Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2011
Detecting deficits of sustained visual attention in delirium.
Inattention is a core clinical feature of delirium and yet the particular aspects of attentional impairment associated with this feature are poorly understood. Objective methods for assessing inattention are also lacking. A new set of computerised tests of attentional deficits designed for use in patients with delirium have been developed. Test performances in patients with delirium, dementia and cognitively normal controls are compared. ⋯ Patients with delirium showed marked deficits in sustained visual attention, as measured by objective neuropsychological testing. These attentional deficits were mainly mild or absent in patients with dementia and in cognitively normal controls. Objective testing of sustained visual attention has promising utility in detecting delirium, and in discriminating delirium from dementia.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2011
Case ReportsAntiglycine-receptor encephalomyelitis with rigidity.
Glycine receptor antibodies (GlyR-ab) were reported in a patient with progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus (PERM). ⋯ The clinical picture associated with GlyR-ab is wider than the classical view of PERM. GlyR-ab should be examined in patients with core symptoms of muscle rigidity and spasms atypical for SPS.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2011
Structural neuroanatomy of face processing in frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
Impairments of face processing occur frequently in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) but the neuroanatomical basis for these deficits has seldom been studied systematically. Here a prospective voxel based morphometry study is described addressing the neuroanatomy of two key dimensions of face processing--face identification and facial emotion recognition--in a single cohort of 32 patients with FTLD (19 with frontal variant and 13 with temporal variant FTLD). For the FTLD group as a whole, face identification was positively associated with grey matter in the right anterior fusiform gyrus while recognition of angry expressions was positively associated with grey matter in the bilateral insula cortex. FTLD provides a perspective on the neuroanatomy of face processing that is complementary to focal lesion and normal functional imaging work.