Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2001
Biography Historical ArticlePhineas Gage and the science of brain localisation.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2001
Multiple sclerosis in sibling pairs: an analysis of 250 families.
To assess the potential contribution of genetic factors to clinical phenotype in multiple sclerosis. ⋯ Within a sibship, the clinical presentation tends to be different. However, once established, concordance is more likely to be seen for the ultimate course, leading in the end to similar disability and handicap scores. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that genes influence both disease susceptibility and evolution in multiple sclerosis.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2001
Comparative StudyA clinical role for [(123)I]MIBG myocardial scintigraphy in the distinction between dementia of the Alzheimer's-type and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Scintigraphy with [(123)I]metaiodobenzyl guanidine ([(123)I]MIBG) enables the quantification of postganglionic sympathetic cardiac innervation. Recently, myocardial [(123)I]MIBG scintigraphy has been found to be useful in distinguishing Parkinson's disease, a Lewy body disease, from other akinetic rigid syndromes. Some patients initially diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) are discovered to have an alternative disease such as dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), despite the application of stringent diagnostic criteria. In the present study, examinations were performed to clarify the usefulness of myocardial [(123)I]MIBG scintigraphy in improving the differential diagnosis between patients with DLB and DAT. ⋯ [(123)I]MIBG myocardial scintigraphy might detect early disturbances of the sympathetic nervous system in DLB and might provide useful diagnostic information to discriminate DLB from DAT. The distinction between DLB and DAT may be improved by greater emphasis on cardiac sympathetic disturbances.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Oct 2001
Case ReportsA disorder of colour perception associated with abnormal colour after-images: a defect of the primary visual cortex.
A 64 year old woman with posterior cortical atrophy secondary to probable Alzheimer's disease is described. Her presenting symptom was of seeing objects as abnormally coloured after prior exposure to a coloured stimulus. ⋯ A mechanism for the generation of colour after-images is proposed in which abnormal prolongation of the images results from excessive rebound inhibition of previously excited wavelength selective neurons in V1. This may occur as a consequence of the relative sparing of inhibitory interneurons in V1 in the context of the degeneration of excitatory neurons that occurs in Alzheimer's disease.