Semantic profiles in mild cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Authors: Guidi M, Paciaroni L, Paolini S, Scarpino O, Burn DJ
Abstract
The temporal and the prefrontal cortices have different roles in semantic information processing: the temporal lobe is where knowledge is stored (Graham and Hodges, 1997), whereas the prefrontal cortex is more specifically involved in executive aspects of semantic processing. Relatively little is known about the semantic profiles of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). This observational study investigated naming and semantic questionnaire performances in three groups of subjects: 10 ...
Source: Functional Neurology - August 8, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Sex differences in MDMA-induced toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats.
Authors: Soleimani S, Mehdizadeh M, Shahraki SH, Artimani T, Joghataei MT
Abstract
Recent evidence demonstrates that female subjects show exaggerated responses to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) compared with males. The aim of our study was to evaluate sex differences and the role of endogenous gonadal hormones on the effects of MDMA. Fifty-six intact and gonadectomized male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either MDMA (5 mg/kg) or saline treatment. Learning and memory were assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM). The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in the hippocampus was de...
Source: Functional Neurology - August 8, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
"Boosting" in Paralympic athletes with spinal cord injury: doping without drugs.
Authors: Mazzeo F, Santamaria S, Iavarone A
Abstract
The intentional activation of autonomic dysreflexia (AD, also called "boosting"), a practice sometimes used by athletes affected by spinal cord injury (SCI), is banned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Although various studies have addressed doping and AD as separate issues, studies evaluating AD as a doping method are lacking. The aim of this brief review is to contribute to better understanding of the relationship between doping and AD. We conducted a literature search of the PubMed database (from 1994 onwards). The key search terms "aut...
Source: Functional Neurology - August 8, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Ennio De Renzi (1924-2014). A loving remembrance.
Authors: Boller F
PMID: 26214022 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Integration of multimodal neuroimaging methods: a rationale for clinical applications of simultaneous EEG-fMRI.
Authors: Vitali P, Di Perri C, Vaudano AE, Meletti S, Villani F
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which has high spatial resolution, is increasingly used to evaluate cerebral functions in neurological and psychiatric diseases. The main limitation of fMRI is that it detects neural activity indirectly, through the associated slow hemodynamic variations. Because neurovascular coupling can be regionally altered by pathological conditions or drugs, fMRI responses may not truly reflect neural activity. Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, which directly detect neural activity with optima...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
How genetics affects the brain to produce higher-level dysfunctions in myotonic dystrophy type 1.
This study assessed the differential role of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) damage in determining higher-level dysfunctions in DM1. Ten patients with genetically confirmed DM1 and 16 healthy How genetics affects the brain to produce higher-level dysfunctions in myotonic dystrophy type 1matched controls entered the study. The patients underwent a neuropsychological assessment and quantification of CTG triplet expansion. All the subjects underwent MR scanning at 3T, with studies including T1-weighted volumes and diffusion-weighted images. Voxel-based morphometry and tractbased spatial statistics were used for unbiase...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Impact of C24:0 on actin-microtubule interaction in human neuronal SK-N-BE cells: evaluation by FRET confocal spectral imaging microscopy after dual staining with rhodamine-phalloidin and tubulin tracker green.
Authors: Zarrouk A, Nury T, Dauphin A, Frère P, Riedinger JM, Bachelet CM, Frouin F, Moreau T, Hammami M, Kahn E, Lizard G
Abstract
Disorganization of the cytoskeleton of neurons has major consequences on the transport of neurotransmitters via the microtubule network. The interaction of cytoskeleton proteins (actin and tubulin) was studied in neuronal SK-N-BE cells treated with tetracosanoic acid (C24:0), which is cytotoxic and increased in Alzheimer's disease patients. When SK-N-BE cells were treated with C24:0, mitochondrial dysfunctions and a non-apoptotic mode of cell death were observed. Fluorescence...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on neuronal oxidative damage in patients with Huntington's disease.
Authors: Ciancarelli I, De Amicis D, Di Massimo C, Sandrini G, Pistarini C, Carolei A, Tozzi Ciancarelli MG
Abstract
The influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on serum levels of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), as markers of oxidative damage, was evaluated in symptomatic patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Improved clinical outcome measures were observed after neurorehabilitation. Baseline levels of Cu/Zn-SOD, NSE and 8-OHdG were higher than those observed in controls. Cu/Zn-SOD and NSE values decreased...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Effects of dispositional optimism on quality of life, emotional distress and disability in Parkinson's disease outpatients under rehabilitation.
In conclusion, a high level of DO was associated with QoL, HADS and UPDRS both on admission and at discharge. The level of DO remained stable after rehabilitation, while disability and anxiety were reduced. Participants with high DO generally had better QoL, and better clinical and psychological performances.
PMID: 26214027 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Dual task-related gait changes in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Authors: Nascimbeni A, Caruso S, Salatino A, Carenza M, Rigano M, Raviolo A, Ricci R
Abstract
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) entails a high risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia. In MCI patients gait impairment, which increases the risk of falls and institutionalization, is an early motor sign. A dualtask (DT) paradigm might improve the observation of this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate motor-cognitive interference in a sample of MCI patients and a group of matched healthy controls submitted to DT conditions. To this end, three different cognitive tasks were used: counting backward...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Minimally symptomatic posterior reversible encephalopathy in Guillain-Barré syndrome.
We present the case of a GBS patient with minimal CNS symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging findings consistent with PRES. PRES in GBS might be an underestimated condition. It should be suspected in GBS patients in the presence of even mild CNS symptoms. A timely PRES diagnosis along with early correction of autonomic system dysfunction in GBS patients is recommended to prevent possible dangerous CNS complications.
PMID: 26214029 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Successful treatment with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator in an acute stroke patient presenting with hemiballism.
Authors: Bembenek JP, Bilik M, Członkowska A
Abstract
A 79-year-old woman with hypertension was evaluated 3 hours and 20 minutes after the sudden onset of left-sided weakness which lasted about 15 minutes and was followed by involuntary, coarse, flinging movements of the left extremities (hemiballistic), occurring every few minutes, and facial asymmetry. Brain computed tomography revealed no abnormalities. The patient received intravenous thrombolysis with 0.9 mg/kg of alteplase 4 hours after the symptom onset. Involuntary movements and central facial nerve paresis subsided within 48 hours of the thrombol...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Golgi and Ranvier: from the black reaction to a theory of referred pain.
Authors: Cani V, Mazzarello P
Abstract
In his brief report on the structure of the gray matter of the central nervous system (1873), in which he described the "black reaction", Golgi noted the ramifications of the axon. This discovery prompted the French histologist Louis Antoine Ranvier, one of the first to try the black reaction outside Italy, to propose an ingenious theory of referred pain in his Traité technique d'histologie. Ranvier suggested that the nerve fibers originating from the irritated area and those coming from the region to which the sensation is referred converge on the same axon and thus...
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Drug repurposing and beyond: the fundamental role of pharmacology.
Authors: Amantea D, Certo M, Bagetta G
PMID: 26214032 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - July 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Preferential occurrence of attacks during night sleep and/or upon awakening negatively affects migraine clinical presentation.
Authors: Gori S, Lucchesi C, Baldacci F, Bonuccelli U
Abstract
It is well known that migraine attacks can preferentially occur during night sleep and/or upon awakening, however the possible implications of this timing on migraine clinical presentation remain unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the possible consequences of sleep-related migraine (defined as ≥75% of migraine attacks occurring during night sleep and/or upon awakening) on the migraine clinical picture (i.e. migraine-related disability, attack severity, use of symptomatic drugs), subjective sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness...
Source: Functional Neurology - June 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
