Introduction: A grading system for pulmonary adenocarcinoma has not been established. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer pathology panel evaluated a set of histologic criteria associated with prognosis aimed at establishing a grading system for invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Conclusions: A grading system based on the predominant and high-grade patterns is practical and prognostic for invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

Achievement motivation can be defined as a recurrent need to improve one’s past performance. Despite previous functional imaging studies on motivation-related functional activation, the relationship between regional gray matter (rGM) morphology and achievement motivation has never been investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry and a questionnaire (achievement motivation scale) to measure individual achievement motivation and investigated the association between rGM density (rGMD) and achievement motivation [self-fulfillment achievement motivation (SFAM) and competitive achievement motivation (CAM) across the brain in healthy young adults (age 21.0 ± 1.8 years, men (n = 94), women (n = 91)]. SFAM and rGMD significantly and negatively correlated in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). CAM and rGMD significantly and positively correlated in the right putamen, insula, and precuneus. These results suggest that the brain areas that play central roles in externally modulated motivation (OFC and putamen) also contribute to SFAM and CAM, respectively, but in different ways. Furthermore, the brain areas in which rGMD correlated with CAM are related to cognitive processes associated with distressing emotions and social cognition, and these cognitive processes may characterize CAM.

Lonely individuals may exhibit dysfunction, particularly with respect to social empathy and self-efficacy. White matter (WM) structures related to loneliness have not yet been identified. We investigated the association between regional WM density (rWMD) using the UCLA Loneliness Scale in 776 healthy young students aged 18–27 years old. Loneliness scores were negatively correlated with rWMD in eight clusters: the bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL), right anterior insula (AI), posterior temporoparietal junction (pTPJ), left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), and rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC). The bilateral IPL, right AI, left pSTS, pTPJ, and RLPFC were strongly associated with Empathy Quotient (EQ), whereas the bilateral IPL, right AI, left pTPJ, and dmPFC were associated with General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) score. The neural correlates of loneliness comprise widespread reduction in WMD in areas related to self- and social cognition as well as areas associated with empathy and self-efficacy.

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Recent investigations revealed mean diffusivity (MD) in gray matter and white matter areas is correlated with individual cognitive differences in healthy subjects and show unique properties and sensitivity that other neuroimaging tools donot have. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the MD in the dopaminergic system is associated with individual differences in verbal creativity measured by divergent thinking (VCDT) and novelty seeking based on prior studies suggesting associations between these and dopaminergic functions. We examined this issue in a large sample of right‐handed healthy young adults. We used analyses of MD and a psychological measure of VCDT, as well as personality measures of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Our results revealed associations between higher VCDT and lower MD in the bilateral globus pallidus. Furthermore, not only higher novelty seeking, but also lower harm avoidance, higher self‐directedness, and higher self‐transcendence were robustly associated with lower MD in the right globus pallidus, whereas higher persistence was associated with lower MD in the left globus pallidus. These personality variables were also associated with VCDT. The globus pallidus receives the dopaminergic input from the substantia nigra and plays a key role in motivation which is critically linked to dopamine. These results suggested the MD in the globus pallidus, underlie the association between VCDT and multiple personalities in TCI including novelty seeking. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1808–1827, 2015. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Empathizing is the drive to identify the mental status of other individuals and respond to it with an appropriate emotion; systemizing is the drive to analyze a system. Previously, we have shown that structures associated with the default mode network (DMN) and external attention system (EAS) are associated with empathizing and systemizing, respectively. Here we investigated the association between resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and empathizing/systemizing in 248 healthy young adults. We considered the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFCs), which are key nodes of DMN and EAS, as seed regions, and investigated correlations across subjects between individual empathizing/systemizing and RSFC between each seed region and other brain regions. We found that higher empathizing was associated with larger RSFC between the mPFC and areas in (a) the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), (b) precuneus, and (c) left superior temporal sulcus (STS). Furthermore, there was an interaction effect between sex and systemizing on RSFC between the left DLPFC and dACC: males showed positive correlations between this RSFC and systemizing, whereas females showed the opposite tendency. Thus, empathizing was associated with increased positive functional coupling with the key node and other nodes of DMN, as well as the area associated with feeling another's pain. Systemizing was associated with increased positive functional coupling between the key nodes of EAS in males. These findings provide further support for the concept of an association between DMN/EAS and empathizing/systemizing.

Stroop paradigms are commonly used as an index of attention deficits and a tool for investigating functions of the frontal lobes and other associated structures. Here we investigated the correlation between resting-state functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) measures [degree centrality (DC)/fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFFs)] and Stroop interference. We examined this relationship in the brains of 958 healthy young adults. DC reflects the number of instantaneous functional connections between a region and the rest of the brain within the entire connectivity matrix of the brain (connectome), and thus how much of the node influences the entire brain areas, while fALFF is an indicator of the intensity of regional brain spontaneous activity. Reduced Stroop interference was associated with larger DC in the left lateral prefrontal cortex, left IFJ, and left inferior parietal lobule as well as larger fALFF in the areas of the dorsal attention network and the precuneus. These findings suggest that Stroop performance is reflected in resting state functional properties of these areas and the network. In addition, default brain activity of the dorsal attention network and precuneus as well as higher cognitive processes represented there, and default stronger global influence of the areas critical in executive functioning underlie better Stroop performance.

The 5-repeat allele of a common length polymorphism in the gene that encodes the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) is robustly associated with the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substantially exists in Asian populations, which have a lower ADHD prevalence. In this study, we investigated the effect of this allele on microstructural properties of the brain and on its functional activity during externally directed attention-demanding tasks and creative performance in the 765 Asian subjects. For this purpose, we employed diffusion tensor imaging, N-back functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigms, and a test to measure creativity by divergent thinking. The 5-repeat allele was significantly associated with increased originality in the creative performance, increased mean diffusivity (the measure of how the tissue includes water molecules instead of neural and vessel components) in the widespread gray and white matter areas of extensive areas, particularly those where DRD4 is expressed, and reduced task-induced deactivation in the areas that are deactivated during the tasks in the course of both the attention-demanding working memory task and simple sensorimotor task. The observed neural characteristics of 5-repeat allele carriers may lead to an increased risk of ADHD and behavioral deficits. Furthermore, the increased originality of creative thinking observed in the 5-repeat allele carriers may support the notion of the side of adaptivity of the widespread risk allele of psychiatric diseases.