Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2017
rTMS affects working memory performance, brain activation and functional connectivity in patients with multiple sclerosis.
To investigate the effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on working memory performance, while measuring task-related brain activation and task-related brain connectivity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ In patients with MS, N-back accuracy improved while frontal hyperactivation (seen at baseline relative to HCs) disappeared after real-rTMS. Together with the changes in functional connectivity after real-rTMS in patients, these findings may represent an rTMS-induced change in network efficiency in patients with MS, shifting patients' brain function towards the healthy situation. This implicates a potentially relevant role for rTMS in cognitive rehabilitation in MS.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2017
Posterior fossa decompression in Chiari I improves denervation of the paraspinal muscles.
To investigate whether posterior fossa decompression (PFD) could improve denervation of the paraspinal muscles in patients with Chiari I malformation (CMI). ⋯ In patients with CMI, treatment with PFD led to a decrease in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio at both the mRNA and protein levels, indicating an attenuated susceptibility to apoptotic cell death. These data, coupled with the observed improvements in histopathological features of the myofibres, suggest that PFD in Chiari I ameliorates denervation of the paraspinal muscles.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2017
Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures just another symptom of conversion disorder?
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are classified with other functional neurological symptoms as 'Conversion Disorder', but there are reasons to wonder whether this symptomatology constitutes a distinct entity. ⋯ We argue that the aetiological and mechanistic distinctions they support, particularly when bolstered by additional data, give reason to sustain a separation between these conditions.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2017
Observational StudyObserving conversational laughter in frontotemporal dementia.
We performed an observational study of laughter during seminaturalistic conversations between patients with dementia and familial caregivers. Patients were diagnosed with (1) behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), (2) right temporal variant frontotemporal dementia (rtFTD), (3) semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), (4) non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) or (5) early onset Alzheimer's disease (eoAD). We hypothesised that those with bvFTD would laugh less in response to their own speech than other dementia groups or controls, while those with rtFTD would laugh less regardless of who was speaking. ⋯ Laughter in response to one's own vocalisations or those of a conversational partner may be a clinically useful measure in dementia diagnosis.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2017
Editorial CommentNew ideas on the ALS Functional Rating Scale.