Plos One
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The use of Information and Communication Technologies, such as virtual reality, has been employed in the treatment of anxiety disorders with the goal of augmenting exposure treatment, which is already considered to be the first-line treatment for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To evaluate the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) in the treatment of PTSD, we performed a systematic review of published articles using the following electronic databases: Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and PILOTS. Eligibility criteria included the use of patients diagnosed with PTSD according to DSM-IV, the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the use of virtual reality for performing exposure. 10 articles were selected, seven of which showed that VRET produced statistically significant results in comparison to the waiting list. ⋯ There is also a need to standardize the number of sessions used. The randomized studies were analyzed to assess the quality of the methodology, and important deficiencies were noted, such as the non-use of intent-to- treat-analysis and the absence of description of possible concomitant treatments and comorbidities. Preliminary data suggest that VRET is as efficacious as traditional exposure treatment and can be especially useful in the treatment of patients who are resistant to traditional exposure.
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Early gestation represents a period of vulnerability to environmental insult that has been associated with adult psychiatric disease. However, little is known about how prenatal perturbation translates into adult brain dysfunction. Here, we use a longitudinal study design to examine the effects of disruption of early gestational neurogenesis on brain volume in the non-human primate. ⋯ Due to the small number of observations, the conclusions drawn from this study must be viewed as tentative. Early gestational irradiation may result in non-uniform reduction of gray matter, mainly affecting the putamen and cerebral cortex. This may be relevant to understanding how early prenatal environmental insult could lead to brain morphological differences in neurodevelopmental diseases.
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It is not possible to identify all pregnancies at risk of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Many women use some form of analgesia during childbirth and some anesthetic agents have been shown to be neuroprotective when used as analgesics at subanesthetic concentrations. In this study we sought to understand the effects of two anesthetic agents with presumptive analgesic activity and known preconditioning-neuroprotective properties (sevoflurane or xenon), in reducing hypoxia-induced brain damage in a model of intrauterine perinatal asphyxia. ⋯ These acute histological changes were mirrored by improved cognitive function measured remotely after birth on PND 50 compared to control group. Subanesthetic doses of sevoflurane or xenon provided both analgesia and neuroprotection in this model of intrauterine perinatal asphyxia. These data suggest that anesthetic agents with neuroprotective properties may be effective in preventing HIE and should be tested in clinical trials in the future.
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Accurate vocal production relies on several factors including sensory feedback and the ability to predict future challenges to the control processes. Repetitive patterns of perturbations in sensory feedback by themselves elicit implicit expectations in the vocal control system regarding the timing, quality and direction of perturbations. In the present study, the predictability of voice pitch-shifted auditory feedback was experimentally manipulated. ⋯ It was found that predictable perturbations in voice auditory feedback led to a reduction in the proportion of compensatory vocal responses, which might be indicative of a reduction in vocal control. The predictable perturbations also led to a reduction in the magnitude of the N1 component of cortical Event Related Potentials (ERP) that was associated with the reflexive compensations to the perturbations. We hypothesize that formation of expectancy in our study is accompanied by involuntary allocation of attentional resources occurring as a result of habituation or learning, that in turn trigger limited and controlled exploration-related motor variability in the vocal control system.
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Migraine attacks have been shown to interfere with normal function in the brain such as motor or sensory function. However, to date, there has been no clinical neurophysiology study focusing on the motor function in children with migraine during headache attacks. To investigate the motor function in children with migraine, twenty-six children with acute migraine, meeting International Classification of Headache Disorders criteria and age- and gender-matched healthy children were studied using a 275-channel magnetoencephalography system. ⋯ The spectral power of high gamma (65-150 Hz) oscillations during finger movement in the primary motor cortex is also significantly higher in children with migraine than in controls. The alteration of responding latency and aberrant high gamma oscillations suggest that the developmental trajectory of motor function in children with migraine is impaired during migraine attacks and/or developmentally delayed. This finding indicates that childhood migraine may affect the development of brain function and result in long-term problems.