Disability may influence patient willingness to participate in decision making on first-line therapy in multiple sclerosis.
This study, conducted in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), examined several factors in relation to the patient's role in the therapeutic decision-making process. One hundred newly diagnosed patients with MS attending their first ever specialist consultation at the MS center of Catania, Italy, were consecutively enrolled in a single-center, open, observational study. Clinical and demographic data were collected as part of this routine first consultation. Through administration of the Control Preferences Scale, we ascertained the patients' willingness to participate in the decision-making process on their first-line tre...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Effects of treadmill training on cognitive and motor features of patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease: a pilot, single-blind, randomized controlled trial.
Authors: Picelli A, Varalta V, Melotti C, Zatezalo V, Fonte C, Amato S, Saltuari L, Santamato A, Fiore P, Smania N
Abstract
The aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effects of treadmill training on cognitive and motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Seventeen persons with mild to moderate PD were enrolled. Nine patients were allocated to the Intervention group and received twelve 45-minute sessions of treadmill training: one session a day, three days a week, for four consecutive weeks. Eight patients were allocated to the Control group; these patients did...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Melatonin 4 mg as prophylactic therapy for primary headaches: a pilot study.
Authors: Bougea A, Spantideas N, Lyras V, Avramidis T, Thomaidis T
Abstract
There is growing evidence that headaches are connected to melatonin secretion. Our aim was to assess the potential effectiveness of melatonin for primary headache prevention. Forty-nine patients (37 with migraine and 12 with chronic tension-type headache, TTH) were prescribed oral melatonin, 4 mg, 30 minutes before bedtime for six months. Forty-one (83.6%) of the 49 patients completed the study, while eight dropped out for personal reasons. A statistically significant reduction in headache frequency was found between baseline and f...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Global fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity together with segmented brain volumes assemble a predictive discriminant model for young and elderly healthy brains: a pilot study at 3T.
Authors: Garcia-Lazaro HG, Becerra-Laparra I, Cortez-Conradis D, Roldan-Valadez E
Abstract
Several parameters of brain integrity can be derived from diffusion tensor imaging. These include fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Combination of these variables using multivariate analysis might result in a predictive model able to detect the structural changes of human brain aging. Our aim was to discriminate between young and older healthy brains by combining structural and volumetric variables from brain MRI: FA, MD, and white matter (WM), gray matter (GM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Does chronic exposure to mobile phones affect cognition?
Authors: Mohan M, Khaliq F, Panwar A, Vaney N
Abstract
Mobile phones form an integral part of our modern lifestyle. Following the drastic rise in mobile phone use in recent years, it has become important to study its potential public health impact. Amongst the various mobile phone health hazards, the most alarming is the possible effect on the brain. The aim of the present study was to explore whether chronic exposure to mobile phones affects cognition. Ninety subjects aged 17-25 years with normal hearing were recruited for the study and divided into three groups according to their duration of mobile phone...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Andrographis Paniculata shows anti-nociceptive effects in an animal model of sensory hypersensitivity associated with migraine.
Authors: Greco R, Siani F, Demartini C, Zanaboni A, Nappi G, Davinelli S, Scapagnini G, Tassorelli C
Abstract
Administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) to rats induces a hyperalgesic condition and neuronal activation of central structures involved in migraine pain. In order to identify therapeutic strategies for migraine pain, we evaluated the anti-nociceptive activity of Andrographis Paniculata (AP), a herbaceous plant, in the hyperalgesia induced by NTG administration in the formalin test. We also analyzed mRNA expression of cytokines in specific brain areas after AP treatment. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were ...
Source: Functional Neurology - April 1, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Does chronic exposure to mobile phones affect cognition?
Authors: Mohan M, Khaliq F, Panwar A, Vaney N
Abstract
Mobile phones form an integral part of our modern lifestyle. Following the drastic rise in mobile phone use in recent years, it has become important to study its potential public health impact. Amongst the various mobile phone health hazards, the most alarming is the possible effect on the brain. The aim of the present study was to explore whether chronic exposure to mobile phones affects cognition. Ninety subjects aged 17-25 years with normal hearing were recruited for the study and divided into three groups according to their duration of mobile phone...
Source: Functional Neurology - March 11, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Melatonin 4 mg as prophylactic therapy for primary headaches: a pilot study.
