TMS-evoked N100 responses as a prognostic factor in acute stroke.
Authors: Manganotti P, Acler M, Masiero S, Del Felice A
Abstract
Rehabilitation programs, to be efficiently tailored, need clear prognostic markers. In acute stroke, neurophysiological measures, such as motor evoked potentials (MEPs), have been proposed, although with discordant results. The aim of this study was to identify a reliable neurophysiological measure of recovery in acute poststroke individuals by combining MEPs and the N100 component of transcranial magnetic stimulationevoked potentials (TEPs). Nine acute post-stroke subjects were included. Clinical evaluation performed in the first week after ...
Source: Functional Neurology - June 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: 26068806 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - June 14, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Encephalopathy with status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) induced by oxcarbazepine in idiopathic focal epilepsy in childhood.
We describe a child with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) in whom treatment with oxcarbazepine (OXC) induced ESES. The patient was studied through repeated clinical-neuropsychological evaluations and 24-hour EEG recordings. He was treated with OXC two months after epilepsy onset. One month after starting OXC, he developed an abrupt and severe cognitive deterioration. A 24-hour EEG and neuropsychological tests showed an electroclinical picture compatible with ESES. Withdrawal of OXC and introduction of other drugs were followed by a prompt improvement. Five months after ESES onset, a 24-hour EEG was normal...
Source: Functional Neurology - June 9, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Thresholds for self-motion perception in roll without and with visual fixation target - the visualvestibular interaction effect.
In conclusion, the application of sinusoidal rotation during roll at low frequencies in the VVI condition evokes oculogyral illusion. This interaction lowers the self-motion perception threshold compared to that measured during rotation in darkness. This testing method could be of practical benefit in clinical application for revealing brain dysfunction involving integrative mechanisms of perception.
PMID: 26030733 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - June 2, 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: 25970846 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - May 15, 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 - May 7, 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: 25940129 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - May 7, 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 - April 14, 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 Ferri 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 - April 3, 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 - March 25, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Ennio De Renzi (1924-2014). A loving remembrance.
Authors: Boller F
PMID: 25803311 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - March 25, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
The urgent need for a systems biology approach to neurology.
Authors: D'Angelo E
PMID: 25764251 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Functional Neurology)
Source: Functional Neurology - March 13, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Neurophotonics: non-invasive optical techniques for monitoring brain functions.
Authors: Torricelli A, Contini D, Dalla Mora A, Pifferi A, Re R, Zucchelli L, Caffini M, Farina A, Spinelli L
Abstract
The aim of this review is to present the state of the art of neurophotonics, a recently founded discipline lying at the interface between optics and neuroscience. While neurophotonics also includes invasive techniques for animal studies, in this review we focus only on the non-invasive methods that use near infrared light to probe functional activity in the brain, namely the fast optical signal, diffuse correlation spectroscopy, and functional near infrared spectroscopy methods. We also pr...
Source: Functional Neurology - March 13, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Neuroimaging-based methods for autism identification: a possible translational application?
Authors: Retico A, Tosetti M, Muratori F, Calderoni S
Abstract
Classification methods based on machine learning (ML) techniques are becoming widespread analysis tools in neuroimaging studies. They have the potential to enhance the diagnostic power of brain data, by assigning a predictive index, either of pathology or of treatment response, to the single subject's acquisition. ML techniques are currently finding numerous applications in psychiatric illness, in addition to the widely studied neurodegenerative diseases. In this review we give a comprehensive account of the use of classification techniques app...
Source: Functional Neurology - March 13, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
Magnetoencephalography in the study of brain dynamics.
Authors: Pizzella V, Marzetti L, Della Penna S, De Pasquale F, Zappasodi F, Romani GL
Abstract
To progress toward understanding of the mechanisms underlying the functional organization of the human brain, either a bottom-up or a top-down approach may be adopted. The former starts from the study of the detailed functioning of a small number of neuronal assemblies, while the latter tries to decode brain functioning by considering the brain as a whole. This review discusses the top-down approach and the use of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to describe global brain properties. The main idea behind this approach...
Source: Functional Neurology - March 13, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research
