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Curation Process
When reviewing papers, curators are asked to extract the following information to create a correlation. These items are usually combined to form a description of the study too.
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Detailed aim or goal of the study (e.g., the present study aimed to investigate the neural basis of tremors in Parkinson’s disease [PD]).
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Type of located measurement used including, but not limited to: MRI; voxel-based morphometry (VBM); functional MRI; resting-state functional MRI; positron emission tomography (PET); single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT); diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS); deep brain stimulation (DBS); post mortem imaging; immunohistochemistry.
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Regarding No.2, it is also helpful to know whether the paper was looking at the structure (volume) or function of brain areas – this information is usually provided in context regarding the used imaging technique (e.g., voxel-based morphometry was implemented to observe grey matter atrophy in PD patients with tremors)
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Participant characteristics:
- Which clinical populations were used? (e.g., patients with PD or Alzheimer’s disease). Healthy controls are also sometimes used to provide a control or comparative group).
- Studies may also compare two groups of patients (e.g., PD patients with and without tremors).
- Details on diagnosis (if available)
- How many participants took part?
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Were neuropsychometric tests used? E.g., MDS-UPDRS, Tremor Rating Scale, etc. A full list of neuropsychometric tests can be found in taxonomy document already provided.
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Some studies include a task or experimental paradigm that is not standardized. These should also be noted.
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Significant findings. For example;
- Compared to the control group, PD patients with tremors showed atrophy in the supplementary motor area and middle frontal gyrus.
- Compared to PD patients without tremor, those with tremors showed atrophy in the amygdala.
Each result should be documented as a new correlation. So, for this example; Aim: Tremors in PD (symptom) were investigated using VBM (measurement). The symptoms were evaluated using the MDS-UPDRS and a Tremor Rating Scale (neuropsychometric test). Results showed grey matter changes in supplementary motor area, middle frontal gyrus and amygdala (brain regions).