No abstract

Prioritization of self-related information (e.g. self-face) may be driven by its extreme familiarity. Nevertheless, the findings of numerous behavioral studies reported a self-preference for initially unfamiliar information, arbitrarily associated with the self. In the current study, we investigated the neural underpinnings of extremely familiar stimuli (self-face, close-other’s face) and stimuli newly assigned to one’s own person and to a close-other (abstract shapes). Control conditions consisted of unknown faces and unknown abstract shapes. Reaction times (RTs) to the self-face were shorter than to close-other’s and unknown faces, whereas no RTs differences were observed for shapes. P3 amplitude to the self-face was larger than to close-other’s and unknown faces. Nonparametric cluster-based permutation tests showed significant clusters for the self-face vs. other (close-other’s, unknown) faces. However, in the case of shapes P3 amplitudes to the self-assigned shape and to the shape assigned to a close-other were similar, and both were larger than P3 to unknown shapes. No cluster was detected for the self-assigned shape when compared with the shape assigned to the close-other. Thus, our findings revealed preferential attentional processing of the self-face and the similar allocation of attentional resources to shapes assigned to the self and a close-other.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a heterogenous condition with differences between patients regarding disease presentation, imaging features, disease activity, prognosis and treatment responses. Following the discovery of new biomarkers, the concept of MS has evolved, with syndromes previously considered to be its variants now recognised as separate entities, including aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-antibody (Ab) neuromyelits optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-Ab disease (MOGAD). In line with their distinct pathology, the newly emerging conditions have imaging characteristics which are dissimilar to typical MS. Progress in reclassifying such demyelinating CNS conditions has highlighted the challenge in meaningful categorisation of atypical presentations at the borders of MS, such as antibody-negative neuromyelitis optica-like syndromes, tumefactive demyelinating lesions, or Balo's concentric sclerosis.In this review, we discuss the increasing role of imaging in distinguishing MS from non-MS CNS inflammatory/demyelinating conditions and defining undetermined borderline cases. This progress relies both on better characterisation of imaging features of these conditions on conventional imaging in terms of their appearance and location, as well as on the implementation of novel image acquisition and/or post-processing techniques allowing for more in-depth lesion assessment, including the presence of a central vein sign or paramagnetic rim.