Authors: Bougea A, Spantideas N, Lyras V, Avramidis T, Thomaidis T
Abstract
There is growing evidence that headaches are connected to melatonin secretion. Our aim was to assess the potential effectiveness of melatonin for primary headache prevention. Forty-nine patients (37 with migraine and 12 with chronic tension-type headache, TTH) were prescribed oral melatonin, 4 mg, 30 minutes before bedtime for six months. Forty-one (83.6%) of the 49 patients completed the study, while eight dropped out for personal reasons. A statistically significant reduction in headache frequency was found between baseline and f...
Source: Functional Neurology - March 11, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
[The Ettore Majorana international science center launches the first course of its "Camillo Golgi" International School of Brain Cells and Circuits: modeling the brain].
Authors: D'Angelo E, Wheeler-Kingshott CA
PMID: 26910175 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - February 26, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Why is nitric oxide important for our brain?
Authors: Džoljić E, Grbatinić I, Kostić V
Abstract
The freely diffusible gaseous compound nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to be an important messenger in many organ systems throughout the body, and particularly in the central nervous system (CNS). The importance of NO as an intermediary in cell communication in the brain is highlighted by the fact that the excitatory amino acid glutamate, the most abundant CNS neurotransmitter, is an initiator of the reaction that forms NO. Because of its numerous physiological and pathophysiological roles, the impact of NO on clinical medicine is developing. NO can a...
Source: Functional Neurology - February 26, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy for children with epileptic encephalopathy.
Authors: Pera MC, Randazzo G, Masnada S, Dontin SD, De Giorgis V, Balottin U, Veggiotti P
Abstract
The aim of this retrospective study of children affected by epileptic encephalopathy was to evaluate seizure frequency, electroencephalographic pattern and neuropsychological status, before and after intravenous methylprednisolone therapy. Eleven children with epileptic encephalopathy were administered one cycle of intravenous methylprednisolone (15-30 mg/kg/day for three consecutive days, once a month for four months) in addition to constant dosages of their regular antiepileptic drugs. The treatment resulte...
Source: Functional Neurology - February 26, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Functional magnetic resonance imaging in disorders of consciousness: preliminary results of an innovative analysis of brain connectivity.
Authors: De Pasquale F, Falletta Caravasso C, Péran P, Catani S, Tuovinen N, Sabatini U, Formisano R
Abstract
The aim of this preliminary study was to present a new approach for connectivity analysis in patients with severe acquired brain injury (ABI) that overcomes some of the difficulties created by anatomical abnormalities due to the brain injury. Using a data-driven approach, resting-state structural MRI (sMRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) data from three severe ABI patients - two with disorders of consciousness (DOC) and one who had recovered consciousness (non-DOC) - were integrated and analyzed. Param...
Source: Functional Neurology - February 26, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
The new challenge for Functional Neurology.
Authors: D'Angelo E
PMID: 26727699 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - January 15, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
A review of cognitive impairment and differential diagnosis in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Authors: Picascia M, Zangaglia R, Bernini S, Minafra B, Sinforiani E, Pacchetti C
Abstract
Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a complex and still underestimated pathology. In the early stages, the cognitive profile is characterized mainly by impairments of attention, psychomotor speed and memory, suggesting frontal involvement; patients with more advanced iNPH show overall cognitive deterioration. The memory impairment, however, seems to be milder than that seen in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Clinical and neuroimaging data are crucial for the diagnosis of iNPH, but the presence of different v...
Source: Functional Neurology - January 15, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Thermal nociception using a modified Hargreaves method in primates and humans.
Authors: Ma Z, Li Y, Zhang YP, Shields LB, Xie Q, Yan G, Liu W, Chen G, Zhang Y, Brommer B, Xu XM, Lu Y, Chen X, Shields CB
Abstract
Nociception is an important protective mechanism. The Hargreaves method, which involves measuring withdrawal latency following thermal stimulation to Thermal nociception using a modified Hargreaves method in primates and humans the paw, is commonly used to measure pain thresholds in rodents. We modified this technique to measure pain thresholds in monkeys and humans. The modified Hargreaves method was used to quantitate pain sensitivity in eight normal rhesus monkeys, 55 huma...
Source: Functional Neurology - January 15, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
