this data supports the link between neurodegenerative alterations and mood regulation.

We present a catalog of star clusters, associations and related extended objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Magellanic Bridge with 2741 entries, a factor 2 more than a previous version a decade ago. It implements data from the literature up till December 2018. The analysis was carried out with digital atlases in various bands currently available in Aladin. In particular, we cross-identified recent cluster samples from the VMC, OGLE IV and SMASH surveys, confirming new clusters and pointing out equivalencies. A major contribution of the present catalog are accurate central positions for clusters and small associations, including a new sample of 47 clusters or candidates in the SMC and 19 in the Bridge. We also analysed the recent SMC catalog by Bitsakis and collaborators who detected objects with an overdensity search algorithm. They refer to them as clusters, but most have low stellar density, are extended and diffuse, so that we classified them as associations. We conclude that they found 1173 new objects, whereas 119 have equivalency in the literature. A general catalog must also deal with the recent discoveries of 27 faint and ultra-faint star clusters and galaxies projected on the far surroundings of the Clouds, mostly with DES. They have been complemented with photometric, spectroscopic and kinematical follow-ups. The underluminous galaxies around the Magellanic System, still too few compared to Λ Cold Dark Matter simulations, can bring constraints to galaxy formation and hierarchical evolution. On the other hand, we provide diagnostics, when possible, for the nature of the ultra-faint clusters, searching for benchmarks and frontiers of the Magellanic System extensions into the Milky Way potential.

Neurologic disorders are among the most common and important clinical manifestations associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), mainly those that affect the central nervous system (CNS). Risk of cerebrovascular events in both conditions is increased, and stroke represents one of the most severe complications, with an incidence rate between 3% and 20%, especially in the first five years of diagnosis. This article updates the data regarding the risk factors, clinical manifestations, neuroimaging, and treatment of stroke in SLE and APS.

Our findings provide initial evidence that rTMS of the primary motor cortex might yield a beneficial effect on vocal function in PD.